FOURTH PART

Ω

Chapter 34

Concerning the visit with the knowledgeable Jack Grosseteste

and the sally to India

Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China

ײַ

Most fortunate are the times that Hellmantle of Normandy appeared on this earth to right the persistent wrongs by the Catholic Church and bring light to those who remained on the fence due to a natural skepticism and disbelief at the many fictional aspects of the Bible Story that were inserted by Rome throughout the middle ages. The purity of the original message is now close to being reinstated thanks to the extraordinary effort made by the courageous Roland Hellmantle in this most troubled time in history. To be sure, the missing content of the gospels is now at hand to mend the fissures between men of the many religions of the world, and to heal the rift between the House of Israel and the House of Judah. Hellmantle’s greatness of task cannot be underestimated, and here the thread of the story resumes after the daring exploits of Northern Vietnam.

“Good. So you found the map, eh?” said Jack Grosseteste, his teeth stained red from his favourite Pinot Noir.

“Just as Vande Winkle said. It was in the east tower of a prison,” said Hellmantle, beaming with accomplishment. “I still don’t know what the name of the prison was though.”

“No one saw you?”

“The place was empty. The two women who ran it were busy drinking tea in the back room.”

“It was a forgotten place Dad, where the people around were happy to be living there.”

“And ignorant of its hidden map.” Hellmantle was still sweating from the ride.

“Can I see the map?” Hellmantle removed the map from his knapsack, as well as a bottle of red wine for his uncle Jack. Taking it out gently from its tube, he spread it out on the table.

“Pretty vague, isn’t it?” said D’Aqs. His father picked it up carefully to study, and shook his head in disagreement.

“Legend within the Blonde Aquitaine says He settled in a place just north of Srinagar, a town in Kashmir Valley that sits 6000 feet above sea level surrounded by Himalayan peaks isolated from the world, especially 2000 years ago.”

“So then you believe Jesus survived the crucifixion?” D’Aqs, for his own foundation of belief, needed to know precisely what his father believed.

“Ah! He who dares not offend, cannot be honest, but I dislike clichés. So let me be direct: it’s likely He did survive the crucifixion. We know that He was married and had children, and it is through His offspring that the Merovingian line of French Kings claim direct descent, as you know. It is from this holy bloodline that most of Europe’s royalty come from. That’s why all the families are interrelated. They wanted to keep the bloodline of Jesus pure. They even had private schools for these children who bore the blood of Jesus. For centuries.”

“So if that’s so, then I’m interested to know who has the highest concentration of Jesus’s bloodline today?”

“Most of the European nobility has a high degree of the holy blood, but there are a few families that are known to have the highest.”

“Such as?”

“Well for example, the Sinclair family in Scotland. The name comes from the French Saint Claire which means Holy Light.”

“It was the Messiah’s hope that a bloodline of kings would be established but the Pope and his minions in Rome blighted that,” said Hellmantle.

“I know what Mantlepiece here thinks about this, but let me ask you Dad. What do you think happened on the cross?”

“The story states that He was buried in Joseph of Arimathea’s backyard – the family home’s garden. Jesus was likely revived in the tomb – now awake from the sleepy draught – and was wise to flee from the authorities in Jerusalem. He then disappears from record until years later rumors circulate and a legend grows that Jesus died of old age up in Northern India where it was said He continued His ministry alongside His disciple Thomas. That’s the general theory, but there’s more to the picture than people want to say. For example, is it a coincidence that the person who took His body from the cross was Joseph of Arimathea, also known to history as Jesus’ younger brother James?”

Hellmantle was all ears as he uncorked the bottle he brought and filled everyone’s glasses.

“I don’t usually speak so much about the Bible,” said the professor, “but the history it speaks of is of great interest to me. From everything I have read and studied, I think that Jesus as a man was actually quite rebellious and politically savvy with several zealots as part of his disciples. He was looking to re-instate the royal line and become king – a leader – at least through bloodline. But he was thwarted.”

“He was thwarted by the Pharisees who rejected him because He was born in the wrong month?” D’Aqs had retained many of the details of the theory from Hellmantle over the last month or two.

“Yes. They were pretty strict in the intricate rules that have applied for centuries. If a male was born in September then the royal couple had to wait six years to have another child. If it was a girl they would have to wait two years. Look it up if you don’t believe me. It was the Hebrew custom.”

“It’s not a question of believing you Dad. It’s a question of why this story is taught to millions – or billions – of people when the story is inaccurate.”

“A worthy question son.” D’Aqs was alarmed at ho old his father looked at that moment – as if burdened by this specific thing.

“One of things that made him dangerous to the establishment,” said Hellmantle, “was, as I’ve told you before, He wanted to bring back the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel – the House of Israel – into the fold. The tribes were scattered and the disciples went to all the primary spots of dispersed Israelites. Andrew went to Scotland and James went to Spain and Thomas went up to northern India because ‘White India,’ as it was known, was a land inhabited by some of the ten lost tribes of Israel.”

“Do you think that Thomas was His identical twin?”

“It was a belief that was mainstream until centuries after His death.” Hellmantle stood up, erect with curiosity and now with that familiar flush of wine on his cheeks.

“I have a question pour vous my uncle,” he said, lighting a cigarette. “Do you know if it was Doubting Thomas who was sitting beside Jesus during the Last Supper?”

“Well, I don’t know – I’ve never wondered that myself – but let me check a book.” He opened the ‘Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legends.’

“It was the Beloved Disciple who was beside Jesus,” Hellmantle said, with that firm tone of secure knowledge. Dr. Jack Grosseteste flipped some pages.

“Here it is. Yes, that’s right,” he mumbled into the book. “At the Last Supper, the Beloved Disciple was leaning on Jesus’ bosom. He was at the foot of the cross when Jesus says to him ‘Mary is your responsibility now,’ and takes her into his home as his own mother. It was Peter and the Beloved Disciple who bump into Mary Magdalene after she finds the tomb empty. And it was the Beloved Disciple who was the one who recognizes Jesus when they were fishing just after the crucifixion.”

“Wait!” said D’Aqs. “Wasn’t it Thomas, Peter and Nathaniel who were there during the Draught of the Fishes?” He said it as a question but he was sure he was correct.

“Yes,” Hellmantle answered.

“You think the Beloved Disciple is Thomas? Not John?”

“Well he’s not mentioned by name for a reason, but why would they list those three disciples when they met Jesus fishing? And why would Jesus hand over care of his mother to John, as it is commonly believed, who has no familial connection to him?”

“I’ve always wondered about that too.”

“Isn’t it more likely that Jesus would hand over care of His mother to His twin brother Thomas?”

“Many regard the Beloved Disciple as John, that’s true,” said Jack Grosseteste. “He’s believed to be Jesus’ favorite, but it’s a good point. If Jude Thomas was Jesus’ brother, why wouldn’t the disciple whom Jesus loved be given care of Mary?”

“It makes more sense,” chimed in Hellmantle, now flushed. D’Aqs was nodding. “Wait, didn’t Da Vinci paint the Last Supper and have someone identical to Jesus beside him?”

D’Aqs shrugged.

“Yes, I think he did. Let me find the painting.” No doubt the professor knew his books well as it didn’t take him long to find Da Vinci’s Last Supper. There, with the page open for all to see, it was uncanny how the Beloved Disciple looked identical to Jesus. To Jesus’ left was a man of the same age who was sporting the same hair and beard and coloring as the Messiah.

“Well, isn’t that interesting,” said the professor.

“That is His twin brother. They’re identical. Even the way they’re leaning towards each other.” They looked at him. “It’s a twin thing. I should know.”

“Yes,” said his uncle nodded, hiding his surprise that his nephew spoke of his dead twin. “Perhaps it is.”

“It makes more sense.”

“How?”

“If Thomas is his twin, wouldn’t it make sense that he would sitting beside him during the Last Supper?”

“I don’t know. I’m not an identical twin like you.” Jack Grosseteste filled his nephew’s glass with wine.

“My understanding of this painting is that the man to the immediate left of Jesus with his finger pointing upwards has traditionally been regarded as Thomas,” said D’Aqs. “And the man who is sitting right beside Jesus is Joseph of Arimathea.”

“And/or James, the brother of Jesus,” said Hellmantle. “And/or James the disciple.”

“The point is that if the Beloved Disciple is beside Jesus, then it’s either Thomas or James. But taking everything into consideration, it’s most likely Thomas because look how similar they look!”

“Yes, I agree,” said his father. “That is interesting. They’re identical. I’ve never really studied it this closely.” An eerie silence was broken by the omma announcing supper was ready, but Jack Grosseteste told her to wait because they were busy investigating something that could not wait. He quickly opened his Bible and began flipping the pages rapidly.

“There’s a passage in here that, come to think of it, is quite suggestive that Jesus did survive and meet Thomas in northern India. It’s the Last Supper, when Jesus said to Thomas and the Twelve:

‘Do not be worried and upset,’ Jesus told them. ‘Believe in God and believe also in me. There are many rooms in my Father’s house, and I am going to prepare a place for you. I would not tell you this if it were not so. And after I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you myself, so that you will be where I am. You know the way that leads to the place where I am going.’

“He says that to Thomas?” Hellmantle asked. “At the Last Supper?”

“Yes. And it is Thomas who replied. ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going; so how can we know the way to get there?’ Then Jesus says: ‘I am the way…’”

“If Thomas, Jude Thomas, Didymus Thomas, Thomas the Twin, Jude the Twin is Jesus’ identical twin,” Hellmantle said, “then Jesus would be with him in India if He survived the cross. And it would be the twin who would openly question the Messiah. That’s what identical twins do.”

“If you’re interested in Thomas so much Roland, you need to read the Gospel of Thomas.”

“You have it?” Hellmantle was again on his feet.

“I have a copy somewhere here.” He rummaged through his shelves skimming titles until he pulled out a thinly bound book with frayed pages.

“I’ve been looking for a copy for years!”

“The Gospel of Thomas, discovered in 1945,” said D’Aqs, trying his best to contribute to the discussion.

“Correct. But some scholars believe that it was written as early as 40AD, and that the Gospel of Thomas is the missing Q document.”

“The original Gospel.”

“The account of Jesus that the other gospels refer to. Yes D’Aqs, the original source of all the gospels.” He handed it to Hellmantle. “Here, don’t lose it kid. They’re hard to come by over here.” He stared at it.

“The missing Q.”

“Remember,” added D’Aqs, realizing that the theory of Thomas the Twin was gaining momentum in his own person, “that it was well known that Jesus loved this Beloved Disciple in a special way. If you recall in the Gospel of John, when Jesus talks to his Beloved Disciple, it says:

Peter turned around and saw behind him that other disciple, whom Jesus loved – the one who had leaned close to Jesus at the meal and had asked, ‘Lord, who is going to betray you?’ When Peter saw him, he asked Jesus, ‘Lord, what about this man?

Jesus answered him, ‘If I want him to live until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!

So a report spread among the followers of Jesus that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say he would not die; he said, ‘If I want him to live until I come, what is that to you?’

He is the disciple who spoke of these things, the one who also wrote them down; and we know what he said is true.”

“Nice one! That would be this book right here.”

“Those words – to me – now mean something a bit different,” said D’Aqs.

“When he says that this Beloved Disciple will live until I come, it fits with the idea that Jesus joined Thomas in India, as if he planned it! And now, with the discovery of the Gospel of Thomas, it fits that this Beloved Disciple did write it down!” Hellmantle was tripping over his words; he could hardly get them out of his mouth in time. “Amazing man!”

“What do you think son?” D’Aqs, surprised, picked up his Bible as if reflex.

“It’s tough to say Dad, but there is so much pointing to Jesus having a twin. But there is a passage that, in light of everything we have discussed here tonight, suggests Jesus knew what he was doing as if he were fulfilling the prophecy of being the Messiah. For example, at the Last Supper Jesus says to his twelve disciples: ‘This very night all of you will run away and leave me, for the scripture says, ‘God will kill the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I am raised to life, I will go to Galilee ahead of you.’ He is predicting his own death and that he will meet them in Galilee.

“And then Jesus says: ‘You have stayed with me all through my trials; and just as my Father has given me the right to rule, so I will give you the same right. You will eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom, and you will sit on thrones to rule over the twelve tribes of Israel.’ So to me, this suggests that Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of the Messiah conscientiously because how would He know He’d be in Galilee?”

“Good point son.” He winked at his son when filling his glass with wine. He couldn’t remember the last time his father had that look of pride on his face.

“Thanks Dad.” Hellmantle was busy flipping through the pages of the Gospel of Thomas.

“If I didn’t say it before, your beard suits you. Let it grow. I’ve never seen you with a beard. It’s quite blonde.”

“And it supports my primary thrust theory,” said Hellmantle, not feeling the need to explain what he meant to his uncle. With the long-out-of-reach gospel now in his hand, he was retreating further into his world of megalomania – the real world fading from importance.

“Yes Mantlepiece, it does” D’Aqs recognized the now-distant eyes of his cousin.

Hellmantle assumed the mantle and spoke thus:

“The Blonde Aquitaine must act for mankind for the benefit of generations to come!”

“You go to Kashmir Valley and find the tombs of Jesus and Thomas.”

“We will my uncle!”

“And find the long lost scroll the Blonde Aquitaine believes is buried where Jesus spent his last days,” said Jack Grosseteste, his demeanor changed into the wise old man. “You prove it true and you will be remembered as men of standing.” It was then the omma called for supper again. With eyes now blazing, Hellmantle sat in the middle and poured the wine for all, not noticing the food was cold.

Chapter 35

Concerning the arrival in New Delhi and journey to Kashmir Valley

New Delhi, Haryana Province, India

יִ

To Hellmantle the art of mulling was when thoughts could be played with in a mental sandbox, so during the five-hour plane journey to New Delhi he immersed himself in The Gospel of Thomas that his Uncle Jack had lent him. Amid exclamations and furious underlining with pencil, D’Aqs sat beside his cousin keenly aware of passengers looking at them both. D’Aqs was now used to this sort of unwanted attention now, so he shrugged his shoulders and thought about his trip to India. For him, after his illness from malaria, D’Aqs wanted a spiritual cleansing in the Ganges River as a symbolic spiritual rebirth. It was one thing he sought to do while in India that fell outside of the immediate mission at hand. It was the same as Hellmantle insisting they stop in Sagada to see Catharine when they went to the Philippines. For D’Aqs the Ganges dip was also a way to mark the beginning of perhaps a new life shared with the woman Catharine Asher, but he was careful not to let himself think that far ahead because too much hope and unrealized love could scar a man.

It had been tougher for Hellmantle to find more time off from the magazine. He had implored his editor to take four days’ vacation that were coming to him in order to “complete this duty given to me by God.” Reluctantly his boss granted him the week, which was also an opportunity for his boss to mention that the quality of Hellmantle’s articles was suffering and that he needed to put more time and research into his pieces henceforth. He almost replied that letting the quality of his computer articles slip was a small price to pay for the greatness of his other work.

After clearing customs first, Hellmantle was talking to a taxi driver at a taxi booth to ensure they wouldn’t fall victim to a quick swindle. That was when D’Aqs found him in the crowd.

“Good timing, man. Always a good sign at the beginning of an adventure,” he said. “Snagging a pre-paid fare with a legitimate operator is important. This is Pradeep. Taxi driver, and a fair man.” D’Aqs didn’t bother scolding him for leaving him in the New Delhi airport without any idea where he had gone. But Hellmantle’s decision with the taxi driver was wise, especially at 2:30am Sunday morning.

The ride into Delhi took an hour.

“There must be a fire or something,” said D’Aqs. “I feel it in my lungs.”

“No fire,” said Pradeep. “Fog.” Tough like a cop with bad skin but with a trusting face, there was too much of his personality displayed in Pradeep’s posture to fear cunning or deceit.

“Thick. Very thick. More like smog.”

“Pollution,” said Hellmantle, unafraid to speak the truth.

“Yes, it is pollution,” said Pradeep. The unbreathability of the air was intense.

In the taxi they moved along the barely lit road to the city. Hellmantle asked Pradeep about the best way to go north to Srinagar. Being an employee of the official Indian Tourism Board, Pradeep was concerned about the security up north because of the Muslim insurgency.

“I’d like to calm you my friend,” said Hellmantle. “I am a seasoned traveler. I want to rent a motorcycle to ride up to Srinagar in Kashmir to find the tomb of Jesus.” Pradeep showed no surprise at hearing these words.

“You don’t want to go to the Taj Mahal?”

“No, Srinagar.”

“How long are you here?”

“Return flight to Hong Kong leaves Saturday night – seven days hence,” D’Aqs answered.

“One week? Impossible. Kashmir is too far and security is tight. Many checkpoints.”

“No motorcycle?” The disappointment in Hellmantle’s voice tangible.

“No, Kashmir too unsafe. Very dangerous there. No motorcycle. No.”

“Is the road open?” asked Hellmantle. Pradeep looked at him in the back seat.

“Too many roadblocks for motorcycle. You take bus. Much safer.”

“Forget safe, man! Bus? No way.” Hellmantle’s features rigid, slouched.

“No, it’s not good. The checkpoints are a problem. You need a reservation up there, papers to get in. It would be easier to the bus.”

“How long is it?”

“It is one day and you need to register to get into Kashmir.”

“What is another way to get there?”

“Airplane,” replied Pradeep.

“No motorcycles to rent?”

“You cannot rent motorcycles in Delhi. Delhi is a big city. Only in beach towns can you rent.”

Desolate at night in comparison with the nightlights of Hong Kong, they passed a roundabout and a colonial fountain, and arrived at the Red Castle Hotel just off the barren Connaught Place city circle. It was also right beside the Indian tourist office.

“The bus leaves at 1:30 tomorrow.” Hellmantle and D’Aqs looked at each other for a second, knowing that going to Srinagar on the next bus was the best course of action.

“We could waste a day in New Delhi discussing it,” said D’Aqs.

“Srinagar is our immediate destination!”

“I make a call and reserve bus and houseboat for you, okay?”

“I think I’ll get a guesthouse there on my own, thanks,” replied Hellmantle.

“No, the law is foreigners must book houseboat in Kashmir Valley.”

“Why?”

“Kashmir was never part of British India, so houseboats are the only accommodation for visitors throughout the British Empire.” So they planned to meet Pradeep the next day at noon for their tickets next door.

Ω

The sound of babies wailing woke Hellmantle up in the night. He knew from an ancient instinct that the crying was from hunger. He tried to return to sleep but the cries were too raw – too much pain in the screams. It was as if he was hearing the grating of metal on metal crushed into shards of filings.

The heat before midday crumbled soil underfoot and melted the will of man walking to the tourism building.

“It’s as hot as a palm tree today.” D’Aqs could tell from his swagger that Hellmantle was all set for the day’s adventure despite the bags under his eyes.

