Peter nodded silently.
‘You found the map?’
‘The map? Oh, the map, yes … The tattoo.’
Milan smiled like he was enjoying a private joke. He put a page on the table in front of Peter and held out a pen. ‘Here,’ he said. ‘Draw it for me.’
Peter stood up, took the pen and drew the symbol as accurately as he could remember it: the triangle inside a triangle with a small circle on the top of the smallest shape. He gave the pen back to Milan, who traced over the inner triangle with the nib, emphasising the line that led to the circle.
‘This is where we are now,’ he said simply. ‘They wanted the tattoo to show that, although the story isn’t literally true, it began here, just as every story must begin somewhere. Coen used this ancient symbol to place the document precisely here, where the story began.’ He handed Peter the pages from the portfolio. ‘And if you rotate it,’ he went on, ‘you can see Sinai, and inside that, Mount Horeb. The circle represents God, the sun. According to the story, He appeared to Moses here on the mountain. God is truly the eternal light that shines forever.’
Peter looked at the sheaf of paper. ‘But,’ he said in amazement, ‘this is in … Dutch!’
‘Yes,’ the monk smiled. ‘It’s ingenious, isn’t it? How many people can speak your language? I doubt that anyone who went looking for the text would be able to make much sense of this. They would probably be looking for something written in ancient Hebrew. Of course, the words of the living books were “written” in a sort of proto-Hebrew. But this text, the Dutch version, would probably be overlooked.’
Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, Peter began to read …
Eisodus
This is the secret knowledge, the oral teachings handed down by Moses, a Son of Light, to guide Man on his eis-odus, his journey inward, and to bring him into the safe haven whence he should never have departed, the Promised Land, his true home.
We must find our way back to the garden.
There are two stories.
The story of the ex-odus, the outward journey, is for those who have eyes but cannot see, who have ears but cannot hear. They are like ones who swim in the sea, thinking that the surface of the water is all that there is to see.
The second story, the eis-odus, the journey inward, is for those who have been awoken, those who have gained access to the secret knowledge that is hidden from others. They are like swimmers in the sea who dare to dive beneath the water and discover the wonderful world hidden beneath that seemingly smooth surface. They will know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven that are forbidden to others. For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. The reason I speak to them in parables is that seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.
We must all follow the road that leads from the flesh to the spirit, for know that death can be defeated by seeking the path to the Light.
1
Moses – ‘he who is drawn out of the water’ – and Aaron – ‘the Enlightened One’ – the brothers. Aaron speaks for Moses, who is slow of speech and slow of tongue. Is it not written: ‘Your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell pharaoh’? Moses, the physical leader, Aaron, the spiritual leader. God commanded them to deliver the Hebrew people from slavery.
Aaron was high priest in Heliopolis, the city where the sun was worshipped in the Temple of Ra-Atum, the god who created himself. He carried the souls of dead pharaohs up to the starry heavens – as Aaron himself directs souls to the Promised Land.
Aaron, Aharon … Only someone who has discovered within himself the light of the invisible sun that cannot be extinguished is capable of guiding others on the path to the Light, from the flesh to the spirit. Because he is in contact with the spiritual world. He resides below the water’s surface that separates the hidden spiritual world from the visible world above. He is an initiate, a faithful servant of God, who intercedes on behalf of mortals and helps them to find their way back to the garden.
2
How the soul suffers under the yoke of its human form! It seeks deliverance because the soul longs to be free, like a captive bird struggling to escape its cage. The body is Man’s prison. But the soul was meant to be free, without limits, without constraints.
The soul goes through three stages: from young soul to mature soul to old soul. Similarly, the incorporeal soul, which undergoes a temporary ensnarement in the corporeal with each new life, must go through the three stages of humanity – from child to adult to elder. To what end? To return to the divine parental home that Man was forced to leave. But God keeps watch every day, looking along the path to see if His lost son or daughter is returning to Him. He is ready to welcome them home, to embrace them and never let them go. We are all Lost Sons and Lost Daughters.
