Chapter 10

“So there’s busking, posters, t-shirts, anything else that you’ve got thats enterprising?” she said.
“Well there’s JJ the recording guy, he’s making copies of the concert, that could turn into something.”
“You’ve got a few things going on there. Perhaps you can give me a job!” she winked at him, “I’ve got a good feeling about this.”
They both sat down and started making sketches for the t-shirts. She was excellent at colour and style and his forte was design and draftsmanship. Before too long they had the designs ready to show the printers.
“Interesting that the act of re-drawing the elements has changed them,” he observed.
“Yes and the new colours have given them their own unique identity,” she added.
“It definitely feels better now than a direct copy. I know The Book recommends copying but it also wants us to make things our own.”
“That way you’ll know something in your own terms,” she concluded.
“It’s like The Book is pointing out that the core of your own being is of paramount importance.”
“The Book really respects and encourages that specifically, like it’s really on your side.”
“I’ve never thought of myself like that before,” she wondered out loud, almost to herself.
“I really think we’re onto something here,” he said.
“And knowing that is of real significance, it means I don’t feel nervous about the concert as all I ever have to do, is be myself.”

***

The next day he showed the designs to the printers and they were really impressed. As he’d hoped they offered to print them on demand and that way he would just need to invest in the initial t-shirts.
Jeff the print shop owner happened to be there and greeted him warmly.
“We love your concert t-shirt design. I’m a big fan of astrology and I’m always checking the planets. I see you’ve chosen the day of the eclipse for your concert. Could be auspicious.”
“I’m hoping so.”
“We’ve already sold 10,” Jeff enthused, “how about that for auspicious. Friends, family, and here at the printers, we’ve brought some too.”
“Wow that’s amazing. Thank you so much! I was hoping people would appreciate the eclipse connection. We’re really looking forward to the concert.”
Jeff addressed his assistant and instructed him to create an account for their new client.
“No need to pay us for these new t-shirts designs. We’ve made an account for you and we’ve deducted the cost from what we owe you. So here’s your earning so far,” and gave him a handful of notes, “see you Sunday,” said Jeff cheerfully.
He left the print shop utterly amazed at how things just worked out when he followed the flow and didn’t doubt his actions. He gave silent thanks to the invisible forces at work in his life.
He found himself wandering through town, not knowing what to do next.
“Hey man, what’s going on?” A familiar voice greeted him from out the crowd. He turned around to find JJ breezily walking towards him.
“Ah just the man I wanted to see. I’ve a job for you JJ, if you want it. What are you doing this afternoon?”
“I’m free, brother. What are we doing?”

***

They all gathered at the barn at 6pm, their last practice before the big concert on Sunday.
“Hey guys you remember JJ? What do you reckon to him recording our rehearsal?”
The Drum Wizard agreed, thinking it was a great idea. “When we play, being recorded is a pleasure as it makes us even more present,” and nodded in approval to JJ.
That gave JJ the seal of approval from everyone. Before long they were feeling their way into the music while JJ busied himself setting up his recording equipment and microphones without any fuss.
“Just ignore me guys, do your thing. I’ll catch that lightning in a bottle, oh yes!”
His exuberant infectious spirit added an extra light carefree energy into their practice. The music flowed and whenever they saw JJ, he was beaming with energy that fuelled their enjoyment of the music even more.
After the session had finished they gathered around and asked how it had gone.
“Superb my friends, the lightning is in the bottle! I could play it on my radio show at the weekend if you want, help spread the word for the concert?” He looked around and they all nodded in agreement.
“I also run the record store in town and listeners often ask for copies of the music. Do you want me to make this available too?”
They looked at each other and the overall feeling was to flow with this new development. Everyone trusted JJ knowing that the music itself had a special living quality that naturally attracted and repelled the right people. They didn’t need to think about it.
“Great, I’ll tidy it up and put it out. People are gonna love this, I know it!”
Excitedly JJ headed off, keen to get back to his studio and listen in detail to the new recording. He turned and called out, “The show’s called JJ’s High Vibration on local radio, check it out!”
And with that he disappeared.