Standing in line in the crowded office, Pradeep ushered them into his small office when he saw them. They paid for the tickets and tipped Pradeep for his efforts, but when they were waiting for a four-digit number for security, Hellmantle became claustrophobic so he stepped outside for a smoke. He walked down the road a little bit but was followed by Pradeep.

“Where you want to walk?” he asked, hesitant.

“Just down the street. Having a cigarette. Want one?” He kept walking under the mature trees lining the sidewalk until a violent rush of children and beggars swarmed him. Pradeep blocked the onrush by stopping them with his backside.

“Get out of here!” he yelled in English. “Away!” They had found the foreigner – with his fair beard and long Merovingian hair – and screamed at him for money. Pradeep kept them at an arm’s length away. They stopped and watched Hellmantle smoke, hoping for some coins. Barefooted, wearing torn shirts and skinny as chopsticks, there were too many of them and his bills were too large, so he returned to the office feeling thankful for Pradeep’s body check. He handed Pradeep a Marlborough.

“Be careful Roland. Hunger makes people do mean things. The world is not full of benevolent Christians.” Hellmantle understood after the night of hearing a baby screaming in hunger.

The bus station was an old British airplane hangar, with a British World War Two airplane up on wooden blocks by the four buses parked on the yard. An emaciated cow grazed beside them as they waited for the bus.

“A little piece of the colonial past,” said Hellmantle.

Hellmantle assertively took the front two seats, the prime real estate for the journey to the Great Himalayan Range and a small consolation for not having the chance to motorcycle. He found Delhi strange because there were no twenty-story apartment buildings lining the streets like Hong Kong. Colonial India was what he wanted to see but instead he saw dirt and filth, squalor and overcrowding, and extraordinary poverty.

Stirred, Hellmantle spoke thus:

“I see a planet covered with desperate people from the savagery of hunger. I want to offer my goodwill and humanity but I cannot involve my heart because I must protect myself from bleeding! To care too much can kill a man! To observe and see without feeling – when seeing so much of the world as I do – is best, otherwise I would be hurting myself, which defeats the purpose of living.” D’Aqs was feeling it too. His heart was torn at the begging kids that had stuck to them like glue.

As if by divine providence, pieces had fallen into place and were now going north to Kashmir Valley nestled in the Himalayas to find a piece of land sketched on a papyrus map. So swiftly had Pradeep guided them that they both savored the familiar eager optimism at the commencement of a trip into the unknown.

The bus weaved aggressively past trucks that brought the countryside drinking water.

“Hey man, I’m Nathan,” said a foreigner sitting beside them in the front row. Immediately Hellmantle took a keen interest in discussing things with Nathan, especially after he was offered a hit from a bottle that Nathan kept under his jacket. The bottle was passed back and forth between them while D’Aqs watched the countryside go past them out the window. Thick lenses in Nathan’s eyeglasses could not hide the intelligence radiating from his eyes, so Hellmantle felt compelled to share some of the more esoteric theories he had in religious history.

“Why do religious scholars studying the migration of Ten Lost Tribes of Israel believe that the Celts, the Scandinavians and the North American Indians all come from the Diaspora from 683BC? I believe there is a common footnote, but that’s just me.”

“I’m from Tel Aviv, so I know about the tribes of Israel,” replied Nathan. “But I never heard they were the Indians before. Or Celts.” The bottle was passed between them again.

“The word Celt with a ‘C’ or Kelt with a ‘K’, comes from the Greek word ‘Keltoi’ which means people who are different. As you know, all those who were part of the Twelve Tribes of Israel were ‘different’ from the Gentiles.”

“That’s right. All those who are not descendants of the Twelve Tribes of Israel are called Gentiles.”

“You are from the lion of Judah.”

“How do you know the lion is from Judah?” 

“The House of Judah and the House of Israel; you are a descendent from the tribes of Judah and Levy.”

“I’m a Levite actually, but it’s not important.” Nathan sat up in interest.

“Not important!” D’Aqs ignored the outburst, now accepting of his cousin’s imperfections. “You’re the priestly tribe with the symbol on your shield being a breastplate.”

“Breastplate, yes. That’s right.”

“Nathaniel, might I ask you a question about Israel?”

“Go ahead man.” He passed his bottle to the Man from Normandy.

“As a non-Jew, that is, not from the tribe of Levy or Judah, could I live in Israel? Would they let me in?” He scratched his thick red hair and shook his head.

“Nope. It’s just for Jews. It’s our homeland.”

“Bloody right it is! And thank God you have Palestine back, despite the turbulence. Being an Israelite myself, from the tribe of Benjamin, I cannot make my home in your country. Is that correct?”

“That is correct sir.”

“Then why is it called Israel? It should be called Judah, non?” Nathan busted a gut.

“That’s what my old man is always saying.”

“It’s ironic because we’re related by blood.”

“You could say that you and me are cousins through Jacob.”

“Well then say it man!” Nathan’s eyes bulged. He took back the bottle thinking it was going to his head. “It’s not until you get into the story of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel that you start to understand where the Ten Lost Tribes went, who they are, and in fact if they are the chosen through a New Covenant with God.” Nathan was inclined to listen rather than look out the window so he had a question for the man from Normandy:

“So if you’re into all this stuff, let me ask you if you think Jesus was married and had kids. ‘Cause my old man thinks that.” Hellmantle took the bottle from his hand without asking this time, and took a big swig.

“Well, Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had three children. First of all, Mary was not a prostitute as the New Testament states.”

“The New Testament is a bit dodgy, he thinks,” he said, referring to his old man.

“Dodgy! Classic word. Mucho fudging by those chappies in Rome, such as minimizing the role of women. They purposely belittled Mary Magdalene but the truth is that she was from a royal line. She even wrote a gospel that wasn’t included in the canon. It was their second son named Josephus whose offspring sprang the Merovingian kings that ruled France for over six hundred years. Up to 1307 the Merovingian line found its rightful place as kings of France with documented lineage from the early times. They were also called the Long-Haired Kings. That’s why Napoleon had long hair, and chose the bee as his insignia: the symbol of the Merovingians.”

“I’ve heard of the Merovingians.”

“And it was through Jesus’ brother Joseph of Arimathea, who moved to Britain and had a daughter named Anne, that the royal Arimatheic line was introduced to the British Isles. She married a Scottish King – forget the chappy’s name – that was the Fisher King line. When these two lines intermarried Great Britain became the Israelite kingdom it is today.”

“That’s amazing.” Happy to have a keen ear, Hellmantle went on.

“You’ve heard of King Arthur?”

“Yeah, sure. The guy in England.”

“Yes, well he was a king who for the first time in history had both strains of the holy bloodline: that of the Fischer Kings and the Arimatheic line. That’s why what happened to him was such a tragedy.” Nathan stroked his chin and took the bait.

“What happened to him? Killed by Lancelot?”

“No! That dud Lancelot wrecked everything! He was sleeping with King Arthur’s wife Guinevere. Bad form. Very bad form. The Round Table fell apart after that. King Arthur died when he sided with the Romans and fought a two-day battle against his son Brantooth and was killed. Terrible what happened. Tragic. A total shame. They were both killed.”

“Brantooth? That’s quite a name. Must mean brown tooth or something.”

“As a side note, King Arthur used the Round Table so that all knights were equal. King Arthur wanted his men to have equal say in discussions and planning.”

“Sounds democratic to me. But I have a question for you: Why Scotland? My old man said some Levites settled there. And they have the red rampant lion, right? What’s so special about Scotland? Sure they wear kilts, which is sorta cool, and play bagpipes, but it’s small and cold and far away from everything.”

“Because Scotland remained outside of the yoke of Rome. It was a safe haven for the Templars who held Nazarene beliefs, Israelites and people who could play the bagpipes.” His deadpan delivery was missed by the man from Tel Aviv.

“The Templars were knights, weren’t they? Or am I wrong?”

“You’re not wrong My Son! Hundreds of Knights Templars were burnt at the stake by the Roman Church, particularly their leader Jacques de Molay, but many escaped to Scotland because it was outside the reach of the pope in Rome. It happened on Friday the thirteenth around 1310 I think, and that’s why Friday the thirteenth is regarded as bad luck. But before thirteen was considered a number of fortune.”

“Why was thirteen a number of fortune?” D’Aqs felt that Nathan was now toying with his cousin, which scared him because Hellmantle did not suffer fools lightly.

“Well because for example, there were twelve disciples plus Jesus which is thirteen. And the twelve sons of Jacob were actually thirteen because Joseph had Ephraim and Manasseh, which added up to thirteen. There were thirteen colonies and thus the thirteen olive branches and arrows in the eagle’s claws in the United States emblem of the eagle. There are thirteen months in a given year.”

“And why were the Knights Templars burnt?” Nathan’s flippant tone was unnoticed by Hellmantle.

“Because they became builders of churches capitalizing on the sacred geometry they discovered during the First Crusade, so in due course they became one of the first banks in Europe. The Pope owed them a heck of a lot of money, so to deal with the problem the Pope simply declared them heretics and had them excommunicated. Rome rounded up most of them and burned them alive. There’s more to the story but that’s it in a nutshell.” They took swigs from the bottle but Nathan was now weary of Hellmantle’s sanity.

“So I’m interested to know, do you honestly think the Indians in North America are part of the Ten Lost Tribes?”

“You obviously haven’t read the Book of Mormon.”

“No, should I?”

“It’s the fasted growing religion in the world. Mormonism.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“Believe what you want. But the teachings mesh well with the Nazarene message of Jesus. They believe two tribes of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel sailed over from Palestine in 683BC during the Diaspora and the two tribes fought against each other, the Lammanites and the Nephites. The Lammanites won and killed off the Nephites, and they are today’s Red Man.”

“You can’t be serious. The Native Americans?”

“Oui. Incidentally, when the first settlers arrived on the eastern shores it was discovered that some tribes called the Great Spirit Jhvhvh, the original Hebrew name of God in the Old Testament. Now, how does one explain that?”

“It doesn’t make sense.”

“Sure it does when you think about it. There are many records of early pioneers that noted the Natives were taller, more robust and had virtually no congenital diseases. And they were red because they thought white skin was sickly so they rubbed vermillion dye in their skin. But of course the best and bravest are up in Valhalla from the engineered genocide led by that bastard General Sherman. Nasty piece he was. The States went a bit overboard after Custer and his 216 men were massacred down to the last man in 1876.”

“I was taught the Indians came from the Bering Strait.”

“Hmm. Have you heard of Kennewick Man?”

“No.”

“It was a body discovered on the west coast I think in Washington State that was basically like you and me: European, or an Israelite. Found in a bog. Fair hair, European bone structure; the whole deal. And it was thousands of years old. The public doesn’t know about it because it was discovered on Indian land and they won’t give it to the government or anthropologists to study, but it’s known and has almost single-handedly debunked the Bering Strait theory. The Red Man doesn’t look anything like the Chinese! Long noses, sharp cheekbones, highest IQ of any race, coordinated and athletic, and they had a great appreciation for the Spirit World. I’ll tell you, if I had more time I’d love to study that aspect of Red Man history.”

“How can that be?”

“The Phoenicians who existed way before 683BC had the sailing ability to go anywhere on the seas, so why couldn’t a few tribes hop in a boat and sail across the Atlantic following the North Atlantic current?”

“Anything else you’d like to tell me from your bag of tricks?”

“You’re Jewish so you likely know that long history of persecution in Russia?”

“I do. My grandmother was from there. Left because of all that.”

“Do you know what the Bible calls the land of Russia?”

“No.”

“The land of Magog. It’s clear that there are no Israelites there and thus they have no prophecies of greatness.”

“That’s the best thing you’ve said all day!”

Chapter 36

In which the bus journey begins in earnest through the checkpoints

to the foot of the Moghul Fort

200km north of New Delhi, Himachal Pradesh Province

שׁ

Sunset fell and the bus stopped at one of the countless outdoor restaurants at the side of the road. Right beside the traffic, these restaurants consisted of a string of tables perpendicular to the road lined with chairs covered with a patio roof on legs of wood. The truckers who drove the slow trucks with water, fuel and military supplies to the front lines at the India-Pakistani border pulled over to the side of the road, ate at these restaurants and slept in their own foldout beds in the front seat of their rigs. The kitchen, in the cement box at the back of the building, served the main artery to northwest India. There was an entire road culture that existed here in the mountains because of the war going on in Kashmir.

These roadside patios were where these men ate their meals and drank their tea who lived in their trucks to stay warm and to earn a living.

Back on the road the bus drove all night until it reached the Kashmiri border. The border guards came onto the bus and looked in bags and then proceeded to untie all the carefully tied up large pieces of luggage on top of the bus. They turned over someone’s couch but didn’t find any explosives or otherwise any signs of foul play and then left it there for the bus driver to pick up and repack. One gentleman across the aisle had to pay duty on a new CD player.

“I hadn’t realized it is a separate entity within India, I mean to this degree,” said Hellmantle, shaking his head and the tight security.

“Perhaps its independence as a state reflects the value of its hidden treasures?” Nathan had a mystery to him. Mossad maybe, thought Hellmantle.

“Well it’s from the border Britain imposed after they gave India independence. They created Pakistan for all the Muslims in British India and India for the Hindus but for some reason made Kashmir Valley part of India when it was about 85 percent Muslim. Countless millions have been killed since 1965 because of that. And it’s one of the world’s flashpoints. Nuclear War is a definite possibility between Pakistan and India, who both have the big exploding device. But our Abrahamic family originally came from the Indus Valley thus we speak an Indo-European language. Though it must be said that Abraham was born in Sur in modern-day Iraq.”

“No!” Nathan’s eyes were half closed from the bottle of booze, but Hellmantle seemed unaffected.

“Seriously. Look it up.”

“Anything else?”

“Well, while we’re at it, the Quran was written because Rome fudged the message of Jesus the prophet. It is clearly stated that it is the untainted message from the same Hebraic God and is the last. Muhammad was a direct descendant of Isaac’s brother Ishmael so it’s all within Abraham’s chosen bloodline. Talks about Moses and Jesus and Muhammad as all prophets of the same God. My guess is Jesus’ original message would have been the same or pretty darn similar to what’s in the Quran.”

“Strange to hear you saying that.”

“Why?”

“Jihad and the killings and whatnot. Not very holy if you ask me.”

“Bad press. What about all the compassionate and friendly Muslims? The Quran is a beautiful book. You must read it. The Jihad discussed in the mainstream media is hermeneutical extremism. It doesn’t mean to kill those who are not yet enlightened. One passage says: ‘Let there be no force or compulsion in religion: Surely- Truth stands out clear from error. Whoever rejects evil and believes in God has held the most trustworthy hand-hold that never breaks.’” Nathan shook his head as if a fly was buzzing around inside it.

“What?” Incredulous. “I’m surprised you’re quoting the Quran.”

“Keep an open mind Nathaniel and see all the references to Moses and Jesus and the chosen family. They urge the Israelites to come back into the fold, saying they understand why we went askew.”

“The House of Israel did but not us.” D’Aqs nudged him. Only when he looked in his eyes did he understand why.

“But back to Kashmir, it really is the cradle of civilization if you omit Sumer for a moment. The Indus Valley is the breadbasket of the Indo-European family of languages, which of course includes English and French and Spanish and Hebrew, etcetera. But I can’t stop lamenting at the loss of opportunity of not motorcycling this geography. Motorcycling in the Himalayas would be very groovy.”

“It would be great riding if there weren’t any checkpoints,” said D’Aqs. “But Pradeep was right. There’s no way we could’ve ridden our bikes up here. Too many guns.”

“Yes, there are many fortified lines to cross.”

It was cold when they stood outside the bus at another checkpoint. Just behind it was an old castle-fort built of rectangular bricks with a big turret on either side of the entrance. A steel fence protected the narrow passage to the front gate. It was a mysterious old relic.

“It’s definitely European built,” said Nathan. D’Aqs could smell his breath from five feet away.

“It looks like a Crusader castle,” said Hellmantle. “Look at the lines. Look how the stones are cut. It employs sacred geometry that was discovered in 1106 in Jerusalem.”

“There’s no way to get in. They’re using it.” Nathan spoke calmly as D’Aqs shivered in three layers of shirts. Nathan was only wearing a yellow T-shirt and shorts. “I’ve seen one like that in Tel Aviv.”

“Now we begin to climb,” said a bearded Indian man who was standing among them.

“How much longer from here?” asked Nathan. “Only two or three hours you think?”

“From the India-Kashmir border? No, more. It’s four-thirty in the morning and we will be here for an hour.” He rubbed his black-bearded chin. “Nine,” he said, after thinking. The man with the beard smiled. He was a big man.

“Nine hours!” Nathan was feeling the liquor. “No way. Two.” The Indian only smiled at him.

“The road is slow. First time in Kashmir?” D’Aqs and Nathan nodded but Hellmantle kept that card against his chest.

“The journey is 22 hours,” said Hellmantle. “I calculate it should be another five hours plus this hour at the border crossing, perhaps six hours.”

“Who told you it was 22 hours?” said the Indian. “With the military checkpoints it will be longer.” Hearing this, Nathan raised his arms and stretched out his legs all in the same motion.

“The mountains are too big. I should have flown!” Nathan shivered in the wind.

Ω

After departing from the castle and guards, they proceeded through a maze of roads and turns and roundabouts for the next fifty miles. Just as the Indian man had said, they began to climb. With each few hours they moved north, the mountains evolved in form and vegetation, from the palm trees to tall pines that stood proud like an army of green-clad soldiers. Dwarfed by massive ridges of rock they followed a river coming from the north, its current swift, monkeys at the roadside in clusters. The military was all over the countryside after the border crossing, with jeeps and sandbagged pillboxes on strategic mountain points. The troops were decentralized by working in twos covering a vast stretch of territory in the beginnings of the valley of Kashmir. Camouflaged and covering countless little stone lookouts were small stone pilings that used the natural jutting shape of the rock to its advantage.

“Without a clear system of road signs and with all the nameless forks in the road, navigation on a motorcycle would have been a crapshoot,” Hellmantle finally conceded. After crossing the border he realized that there was no way on earth they could have motorcycled up to Srinagar and back in seven days.

“True.”

“Preferable vehicle of choice may still be the horse.”

Like the monkeys perched on a precipice that fell away like a wall, they could look down from miles above. As they inched closer to Srinagar, Hellmantle finally had to ask the question burning in his head:

“How on earth did Thomas and Jesus trek this far, and over this terrain?” D’Aqs was quiet. “Without the British-built bridges and tunnels, how could they journey 2000 years ago from Jerusalem to Srinagar?” The moonlight shined on the mountainsides and kept D’Aqs awake throughout the night.