If he is to return home, Man requires knowledge. But not the knowledge that can be gleaned from books, not the knowledge that comes from outside, but knowledge that is already within us. The enlightened helper is like a midwife. Just as the midwife helps the pregnant woman to give birth – giving new, corporeal life to an incorporeal soul – so the Aharon guides Man through the birth of the ideas that were always inside him from the very beginning. That is why we are reborn again and again. That is why we are forced to return in human form to the vale of tears, over and over, to learn, to gain knowledge so that the soul can ascend to greater heights and finally free itself from the mortal chains that repeatedly pull it back into the mire. But then, one day, the journey ends. Our mortal and spiritual desires have done battle. The soul has fought to overcome all that is mortal, overcome all that is corporeal. But what a triumph when the soul is victorious. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’
3
In the desert, the Hebrews were accompanied by a pillar of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night. The pillar of smoke accompanies Man in the daytime, indicating the way he should go. A pillar of light guides Man at night. This pillar of light is the light at the end of the tunnel that every soul passes through when it leaves the body at the end of this corporeal existence. A guide or angel leads the soul into the light where it prepares for a new birth, for a new existence, for a new phase in the learning process.
4
Just as the waters of the Red Sea receded when Moses touched them with his staff, so the lifeblood recedes from the body when the soul leaves its temporary home. The Egyptian army could not follow the Hebrews, because where souls go, mortal man – still full of lifeblood – cannot follow.
5
When the soul leaves the body behind, it feels abandoned, alone – like the Hebrews in the desert. The ties with the past have been severed … The soul still feels alive, but at the same time, it is invisible, no longer able to communicate with loved ones. The desert is a purgatory, heaven’s antechamber, and the soul must pass through this domain before it can enter into the light. Here, it will be purified and brought back to its essential nature.
6
Hence forty years in the desert. The number forty is associated with trials and tests, but also with the spirit realm. It takes the soul forty days to finally free itself from physical matter, to free itself from the body, to free itself from all mortal, earthly family ties before it goes into the light. And in Egypt, the body was embalmed for forty days to remove all moisture before it was wrapped in linen.
7
In the desert, the antechamber, the soul has no need for earthly food but, instead, for heavenly food. The manna from heaven provides insight and divine knowledge. It was not Moses who gave the Hebrews bread fr
om heaven, but God who provided the soul with true sustenance. The tribes of Israel wandered in the desert for forty years. The clothes on their backs did not wear out, nor did the sandals on their feet. They did not eat bread, and they did not drink wine or strong drink. And so, when Man passes over, the soul leaves the body and needs neither earthly food nor earthly clothing.
8
The people tell Aaron that he must make them a golden calf because God seems too far away, invisible. They smelt down their rings, their bracelets, their earrings, and their necklaces, and they create an image that they can see, an image that they can worship. This is the crisis of the soul when it has reached the deepest point. The soul is confused and is all alone in the dark – or so it thinks … This is the ultimate test of strength.
The ego longs to return to the flesh. The body wants to become flesh once more. Is it not written: ‘The whole congregation of the Hebrews complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread. For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
What is the soul’s true intention? Will it go on or will it give in? The ego resists with all its might. The ego takes on the form of a god, a deity to be worshipped. It is the last phase of the soul’s journey through the realms before it finally awakes. The desert is the land of the ‘night-sea journey’. It was in the desert that God issued his laws and rules and put his people to the test.
9
The Ark of the Covenant was a symbol of the covenant made with God. It contained the two stone tablets of the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments. This is a reminder of the importance of having faith in God. If we are to pass through the twilight zone, the no man’s land from which no one has ever returned, only one thing matters: faith in God. In addition to this, one other thing is needed to ensure a safe journey: knowing who you are. Imagine an unfortunate sailor who falls overboard and is swallowed by a big fish. Only when he prays to God will the fish spit him out, like the body releasing the soul.
10
In Egypt, the Law is called Ma’at. She brings order to the cosmos – she shines like a jewel. Opposite her is Isfet, chaos. Does not a righteous person act according to the Ma’at? Act according to the law of the cosmos? Is not the heart of a person weighed in the Hall of Two Truths after death according to the Egyptians? After death, the person’s soul appears before Osiris and forty-two judges. The soul’s heart is placed on a set of golden scales in the middle of the Hall. The feather of Ma’at is placed in the other scale under the watchful eye of Anubis, the God of the dead. If the heart is lighter than the feather, the soul is allowed to pass on to the Kingdom of Osiris. If not, the heart is devoured by the monstrous god Amut.
What is the soul’s destiny? Has it followed the divine law? Has it finally found the path to within? Or must it go back again, like the pupil given a second chance, a third chance, infinite chances, until its lessons have all been learned?
11
And finally, the soul reaches the Promised Land! But first, it must wade across the River Jordan. Crossing the River Jordan means to descend, to go down into the river of death. Here, the old self is immersed in the water and dies and comes back up again as a new person. Truly, I say to you, no one will enter Paradise, no one will go into the garden unless he is born of water and Spirit. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that everyone must be born again.