***

The next day, out of the blue, he got a call from his old mate Robert, the singer from his old band. He’d assumed the band members had gone their separate ways, but the call from Robert had reminded him how much he enjoyed his company and they’d agreed to meet in the city. Getting on the train again he remembered the previous times when he’d only just acquired The Book. How quickly his life had changed since then. But the biggest change was on the inside and he wondered how he would get on with Robert. Should he talk to him about The Book and the recent things that had happened?
Just then a group of young people got on the train and sat down opposite him. One of them was wearing an eclipse concert t-shirt. It was a curious moment that felt like a completion of a cycle, the sign that he was now on a new path and he’d left the old life behind. How many times had he been on this train not wanting to be there, praying for a way out, hoping that something would change. It had but it hadn’t been given to him he reflected. He’d had to meet fate halfway. Lightning theory. Inner change was the real change, he thought. After that the outer world becomes a reflection. As The Book said in the last message, success and failure, rich and poor can look and feel completely different from the inside out. Before The Book, he’d never have considered that his inner world made any difference to life.
He pondered how best to handle meeting his old band mate Robert. He decided that he didn’t need to do anything other than follow his instincts in any one moment, to be free of expectations.

***

His meeting was really enjoyable. They talked about old times and it was easy spending time with Robert. He didn’t feel the urge to talk about any new things that had happened and the issue of what to say never came up.
On the way back he sat on the bench at the train station where he’d made the decision to write down the haunting melody. He was surprised to find that he felt so much calmer and more peaceful now. The train on the opposite platform pulled away, and as the carriages passed he couldn’t help but notice the large advertising billboard about to be revealed. The last carriage passed but the unicorn had gone. He did feel slightly let down by the lack of message and how uplifted the unicorn had made him feel that day. Had it made him feel inspired or had he projected that onto the advert? He could see that there had been a choice and the unicorn had been a catalyst, and he had allowed himself to feel uplifted. Could he do this with any advert he wondered? He looked at the billboard which was advertising the latest Sherlock Holmes movie. The caption read,

‘Elementary my dear Watson – A trilogy in two parts’

He tried to make it feel like the billboard had a message specially for him. He made himself feel uplifted and inspired just like before. His mood surged and he did it; he felt the same sense of being helped by unseen forces, and that’s when he saw two, three and element jump right out at him.

***

A chill went down his spine that was still there when his train arrived. The memory lingered in the cells of his body till he reached his home and sat down on the sofa. He didn’t know what to make of it.
The Priestess came in and slumped down on the sofa next to him.
“What’s going on. Anything interesting?”
He paused just long enough for her to pick up on that something was different.
“What’s going on, tell me?” she enquired, now full of intrigue.
“You would not believe what just happened,” he said. He recounted the tale of sitting at the same seat at the train station and the memory of the unicorn billboard and how it had changed his mood.
“And then the train departed as before, but instead of the unicorn there was an advert for that new Sherlock Holmes movie. I thought it meant nothing and I was disappointed, but then I tried to change my mood. It worked and I felt uplifted, and that’s when I noticed the advert contained two, three and element. It gave me chills up and down my spine.”
“Wow, I can feel it too!” she wriggled involuntarily and sat upright.
“Now that’s a message! Not only is it a sign that we need to investigate the number 23 but changing your attitude was very important too. You changed your energy, you uplifted your vibration and this created a new insight. It changed the world.”
“From the inside out,” he said softly, “yes.”
“Our expectations and projections onto the world are significant and have an impact on life,” she said.
“How do we find out about the number 23?” he said.
“Ok it must be a magical number so we must use magical means to find out.”
“What shall we do then?”
“How about a musical concert on a solar eclipse in an ancient sacred sanctuary?” she suggested.
“Ah yes that should do it!” he said, and smiled broadly.

***

Next morning he gazed out of the window watching the world go by. Nothing special was happening. No coincidences. Everything seemed normal. He let out a sigh.
“Like that is it?” the Priestess chimed in from the kitchen, “time for a coffee I think.”
“Yes I could do with some today. I don’t know why I feel like all the wind has gone out of my sails.”
“Maybe it’s the calm before the storm. It’s been quite a journey so far.”
“Yeah I think my expectations get the better of me. The world just seems so normal today.”
“How to handle the quiet times,” she said, “that doesn’t sound difficult, yet I think there’s probably better and worse ways of navigating these times.”
“I might go to the bookstore and see if I can find anything about the number 23.”
“Good idea. I’ve got a bit of work to catch up on this morning,” she said, “but I can meet you at the cafe later this afternoon?”
“Ok that’s a plan. Now, did you mention coffee?”