Chapter 37

In which Srinagar is reached and how the houseboat is exactly the same

it was a hundred years ago

Kashmir Valley, Jammu & Kashmir Province

שׁ

It was about 7:30 in the morning when they reached the tunnel with a sign that read:

HEAVEN IN PARADISE

Heavily guarded, uniformed guards held machine guns pointed directly at the oncoming vehicles. Passengers were asked to step out of the vehicle so the guards could bomb-sweep the bus and cargo, but this time foreigners were supposed to sign in with their passports. With the sun out and after finishing a reasonable amount of whiskey from his water bottle, Nathan was excited about finally reaching the valley.

“Look,” he said, pointing at a door at the wooden shack:

Foreigners Register Here

There were more foreigners than just the three of them. There was a guy Hellmantle and D’Aqs had started to call Pepper from Sweden, and his husky Korean wife who was fluent in Swedish, and a guy from Afghanistan. They all had to show their passports and fill out a form. Nathan, being Israeli, and being in a place where over 85 percent of the population was Muslim, was questioned by the guards. A few minutes later he emerged from the sandbagged station and climbed aboard the bus, now quite sullen.

Rich in beauty was the valley that spread before them at the end of the tunnel. It was where the magic of Kashmir began. Breathless in size and scale, the posture of rock was so robust it made their mouths drop open. Trees and sectioned fields exposed rich soil spreading outwards to a valley horizon that stood 6000 feet above sea level.

The Himalayas had arrived.

“Wealthy in volume” mumbled Hellmantle, unusually understated. The sheer audacity of the mountains shocked him. As the natural charms of Kashmir lured Hellmantle into an instant love for the country, so did another thing occur. He looked closer at the people passing by. What he saw stuck him deep down to his sense of who he was. He kept looking into an Indian face that had a facial architecture that was similar or the same as his. Looking straight into their faces, he recognized his own relation at the root. Hellmantle felt a deep sense of identity with India as if it truly was the land of his ancestors. He had not foreseen how similar in bone structure the Indian peoples were to the Norman Anglo-Saxon architecture. It was a homecoming; a return to an ancient homeland after millennia that once flourished before the United Kingdom and America were even ideas.

He said to D’Aqs:

“This is the face of the people of the Indus River Valley – a people that stretched north into the mountains north of Srinagar; remnants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.”

“I see what you’re getting at I think. They have the same face.”

“Bone structure,” he said. “Being mistaken is the essence of the traveler’s tale, as a writer once wrote.” There was a grin on Hellmantle’s face.

Passing through the towns along the main road were summerhouses built in the unique Indian architecture tradition. Everything looked old: merchant houses, balconied hotels and two-story shops with wooden shutters still intact. Trees dominated the ride along the wide valley floor where yellow leaves still clung in the February chill. Hellmantle knew they had reached Srinagar when he saw the massive 16th-century fortress on top the big hill in the middle of the valley floor. It was a steep hill with a tabletop surface surrounded by huge stonewalls and cornered turrets.

The stone fortress overlooked the Srinagar skyline.

“What-“

“Moghul. Roughly 16th century.”

The bus let them off some miles from the fort but there was a man there holding a white envelope with the following name written on it:

HELL MANTLE

Recalling Pradeep explicitly insisted Hellmantle to ask the man for the four-digit reservation number because he said: “only me and you and him know the number.”

“Do you know my reservation number?” Hellmantle asked the Indian man with the envelope in his hand.

“Yes sir. You are 5422.” Sure enough he knew the four-digit number. Hellmantle and D’Aqs both gave him a smile and introduced themselves.

“I am Ramazon,” said the lean-faced Indian man.

So Hellmantle got into the man’s motorcycle sidecar and D’Aqs doubled on the back of the seat, the three of them sped down the road. Quick and zealous was his horn-beeping hand – every pass was honored with a short beep from the steering wheel and greeted with a kindly wave of the hand from the driver. To Hellmantle, who was forever interested in road etiquette among motorcyclists around the world, noted that the driver being passed also let his foot off the accelerator. This constant action was done throughout the road trip. Much worthy of note to Hellmantle was that he didn’t witness even one incident of rudeness or bad etiquette on the country roads between vehicles. Kashmir was a place of friendliness and brotherhood, where people’s riding technique was in harmony with Nature and their surroundings.

Entering the town of Srinagar, they drove around the great fortress that stood atop the huge ridge surrounded by ancient buildings at its feet that made up Srinagar. Hellmantle took note that there were many people on bicycles.

At six o’clock prayers to Allah filled the valley with divine song amid the eagles soaring to their nesting peaks in the tall trees that looked like dwarfs against the sheer rock of the mountains all around them. The orange hue of the setting sun turned to yellowed gray just beyond the western rim. Muslims broadcast their prayers over loudspeakers from the minarets in the mosque across the water. The audio was old and the sounds crackled as an early fog settled over the great Mogul fort on the top of the hill.

“Who built that fort up there?” Hellmantle asked Ramazon as they reached their houseboat. “Moghuls?”

“Yes, sir. The same people who built the Taj Mahal.”

“Can we see it?”

“It’s closed to public because the Indian army uses it.”

The boathouse was fashioned in the British colonial style with carved wood fascia, rugs and an open deck in the stern. The fully functional houseboat was no doubt host to some of its own British subjects during the reign of the East India Tea Company. In fact for Hellmantle, with its long narrow corridor with its spacious bedroom, dining room and smoking room with adjourning riverside sun deck, it was much more comfortable than a hotel room. The deck was there for the old stick-propelled wooden boats that still traveled the river.

The lush valley where steep mountains lined the horizon created an overpowering sense of openness under an untrammeled sun. Neither smog nor clouds marred the heavens 6000 feet above sea level. The sounds of automobiles and industry were replaced with thousands of birds, screams of happy children at play and the distant knock of a carpenter. It was here where first St. Thomas and then Jesus the Nazarene lived and finished out their lives.

They both knew this river and this lake.

Chapter 38

In which Hellmantle reach their houseboat on the lake below the fort

and beside the mosque

Srinagar, Kashmir Valley, Jammu & Kashmir Province

שׁ

After over 26 hours on the road, Hellmantle was happy to have a place on the water with no neighbors. Ramazon had given them the best houseboat since there were no other travelers there. The boat was just like a first-class car on a train. There was a long corridor that joined a master bedroom and then a second room and the kitchen beside the main entrance, and the dining room with the old carved ceiling fascia, wooden chairs and rich colored rugs. The smoking room, with a desk and couches in the corners with flowing drapes over lavish windows, opened onto the deck where Hellmantle and D’Aqs sat out under a canopy from the rain. It faced west unobstructed by anything. Underneath the dozens of rugs in the houseboat, the moaning squeals could be heard underfoot from water-warped wood. But it did nothing to take away from its splendor. The other side of the river was just as it had been 2000 years ago except for the mosque. The houseboat was a step back a hundred years but the view unaltered since the time of Jesus and Thomas journeyed here from the Holy Land.

They unpacked and then put their feet up on the deck and drank a pot of Kashmiri tea. Hellmantle’s senses thawed from being in a bent and oppressed position on the bus so there was a warm relaxing feeling that flooded him when he finally stretched out and relaxed. Muscles twitched and joints fought off aches as he wondered if this was really the place where Jesus and Thomas lived their last days.

“Perhaps Jesus traveled the known world and thought Srinagar was what He thought heaven on earth was like?” said Hellmantle.

“And He chose to end his last years here on the lakeside in the Vale de Kashmir” replied D’Aqs, enjoying the vibe on the river.

Ramazon appeared with the tea ready. Hellmantle took it upon himself to ask Ramazon about picking up some betel nut. He asked him if he could find some.

“Betel nut? What is that?” Hellmantle had a plan B.

“Is hashish legal here?”

“Hashish is very good, no problem. Very popular here.”

“Okay, I will buy it and give you a big tip,” he said to Ramazon.

“I have a friend. How much?”

“Enough for seven days for two heavy smokers.”

“I-“ said D’Aqs. Hellmantle raised his hand in protest.

“Say, ten days’ worth, two big guys, regular smokers of balsam for aches and pains. Big tip.” Ramazon nodded.

“No problem.”

Over tea Hellmantle decided to bring up the legend of Thomas and Jesus with Ramazon, who was serving them.

“So I recently read in a history book that there is the tomb of Jesus and the tomb of Saint Thomas located around here,” he said, probing. “Have you heard of it?” Hellmantle and D’Aqs casually sipped the tea, which was full of a fruity bouquet.

“Ah, I don’t know such as these names.” Ramazon smiled and nodded back. “But there is a Christian tomb in Conyar in the old city.” Ramazon’s bloodshot eyes sparkled beside the gas-lit light resting on the mantelpiece.

“My friend is Christian. He talk to you.” He left them to their tea.

“You know it’s March 1st in three days. And March 1st is the day that the prophecy should be fulfilled, according to the Blonde Aquitaine prophecy.” Hellmantle felt the chill of the hardened rock all around him – the mountain air crisp and chilled.

“I thought his birthday was Christmas,” said D’Aqs, jousting with him, fatigued.

“As is clear during the Council of Nicaea in 325AD, many of the beliefs from Sol Invictus were incorporated into the body of Christian thought.”

“The Sun God cult. I’m aware of this.”

“This merging created a hybrid religion of new Christian thought and the Sol Invictus beliefs. There are many examples scholars have identified, such as the changing of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, and making Jesus’ birthday on December 25th rather than its proper date of March 1st. By the mid-fourth century the machinery was pretty much in place for Nazarene thought to be replaced by this new religion, which was a composite of new thinking and old established thought. It helped its chances of survival initially, and no doubt it was a stroke of genius by the emperor Constantine to introduce a new religion to Rome. But many knew that as he lay on his deathbed it was the makings of a deathblow to adherents of Jesus’ real message. Thus the Desposyni became dispossessed.” Hellmantle let out a long sigh.

“So we must find the buried scrolls with His original thought and give it to the world.” D’Aqs felt the success of their current mission depended on his cousin’s state of mind, so he needed him to keep his chin up.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself.” With that being settled, and having finished their tea, Ramazon returned with his friend Abid, who brought in his Geiger. It was a large water pipe, with a large rounded bowl and long metal tube coming out for the smoker to puff on. Their faithful Muslim friend had even brought them a few snub-nosed bottles of beer, besides a tremendous chunk of very hard blonde hashish. The beer must have been past their past due dates but they tasted just fine. Ramazon bit off a chunk of hashish and packed the Geiger. Then he pulled out a wooden match, struck the flame and placed it horizontally across the bowl face while he inhaled.

“I used to smoke but I don’t much anymore,” he said, exhaling as he spoke. He pushed the long pipe to Hellmantle so he inhaled in the same fashion as Ramazon. For D’Aqs, it wasn’t the first time he had been offered an indigenous narcotic from a local in a new part of the world. He politely followed local custom, hiding his fear.

Passing it back to Ramazon, D’Aqs could see that he was a good man and a smart man and a man of grace. Smoking with a native Kashmiri was an enjoyable affair. He told D’Aqs and Hellmantle that he grew up in the mountains where his brother and sister still lived, a place they could visit on horseback. He told the cousins they had to see a sunrise from the mountain peak in Kashmir. He was so serious when he said it that Hellmantle promised himself he would make a sincere effort to see one.

With the sun down over the river, D’Aqs shivered in the night breeze. Ramazon got up and returned with two wool ponchos.

“May be a good idea,” said Hellmantle. “Wearing what Kashmiris wear when trekking in the mountains may prevent unwanted inquiries.”

“Then we can be sure we’ll be warm.” The gray wool poncho fit perfectly and immediately made them both warm.

“Easy to forget we’re so high up right here,” said D’Aqs, mellowed and relaxed.

“It’s the garment that will enable me nurture my inner hearth in the cold climes of the highest mountains in the world.”

Abid, who had not said much, finally spoke thus:

“I am Christian.”

“Yes, we are too,” said Hellmantle.

“You ask about St Thomas?”

“Yes.”

“Saint Thomas made Christian communities here. He baptized the three kings and made them the first bishops.”

“Here in Srinagar?”

“I believe so. The King back then, Gondophorus, ordered Thomas to build a magnificent palace. But when the king was away, Thomas spent the money on the poor.” He looked at Ramazon and then at Hellmantle.

“St Thomas told King Gondophorus that his palace was already built and waiting in heaven. So Thomas was thrown in prison. But the King had a vision, which changed his mind. He saw Thomas who told him that his treasure awaited him in the afterlife. After that the pagan King was baptized and became a Christian.”

“Do you know where all this happened?”

“I know where Sao Thomé tomb is. Yes.”

“Do you have any bicycles we can borrow?”

“Yes,” replied Ramazon. “We have some bicycles to lend you.”

Chapter 39

In which Hellmantle sets out for the Tomb of Thomé

and his brother Joshua beside him

שׁ

Hellmantle could hardly sleep because of such keen anticipation of biking through Srinagar. Or it could have been due to the thoughts he was having from the Geiger.

After breakfast and tea, Ramazon, Hellmantle and D’Aqs set out to Conyar on bicycles. Cycling past the University of Kashmir with the awesome site of mountains right behind it that were so steep that they looked like enormous rock walls that were obstructions for passing satellites. Ramazon led the way as they rode to the old part of Srinagar. Down an old street with brick buildings and rustic wood shutters on the windows, the three of them stopped where there was a small white building with green trim. It stood surrounded by a little green iron fence. There was a sign in Arabic and Indian. The sign was sheltered by a sprawling old tree.

“What does it say?” asked Hellmantle.

“The sign says ‘it was here where Jesus the Nazarene the Prophet lies buried along with His disciple Jude Thomas,’” Ramadan said.

“Interesting it is ‘the Nazarene’ and not ‘of Nazareth,’” Hellmantle said to his cousin. “Nazareth didn’t even exist at the time Jesus lived. It came into being over a hundred years after His death.”

“Another fallacy.” D’Aqs shook his head, now very open-minded to Hellmantle’s theories.

“Yes.” Hellmantle opened the little gate and walked to a small open doorway where an old lady sat with a young boy beside her. He nodded at them when they looked at him and then to D’Aqs. Hellmantle read the message and remove his shoes. Walking inside Hellmantle and D’Aqs saw why the Muslims had made it into a shrine. There were half a dozen women wearing veils in deep prayer at one end of the tomb. And the tomb itself was odd: there were two small wooden coffins about six feet by one-and-a-half feet each that laid at either end under a long coffin-shaped canopy. The two coffins were protected from hand contact by a wood and glass case built over the original grave.

One could see that it was still the original site because there were three separate stones that surrounded the two draped boxes. One stone was old clay mold of where Jesus left his footprint. It was at the west end where the bones of Jesus rested in the small wooden box draped over with a green cloth. It was conspicuously bigger than Thomas’s box of bones. The coffin of Saint Thomas was covered in a gold-colored fabric. It was here where there was a remarkable part of the site. Right beside the coffin of Thomas was a curved stone the size of a tombstone that was a sculpture of Thomas or Jesus as an old man.

Hellmantle knelt down closer to the face.

“It looks like Jesus,” he said. The moustache dominated the landscape of the sculpture’s face, and his head had been cut according to how he wore his hair: long and parted in the middle. In this gravestone the top of the hair was triangular with his middle part being the apex. The eyebrows were raised seriously and the cheekbones were wide. The cheeks were hollowed and a flowing beard that met the ground at the base of the tombstone encircled the face. The feature of greatest interest for Hellmantle was the nose: it was round so that Jesus as an old man resembled Santa Claus. The grave was weathered from the elements but its features could still be discerned. The mouth was open as if it was a spot for people to leave messages or prayers.

“See how the black stone has weathered the centuries of heat and cold?” he said to D’Aqs. Hellmantle sketched what he saw because cameras were not allowed in the tomb.

“My God, it’s true,” was all D’Aqs could say.

The gravestone sculpture of the head of Jesus stood about three feet high with the moustache reaching almost a foot in length. It flowed right into the earth. To D’Aqs, the sculpture depicted what he thought a Druid would look like. But of all images of Christ, this one in front of him must be considered one of the only real representations of the man history knew as Jesus Christ.

“And He reached the ripe old age of his mid-eighties and spent the last years of His life with His identical twin brother in such a beautiful land,” D’Aqs whispered to himself.

There was a third stone right beside the stone face of Jesus, but it was only a flat area with nothing on it. Looking at it, Hellmantle couldn’t figure out what it was. Considering Jesus was regarded as a prophet and messenger of God, just as Mohammad was for Islam, the Muslims prayed facing the east when they prayed at Jesus’ tomb. The small canopy that covered the aboveground coffins and stones was draped over with a purple fabric rich in hue, which had the first three points written out in Arabic. Hellmantle copied the Arabic down best to his ability into his journal.

Drawn back to the face of Jesus, he crouched beside it, looking deeply into the weathered eyes that stuck out only enough to discern the top part of His eyebrows. The stone depiction of His face showed contentment common to wisdom and inner knowledge. Where His forehead met His hair, there was a little triangle that looked like a mini temple. The way the stone had been cut made the bearded archetype stand out in its own innate power. The cheekbones on the front of His face and His triangular-shaped middle part in His hair gave Him a distinct angular form.

Feeling a bit wobbly-legged, they both eventually left the tomb and, with Ramazon, walked stunned through the old streets of Srinagar. Looking back over his shoulder, Hellmantle stopped, lit a smoke and said:

“It looks like this small cement building was built specifically to protect and preserve these three stone markers. It has housed Jesus’ and Thomas’ bones for many years. Isn’t it strange that the relics of two great men who have had such a profound impact on the development of the Western thought would be here under this modest roof somewhere Northwest India? How many people walking down the street are even aware of the remains of these two men – fathers of a major new movement within the tradition of the Old Testament cannon? How can anyone tell what lies inside these in-descript walls?”

“People in Kashmir believe Jesus flies around in the air,” said Ramazon. “So if this is true then He has already found me. And He had got inside me. He is in my heart and mind.”

“And spirit.” Hellmantle nodded at his trusted guide as they mounted their bicycles and rode away from the tombs of Jesus and Thomas.

Ω

Ramazon led them to the local market and to an old mosque built over 1100 years ago, but Hellmantle’s thoughts were on that face with the hollow cheeks and huge curving moustache and the triangular head. A power emitted from the sculpture and its magic still hung in the air around him and in his mind’s eye.

“The Kashmir apple tastes like a candy apple,” Hellmantle said at the market, “And if India is a bouquet, then Kashmir is a rose in it.”

D’Aqs bought a sweater in the local market, but Hellmantle was despondent. He finally spoke thus:

“The two brothers chose to live where Alexander the Great chose to turn around and end his campaign in the East. Only by seeing this place can that have meaning. Truly amazing the twins were together at their death and entry into the afterlife.”

After the bike ride back to the houseboat, the cousins both flaked out on the deck, smoked pipes and thought of the face of Jesus.

“Has Ramazon figured out what the Arabic says on the stone yet?” Hellmantle impatient for answers.

“Abid should know.”

