Outremer III

by D. N. Carter

  “So to clarify, the watchers are one and the same as these fallen ones, the Nephilim?” Gabirol interrupted.

  “In myth and legend yes, but not what they actually are now. You see, the idea of semi-divine heroes was born from the ancient myths of unions between the gods and mortals. Nephilim are in fact described as the guardians of arcane knowledge who ‘knew all the mysteries of nature and science’. They also taught and instructed early humans in the domestication and rearing of animals. In the Book of Enoch it says that when Yahweh saw the lawlessness, chaos, corruption and sexual immorality that had been caused by the interaction of the watchers and humans he decided to intervene through the agency of the archangels Michael, Raphael, Gabriel and Uriel. He commanded Raphael to bind Azazel hand and foot like a sacrificial goat and cast him into a deep ravine in the desert. Gabriel was sent on a divine mission to destroy ‘the bastards and reprobates’ and ‘the children of the watchers amongst men’. The Archangel Michael, the commander of the Army of God, was sent to arrest Shemyaza and bind him ‘under the earth’ until Judgement Day. As we have seen, the fallen angel repented his sins and sentenced himself to cosmic exile among the stars. The Book of Jubilee says that the archangels bound the watchers ‘in the depths of the earth’ and in Judaic lore they are imprisoned in a mysterious ‘second Heaven’. However, it is also said that some of these ‘mighty warriors’ have a special place reserved for them in Sheol, the Jewish underworld. There they are said to lie in state ‘with shield and spear intact’. Watchers are, I can tell you, as Theodoric most certainly could, one and the same semi-divine, semi-mythical Tuatha De Danann, children of the goddess Dana who were a race of ancient magicians who descended to earth on the sacred hill of Tara in the ancient Emerald Isle. With the coming of Christianity, the Tuatha De Danann was banished into the ‘hollow hills’ and became the Sidhe or Shee or ‘Shining Ones’, the elves and faeries of Irish folklore. There has always been a strong belief among the peoples of the Emerald Isle that the Good People or faeries were originally the fallen angels who sided with Lucifer in the Battle of Heaven. In short, the watchers are accused of being angelic beings with a spiritual form that incarnate in physical bodies to have sexual relations with mortal women. Some claim they were of earthly origin and that the biblical myth of the watchers represents memories of a primeval ‘elder race’ of super-humans belonging to a lost civilisation who taught their technology to more primitive people, which, in truth, is in fact nearer the truth and why we have female watchers too,” the old man explained and took a sip of rose water.

  “I always thought Lucifer was the half-goat half-man Devil…not as you explain,” Simon said almost nonchalantly.

  “Mention Lucifer or Devil and most people run scared, the same with the value 13…but let me explain that symbolically. Lucifer or Lumiel is known as the Lord of Light as he is the first-born of creation. He represents the active cosmic energy of the universe and has been identified with fire, light, phallic power, independent thought, consciousness, progress, liberty and independence. He is also described as the light bringer and ‘the spirit of intellectual enlightenment and the freedom of thought’ without whose influence humanity would be no better than animals. In the Bible Lucifer or Satan as he is mistakenly called is often depicted in reptilian form as either a dragon or a serpent. In Western mythologies this creature is commonly misrepresented as a symbol of the powers of darkness, chaos and evil. In contrast, in Eastern mythology the dragon is a good omen representing fertility and good fortune. Lumiel-Lucifer is often identified with the serpent in the Eden myth described in Genesis. The biblical serpent is regarded as the personification of knowledge, wisdom and enlightenment who liberated the first humans from the spiritual ignorance imposed on them by Yahweh. The serpent is seen as the symbol of an outside liberating force that quite literally opened the eyes of Adam and Eve to the reality of the created universe and the wonders of the material world. The snake, serpent or dragon is an ancient mythical and archetypal image of the solar phallic power or life force that is associated with Lucifer and the explosion of light following the divine celestial event that created the universe. When the first man and woman ate the forbidden fruit, the apple, from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the astral or heavenly garden, they became consciously aware. Their first realisation was that their physical ‘cloaks of flesh’ were naked. They rushed to cover their genitals as they had become aware of the so-called ‘serpent power’ or kundalini that can be raised by sexual intercourse and non-reproductive sex acts. They also ate from the Tree of Life, which initiated the cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth and of human souls incarnating in physical form. It was the deliberate intervention of Lucifer and the fallen angels in human evolution, rather than any defiance of cosmic authority, which ultimately led to their fall from heavenly grace. The watchers’ only ‘crime’ was that they wanted to help the progress of their human flock. However, the refusal of Lucifer-Iblis to recognise the creation of human beings means that the Fall from heavenly grace was inevitable. The Egyptians wrote they came to Egypt from Ta-Ur, the ‘Far Foreign Land’. The Egyptian term ‘Neteru’ means ‘guardians’. The watchers were a specific race of divine beings known in Hebrew as ‘nun resh ayin’ or ‘irin’ meaning ‘those who watch’ or ‘those who are awake’, which is translated into Greek as Egrhgoroi egregoris orgrigori, meaning ‘watchers’.” [92]

  “Oh…well, that all makes sense then,” Simon said and shrugged his shoulders and sighed in an exaggerated manner.

  “Fear not, my friend, I shall explain this again for you later if you wish?” Gabirol said quietly and leaned across and patted Simon’s arm.