***

He strolled into town down the familiar cobbled street towards the bookstore. As he turned the corner a black cat crossed the street in front of him from left to right. That reminded him of something. Had that happened before. Yes, now he thought about it when he’d first heard the magic rhythm. The black cat had certainly been a powerful omen then.
He entered the bookstore and wondered aimlessly up and down the shelves hoping something would jump out at him. He sat down and looked at the long line of bookshelves stretching into the distance. They shelves were numbered and he checked the one next to him; 22 mythology. He smiled to himself. It was close.
He picked up a coffee table sized book on Egypt and casually browsed through the glossy pictures. He was drawn to a section devoted to all sorts of myths and legends to do with the pyramids. This had always fascinated him. He loved archeology but was equally fascinated by the extraordinary tales. He read:

‘There’s an ancient Egyptian legend that says deep in the oldest pyramid is a secret chamber used by the priests to initiate new candidates into the ancients rites of Atlantis.’

Atlantis he thought, that’s taking it too far. He was about to turn the page when the next line caught his attention:

‘The initiates were shown 22 magical pictures arranged in pairs. When the Egyptian civilisation collapsed in a final act of desperation, they transformed the key to Atlantis into a magical artefact that the priests entrusted to the people for safe keeping. The Egyptian people then wandered the Earth with this ancient magical key and they are now known today as the Gypsies.’

There was something about this that made him pause. It seemed to be relevant but he didn’t know why.

***

Later that afternoon he was sitting in the cafe with the Priestess talking over what he’d found at the bookstore.
“What do you think it means,” he said, “if anything?”
“I have to say I’d never heard that before about Egypt. Do you think it’s true? Could there have been a secret hidden in the depths of the pyramids to do with Atlantis? It’s not the kind of information you’re likely to find in the average history book.”
“It does have a ring of truth to it. I mean the Egyptian civilisation did collapse thousands of years ago. If they knew it was going to end and there was no way to stop it, wouldn’t they try to preserve their most sacred treasure?”
“Yes but what is it and how would we find it?” she said, “do we go to a museum? and what has this go to do with the number 23?”
“I don’t know but something tells me it could have something to do with St James and the holy knights. And what was the legend the Reverend said about helping truth seekers in every age? Could the knights have encountered the secret when they travelled in the east, and were duty bound to preserve it somehow?”
“How does one generation hand on precise knowledge onto the next. Write it down? Something tells me it’s just not that simple. Surely it depends on the nature of what is to be preserved.”
“I think we’re going to need a lot more coffee!” she said and they both broke into laughter.

***

“Have you noticed there’s an ebb and flow to this?” the Priestess began. “There’s a time for discovery and action and there’s a time for stopping and letting things breath, or even letting them go?”
“Yes now you mention it, there have always been periods of excitement, and then it goes kind of quiet.”
“I’d say one helps the other. The pauses are needed to allow the subconscious connections to be made, or perhaps to be resolved in dreams.”
“Of course there’s my dream,” he continued, “the figure of eight room and the key.”
“The figure of eight could indicate the cycle I was talking about, the times of activity and then rest. The woman holds the key at the crossing point, which is also a way out,” she continued, “it was an emotional healing journey wasn’t it, I remember it now. All those emotions came out of nowhere, a sadness from another time. When we heal it’s like we’re putting the elements back together. Something that was broken is now mended. The tears are the healing waters, the chalice, the priestess.”
She looked at him deeply in the eyes. He held her gaze and time stood still. Connections were being made. Who was she and who were they? He looked out over the pond and saw there was only one swan. Something triggered inside. Emotions started to well up that he could not contain. An overwhelming beauty and sadness penetrated the depth of his being. The tears fell as he looked and remembered the eyes of the Priestess.

***

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Continues in Chapter 11…