“I’m only schooled to use the Atbash Cipher. I don’t know this Arabic. If we find scrolls I should be able to apply the cipher to breaking the code on the titles of each scroll.” D’Aqs doubted Hellmantle’s claim but said nothing. If the need arose then he could show his specialized knowledge.

Abid arrived with his Geiger and they settled down in the smoking room.

“The Arabic on the stone says ‘Monastery of the Fish,’” he said flatly.

“Monastery!” Hellmantle stood up and walked to the mantelpiece.

“Fish? Are you sure it says that?” D’Aqs was disappointed.

“You must know where that comes from,” Hellmantle incredulous.

“What? From what He said about teaching a man how to fish is better than giving a man a fish?” Hellmantle thought D’Aqs had become physically robust at the cost of mental atrophy.

“The symbol of the early Christians was not a cross; it was a fish.”

“Oh. Yes, I knew that.”

“Where is it?”

“It is north of here,” said Abid. “I asked a friend who knows these things. The Monastery of the Holy Light is maybe two days along the Line of Control.”

“Two days!” Hellmantle opened his maps that showed in detail the grade of the terrain along the disputed border with Pakistan.

“How do we get there to the Monastery of Holy Light?” asked D’Aqs.

“Horseback.”

“Horseback! Of course! Good call.” Hellmantle was now back to his chipper self.

“I know where to get a horse. It’s an old pilgrims trail. It is very old,” said Abid.

“We can put it on the bill?” Hellmantle asked. He nodded in agreement.

“I take you. I get my brother to run this place.”

“Great, we can leave in the morning.”

Chapter 40

Which relates to the agreeable history of the journey north

to the monastery on horseback

150km north of Srinagar, Line of Control, Great Himalayan Range

שׁ

The Himalayan Range tickled the roof of the earth in a jagged maze of rock, peaks unforgiving, white and gray and tanned brown, treeless and sharp, angry and peaceful, untouchable and respected. Life atop the farthest reaches of land, pretty to look at but tough to conquer, Kashmir Valley on a horse was a world unto itself. Like iced teeth of rock, it stood in defiance of gravity in a never-ending grab at the empyrean. Close by was the mountain K2 that was marginally higher than the vast sea of white pinnacles surrounding it in scale of size that dwarfed reality.

Leaving Sonamburg there was another checkpoint where the lieutenants and higher ups were hanging around and checking to see if the checkers checked well enough to pass as checking. Hellmantle and D’Aqs assumed the gait of worn-out trekkers coming back after a religious pilgrimage. When dealing with soldiers at checkpoints, the cousins presented a neutral posture until spoken to, indicating in the subtlest of ways that they were not a threat, and that the Indian civil servant had the upper hand. It was conveyed only in the minutest of fashion, whether it was the movement of an upper lip or a gesture such as removing sunglasses when not asked to, or bowing the head slightly in a submissive posture. But Hellmantle only assumed that posture for a moment, because then the soldier had an open door to abuse his power and apply arbitrary fining on the spot. Hellmantle, seeing it for what it was, thought to himself: the act of conveying respect and backbone puts morality on the table.

To some the cousins were a sight that brought a sincere smile to guards’ faces, not only because they were both wearing wool ponchos, which, with their long beards, reminded the soldiers why they were fighting: to make the mountains safe for their families and for the trekkers around the world to get tourism back on track. But they were also potential threats, military Special Forces in disguise spying and gathering data on the skirmish stalemate between the two countries.

Or they could possibly be religious scholars on mission to find and remove a relic said to be buried somewhere in the vastness of the Himalayan range.

Abid, Hellmantle and D’Aqs rode ten kilometers on horses to a tabletop along a ridge in the mountains roughly 14000 vertical feet, according to Abid’s calculations.

“What the history textbooks or even maps fail to explicate,” said Hellmantle “is how the terrain causes gravity to act stronger here. Each given mile is a fuller distance than across flatlands. Sure the loose rocks and steep climbs are understood to be part of what is involved in crossing mountain ranges, but the heavy gravity – due to the sheer vertical posture of the Himalayas and the thinness of the air – create an uneven playing field when measuring distance on a map.” Moments of struggle to fill lungs with enough air became more acute the farther they ascended. It slowed down the engine of the mind and caused sloppy navigation, and with sloppy navigation came injury.

For Hellmantle, the horseback was slow but compared to walking it was welcomed.

“You know what I didn’t expect?”

“No, what’s that Mister Adventurer?” replied D’Aqs, who was enjoying the scenery.

“To feel tipsy so high up. Thin air aside, I’m relieved to be up here at the top, fully aware of the precipice on either side. I have forgotten to tell you of my fear of heights. I thought I could contain my fear by ignoring it while I balanced on top of a thin windy ridge where any horizontal movement caused me to flirt with a fatal tumble.” Hellmantle paused, looking at the steep grades all around him. “Ironically, the view is so stunning and powerful that it’s enough to cause me to lose my balance.”

“I am out of breath, too.”

He looked at D’Aqs.

“Thought your lungs would be pink as a raw steak.”

“We’re not talking about a hundred or two hundred feet here,” taking more breaths. “We’re talking about being at 14,000 feet above sea level.”

“Well the twins Joshua and Jude must have had pink lungs too so if you’re panting over there then it’s likely they were laboring aussi.”

“Right. You smoke too much. Or it’s time to move back to Canada and take advantage of the fresh air and fresh water. China’s polluted. And Hong Kong is getting worse. All the industrial clouds and crappy water from the factories in Shenzhen are ending up there. It’s a bad situation that will only become worse.”

“Yes, you’re right. I may want to relocate before my lungs become sullied. I mean through the environment. Abuse is rampant because of the lack of environmental laws.” This succeeded in taking his mind away from his fear of heights. For a little while at least.

Once clear of the mountaintop, the mighty sun took over the eastern sky drenching the western slope where they sat. It was all light. Pure sunlight. Everywhere was the richness of warming brightness, at once blinding and soothing.

“Why would they have a monastery so remote?”

“Protection from harassment. And this light must have had something to do with it. With the iced peaks the stronger sun reflects more. So close to God!”

“Joshua must have really loved his twin Jude. Must be a twin thing.”

“Remember, they let the horses do all the work.”

“They had horses and we have horses but also iron horses.”

“Coming here was smart because no one would make this much effort to find them after he faked His death. Oh wait! There’s something I want to read you that I think is rather pungent with meaning. Can you throw me your Bible?” D’Aqs wondered why the man didn’t have his own Book. “Don’t be shy. Throw it.” Not used to riding a horse and misjudging the distance, he threw the Book too short, which caused the Man from Normandy to lean far over, reaching with extended arm, hand open ready to clasp, saddle slipping from the shift in weight. He knew he was going to miss it so he kicked out his right leg and hugged the horse as he slid down on its side and gained another two feet of reach to make a fingertip catch.

Once back postured and balanced Hellmantle spoke thus:

“One must always respect Scriptures in all manners! If that Good Book had fallen to the rocky ground I would have seen it as an act of disrespect for God. That was an act of faith. Dangling by a thread, the horse was my rock. How many peoples would make that effort to prevent the Word of God from smashing and splaying pages and tearing the fabric of the vehicle?”

D’Aqs, mouth agape, found his rhythm on the horse, swaying his hips and holding the reigns like his cousin, considered Hellmantle’s words, taking note that when he had first traveled with him he would not have considered such hyperbole. He knew without a doubt no man could have physically stretched more than what he had just witnessed. Even Ramazon behind them guffawed. If Hellmantle had fallen on the sharp rock, been injured and had witnessed the act of disrespect to God, it would have been his sin, not Hellmantle’s.

“Your catch of the Scriptures was like Abraham proving his faith to God by killing Isaac,” he said to his cousin. “Both were extreme acts showing faith; both proved complete belief in God.”

Ramazon, enjoying the two foreigners in his care, nodded.

“Thank you,” Hellmantle said after a while.

“Well done Mantlepiece.”

Then finding the page he was after Hellmantle spoke thus:

“According to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus was struck on the head with a stick by one of the Roman soldiers in the governor’s palace, when he was wearing a purple robe. They said to Him: ‘You were going to tear down the Temple and build it back up in three days! Save yourself if you are God’s Son. Come on down from the cross!’”

Hellmantle raised the reigns in his hand.

“Then Jesus says: ‘These are the very things I told you about while I was still with you: everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the writings of the prophets, and the Psalms had to come true. That is what is written: the Messiah must suffer and must rise from death three days later, and in his name the message about repentance and the forgiveness of sins must be preached to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And I myself will send upon you what my Father has promised. But you must wait in the city until the power from above comes down upon you.’”

Only the sound on hooves in the silence.

“On the Sunday when Jesus sees his disciples in Galilee, it says: ‘One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (called the Twin), was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ Thomas said to them, ‘Unless I see the scars of the nails in his hands and put my finger on those scars and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’ A week later the disciples were together again indoors, and Thomas was with them. The doors were locked, but Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and look at my hands; then reach out your hand and put it in my side. Stop your doubting, and believe!’”

D’Aqs’ horse snorted.

“And that’s exactly what He did,” said D’Aqs pensively. “He drank the bitter potion and was taken down from the cross the next morning at sunrise.”

“Spirits don’t have bloody holes in their hands.”

“Yes, exactly.” D’Aqs knew his reading of the New Testament would always be different now. A passage like that he could only read and understand in a wider light now – in the light of the Blonde Aquitaine.

“And He says it to Doubting Thomas.”

“I wonder if he knew what Simon the Magi and Jesus were up to?”

“With the magic potion piece.”

“If He had, then Thomas would be acting that scene out for a purpose. But if he hadn’t been told, he probably would’ve reacted the same way.”

“Being an identical twin,” said Hellmantle, tone lower, “I think Jesus would have told Thomas of his ploy with Simon, but I don’t know if he really thought He could pull it off. Think of all the things that could have happened or gone wrong. I always wondered why Jesus didn’t say a thing during His trial with Pontius and the Pharisees. He just stood there and let Himself get burned. There was a moment when He could have left the trial but He just stands there saying nothing so the Pharisees yell out: We want Barabbas! So Pontius gives them a choice and they choose the habitual criminal over a blasphemous rebel inciting revolution and treason to the Old Testament. So to me it was as if He welcomed the crucifixion. But! But if He was going to pull it off, He would have had to do it all the day before the Sabbath.”

“Which He did.”

“He would have needed Simon right there fully cocked to hand him the Valium.”

“The snake venom, which He did.”

“And He would have had to have faith that the Roman soldiers didn’t break His legs.”

“His disciples could have made a ruckus when they came by, saying He’s dead! Leave Him be!”

“Which they did, but still a major risk. His followers knew they could get Him down at sunrise the next day, so they would have needed a place for Him to go.”

“What are the chances of his brother James – or Joseph of Arimathea in history – having a freshly made tomb made at his house?”

“Indeed. And to revive Him the record says it took a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloe to cleanse Him out and revive Him.”

“Aloe is Nature’s cleaner.”

“And then, after riding in on an ass and making a big scene at the synagogue pushing over tables of the moneylenders and merchants, and after preaching with twelve disciples and crowds hanging around with rebellion against the Romans in the air, and after He has the Last Supper knowing Judas Iscariot could be bribed with silver shekels, and has a public trial that causes a stir, He hangs on a cross for less than a day and then leaves Jerusalem to come here.”

“This is about as remote as there is in the world.”

“So He has a well-deserved retirement up here with his twin brother, smokes the local balm and relaxes for the next forty years, knowing He had fulfilled all the prophecies in the Old Testament regarding the Messiah.”

“And what He does is write the Gospel of Thomas to make sure the record is right.”

“They say it was discovered in 1945, but isn’t it conceivable that the Gospel of Thomas is known but is in the Vatican Library in the Top Secret section?”

“Not included in the canon due to all the references to being His twin – too hard to explain the twin thing.”

“And because it emphasizes His untainted message. Nothing about the Trinity or being the Son of God or a virgin birth. You know even in the Quran God says He made us using his semen? Actual word He uses. I think He says it in reaction to this very thing: He’s ticked off Isa the prophet – Jesus – was said to be the Son of God but that Jesus never said it Himself.”

Abid walked in front and they both followed his lead. At 14000 vertical feet, what the history books never mentioned was how tough the terrain was. Loose rocks and steepness, the sheer ruggedness of the Himalayas made him feel small, and with the thinness of the air Hellmantle struggled to breathe. His weakness became more acute the farther they rode.

“There’s no question His message changed,” said D’Aqs, now with authority in his voice. “First with Paul and Nicaea and the creation of a composite religion with Sol Invictus, and then with the Synod of Whitby, when the Celtic Church switched to Roman dogma. When was that?”

“664AD.”

“And then, within about fifty years the Quran is written.”

“Yes.”

“The Celtic Church still had the untainted message from Jesus but they acquiesced for the sake of peace. A shame.”

“And in the Quran it says plainly it is the untouched Message from God and that Mohammed is the last prophet, and the Quran is His last Message. Last Chance.”

“Yes, I recall that from the Islamic scriptures.”

“It makes you wonder.”

“Wonder what?” D’Aqs enjoyed the pause before hearing his answer.

“It makes you wonder if God is here with us and when He witnessed this tremendous fudging by Rome He chose a Prophet and delivered His Message.”

“Except this time he gives it to Abraham’s other son.”

“Ishmael.”

“Not in the West this time but in the East.”

“To unite the East and the West.”

“Yes! To unite the world!”

Ramazon joined Abid in front of the horses, the heat ripping at D’Aqs’ face. Hellmantle kept checking the map he kept under his dark gray poncho, looking for features that matched Dane Hellmantle’s map.

“It is not time that heals all wounds; it’s the sun,” mumbled Hellmantle under his breath. Abid looked back at him and smiled.

It was up on the ridge that Hellmantle recognized the valley in front of them, a row of four peaks on both sides straddling a tabletop of smooth rock. A three-foot stonewall half-crumbled was beside an old fallen building. Something in his stomach seized.

“D’Aqs!” he yelled. He came over with his water bottle in his hand.

“This might be it! There are the four peaks on each side of this gulch with the flatland! And the wall! It must be it!”

“I see!”

Hellmantle took out the map but neither of them needed to look at it.

“It’s as plain as connecting the dots!” There was even a large, flat rock floor that was beside the fallen stone buildings, shown on the map with sharp lines.

“I don’t believe it!”

“That,” said Hellmantle, “is the one feature that makes me think this monastery is beside a pond.”

“That could have been a pond there.” D’Aqs pointed.

“Or it’s always been like that and they marked the rock flat like that. But it doesn’t matter. I think we’ve found it!”

Hellmantle pulled out his compass and took a reading.

“Just as it should be. The valley runs East-West.”

“We are looking at it from the southeast.”

“Even the river runs exactly as they have marked it. See? With the sharp dip here.” Hellmantle first pinpointed the spot on the map and then waved his hand to where there was a waterfall. “Even the treeline is in scale.”

Abid walked over to them.

“Moses,” he said.

“Moses?”

“Moses was here. The grave of Moses is close to here. Eighty miles that way.” Abid pointed northeast. D’Aqs looked at his cousin.

“Moses is buried up here?”

“Who would have ever known?”

“But why up here?”

“Maybe this valley is sacred from the old times? So close to God and all that.” The suggestion distracted Hellmantle, who looked at D’Aqs as if he was seeing a new man.

“But the trail to the graveyard of Moses is closed due to fighting,” Abid said, out of breath, his large stomach hanging over his belt.

“Can’t get there?” D’Aqs was stupefied at how many famous religious men were in such a remote vicinity.

“No, there’s fighting.” Abid was firm. “It is closed.”

“Next thing you’re going to say is that Noah’s Ark is just over that ridge.”

“D’Aqs showing some comedic wit,” said Hellmantle. “They say Noah’s Ark was discovered in 1939 by a Russian pilot flying over Mount Ararat.” Casual like he was commenting on the latest hockey game. They both looked at him.

“No, I’m not going to ask you if you’re serious.”

“The pilot returned to base and reported that he saw a giant boat lodged in the mountainside half-buried in snow. Both the Russians and the British flew planes over the location but couldn’t find it. Said it must’ve been buried by snowfall.” D’Aqs stared at a stray dandelion on the slope sharing its plot with a Gorteel spider.

“And how did they know it was the Ark?”

“Because they said what else could it be?” But Hellmantle was now looking at the map and the land.

“That is the monastery,” said Hellmantle, pointing at the open rock floor.

“Yes. No one is there for a long time,” said Abid.

“Now that we’ve found the ‘X,’ let’s see if we can find the actual piece, shall we?” D’Aqs was breathless at the prospect of finding a relic made by the hand of the Prophet Isa.

Crossing a hill beside a large stream, the freshly melted snow slithered over the rocks from a hundred feet up the slope. Beside the odd piece of ice, the water was turquoise, closer to green than blue. The green hue of the pine needles and the rich green grass reflected its hue as if falling forth but frozen, hunched over the river. The monastery looked close but everything around was so big that it proved to be farther away than expected. Hellmantle led the way on his horse to the compound between the walls of rock.

When they arrived, Hellmantle found a stone hut.

“Where natives live during the summer months,” said Abid. He tied the horses. Here they walked on foot.

The monastery had no buildings left standing except for two main walls of the main stone building that had no roof, but there was vegetation – bark, branches and soil – on top of a slanted roof with wood beams.

“Put there by mountain shepherds probably, who lived here during the warm season.”

Before he was too close, Hellmantle and D’Aqs stopped and read the map again. The “X” on the map identified the east corner of the stone monastery, close to where the mountain stream passed.

“But there is nothing here.” D’Aqs was almost frantic. Only the corner of the wall remained, dismembered stones fallen around it. Some were big and some were small but all were the same old mountain rock. Hellmantle looked back at Abid who was pitching a tent and starting a fire at the huts down the stream.

“It’s right here,” said Hellmantle. “It must be. I refuse to accept that it is not.”

“But it’s just crumbled rock.” The let down in D’Aqs voice was enough to discourage the unbeliever.

“Nah, it must be here. What we’re looking for is here. I don’t think God would give us all this and lead us here only to be let down. Let’s look!” He knelt down and began picking up stones and examining them. Once done he threw them into in a pile.

“These stones are all so worn from the elements that any inscription that might have been left is long gone,” said D’Aqs upon closer inspection of the pile. Then as Hellmantle picked up another stone and underneath it was a bigger stone and it was darker. In fact it was black.

“Look!” Hellmantle walked to the stone flats where he sat down under the afternoon sun. “It’s different. It’s smooth, almost like worn marble.” One side was angled almost like a wedge, as if it had been secured in the corner of the wall purposely. Hellmantle wiped it with his poncho. There in front of his eyes were words.

“It looks like Hebrew! This is it!” On the other end of the angled side was a circular indentation as if someone had carved out the center of the stone.

“You’re right. This is it!” D’Aqs knelt in front of the stone.