In the Jordan, Man loses his life to find it again. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?
And so, Man enters the Promised Land at last. This is where Man belongs. This is where Man can be with his creator in an eternal, indivisible moment of happiness. The soul is free from sickness and suffering because God is the great physician.
Man is no longer in the land of Egypt, where he had to sow the seed and irrigate the land like a vegetable garden. Instead, he is now in the Promised Land, a land of hills and valleys, watered by rain from the sky, a land that God Himself takes care of. Out of the ground, God makes to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. His eyes are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end.
12
But Moses may not enter the Promised Land. He stays behind on Mount Nebo on the edge of the Jordan Valley. His faith in God was not strong enough to convince the Hebrews to trust that His goodness and knowledge would take them to that remote place. If only he had not failed to reveal to the Hebrews that it was not he but God who made water come out of the rock, letting them think that Moses himself had exceptional powers. At the very end of his journey, Moses falls short because of his pride and his lack of faith in God.
But there is always a new chance, a new life …
Joshua is the son of a widow and comes from Nun. The Son of the Widow, just as Horus is the son of the widow Isis, he who guides souls through the Underworld to lead them to his father, Osiris.
Joshua, the Son of the Widow, none is more fit than he to shepherd the wandering soul on its way to the Promised Land.
Chapter 39
Peter had read the text so fast that he didn’t yet entirely grasp the full extent of its contents. Nor did he fully comprehend the devastating effect it would have on the official history of Judaism and Christianity if they were revealed.
He wondered if it would have made more sense to him if he had been able to read it more slowly. There were so many dark passages in it: the Ma’at … the fish spit him out … Joshua, the Son of the Widow …
The way out, the outward journey … but the Exodus is actually an Eisodus, the way inward … How ironic.
‘You’ll never read the Bible in the same way again, will you?’ Milan said, taking the pages from Peter and putting them back inside the parchment folder.
‘But,’ Peter said, ‘if you know this, if you have this knowledge too, even if it’s just the tip of the iceberg and the rest was still hidden inside Coen’s head, why are you still here? If you know that it’s not only possible to read the story allegorically but that it was originally intended to be read allegorically?’
Milan thought for a moment. ‘Look at me,’ he said. ‘I’m in my seventies. I’ve lived here for fifty years. Everyone I knew back in Greece is dead. Where would I go? How would I support myself? This is my home. This is where I live, and this is where I will die. One day, my skull will be added to the mounds of other skulls I showed you earlier this evening.’
‘But what now?’ Peter asked. ‘What do we do now?’
Once I get home, I have to let the world know about this. Publish the manuscript and find people who can help me make sense of it.
‘Now you go back to your room,’ Milan said flatly. ‘Tomorrow, a large van will arrive with our weekly supplies. The driver will load the empty crates onto it, and you will hide among them. No one saw you arrive here, and no one will see you leave.’
Milan gave Peter the manuscript.
Peter thought it all sounded very simple.
Too simple.
However, this was identical to the ruse that Hugo Grotius had famously used to escape from Castle Loevestein after he had been sentenced to life in prison by the Synod of Dort. The brilliant jurist and follower of Professor Arminius had made his escape by hiding inside a chest that was used to deliver books to the castle.
But right now, Milan’s instruction to go back to his room seemed like a good idea. He returned to his cell – once he eventually managed to find his way back there – with the parchment folder in his hand. He sat down on the bed and read the entire text again.
What a terrible shame it is that Coen only wrote down a small part of his knowledge, that he didn’t share everything he knew about the allegorical interpretations o
f the Bible stories. This is just a summary. It’s a comprehensive summary, but no more than that. What could the living books have told us about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, about Cain’s murder of Abel, about Noah and the Flood, about the construction of the Tower of Babel?
On the wall next to the door of his cell, there was a rucksack hanging from a simple hook, probably left behind by a previous guest. Peter put the manuscript inside the front pocket and slung the bag over his shoulder. Although for some reason – most likely an awareness of the enormous value of what he now had in his possession – he was reluctant to leave the safety of his room, he knew he would have to sooner or later. And right now, he had two very good reasons for doing so: firstly, he was very hungry and secondly, he badly needed to go to the bathroom.
Peter opened the door a fraction and peered through the gap. There was neither sight nor sound of anyone in the corridor, not even when he opened the door wider and poked his head outside.
He closed the door behind him and headed down the corridor towards the refectory and kitchen. He was relieved to find a surprisingly modern and well-maintained toilet in one of the corridors and made grateful use of it.
The Pilgrim Conspiracy Page 46