At a certain time, I found myself wandering to this place, into Jerusalem, which by the way is only six or seven miles west of where we stand.
And the times were immediately known to me, that the Romans governed the land, that the Hebrews had suffered a long and terrible captivity, and that those tribes going back to the very first settlements here - who had believed in the One God - were now under the foot of the polytheists, many influenced by Shadow World religions. They did not take legends of God with any seriousness.
And the Tribes of Monotheists, themselves, were divided on many issues, with some Hebrews being strict Pharisees, and others Sadducees, and still others having sought to make pure communities in caves in those hills beyond.
If there was one feature which made the times remarkable to me - that is, truly different from any other - it was the might of the Roman Empire, which stretched farther than any empire of the West which I had ever witnessed, and remained somehow in ignorance of the Great Empire of China, as if that were not of the same world.
Something drew me to this spot, however, and I knew it. I sensed a presence here that was not as strong as a summons; but it was as if someone were crying out to me to come here, and yet would not use the full power of his voice. I must search, I must wander. Maybe this thing stalked me as we watched you, I don't know.
But I came here, and wandered Jerusalem, listening to what the tongues of man had to say.
They spoke of the prophets and holy men of the wilderness, of arguments over the law and purification and the will of God. They spoke of Holy Books and Holy Traditions - all creations of men. They spoke men going out to be 'baptized' in water so as to be 'saved' in the eyes of God.
And they spoke of a man who had only lately gone into the wilderness after his baptism, because at the moment that he had stepped into the River Jordan, and the water had been poured over him, the skies had opened above this man, and Light had been seen from God.
Of course, one could hear stories like this all over the world. It was not unusual, except that it drew me. I found myself as if directed, wandering out of Jerusalem to the east, into the wasteland, my keen angelic senses telling me that I was near to the presence of something mysterious, something that partook of the sacred in a way that an angel would know upon seeing, and a man might not. My reason rejected it, yet I walked on and on, in the heat of the day, wingless and invisible into the very wastes.
[ he draws des with him into the sand, which is not as deep as it looks, but is hot and full of little stones. he moves into canyons and up slopes and finally comes to a little clearing of sorts where rocks have been gathered, as if others were wont to come here from time to time. a landmark in the desert, so to speak, a monument to something, perhaps.
lucifer slows his pace until they stand well over a stone's throw from the little gathering of rocks. ]
no subject
And the times were immediately known to me, that the Romans governed the land, that the Hebrews had suffered a long and terrible captivity, and that those tribes going back to the very first settlements here - who had believed in the One God - were now under the foot of the polytheists, many influenced by Shadow World religions. They did not take legends of God with any seriousness.
And the Tribes of Monotheists, themselves, were divided on many issues, with some Hebrews being strict Pharisees, and others Sadducees, and still others having sought to make pure communities in caves in those hills beyond.
If there was one feature which made the times remarkable to me - that is, truly different from any other - it was the might of the Roman Empire, which stretched farther than any empire of the West which I had ever witnessed, and remained somehow in ignorance of the Great Empire of China, as if that were not of the same world.
Something drew me to this spot, however, and I knew it. I sensed a presence here that was not as strong as a summons; but it was as if someone were crying out to me to come here, and yet would not use the full power of his voice. I must search, I must wander. Maybe this thing stalked me as we watched you, I don't know.
But I came here, and wandered Jerusalem, listening to what the tongues of man had to say.
They spoke of the prophets and holy men of the wilderness, of arguments over the law and purification and the will of God. They spoke of Holy Books and Holy Traditions - all creations of men. They spoke men going out to be 'baptized' in water so as to be 'saved' in the eyes of God.
And they spoke of a man who had only lately gone into the wilderness after his baptism, because at the moment that he had stepped into the River Jordan, and the water had been poured over him, the skies had opened above this man, and Light had been seen from God.
Of course, one could hear stories like this all over the world. It was not unusual, except that it drew me. I found myself as if directed, wandering out of Jerusalem to the east, into the wasteland, my keen angelic senses telling me that I was near to the presence of something mysterious, something that partook of the sacred in a way that an angel would know upon seeing, and a man might not. My reason rejected it, yet I walked on and on, in the heat of the day, wingless and invisible into the very wastes.
[ he draws des with him into the sand, which is not as deep as it looks, but is hot and full of little stones. he moves into canyons and up slopes and finally comes to a little clearing of sorts where rocks have been gathered, as if others were wont to come here from time to time. a landmark in the desert, so to speak, a monument to something, perhaps.
lucifer slows his pace until they stand well over a stone's throw from the little gathering of rocks. ]