“It’s been sitting here for 2000 years. Opening it here with my Swiss Army knife would be irresponsible. So let’s take it back with us and carefully examine it at the houseboat.”

“Is that it though?” D’Aqs took the stone from him and examined it. “It’s over a foot in length. It’s long enough to contain a scroll,” giving the treasure back to Hellmantle, who put it into his knapsack.

“There may be other stones we should be looking for.” D’Aqs didn’t answer because he was busy looking for another black stone.

After hours of looking around the east corner and along the wall, there were no other black stones to be found. After dark, they couldn’t carry out their search so they returned to the horses where Abid had built a fire and had pitched the tent. The remnants of the old monastery were hidden by the night.

Ω

Hellmantle sat across from D’Aqs at the fire giddy with thoughts of what the stones had inscribed on them. But soon the invisible cold became visible as the night air evaporated into a mist lined by the rays of light coming from the dying sun. God’s candle descended the other side of the Himalayan Range and the fire fought to burn the wood on the windy steppe. The icy breezes smashed into the fire producing energy and spirit.

“I made some doughnuts,” said Abid, holding out a small tray of chocolate doughnuts, or at least something that looked like doughnuts.

“What kind of doughnuts are these?”

“Chocolate,” he said.

“I’m so hungry I could eat one of those horses!” Hellmantle grabbed one and ate half of it in one bite.

“Good?” D’Aqs tentative. Took one and ate it in two bites. They both grabbed another.

“Happy you like them,” said Abid. They both ate them quickly due to their hunger, the plate now nearly gone. “Very old recipe. Eggs, flour, oil, a little baking soda and Kashmiri chocolate.”

“Sorry Abid, would you like some of your brownies?” D’Aqs held up the near-empty plate.

“No, no. I made them for you. Finish them.” And that’s what they did. They ate the whole plateful.

Soon Hellmantle couldn’t help pull out the stone from his bag and study it in the firelight.

“Hebrew I think,” said Hellmantle.

“Maybe it says ‘Moses was here.’”

“Or maybe this stone came from Egypt with Moses?”

“Maybe it was Moses’ strong box?”

“Did you know that Moses was the only prophet was that spoken to by God?”

“And the others?”

“The others were given Signs or spoken to by Gabriel. Like in the Quran.”

“But how could Jesus get a scroll in a stone?”

“I’ve been thinking about that and I think he sealed the rolled up papyrus with some sort of waterproof wax.” D’Aqs pointed at the opening to the hollowed out center. “That’s what this is.” There was something that looked like a small layer of wax covering a circular hole in the rock. D’Aqs began to laugh with sheer excitement.

“But wouldn’t the scroll still be at risk? Usually scrolls are found in jars in caves – as per the Dead Sea Scrolls.” Hellmantle started to laugh only because D’Aqs was becoming hysterical. “What?” Even Abid was laughing over near the horses.

“It could be wrapped in an animal bladder or some sort of membrane to keep it dry.” Again D’Aqs was overcome with laughter.

“What?”

“Here we are holding something Jesus wrote that could contain words that could change the way two billion people look at Christianity. I mean that’s not your usual campfire kind of thing isn’t it?”

“I’d say it’s pretty unique.”

“And to think you found it man!” Shaking his head the laugher gushed out like a geyser. “And you were so intent on finding it when no one believed you! And here it is in your hands!” Hellmantle couldn’t understand what was funny. “I mean here we are one-and-a-half kilometers in the sky sitting where Jesus and his twin brother lived for 40 years – the rest of their lives after the crucifixion – and we were the ones who followed the clues and found this thing that had been whispered about for twenty centuries! And there you are holding it in your hand as if it were a baseball or something. I mean look at you!” Hair disheveled and unwashed, beard thick and bleached from the sun, skin bronzed by the wind and light, motorcycle jacket soft and worked in under the wool poncho, motorcycle gloves ripped and barely threaded together and motorcycle boots that were scuffed and creased.

“What?”

“Classic!” D’Aqs’ eyes like peepholes in the snow.

“Good to see you in such good humor man.”

“Well God is watching right now and so am I. Nice one Hellmantle! You really did it against total odds. I mean what were the chances? Even less than a needle in a haystack.”

“Good to know you had such confidence in me.”

“No but that’s the thing.” Laughter dying down. “I did have confidence in you. Not at first in the Philippines, but when you found the map. That was when things turned for me. You know a large part of me didn’t want you to find it.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why? Don’t you know?” Shrugged shoulders. “Because it has assaulted my belief system. Everything I considered firm like bedrock has been ground into pebbles. I mean what am I going to do now? Think about it? Do you honestly think I can go back and preach knowing what I now know?”

“What if it’s a dud?”

“Dud?”

“Yeah, like it doesn’t say anything meaningful.” D’Aqs stroked his chin and thought about that.

“I don’t think it will matter. Put it this way, if it’s signed by Jesus then there’s going to be some damage to me and my career path.”

“Yeah, okay, I can see that. But hey man, it’s better to know the truth than to live under an illusion.”

“I don’t know about that. I’ll get back to you after thinking about it for a bit.”

They both stared into the fire, the ancient flame penetrating deeply into corners of their souls they had never visited before. The profundity of their find hung in the ethers between the corridors of cold rock nudging their imaginations to new heights, their lives forever changed by this event.

“The Quran speaks to the People of the Book,” said Ramazon, holding his Quran high in the air. “Who are Offspring of Ibrahim, or as you know him Abraham.”

“Yes, the People of the Book are the Israelites.”

“Yes. Israelites.” Then Ramazon spoke thus from the Quran:

“And they say: “God has begotten a son:” Glory be to Him- To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and on earth. Everything renders worship to Him.

To Him is due the very origin of the heavens and the earth: When He decides on anything and He says to it: “Be.” And so it becomes.

Those without knowledge say: “Why does God not speak to us? Or why does a Sign not come to us?” The people before them said words of similar nature; Their hearts are alike. We have indeed made clear Signs to any people who hold firmly to Faith (in their hearts).

Surely, We have sent you in truth (Islam) as a bearer of glad news and a Warner but to you no question shall be asked about the (disbelievers and) the companions of the blazing Fire.

The Jews or the Christians will never be satisfied with you (O Prophet,) unless you follow their religion. Say: “The Guidance of God- That is the (only) Guidance.” And if you to follow their desires after the knowledge has reached you, then you would find neither protector nor helper against God.

Those to whom We have sent the Book, study it as it should be studied: They are the ones who believe in it: And for those who reject faith in it, the loss is their own.’”

Hours went by in comfortable silence, the moon appearing in the black sky and the stars glimmering in an infinite blinking of the eyes. The presence of God was on their minds.

“Allah is our God too,” said D’Aqs as he fell into a deep slumber.

Chapter 41

In which Hellmantle returns to Srinagar and finds the first translations of the inscriptions from the black stones

Fish Monastery, near Pakistani border, Kashmir Valley

פֿﭏ

That night Hellmantle has a strange dream in which Jesus appears. This account was discovered in the newly found source of information and is presented here for the first time in the annals of the Norman’s life history. It sheds light on the effect the discovery has on our intrepid explorer and adventurer touched by divine inspiration and unwavering belief in his purpose. Here is the original record of his dream the night he recovered the lost scroll:

I dreamt that nigh that Jesus opened His arms outward to me and from His chest opened what appeared to be a refrigerator door spreading light that swallowed me up. I remember that part because it was as if Jesus was watching all of my dreams last night, so I turned to Him and with His opened arms a warm light washed over me like a warm wind. I cannot recall all the details but I remember seeing Jesus who had the same hair as me including the same type of beard. Then it felt like my jaw had suddenly clicked into joint after 20 years of it being stuck just outside the jaw socket. I took a deep breath that was pure satisfaction as if I had feasted. I was proud as mustard.

Ω

In the morning Hellmantle awoke to the sounds of the wind and the stream and the tumbling of the odd falling rock. He reached a point of cold that caused him such shivering that he thought he might dislocate a shoulder so he got up early, woke D’Aqs and they climbed the ridge to see the sunrise.

The brightness coming from behind the snowy peak affected the homogeneity of the blue horizon, announcing the arrival of the life-giving star. The lone tree on the ridge felt the morning burn first before the valley floor below that still remained in the night’s shadows. A line of light spread toward him on his right, sneaking up to engulf him. It rose and paused, obscuring the clear line of the mountaintop. Then the first rays appeared not as one but as many single rays, and then – in a moment – it became thicker with light so that his face was covered. He turned his eyes to avoid the onslaught of light as if the heart of God was exposed. A feeling of pure goodness welled over him as if a hand of God reached into his soul and flicked on a switch. He felt lit up from the inside as if he too was emitting a divine light.

“As if the eye of God is on me,” he said.

“And it brings warmth – immediate heat – the one thing all living things need the most here,” said his loyal squire.

“God’s presence is the light, His voice is the heat; His message is in what I feel in my spirit when touched by the light – as if I’ve been healed.”

Like a funnel, the sunrays cut through the heatless valley air bridging night and day. The sun peeked over the eastern mountain ridge replacing shadow with light, doubt with surety, ignorance with enlightenment. Slivers of light snuck over the ridge creating a waterfall of light that cascaded over frosted rock. A sunrise in the Himalayas was an experience of timeless memories long forgotten. The first moments of light brought back the realm of possibility, all that was good in life and all that brought joy, as if he were a child again.

“Life is anew. The day is fresh and is being given to me to live well again, a chance to make it the best day ever. It is a gift! Life will not last forever.”

“Only your character lasts for eternity,” D’Aqs replied, philosophical.

“This is the same sunrise that was experienced by Jesus and Thomas and His flock who traveled with Him to Kashmir. Jesus set out to find this heaven on earth before His earthly days came to an end. And this is it.”

Hellmantle was speaking to God.

The birds that were still around on the first day of March began to usher in a new day, awakening the wolves and bears and tigers that lived wild in the area.

“If the locals believe Jesus flies among them, does He still have an earthly presence? And if so, wouldn’t He be here?”

“He must have known that Moses had been buried in the area so it had some important Old Testament history.”

“I suppose it’s fair to say that Thomas, Jesus and Moses all witnessed the wonder of a new day sneaking over the mountaintops up here in the bosom of the Himalayas, like a baptism of light directly from God – a more powerful rite of passage than water on the head by the hand of man.” Hellmantle grabbed his beard and pulled it in thought.

“A baptism of divine light, yes.”

“Up here God chooses you for a moment. It is you and only you who are to be brought out of hibernation and into life. It is your day. This mountain is real and this wind is real. The rays of sun touch my skin are like a soft caress by the hand of Helios.”

There, alone on the ridge, they didn’t want to leave the warming light. Abid and Ramazon were still in the shadows, but D’Aqs, stunned, sunned and quiet, only wanted to sit and let the sun dry up all the things he once regarded as problems.

Ω

Soon breakfast was ready at the fire and the majesty of the sunrise was over. Hellmantle and D’Aqs had tea as Abid prepared for the return to Srinagar.

“I can now understand why the tribe of Gad chose the best land in the mountains. Something about being very safe up here.”

“Gad settled Switzerland, right?”

“They did. Less diseases, safe from invasions, closer to God, clouds so close you can touch them, crisp air. Good water. The full package.”

“So what’s the true story of Joshua and Jude, the real names of Jesus and Thomas?” Hellmantle contemplative and warmed.

“Perhaps it was Thomas’ doubting nature that brought his mission so far?”

“Perhaps a traveler once told him that there existed a land where men call heaven on earth. Thomas probably doubted it until a stranger told him the same thing while he ate dinner in some café in Galilee. So, still wanting to doubt it, Thomas resolved to go see for himself once and for all so he set off for this heaven on earth and ended up here.”

“Word was likely sent back to Jerusalem that his mission was planted in the ancient land of India and that if He was open to journeying to Kashmir that indeed He would find God’s heaven on earth.”

“Right,” Hellmantle agreed. “Knowing of Thomas’ doubting nature, and respecting him for it, the Master is likely to have known of His twin brother’s whereabouts and thus used Thomas’ judgment of the land to be accurate and just.”

It was a rugged land and one that kept them moving until they reached the lush fields in the lower part of the Vale de Kashmir. There was flat land for miles, a lake and countless streams from which to drink and fish. On horseback they arrived in due course safely in Srinagar, but only after having an encounter with an Indian patrol on their way back from the Line of Control.

Both being lost in their own thoughts, Hellmantle and D’Aqs trusted Abid and Ramazon to lead them back down the mountains to the safety of Srinagar but they had become immune to the dangers that surrounded them. Only hours after leaving the long lost monastery where they had found the black stone left by Jesus, they were suddenly surrounded by a patrol of men from the Indian army. They ran down the mountain in an army exercise. The men, sweating and puffing from the thin air, came out of nowhere.

Hellmantle heard the shrill yell from the lieutenant telling them to stop. The dozen well-trained men, clutching their rifles and with a pungent odor that the cousins could smell immediately, looked into the eyes of D’Aqs and Hellmantle with suspicion in their eyes.

“Why are these foreigners here?” asked the lieutenant in Hindi, (later translated to them by Ramazon). Speaking up in a full and powerful voice, Ramazon made sure to show the respect required to these men who were wired on adrenaline from the physical expenditure of their exercises.

“These are my clients who I am guiding along the mountain paths,” he replied, pointing to the cousins.

“This area is under restrictions. No foreigners can be here now. It is dangerous.”

“These are tourists. They are not military men. I can assure you. We have been speaking of the Quran and the Bible for three days,” he said. This didn’t seem to mellow out the man at all. In fact the mention of the Quran made him look more closely at the two foreigners dressed in the local garb. The lieutenant said something loudly to Hellmantle but the Man from Normandy didn’t respond, letting Ramazon reply to the man who was obviously hot under the collar. Hellmantle’s Asperger’s Syndrome gave him the natural faculty to ignore the emotional man, but D’Aqs was brimming with anxiety.

“Sir, these men are returning to the capital and they are not a threat. They pay me and my brother well and we need the money for our families. They are not military and pose no threat. They are religious scholars who are here looking for the gravestone of Moses.”

“Moses’ gravestone is closed to the public.” The man seemed to lose a bit of steam, learning that these two long-haired white men knew of the great secret in these parts pertaining to Moses’ final resting place.

“Yes, they were very disappointed to hear they could not get there, sir.”

“But you knew?” Ramazon bowed his head.

“Yes, we did but we needed the money.” Now, with the lieutenant now in possession of the truth – or a version of the truth – that he could take back to his men, he was now physically showing his disinterest in the two foreigners.

“Don’t come back then. The Line of Control is a very dangerous place.”

“We will heed your advice sir. We will no longer come here to disturb your patrols.”

The dozen soldiers, who encircled the four of them, and who were still breathing hard holding their rifles sweating, looked at their leader who motioned for them to continue with their run along the rugged terrain of the mountains. The lieutenant was silently relieved to let the two religious scholars leave unmolested, because the paperwork would have been very intense. But he didn’t let them leave with a good finger-waving.

Neither Hellmantle or D’Aqs ever knew how close to prison they had been during this collision of forces on the slopes along the border of Pakistan and India in their quest for the religious relic that would change the world. 

Chapter 42

Which concerns the initial deciphering of the discovery at St Claire’s Monastery

and the need to go to the Ganges River

Srinagar, Kashmir Valley, Jammu & Kashmir Province

בֿכֿ

Back on the houseboat, Hellmantle promptly took out the black stone and placed it on the table. He even closed the door to the boat. With his Swiss Army knife on the table, he rubbed his beard and pondered how the stone might fit into the new theory of the story of Jesus.

“His bones being in Srinagar, and thus not in the place where millions believed He is, I think is important. But depending on what this says, it may be a whole different ballgame.” He began to scrape at the hole with his knife.

“Careful soldier. It’s dried mud that flakes off like sand.”

“But there is a wax that has hardened.” He placed the stone between his knees and put some elbow grease into it, applying enough force to remove little bits. When scraped off, the wax was almost translucent as if a type of amber.

“You can see through the flakes.” Hellmantle worked the knife into the hole over an inch wide when the knife penetrated the wax.

“It’s open!” he said. Hellmantle drank his Elephant beer in an effort to calm his nerves at the task at hand, and then used the hole to pry it open, bending his knife a few degrees in the process. But a large chunk of the wax flung out of the hole. He fingered it.

It was dry!

“Yes! I can feel something. It feels like…soft leather.” He used his fingernails to clean around the hole and then placed the black stone on the table again.

“You ready padre?” he said to D’Aqs, opening another Elephant beer. Hellmantle leaned back to operate. Reaching in the hole he couldn’t get a good grip.

“Wait, let me use this.” He pulled out the tweezers in his Swiss Army knife. This time he was able to get a firm grip. He slowly pulled out an animal membrane weighted with something inside it.

“What is that?”

“Some sort of membrane I think.” Hellmantle was laughing. “It’s brittle, but the membrane has dried.” It slipped off without friction.

“It’s a…; it’s a scroll!”

Hellmantle was now laughing hard.

“It has been preserved somehow but I’m afraid I will tear it because I’m laughing too hard.”

“Then stop laughing. Calm yourself with the beer,” said D’Aqs, knowing how the man operates after their adventures together.

“I can’t help it.” He placed the rolled scroll on the table and they both stared at it. Hellmantle breathed deeply. Some small petals of a flower were on the tabletop beside the papyrus.

“Preservatives I bet.”

“My heart is beating like a race horse,” said Hellmantle. “And it’s still March 1st. It’s all so…; so destined.”

“It looks fragile.”

“It’s made on papyrus. I can’t believe how durable this stuff is! Umm, this is a scroll from Jesus the Prophet, man.” More laughter came like he had turned into a child again.

“Okay then, let’s read it as if it’s not such a big deal. If we regard it as a divine piece, then we’ll never open it.”

“You’re right.” Hellmantle staring at it, eyes wide open.

“I am right.”

“Or we could look at it as just another treasure found in the pursuit of truth? It all depends on how you look at it.” Hellmantle’s laughter balanced out. “Employing divine grace to have found it has been a holy affair.”

“I can see writing,” said D’Aqs. They looked closer and saw handwriting.

“Let me see if I can open the first page,” taking the top corner between his fingertips. “It’s thin, much thinner than the map.” He unraveled it slowly. The papyrus creaked but didn’t break.

“What language is it?”

“Looks like Aramaic again but a little different. With some elaborate swirls in the handwriting. Let’s get Abid.”

“I’ll get him,” D’Aqs offered.

When he was gone, Hellmantle started to think about the enormity of what he was faced with: the words of Jesus published in the 21st century. Would it match the words of Mohammad in the Quran? Would it be the same message, both men being equal under God’s eyes, both being prophets and spokesmen for God’s will, both kneeling before God, everyone’s one God, uniting mankind and beginning a new point of worship in a one-world religion?

Again Hellmantle spoke directly to God:

“And the greatest discovery will be that the words of Jesus match verbatim mutual parts of the Quran and the Old Testament. And the descendants of Judah too: they should unite under Jesus’ words in the scroll because they are part of the royal bloodline of King David and King Solomon. It is a common brotherhood.”

D’Aqs returned. Abid’s eyes were red as ochre. Hellmantle had put the black stone under the table so he didn’t know where the scroll had come from.

“Abid, we need to see a holy man,” he said. Abid eyed the membrane and the scroll on the table.

“Holy man? You mean Christian?”

“No. What I mean is we need to find a holy man who knows languages and about religious history.” Abid looked at the scroll again.

“What is this?” 

“It’s a document we have. We’re researchers.” His eyes believed us but Abid’s curiosity wanted to doubt it. He reached for the scroll.

“Easy with that cowboy,” said Hellmantle. “We think it’s written in Aramaic.” Abid took the scroll into his hands.

“It’s a valuable piece.”

“What does it say?” Abid ran his finger along the first line.

“It’s ancient Aramaic. I know it.”

“Read it!”

“It says ‘Joshua the Prophet.’”

The hair on the back of Hellmantle’s neck stood on end. D’Aqs could hear the water licking the side of the boat and felt the water under the wood. Moisture seeped into the marrow of his shinbones and up his femurs. It chilled D’Aqs but sweat appeared on his forehead and upper lip.

Abid held it out wider to read, but he could only open it halfway before he feared the paper would crack.

“Yes, I can see. It is written in old Arabic. No, I cannot read. I can read ‘Joshua’ and ‘prophet’ because these are known old words in the language still used today that I see as a religious man in India. If you know something about religion then you would know these words. But the rest-“

“You can’t read?”

“No. The only place you can find such a man is at the Ganges.”

“Of course!” said Hellmantle. “The mighty Ganges! Where else would there be a holy man in India? I must have sunstroke. Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Is there a particular holy spot along the Ganges?”

“Varanasi is famous,” Abid replied, “but it is dirty there. There is Haridwar, where there are many holy men. It is good because the water is clean. Very close to the mountains.”

“Oh, I don’t know if I want to deal with Varanasi,” said Hellmantle. “Haridwar is clean and north of Delhi. We should go there.”

“The water is clean from the Himalayas. It is mountain water, but it’s cold.”

“Have you ever taken a dip in the Ganges, Abid?” His eyes opened wider and a lazy pride heavied his eyelids.

“Yes, I have cleansed there. It was very good. I go when I can go. It is medicine for the soul we say.” Hellmantle located Haridwar on the map.

“Yes, I see it. Right on the Ganges, yes.”

“If we want to go to the Ganges, then we’ll need to fly back to Delhi,” said Hellmantle.

“Well I don’t really think I want to endure another long bus ride.”

“All right. Let’s go to the mighty Ganges.” Abid nodded.

“I will arrange for it,” he said. He stood up to leave but stopped, and then spoke to the cousins:

“Mr. Hellmantle,” he said, now a bit serious. “You know Thomas was known as ‘Judas Thomas’ here in Kashmir?”

“Judas, yes: the brother of Jesus. Perhaps also known as The Beloved Disciple.”

“Thomas is a Bible name but many of the old people speak about Jesus and Judas here.”

“Interesting. In The Acts of Thomas, Jesus appeared in front of a young man, and the young man sees Jesus in the likeness of the Apostle Judas Thomas.” Hellmantle assumed a mocking posture of a preacher:

“And ’The Lord says to him: ‘I am not Judas who is also Thomas, I am his brother.’”

Chapter 43

About Hellmantle of Normandy’s meeting with the holy man

after taking a dip in the Ganges River

Haridwar, the Ganges River, Uttaranchal Province

תּוֹ

During the ride to Haridwar in a rented jeep, D’Aqs thoughts kept drifting back to the dream he had had last night. All night he dreamed in a rapid fire of scenarios and situations, and realized in the twilight between dreams and semi-consciousness that he wasn’t only dreaming from the perspective of himself but also from the perspective of Hellmantle and his father. Never before had he dreamt from a multi-perspectival viewpoint. All three of them looked out upon D’Aqs’ dreamscape thinking the same thoughts. He wasn’t surprised that Hellmantle shared the same perspective, but with his father it was odd. In one of the dreams he found Hellmantle at the end of a long struggle and there he was holding the scrolls safely in his hands.

During the ride he confessed his dream to Hellmantle. His reaction was concise.

“Do you know what it means?” Hellmantle asked him, a smile curving at the edges of his mouth. He didn’t know he really wanted to hear what he thought but he had to find the meaning of such an unusual and vivid and arresting dream.

“No, I can’t figure it out.”

“Well, as I see it, you have come to see things from our perspective. You have experienced firsthand these hidden truths of the New Testament and come to regard it all as substantive truth. Therefore the sharing of three points of view in three peoples confirms that you have indeed grown and changed.” That was what he was afraid of. It meant there was no turning back to his life as a preacher of the gospels – that he no longer fully believed in with his heart. In effect, he was now out of a job.

“I can’t lie to you,” he replied. “That’s what I thought it might mean. I’ve changed my beliefs after all our adventures, grown maybe but it means I cannot go back to my life as a minister.”

“Yes, you’re out of a job.”

“Don’t beat around the bush!”

“I think you know me well enough now that I never beat around the bush.”

But for D’Aqs, the directness of his words was like the removal of a thorn in his paw; a sliver that had started to fester that needed to be pulled out with sharp, pointed tweezers. There was relief in this revelation for he could now move forward to a new life: one that was no longer hampered by inconsistent dogma, which he now knew had been fudged by Rome.

They rode the rest of the way to the Ganges, but when they arrived Hellmantle had one more thing to say, and he spoke thus:

“My cousin Grosseteste, do not be saddened by this change in you for you have been blessed by your open-mindedness and your willingness to say ‘yes’ to these adventures. You have evolved My Son and now have the future open to you to do what is in your heart. That is your task; that is what you now need to find out. Listen to the new murmurings in your heart and follow your intuition because there is no wrong when a man evolves as you have. There can only be good in it. Opportunities will present themselves to you and you will open one of these doors and step through to a new world and a new life. I can only envy how you have come into your own and now have a firmer foundation from which to govern your new life.”

There was nothing for him to say for he knew what had to be done and the Ganges was the perfect place to start anew.

Ω

They finally reached the swift flowing Ganges River just as it gained momentum falling from the melted snow tops of the Himalayan chink. Hellmantle knew they were at the ‘Gateway to God’ when he saw the monastery on the hill overlooking an old colonial clock tower by a shrine on the riverbank where holy men sat cross-legged with long white beards.

When the three of them crossed the bridge to the holy shrine and the dipping area around the old tower, they had encountered their first leper. There were many sitting in small groups on the bridge leaning against the railing and selling wares. All of the men wore their beards long and white. The holy men sat among the sick with their backs straight and limbs as thin as chopsticks. Most were shirtless and some were decorated with the red and yellow coloring that signified enlightenment and cleanliness of spirit.

“Hellmantle, sir” said Abid, stopping. “I go eat while you clean, OK?” Abid, the son of an Indian military officer, could no longer ignore the pains in his stomach. He was a big man who needed to constantly fuel. Leaving them Abid hurried off to a café below the monastery at the top of the escarpment. He was feeling hungry after skipping lunch so his passengers would have more time at the sacred river.

When Abid turned on his heel to satiate his hunger, Hellmantle saw a line of ascetics sitting contentedly by the water in the classic Asian squat. Some had made a spot on the water’s edge their own. No possessions save a cup and cloak that doubled as their bed blanket. Haridwar, already several thousand feet above sea level, when the sun dropped behind the surrounding mountains, even the holiest men needed a cloak.

Holding their metal cups, they drank steaming sweetened tea.

With Abid at the café, a strong mixture of thrill and panic coursed through Hellmantle’s heart because he was new to this world. Past the venders selling jewelry and empty plastic bottles, he and D’Aqs stepped onto the platform beside the fast-moving Ganges River. It was here where the British had left their mark with a classic single turret showing the world the time in the empire with long skinny black arrows pointing to Roman numerals. But what first caught Hellmantle’s attention was not the number of stalls along the water or the number of people who were bathing in the sacred river, but the size and swiftness of the Ganges River itself. It was a powerful flow. The holy waters moved with purpose. It was a flow with divine purpose from the mountains that touched the clouds.

Chains lined the manmade platform that had been built on the side of the river for pilgrims to dip without being swept away by the current. A flowing narrow channel went between the British bell tower and the natural shore of high rock. The water was fast so they had funneled part of the river inside a pontoon, where older women and children could bath. After the narrow mouth of the channel widened, the current waned and there was a manmade eddy where builders had indented part of the shore. This was where the young and old bathed, where the eddy was safest.

But it was on the other side of this pontoon where Hellmantle and D’Aqs stood and watched the white-bearded men dip into the dangerous open waters in the fleetest part of the Ganges. Hellmantle noticed an old holy man with flowing hair and a long white beard watching them, but the look on the old man’s face was not derision or suspicion or cynicism but one of wonder and joy and implicit respect. He wore only a small loincloth, without shoes or socks or shirt or robe. Cross-legged, he leaned his back straight against a pole beside the bell tower. The eye contact was brief but warm, with a hint of communication that Hellmantle couldn’t put his finger on.

Then the old white-haired holy man rose slowly, patiently, showing his emaciated slimness and the yellow markings on his body. He walked as slow as molasses towards the water where he and D’Aqs were watching him. The old man looked straight ahead at the water but they both could see the half smile on his face. Hellmantle knew that the holy man could see him through the corner of his eye.

Slowly the man with the long white beard stepped into the rushing water, and then took another step, and then another, downward, holding a metal chain until the water raced past his waist. Still keeping Hellmantle in the corner of his eye, he turned toward the current with his half smile and neatly dipped under the water submerging his body completely. He was only under the surface for a few seconds, when he emerged with the poise of a veteran that could only be seen as holy. He again submerged himself into the river with only his tooth of an arm still visible, clinging to the metal chain. He surfaced a second time with the same holy aplomb, and then plunged a third time in the same manner. No one seemed to take notice of him except Hellmantle and D’Aqs, who were his audience.

The man with the white beard stepped up the concrete steps onto the pontoon where he returned to his spot by the bell tower. The half-smile had blossomed into a full smile but with his mouth still closed. Again Hellmantle was sure that the holy man kept his eye on him out of the corner of his eye. A minute passed by while Hellmantle pondered and observed, savored and wondered. Then, in a sudden burst, Hellmantle approached the Ganges, removed his clothes save his boxer shorts, and stepped into the cold water step by step, and grabbing hold of the metal chain just as the holy man had done.

At first he was in shock at how cold the water was, but looking up to the horizon at the Himalayas, he saw why. He could see the snow on the mountaintops and he felt the ice in the water.

He wavered for a moment and then looked over to the holy man with the long white beard and full head of long white hair. Seeing that he was still looking at Hellmantle, he faced the flowing river and held on to the chain, and just as the old man did, submerged his entire body in the ice-cold river. Without making too much of a splash, he rose up slowly and immediately experienced the cool rush of his skin burning from the holy mountain water under the hot Indian sun. His spirit swelled as if percolating towards Great Hall in the Sky.

He knew God was present.

Now feeling the eyes of the holy man watching his white skinned body reacting to his first dip in the Ganges, Hellmantle slowly descended under the water’s surface again, going completely under but with his right arm holding the chain, just as the old man had done. He did it a third time like his holy teacher had shown him, and then he stood there in the Ganges waist deep for a moment letting the medicine water heal him. Fatigue brought forth emotional truth, and the mirth was palpable, as bodies immersed into the holy stream, regenerating the spirit. Ills and omens washed away by the pilgrimage and by the belief in the holiness of the Ganges River.

Even lepers sat by hoping for the miracle of life to cure their affliction, bathing in the waters like all others.

As per the existing dynamic between them, it was Hellmantle who lead first and D’Aqs who followed however just as he was about to disrobe and cleanse in the holy river a leper approached him holding a bucket in his hand with no fingers. The leper asked him for money but D’Aqs didn’t want to touch him or the bucket. Wanting to be left alone and unhindered beside the river, the leper demanded money by moving closer and closer to him forcing him to move away. The leper followed him, invading his personal space. D’Aqs very kindly said he was sorry but he wouldn’t give him money, but the leper stepped still closer to him, which forced D’Aqs to the water’s edge. D’Aqs couldn’t do anything but repeat the word “sorry” as he tried to walk forward but the leper kept crowding him so he turned around the other way and walked to the inner part of the platform around the man with leprosy to return to where Hellmantle dripped with holy water near the holy man.

“Made a new friend I see.” Abid, who had come back from the café on the hill, laughed.

“I can’t-.“ D’Aqs felt bad about the situation because he knew he was a compassionate man. He was just afraid of lepers.

“Here,” said Hellmantle. He gave a few rupees to the leper. The relief was almost quantifiable. The leper thanked Hellmantle by patting his shoulder with his fingerless hand and walked away.

“Thanks Hellmantle. I just couldn’t-“

“I understand. The water’s great. It’s time.” There were tremendous forces working on D’Aqs at that moment and he could see the struggle going through his mind. “It’s a spiritual rebirth. You’ll feel better. Overcome your fears. Only then can you have true freedom. The water comes from the heavens up there.” He pointed up to the Himalayas lost in the clouds. “Trust me.”

“I trust you,” he replied. “You’re right. It is my need for a spiritual rebirth that has lured me here to the Ganges. That’s what has brought me from the Himalayas to the river’s edge.” So the ex-missionary proceeded to strip down to his jockeys and undergo the same immersion three times as the holy man showed them.

As D’Aqs was reborn, Hellmantle spoke thus:

“Nowhere else have I ever felt such deep belief as I do standing here bathing in the Ganges, watching the joy in people’s faces. That is what I am feeling: joy. Just as the holy man is.”

Hellmantle then saw the holy man painting his forehead with a bright yellow paint.

“I see a holy man,” said Abid. He looked at Hellmantle and then at the man with the white beard. His body was now completely marked by the yellow markings.

“It is from this holy man in a loincloth who gave me the Ganges River dipping technique – the key to undergo the ancient Aryan rite of spiritual rebirth.” Abid smiled.

D’Aqs returned from his new baptism.

“Yes,” said Abid. “He is a holy man.”

Then, looking at D’Aqs, Hellmantle said:

“He’s the one who showed me how to cleanse in the mighty waters.” Abid walked to him and bowed respectfully, and they spoke in Hindi. The old man listened, eyes glistening in the sun. There was an urn behind the holy man where ashes could be seen around its mouth.

“Do you have the scroll?” asked Abid. Hellmantle removed the scroll from his breast pocket in his shirt and took off the membrane. Walking towards him, Abid sat beside the holy man and then gestured that Hellmantle and D’Aqs should sit with him. They all sat around the thin man with the long white beard and Hellmantle handed him the scroll.

He studied the writing carefully.

“Can he read it?” he asked, impatiently. There were more lepers in the vicinity who were targeting D’Aqs for more money. Abid spoke some more Hindi.

“Yes, he can.” The old man now opened the scroll more, and then he read it aloud in a bold and clear voice. Abid translated after every sentence the following ancient scripture:

The Thirteen Principles Lie Herein

These are the Thirteen Principles of Man as handed down from Joshua the Nazarene, twin of Jude Thomas, as written here in Kashmir in the 22nd year after the crucifixion in the Holy Land.

1. The essence of the creator is our essence,

Are you not the same essence from whence the fire came?

2. Harnessing divinity is man’s special identity in the universe,

Let the spirit show the sacred geometry of self within.

3. Positive sentience is the sign of evolution in man,

Living from the heart is the sacred way.

4. Negative energy is a karmic boomerang that bites,

We live for eternity with everyone we meet.

5. The candle is thy body,

The fire that burns in the candle is thy spirit.

6. All flames burn alike,

Join them to make the light of mankind brighter.

7. Honor the spirits of your ancestors,

Through acting respectfully on behalf of them.

8. To help another is to help oneself,

To do harm to another is to do harm to yourself.

9. Let your spiritual flame rest in your heart,

We alone judge our soul.

10. To disrespect another is to disrespect yourself,

Without respect there can be no harmony.

11. Each man is a fragment of God,

Like his sprit he is immortal.

12. Spirit is a conduit to the divine flame,

The purpose of life is to honor the creator’s gifts.

13. Without genuineness & sincerity there can be no true self,

Let intention be driven by the goodness of spirit.

Recorded by the twins Joshua & Jude the Nazarenes

When the old man with the white beard stopped speaking, Hellmantle looked at D’Aqs and then away at the river where he saw a half-sunken ship that was grounded right in the middle of the strong center current. Its mast stuck out of the water and the big white statue of the Hindu God Vishnu was near it. The Himalayan Mountains enclosed and protected it.

A man approached him with cups and a kettle in his hands.

“Yes please,” he said to the man with the tea. He took the cup in both hands after paying the man, and made sure the holy man, D’Aqs and Abid also got a cup.

It was only after D’Aqs had heard the scrolls translated that he finally believed.

“Ah, Doubting Thomas. Prolonged doubter, but skeptic no longer. I can see the words of Joshua have found purchase in thy heart.”

“The dip was my purification and now these words fill me with purpose and insight into our collective humanity,” he said. He made the Blonde Aquitaine cross on his heart and gave a wink with the left eye.

“Purification. Hmm, yes. That reminds me.” He went to the rake-thin Holy Man where Abid stood.

“Abid, this is a Holy Man of great wisdom, yes?”

“He is Hellmantle.”

“Can you ask him a question for me: Is there an afterlife?”

“There is Hellmantle. You do not believe?”

“It’s not that I don’t believe. I wish to hear this man’s wisdom on the matter. Please ask him, and if he says yes, then ask him: What is it?” Abid considered it and then saw what he was after. With a light step he asked the Holy Man the question for Hellmantle.

Hellmantle stood in front and watched his reaction. Without speaking the Holy Man looked at Hellmantle and nodded. And then he spoke thus in Hindi:

“The cycle of life is like a river,” he said, pointing to the Ganges. “A man’s soul never dies; it is timeless. The soul stays but we cannot see it because there is no body or space, only one dimension: time. With senses like eyes or ears, a soul can only feel the emotions from the chi that runs through us starting in our heart. This is why one must keep love in their heart. If you are a good person, souls who love you will want to be with you, and will protect you through exuding an emotion that you can sense if you’re are open to hearing.” The Holy Man stood up and put his hand on Hellmantle’s right shoulder. “You have lost someone and care he still exists. Calm yourself young man. Calm. Take a deep breath like me.” The slowest breath he had ever witnessed was difficult to copy. “Now, feel the tingling in your arms and legs. That is the chi energy a soul can feel. Keep that chi abundant and good things will happen. It will make your friend’s soul smile.”

“My identical brother died twenty-seven years ago and I want to know if he is still around and if I will ever see him.” Abid translated, interest piqued.

“My Son,” he said. The Holy Man’s slow smile revealed two teeth but his eyes grew in intensity, the brown iris swamped with a powerful light. “Twins forever remain together through eternity. You will never lose your brother. He is waiting for you to shed your earthly vessel so you will join him in the one-dimensional afterlife where you will be bound together in unison with the love you both feel, entwined as one like you were in your mother’s womb. Just as you had an innate understanding of each other here in this life, you will again have that in another time when you will be born as twins again. You will have another journey together, laugh and share the love of life you had before.” He stepped closer. “And I see in your eye mischief. Take comfort young man that that mischief will again be shared with your twin brother. This is the way of life. The afterlife is a mystery to us but not to them. Your brother is here.” He waved his hand above their heads.

“Thank you very much Holy Man,” he said, but he did not let go of his shoulder.

“You have purified your sins in the Ganges. Please come with me so that you can cleanse the sins of your twin brother. It is a Holy River with water from the highest place on earth. Do it for him.” They walked to the river, Hellmantle disrobed and they stepped into the cold water not saying a word. In unison they submerged their bodies three times, his heart full of love and sadness for Rheine.

Once done and dripping, they went back to Abid and D’Aqs where water fell into his eyes and mixed with the tears overflowing from his eyes, his heart never so full of love and warmth knowing Rheine was there with him.

And always would be.

The Holy Man beamed with happiness at the transformation of the tall young man in front of him. Like an ethereal spirit himself, the Holy Man felt the happiness spilling forth into the ethers like a magnet for the countless souls swirling around the Ganges River.

Chapter 44

About Hellmantle of Normandy’s meeting at Jack Grosseteste’s place

with D’Aqs and Catharine the artist from Sagada

Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China 2012

רּשּ

Hellmantle’s boots were still muddy from the trip in India but he didn’t seem to notice as a puddle of dried dirt grew on the floor below him. He looked at the beautiful eyes of D’Aqs new fiancé, the same Catharine they had found in the mountains of Sagada in the Philippines.

“So what can we deduce from the trip, son?” asked Jack Grosseteste, sipping a large mug of Jasmine tea. D’Aqs, cheeks ruddy and holding Catharine’s hand, mulled the question.

“I suppose we could deduce most Europeans are lost Israelites and because of that we used to practice the laws of the Torah, like not eating pork and not working on the Sabbath, which should be Saturday, not Sunday. And we could deduce we used to speak Hebrew before we lost our fidelity to our Hebrew ways when living in the Caucuses.” He stroked his full-grown brown beard and continued to speak thus:

“And now I can understand Hellmantle’s interest in the Lost Tribes and the importance of chivalry.” Hellmantle awkwardly glanced at Catharine and bowed his head.

“I am yours, M’Lady.” She brined at the eccentric cousin.

“And I can now understand why the Vatican hid Jude Thomas from being Jesus’ twin brother. It would be too difficult to rationalize two Sons of God.”

“But if they hadn’t voted that into existence at the Council of Nicaea then maybe they might have included it.” Hellmantle and his uncle enjoyed the thick blue smoke from their cigars after the meal, Hellmantle smoking with zeal and nodding after every puff.

“Good point Hellmantle,” replied D’Aqs, having learned the best way to keep Hellmantle happy was to acknowledge every hit he made to the canon of Jesus’ real story.

“One can see how Saul-Paul’s efforts to promote early Christianity went to distance it on the more important aspects of Jesus’ Mission, and how the New Testament could have been…been better put together, if they had for example included the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary.” Catharine the painter squeezed her fiancé’s hand, showing a smile with a flush of rose hue.

“One could further deduce that descendants of the bloodline of Jesus would want to keep that knowledge alive but also wonder why the Papacy would have, at some point in history, embraced the bloodline and installed a Merovingian as Pope? Thereby truly having a holy kingship on Earth.” Nods from his father, proud behind the smoke.

“A lot of work, rescinding the virgin birth and there was already bad blood after King Dagobert’s death.”

“So in that way it’s unfortunate how events truly unfolded.” When D’Aqs said ‘truly’ he looked meaningfully at his cousin, lips still chapped from India.

“And an objective observer can deduce I think mainly from those two passages after the crucifixion when Jesus tells his disciples he’s hungry that Jesus acted out the martyring to fulfill the prophecies of the Messiah – one who would have to be of the Royal Line, which Jesus was from.

“And I think for me and how I want all this other information to affect the way I see Christianity now is how all of this gives more understanding why there was a Protestant Reformation, since I cannot believe that the religious men in Britain didn’t know about Tara and the red rampant lion through Jeremiah, which is really a beautiful piece of literature in history.” Nodded at Hellmantle, a ring of red wine stained around the ends of his upper lip.

“And from deducing from the factual data,” he went on, “we know as brothers of the Blonde Aquitaine and students interested in history, it is plain to see the logic of how the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel came to be known as the Ten Lost Tribes after nearly a thousand years living in the Caucuses in mild servitude to a foreign culture – prized booty from their exploits in Palestine. Ways of the Hebrew laws are forgotten and the White Scythians assume new identities as Celts, Scandinavians, Gauls, Franks and Saxons. And by virtue of having the unicorn as one of the two big symbols on the British coat-of-arms, it’s a confirmation of the uniting of the unicorn House of Israel and the Lion House of Judah.”

“And in this age of the Internet and information exchange,” said Catharine, happy to be part of the family, “now is the time this real histoire is known to the world.”

“My Fair Lass,” said Hellmantle, still not sure if his woman Catharine was holding D’Aqs’ hand as a show of selflessness to him, or whether the rumor he had heard of their engagement was to allow him to be uninfringed by marital duties so he could continue to go forth and contribute to the emerging canon. When D’Aqs gave his cousin a penetrating look to try to confirm Catharine was his fiancé and not his fair lass, Hellmantle took it as a cue for him to let out his gunny bag of deductions since he was the obvious hero of their sally.

“One might be able to deduce from the empirical data thus far tabulated that in due course most of the world will become followers of the Quran, not as Muslims per se but as Israelites returning to the fold of the untainted message. But in the same vein of deduction, these Israelite followers of the Quran would also adhere to the first five books of the Old Testament and follow the laws proscribed to them through Moses. With a caveat that the Merovingian beliefs would be welcomed into this new uniting canon of this inclusive religion. The end result is a truer representation of God’s message, as per the Thirteen Principles.”

“Very tall order nephew,” said Jack Grosseteste. “Already fissures exist between these peoples that might not heal. Historical inertia comes into play.”

“Concur with the historical inertia piece uncle Grosjean, but what is the other alternative? Create yet another religion? Sure, I am great and have many abilities as a Merovingian, however being a Prophet might be a tad out of my league!” Jack Grosseteste’s laughter boomed.

“Good to hear you say that Hellmantle. Good to hear.”

“Yes, I would concur with Hellmantle that by selecting the parts of the aggregate canon in existence a true follower of the one God can be achieved.”

“And now included are the Thirteen Principles – The Untainted Biggie!”

“Yes,” said Uncle Jack Grosseteste.

“Here’s to the Untainted Biggie.” Catharine the artist couldn’t suppress her laughter at Hellmantle’s nonchalant delivery. For a moment D’Aqs thought he had heard Hellmantle slip: “To the Untainted Bugger!” The faint hue of red on his cheek bespoke a noted miscue under the divine eye of God, but under Hellmantle’s breath came the corrected words for the toast, and then the words: “With respect.”

For a moment there was a feeling of closure, of achievement – of a loose end finally being tied up. Hellmantle had persevered and had found the missing piece to the Gospels. He would now work to introduce it into the canon of Christian thought – or of religious thought in an effort to unite all peoples of the world under the pure message from God.

Here the author must end the tale for there is nothing more to say. If God looks out for saints and fools, then the Great Hellmantle, pious and plucky, eccentric yet sincere and never with any guile, had gone to extremes to expose the truth that Jesus lived and died with his identical twin brother Didymus “Jude” Thomas in northern India. It doesn’t change the beauty and pure strength of the Gospels; it only sheds more light on the life of the man who defined a millennium and brought the Ten Lost Tribes of the House of Israel together again with the House of Judah and with the entire world. It is not so much what Hellmantle did that matters; it’s whether we found little gaps of insight into the explorer’s mind where time pauses for sweat and will and yet where so few go. It is an achievement and a cause. The deeper the truth goes, the wider the uncrossable moat between man and man becomes. In the words of the Man from Normandy: ‘It is an accepted cost for one who wants one’s life to be worthy of his time and to become a deep-sea diver in an ocean of shallow swimmers.’

Most of all, for all his faults, Hellmantle was original. And perhaps that’s why all this came to be. He chose the motorcycle as a means of exploring and as a pen of illustration. It is simply the best means for the truest and the toughest. And that I, D’Aqs Grosseteste, writer of this actual account, leave it to you, the reader, to determine the extremism of his purpose, for surely no man has attempted such a feat in such a short time and in such a manner. The haze by the bury creek takes on the wind of God, wrinkles into a loneliness of being, where the others’ eyes never asks the question so the story is never told. He would cross a country over the mountaintops on his motorcycle and come back on the same day and never mention it unless asked. This is the philosopher’s mystery. This is the Great Quiet of those few men who, through the sheer mileage of the true seeker, dismember themselves from the tribe of the acceptable.

THE END

About the Author

Peter Higgins was born in Vancouver but grew up in Toronto, graduating from Queen’s University in 1990 and then with a master’s degree from the University of Hong Kong in 2004. Mr. Higgins worked as a professional writer in Taiwan, the Philippines and Hong Kong for ten years before he returned to Canada to write. He currently lives with his family on Manitoulin Island, Ontario Canada.

Note about the Death of Thomas

Hellmantle remarked about Jesus’s twin brother Thomas: “Well, being a man of some education, there are two stories explaining the death of Thomas. One says that he was killed with a spear from the orders of a pagan priest, but another story suggests that he was praying when he died. The story goes that he was praying at the place now known as Sao Thomé where peacocks hid him from sight of nearby hunters. Thomas was struck with an arrow flung by one of the hunters and died as he prayed. Portuguese legend supports this. In 1523 Portuguese seamen discovered the relics of Thomas in Sao Thomé and took them back to Portugal.

Editor’s Note

In Hellmantle’s notes we found the following curious recollection of history events. It sheds light on the degree of influence his Asperger’s Syndrome had on the man.

The Hall of Fame for Catholic Atrocities over Two Millennia

Burning the Knights Templar and their leaser Jacques de Molay at the stake in 1310 in France so they didn’t have to pay their bill.

Massacring the Cathars on the southeast coast of Spain for their flourishing culture and cult of Gnosticism.

The Thirty-Years War that saw one in three Europeans die from religious persecution.

The Spanish Inquisition to oust Jews and non-Christians from the once-controlled Iberian Peninsula of the Moors.

The Assassination of Dagobert the Third and extinction of the Merovingian line of Kings in France

The Salem Witch Hunt in the Thirteen Colonies burning witches for deviation from the Gospels.

Hellmantle’s Chronology of Historical Events

Ω

Ca. 30,000BC: Historians cannot explain the leap in the human species, evolving from homo sapiens to homo sapiens sapiens, believing man’s physiology had taken a giant step forward

Ca. 12000BC: The last Ice Age ends

6500BC: Beginning of civilization in Sumer, Tigress-Euphrates-River delta, a culture curiously advanced for its time on the world stage, with a spiritual belief system acknowledging Gods not from earth and worshipping Lilith: the first human

3600BC: Ancient Egypt blossoms into a civilization displaying advanced engineering skills, firm belief in the afterlife, and knowledge of the stars incongruous with its historical zeitgeist. Games such as chess and playing cards came from Egyptian ingenuity

1850BC: Abraham born in Sur, modern-day Iraq

1813BC: God speaks to Abraham, asking him to prove his faith when asked to kill his son Isaac. Just before Abraham is about to slay his child, God intervenes and is satisfied with the faith and fervor of Abraham thus making him the forefather of a nation through whom all the families of the earth would be blessed

1782BC: Jacob is Isaac’s son and chosen by God as the father of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, with Jacob prophesizing the fate of each tribe

1633BC: Hebrews conquered and taken to Babylon

1583BC: Released from Babylonian captivity, Old Testament started, with scribes copying the story of creation and the Garden of Eden from the Sumerians

764BC: King David’s reign, the Israelites flourishing in Palestine

702BC: King Solomon and the building of the Temple said to be designed exactly to God’s specifications, of which a mini replica was built in Scotland called Roslyn Chapel, complete with Desposyni symbols and anti-Roman sentiment

690BC: The Queen of Sheba visits from Ethiopia and has an illegitimate child with King Solomon, taking the baby back with her where that bloodline remains in power up to this century with the assassination of Hailee Sallassie in 1968, thus explaining the Israelite heritage of that country

686BC: King Rehoboan, the son of King Solomon, takes power of the Israelite kingdom which divides the Twelve Tribes of Israel into the House of Judah as the Southern Kingdom, and the House of Israel as the Northern Kingdom. They war against each other until the ten tribes of the House of Israel flee Palestine during the Diaspora

683BC: The Diaspora, the ten tribes of the House of Israel go to Scythia in the Caucasus in modern-day Georgia where they lived for centuries. These ten tribes are the ancestors of Reuben, Asher, Dan, Naphtali, Benjamin, Issachar, Zebulon, Simeon, Gad, and Joseph who was favored by Jacob-Israel so his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh are included. The House of Israel lived in Scythia where over time they were lost to history, which is why they are referred to as The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. They finally began migrating to Northern Europe in 331AD

586BC: After an attack on the royal palace, the scribe Jeremiah brings the surviving three daughters of the chosen Royal Zarrah line to Ireland where Princess Tara marries the Celtic king Fergus the Great on the Hill of Tara, bringing the royal line and the red rampant lion to the British Isles

420-365BC: Confucius spreads his message of conscientious morality through the country sides of China leaving a footprint on the character of the world’s most populous country

415BC: Greek culture flourishes with centers for learning, sophistry and wisdom, mathematics and geometry, and appreciation for art and applied gymnasia. Their democracy is envied but five out of six Athenians are slaves

405BC: Alexander the Great from Macedonia conquers most of the known world only to stall when facing the impassable Himalayas, but he spreads the Greek language to the Near East bringing ideas and peoples together that produced cultures of splendor long after his untimely death at 33

331BC-449AD: After 800 years of servitude in Scythia, the ten tribes of the House of Israel migrate for the next hundred years to Northern Europe after the Persian Empire fell. Lost to history for centuries, they come to be known as Celts, Scandinavians, Franks and Gauls.

312BC: Plato returns after traveling the known world for 14 years after his teacher Socrates drank hemlock rather than going to jail. Plato founds his school The Academy, which had the words know thyself written over the door

278BC: Gautama Buddha walked away from his life as a rich prince to meditate in the forests for 25 years before returning to spread his wisdom, his followers recording over 86,000 anecdotes and parables to achieve nirvana and mastering the art of not generating sankaras (reactions)

17BC: John the Baptist is born, destined to be the one to announce the Coming of the Messiah. His mother Elizabeth was the sister of Jesus’ mother Mary

7BC: Jesus (real name Joshua) is born March 1st in Bethlehem, the same day as Jesus’ identical twin brother Jude, known in history as Doubting Thomas, Jude Thomas, Didymus Thomas and the Beloved Disciple

1BC: James is born, known in history as James the Disciple, Joseph of Arimathea and Saint James, or Santiago in Spanish, he is the younger brother of Jesus

6AD: Jesus leaves Palestine at 13 years old that commenced what is called ‘The Lost Years of Jesus.’ It is believed he went to India where he studied scriptures and learned the art of healing

36AD: Jesus returns to Palestine and is baptized by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. Jesus begins His ministry in earnest, gathering disciples to spread His message, his primary thrust to gather his lost flock: the Lost House of Israel

37AD: Rides into Jerusalem on an ass to fulfill the prophecies in the Book of Isaiah, predicting He will be crucified and rise on the third day

37AD: Pontius Pilate washes his hands and leaves the Fate of Joshua the Nazarene to the ruling Pharisees, asking them who they want him to set free. They choose the prisoner Barabbas over Jesus, and then order His crucifixion. It is on this same Friday that Jesus is hung on a crucifix, ingests snake venom from a sponge handed to Him on the cross concocted by the Disciple Simon Magus, cries out for Elijah and then passes out. The next morning on Saturday, Jesus, who avoided having his legs broken by Roman soldiers because He was believed to be dead, is taken down from the crucifix, a few of His disciples citing the Torah and demanding that any dead Jew must be buried on the Sabbath. Joseph of Arimathea is granted permission to remove Jesus’ body and puts him in a newly made stone tomb on the family’s property

37AD: On Sunday Pilate orders the tomb sealed to avoid martyrdom, and rioting of followers of Jesus. The next day two men see Jesus walking on the road, only realizing later that it was Him

37AD: Later that week Jesus meets His disciples and is challenged by Doubting Thomas whether He is alive or a ghost, but Jesus proves he is flesh and blood, telling them He is hungry.

38AD: Jesus disappears from Palestine. It is rumored that He followed his identical twin brother Jude Thomas to Syria, Mesopotamia and then to northern India

40-50AD: Mary Magdalene takes her three children to Marseilles in France, beginning what becomes the legend of the Black Madonna

56AD: Britain finally comes under the yoke of the Roman Empire but efforts to subdue the Scots fail, eventually causing Emperor Hadrian to construct a wall along the northern border of England

66-70AD: Simon Kokhbar’s rebellion is crushed by Roman soldiers, ending agitation and simmering tensions between the Hebrews and Romans

78AD: Jesus is believed to have died of old age in Kashmir Valley where he lived with his twin brother Jude Thomas at a monastery

50-80AD: The missing “Q” Document is written, believed to be The Gospel of Thomas, which was discovered in 1945

90-170AD: The New Testament was compiled, using the Gospels of Matthew, Luke, Mark and John as the official canon of Jesus’ message, all of them citing the source “Q” Document as their source. Jesus and His disciples long gone, none of them had ever seen Jesus

90-140AD: Saul, the pseudapostolorum known in history as Paul, has his conversion and dedicates himself to promoting a slightly different message of Jesus. This begins the tampering of His real message, the new strain of thought is known as Pauline Christianity

228AD: Israelites from the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel begin leaving southern Russia to settle in Northern Europe

200-300AD: Rome’s armies cannot bring the fierce Germanic Tribes under their control

325AD: The Roman Emperor Constantine the Great at the Council of Nicaea votes to make Jesus the product of a virgin birth, the Son of God and votes to create the Trinity

410: The Visigoths sack Rome and then settle in southern Gaul and Spain

400-664: Celtic Christianity flourishes in Ireland and then Scotland, warrior monks trained by Saint Columba pilgrimage to Europe every year eventually founding over forty monasteries in France, Germany and Switzerland, often heard playing bagpipes all the way to the Mediterranean

450: The Angles and Saxons and Juts finish settling in the British Isles with their Celtic cousins

468: The Roman Empire collapses into two entities, the West and the East, never to reunite into the strong governing force it once was. Some speculate the reason for its downfall running out of firewood from chopping down Europe’s forests

664: The Synod of Whitby was the beginning of the end for Celtic Christianity, once as strong as Rome but differing in beliefs

694: Muhammad emerges as the prophet for God’s untainted message, the last prophet and the correct message as it is recorded in the Quran

700-1000: Vikings dominate trade and sea routes, establishing bases in Dublin, Sicily, and modern-day Chechnya, sometimes acting as policemen for the Silk Road

711: Spain is taken over by the Moors of North Africa

878: Attila the Hun attacks Europe and conquers Hungary, which for the first time in European history unites Europeans against a foreign foe

889: A Swedish Viking tribe called the Rus sail down the Volga River and take control of Moscow, which is where the word ‘Russia’ comes from

892: Charles Martel, the grandfather of Charlemagne, leads an army against a Muslim attack designed to take over Europe

925: Danish Vikings led by Rollo begin the Siege of Paris, surrounding the city for a year until the French King grants them a piece of land they call Normandy

969: After concerted effort by Danish Vikings attacking and plundering coastal towns along the eastern coast of Britain, an agreement is reached whereby Danelaw came into effect, giving the Vikings their own rule in the towns they had taken

1062-1064: Norse Vikings live in Canada on Newfoundland at Lanse-de-Meadows, which they call Vinland. They leave after only two years

1065: The Knights Hospitaller is created to help pilgrims hurt or in need on their way to the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem

1066: The Norman Conquest of England led by William the Conqueror from Normandy

1099: The First Crusade begins from Saint Sulpice in northern France, inspired by the spiritual father Saint Bernard de Clairvaux, and led by the Merovingian Hughes de Payens

1100: King Baldwin the First is crowned King of Jerusalem but dies after a year, the crown taken over by his crusader brother Godfrei de Boullion

1106: The Nine Worthies of the First Crusade find hidden sacred geometry after digging for seven years under King Solomon’s stables in Jerusalem, ushering in a new era of church construction and castle building

1109: The Knights Templar are created, and given special privileges by the Pope. They secretly believe in the True Message of Jesus

1137: Pope Innocent the Second issues a bull Christianae fidei religio that enables the Knights of the Hospital ‘to accumulate both land and money. The Hospital of St. John, as it was also known, lend monies to King Louis VII of France for the disastrous Second Crusade

1157: The Cathars on the southeast coast of Spain on the Bay of Lyon are massacred for Gnosticism, which was anathema to the dogma established by Rome

1215: The Magna Carta is finished that took an inventory of the wealth of the country, its resources and holdings

1224: The Prior de Sion is formed by ex-crusaders and Merovingian royalty to protect the True Message of God as preached by Jesus the Nazarene

1307: Dagobert the Third, the last of the Merovingian Long-Haired Kings, is assassinated by soldiers sent by the Catholic Church

1315: The Knights Templar are excommunicated by Pope Clement the Fifth and burnt on the stake on Friday the 13th, some escaping to Scotland. The Templars had become a powerful bank by lending large sums to Rome

1325: The Scots defeat the English at the Battle of Stamford Bridge to protect their sovereignty after decades of forays into Scottish territory to take their land

1415: Henry the Fifth scores a brilliant victory over the French at the Battle of Agincourt when his fletchers with long bows decimate the French troops

1466: The Spanish Inquisition forces non-Christians to convert or confess or be burnt at the stake, a smokescreen to kick out Sepheratic Jews from the country

1492: The Italian Christopher Columbus reaches America, and Spain kick the Moors back to North Africa after 700 years of occupation

1525: William Caxton invents the printing press that makes the Bible and other works of religion and philosophy available to the reading layman

1526-1528: Francisco Coronado explores the interior of America up as far as Idaho in his search for gold in el Dorado

1527: Martin Luther posts his beefs on a church door beginning the Protestant Reformation and the Thirty-Year’s War that kills nearly one-third of Europe’s population. Many look to Rome for leadership but they only see overt militancy and oppression causing towns and cities to fall apart in an orgy of bloodshed

1537: The Conquistador Pizarro conquers the Incas and the Spanish build an empire in South America searching for gold and burning valuable manuscripts from the ancients

1560-1616: The works of Shakespeare change the landscape of literature and English culture, his portfolio of plays being compiled nine years after his death by his fellow actors

1565: Martin Luther translates the Holy Bible into German, marking the first breach from Rome and the beginning of its loss of power

1566: Francisco de Orellana becomes the first European to cross South America down the Amazon River. After being attacked by female warriors, Orellana names the river the Amazon from the Greek word meaning ‘female warriors’

1581: The Renaissance is in full swing after Galileo publishes his theory of the Earth’s orbit and Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, and the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Da Vinci also becomes president of the Prior de Sion

1595: Sir Walter Raleigh founds the British colony of Virginia after the Virgin Queen Elizabeth, vowing to dedicate himself to the greater glory of Britain only to end up a prisoner in the Tower of London for nearly ten years for making advances on the wrong courtesan in the royal palace

1615: The Jesuits are created by Saint Francis of Assisi that will serve God, deliver His Message and help build new communities throughout newly conquered Catholic lands

1616: Vasco de Gamma sails around the Cape of Good Hope and establishes a Portuguese colony in Goa, India making it Europe’s first colony in Asia

1625: New France is founded in Canada by Samuel de Champlain, fulfilling the Israelite prophecy of finding La Merica, or “the place beyond the sea,” which they called The Promised Land

1642: James Cook discovers Australia and the west coast of America by circumnavigating the Pacific Ocean before he is killed by an arrow in Hawaii

1644: The French mathematician Rene Descartes postulates the foundation of new Western philosophical thought with the words: “I think therefore I am,” prompting David Hume to write his influential An Inquiry Into Human Understanding, the book that awakens Immanuel Kant from his “dogmatic slumber”

1647: Father Jean de Brebeuf becomes a martyr at the hands of hostile Mohawks invading Lake Huron in Canada with Dutch supplied guns, his courage in the face of such savagery unmatched in the Vatican records in the book Jesuit Relations

1648: Henry the Eighth breaks from Rome and establishes England’s own Anglican Church. This opens the doors to countless denominations of Christian thought

1649: The Jesuit Paul Rageneau establishes a Jesuit mission on Manitoulin Island where Lake Huron and Georgian Bay meet. This mission on the world’s largest freshwater lake in the center of the Great Lakes makes it the farthest European outpost in the New World

1664: Miguel Cervantes publishes Don Quixote, the first and one of the best novels the world has ever seen

1666: The Great Fire of London destroyed most of the city but also helped eradicate the disastrous Bubonic Plague that had raged for three years on its shores killing untold millions

1668: Dante publishes Paradise Lost, taking literature to new heights and confronting the dogma of Roman Catholic rule

1670: The founding of the Hudson’s Bay Company by Pierre Radisson, opening up the Canadian west to fur traders and explorers. From these trading posts the British name all land west Prince Rupert’s Land, named after the king’s cousin and friend of explorer Pierre Radisson

1679: The Hanseatic League is formed by the two most powerful sea-faring countries in the world, the British and the Dutch. Created to manage different spheres of influence on the waterways and in world trade, it is regarded as a forerunner of the United Nations

1689: The Salem Witch Hunts reach a fervor in the Thirteen Colonies, in an astonishing flurry of ad hoc justice by priests rumored to be wired on ergot: the mould on rye bread

1699: The assumption of power by the House of Hanover in Great Britain

1701: The passing of the Land Act to encourage nobility to settle Northern Ireland, a crucial geo-political stronghold in the Irish Sea and economic windfall from its ship-building expertise and whiskey distilleries

1720-1802: Immanuel Kant evolves Western philosophical thought with books such as The Critique of Pure Reason, the first explicit argument for the Big Bang theory

1740-1776: A wave of Puritans and Quakers escaping religious oppression become pioneers in the Promised Land, creating the backbone of New England

1756: A the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, the British defeat the French to take control of New France, founding Upper Canada and Lower Canada

1776: Thomas Payne fuels the fire of rebellion with his pamphlet on human rights that culminates in the American Revolution, seen as the maturing of the New World with a progressive new style of governance

1798: The French Revolution begins a new epoch of democratic republics after more revolutionary efforts from Thomas Payne

1804-1882: Arthur Schopenhauer developed his book The World As Will and Idea for the rest of his life after earning his doctorate in Germany, finally getting the recognition he deserved from the leading thinkers of his time two years before his death

1805-1812: With zeal and tactical brilliance, Napoleon Bonaparte conquers most of Europe while emulating Merovingian Kings by adopting the bee as his official symbol and wearing his hair long. Thwarted by the Duke of Wellington in costly campaigns in the Pyrenees, Napoleon is still able to lay waste to the continent, killing so many men that the average height of a Frenchman went from six feet to five-foot five after the wars. He eventually loses his last effort to take power in 1815, and dies young on the island of Corsica from arsenic in his hair lotion

1812-1813: The War of 1812 causes over 70,000 Empire Loyalists to cross into the dominion of Canada to fight for the King. The British with their native allies defeat the Americans effort to take control of the entire continent, winning the war after a decisive battle at Fort George on the Niagara River

1823: British Forces fought the First Boxer Rebellion in China that opens the way to establishing trading posts on Shamian Island. The Thirteen Colonists took possession of the island in the Pearl River to conduct trade

1824: Joseph Smith Senior is guided by God to uncover buried gold tablets in Upstate New York. After fulfilling his promise to secure witnesses he reburied the gold tablets and started the Mormon religion first in Ohio. Killed while trying to escape jail, his deputy Brigham Young took the young devotees to Salt Lake City in Utah where it has become the fastest growing religion in the world

1834-1839: The Irish Potato Famine forces millions of Irish to emigrate to colonies. The Irish who went forth to begin a new life changed the demographics of the globe forever

1844-1900: Friedrich Nietzsche overturns old conventions of morality and philosophizes with a hammer in his works like Thus Spake Zarathustra, Twilight of the Idols and The Antichrist before his mental and physical breakdown from syphilis at the age of 45

1847: The Vatican dismantles the Jesuits that cause black robes around the world to abandon immaculate churches and centers of enlightenment to robbers and ransackers

1858: Charles Darwin elects to horseback across the cowboy plains of southern Argentina in an act of fearless investigation of natural science, but he is bitten by an insect that weakens him for the rest of his life. Fortunate to have an inheritance, he works from home on two books that hasten the paradigm of religious thought

1860-1865: The American Civil War produces more deaths than any war in history, leaving the country weak and divided. After the violence ceased they saw France take over Mexico for four years under Maximillian the First

1867: George Custer is ordered to enter the sacred Black Hills of the Sioux and Dakota tribes insisting there is gold to be found. This one act stirs up resentment to a fever pitch that would profoundly affect the future of the country and the lives of Custer and the Sioux

1869: Darwin publishes Origin of the Species that creates vehement debate among fundamentalist Christians who believe in the Story of Creation, and independent thinkers

1870-1890: The American West opens up to settlers, transforming the country and displacing millions of Native Americans

1871: After the Franco-Prussian War sees the emergence of the nation of Germany that was to change the face of Europe

1872: The Colt pistol is invented, a six-round shooter that takes the evolution of warfare one step ahead

1876: The Battle at Little Big Horn horrifies the country after years of killing when General George Custer and 216 of his men were killed to the last man. Both Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull respected Custer for his courage, he was the only soldier not to be scalped.

1882: The Canadian Pacific Railway is completed that connects the Atlantic to the Pacific and provides a much-needed transportation route to British Columbia, which the Americans want to take after acquiring Alaska from the Russians

1883: Kit Carson, Brigadier General during the Civil War, is given the task of subduing the mighty Navaho Indians from their stronghold in Arizona, which he accomplishes in less than a year and a half by burning their crops. Respected by the natives and fluent in many local dialects, the Navaho Chief approached him alone on his horse and said: “Otter, you are an honorable white eye. You have fought a smart campaign. We are hungry and have no more food. Where do we go brave man?” The Navaho went to a reservation and the war was won without one casualty

1890: The Battle of Wounded Knee ended the Native American’s fight against the waves of immigrants and signified an end to their way of life. The stubborn Sioux, Blackfoot and Arapaho reluctantly entered into life on a reservation with sub-par government support

1895: Ancient goldmines in Zimbabwe are discovered that historians believe are thousands of years older than Sumerian civilization

1898: Japan takes over the Chinese province of Taiwan, taking the first step towards its goal of colonial expansion in Asia

1898: The Spanish-American War ends when America gains control of many Spanish holdings in the New World such as Texas and New Mexico, as well as the Philippines in Asia

1899-1902: The Boer War starts the century of warfare with brutal violence for control of the vast mineral wealth of South Africa. The British introduce concentration camps into war vernacular, where entire families of Boers, mainly women and children, die from disease and malnutrition

1903: Americans take control of the Panama Canal from the French who are over budget and having technical difficulty completing the project, and in doing so gain one of the most valuable and profitable waterways in the world

1904: Thomas Edison creates the light bulb which changed the way people live after receiving over a thousand refusal letters. “It was the invention of the light bulb in a thousand steps,” he said

1905: The French invent the kinescope, the precursor to the new art form of feature film. It opens a new channel of communication further eroding Rome’s hold over the distribution of information and morality

1914-1918: The Great War brings men to new heights of terror with poison gas and trenches, but the Canadian Army came to age when it took the strategic stronghold of Vimy Ridge in three days, suffering 12,000 casualties compared to French efforts that cost over 280,000 lives during a five-month battle. Canadian Forces earned the nickname Stormtroopers by their German foe

1917-1918: Lawrence of Arabia proves his mettle and manipulates the “sideshow” of the war to bring the land and power back into Arab hands, bitterly disappointed after the war when he hears of the Sykes-Picot agreement that distributes the land back into the hands of the French and the British. Lawrence retires from the rank of colonel to work as a mechanic in the air force. He dies from a motorcycle accident only weeks after retiring to his cottage in the country

1919: The Spanish flu kills over 19 million people around the world

1919-1936: The Volstead Act brings a criminal underworld to the surface, supplying the raging thirst of settlers tired of authority

1923: The Wright Brothers successfully test an airplane that overturns the old ways of travel

1926: Albert Einstein publishes his Theory of Relativity that suggests time travel is possible

1928: The Rosetta Stone is found in Egypt with Latin, Greek and Hieroglyphics etched into it, enabling archaeologists to translate countless slabs of stone.

1936: The Nazca Plains are discovered by a pilot in a helicopter when flying over southern Peru. Archaeologists are dumbfounded to discover an ingredient in the white chalk outlining the images etched into the earth is non-indigenous to earth

1939-1945: World War Two destroys lives, countries and people’s hopes, leaving only carnage and blood after six years of fighting, ending with the awesome power of the atomic bomb and never finding Martin Bormann

1939: A Russian pilot flying over Mount Arafat sees a large boat sticking out of the ice on the side of the mountain, thinking it must be Noah’s Ark, but subsequent searches yield nothing. It is believed snowfall obscured it from the naked eye

1949: Chinese nationalist forces lose mainland China to the communists led by Mao Zedong, leaving for Taiwan and vowing to retake the country. Before they left the army of Chen-Kai-Shek looted the banks and withdrew cultural relics from museums, leaving nothing behind

1950-1952: The Korean War erupted with China supporting the north and America supporting the south, a struggle to contain the spread of communism that still remains a live war

1952: The first computer was built by Alan Turing that would evolve into the personal computer. The Internet Age arrives thirty years later bringing the world’s largest library to your fingertips

1954: The Battle of Dien Bien Phu ended with the French defeat at the hands of the Viet Mingh, ending French rule in Indochina after over 150 years

1956-1960: The Cultural Revolution in the People’s Republic of China destroys temples and pagodas in an effort to secure communist power and get rid of icons that might compete with Mao’s mighty word. Neighbors turn on neighbors as the fabric of society is torn apart

1962: The Russians launch Sputnik, boggling minds around the world that a satellite was orbiting the earth but also showing that space above our heads is free to use if you have the technology

1964: L Ron Hubbard publishes the first book on Scientology, a spiritual testament to the effective use of scientific method in the investigation to quell ills of the spirit

1965: India is given back self-rule by the British but draws a line on the map to separate Hindus and Muslims along the Indian-Pakistan border that results in millions being killed in a bloodbath of revenge and religious hatred

1969: Neil Armstrong becomes the first man to walk on the moon, conveyed to the world space travel is possible and a moon station is not a pipe dream

1973: Authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail discover a hidden scroll in a church column in Rennes-de-Chateau, which ushers in a new era in the decimation of Rome’s power

1975-1978: The Great Leap Forward fails miserably, starving tens of millions of Chinese from insufficient food supplies and bad central planning

1982: The bestseller Holy Blood, Holy Grail was published to a storm of criticism throughout the world, making the front page and stirring people to outrage at the revelations of secret societies and other truths that exist in the face of Rome’s oppression

1987: Similar to the Rosetta Stone, archaeologists discover a stone with three languages that provides a cipher to translate thousands of cuneiform tablets found in old Sumer, one Sumerian word directly translating as: “vehicle going up to the sky”

1989: The human genome project is declared a success, and biologists predict the genome will be decoded within twenty years that will open doors to cures for ailments that still beset mankind

1997: El Niño announces to the world that environmental destruction and irresponsible corporate polluting are directly affecting weather systems and the ecological balance that nurtures mankind. It foreshadows a world littered with toxic debris that will cause a long list of diseases

2001: The World Trade Towers, the symbol of global cooperation and informed debate, is destroyed by terrorist bombings that cause America to become militant. No longer a free nation, homeland security laws turn the once-loved country into a combat zone, festering from within and disliked on the international stage

2002: SARS, originating from southern China from the unhygienic chicken breeding methods of the industrious Chinese, spreads across the world closing down universities and showing the world that everyone now lives in an age where all is interconnected

2002-2010: America’s war on terror is revealed as a smokescreen for a propaganda putsch against Muslims, stirring up resentments and hatreds that will ripple for decades. It has bankrupted the country; the government does not have enough money to pay their citizens pensions, which has produced fear of instability and has raised questions about the effectiveness of laissez-faire economics

2009: A nuclear disaster in Japan leaves the world stunned as immeasurable amounts of radioactive waste escapes from a plant polluting Asia and America, killing untold thousands

2010: Swiss scientists successfully split the electron and they discover that when all parts of the smashed electrons are collected and weighed, there is an inexplicable loss of mass, suggesting there is an unknowable or unquantifiable ingredient on our cells that call the God Particle.