  “And Theodoric explained all of this yes?” the Templar asked.

  “Yes, yes he did and more,” the old man replied.

  Cairo, Egypt, April 13th, 1183

  “I won’t even ask how you say watchers again in Greek,” Upside laughed and quickly rubbed his side as he winced in pain.

  In the dim light shone by the lanthorns Paul could see clearly the deep lines etched in Upside’s face. Up close, it was easy to see that he was a lot older than he actually looked, but as he grimaced in pain from one of the cracked ribs he had suffered, his age became more obvious as shadows highlighted the lines around his eyes.

  “Well all you need to know is, that woman can make herself appear the aged old crow as you see her, but trust me, she can also appear beautiful other times,” Theodoric explained and looked across to Paul and winked.

  “Better not tell my lot that,” Thomas joked.

  “Why can’t these so-called watchers watch the likes of Reynald and Gerard then…you know, and influence them a bit more?” Upside asked.

  “How do you know they haven’t?” Attar shot back and raised his eyebrows quizzically.

  “There was a time when they tried, but alas as you know yourself, Reynald is obsessed with wiping out Islam, and Gerard, well, he is simply too hot headed himself at times as well as impetuous and follows Reynald almost blindly,” Theodoric answered.

  “Too easily led by Reynald unfortunately,” Attar remarked confirming Theodoric’s comment.

  “I can vouch for that…and they both lack honour, integrity and any sense of nobility,” Upside said as he shook his head disapprovingly.

  “You surprise me with such words,” Paul said, looking at Upside.

  “Why…you know them both yourself only too well. I have served under them, and but for my sworn vows to the Order…not them, I think I would have long since put both in their graves for their actions…and I do not mean actions to Muslims alone,” Upside replied and studied the bowl of dates and olives.

  Thomas moved in his chair and sat back to look at Upside.

  “My friend. You are a battle hardened and experienced knight…like my men…so if you ever tire of your service to the Order, we could certainly do with some fresh blood amongst us,” he explained. Thomas looked at Upside puzzled for a few moments. “Seriously, ’tis hono
ur above all else we respect. We know only too well of the ways of our so-called nobility.”

  “Nobility you say. I see so very little of that in our self serving egotistical and arrogant lords and ladies, bar a handful at most,” Upside replied and faced Paul, “Princess Stephanie and Eschiva both being the exception to that…and Lord Balian.”

  “What of Lord Raymond?” Paul asked.

  “He has improved, but I have seen his scheming at first hand too. Though Brother Nicholas will not have a word spoken against him. Too trusting and too damned loyal for his own good that one. ’Tis why he lays this hour sorely injured,” Upside answered and shook his head almost in disgust. “Raymond refused to join in Reynald’s little sea venture but he was forced to send most of his contingent of Templar Knights to assist, except a handful to guard Princess Eschiva.”

  “Everyone’s perception and understanding of people and events is always slightly different, that is why you must always trust your own instincts about people,” Attar stated in a low tone as if to emphasise some great words of wisdom. Theodoric laughed briefly. “Seriously, there are always two sides. Let me give you an example,” Attar started to say.

  “You are not going to bore me to death are you?” Upside asked bluntly, but smiling.

  “Yes of course…absolutely, my friend, but it will nevertheless demonstrate the point,” Attar laughed back and pulled his dark green cloak around his shoulders, the night air getting cooler. “There was this young couple who every morning over breakfast would watch their elderly neighbour hang out her washing for the day through their prized ornate glass window. This went on for weeks and every morning the young woman would tell her husband how filthy the old woman’s sheets always were every time she hung them out. She commented that the old woman obviously does not know how to clean bed sheets properly or is too frail to do it. After a few months of this the young man, frustrated at his young wife not doing anything to help the old woman, decided to do something about it,” Attar explained in a deliberate drawn out fashion then paused as he looked at them all in turn.

  “And?” Thomas asked impatient but grinning. “Let me guess, he made his young wife do her sheets too or he washed them?”

  “No,” Attar replied and sat up. “The next time the old lady came out to hang up her washing, the young woman looked on and was amazed at how white and clean her sheets all looked. She turned to her husband and demanded to know what he had done. So he sat her down, looked at her for a few minutes then explained that he had gotten up early, gone outside and cleaned the glass of their very expensive and ornate windows for it was that which was filthy, not the old ladies sheets.”

  “Well said,” Theodoric laughed out loud seeing the bemused expressions on all their faces.

  “If you were expecting some great deep and meaningful insight, then look into what I just said later as you sleep,” Attar remarked smiling. “For you see, there are always reasons and circumstances as to how and why we all see things so differently.”

  “I like that…I do,” Upside said, nodding his head as he pondered Attar’s comments.

  “And,” Attar started to say and paused smiling before continuing. “There is a Hindu tantric saying, ‘nādevo devam arcayet’, which means ‘by none but a god shall a god be worshipped’. For you see the deity of one’s worship is a function of one’s own state of mind. But it is also a product of one’s culture. Catholic nuns do not have visions of the Buddha, nor do Buddhist nuns have visions of Christ. The image of any god beheld, whether interpreted as beheld in heaven or as beheld any place, will be of a local idea historically conditioned, a metaphor, therefore, and thus to be recognised as transparent to transcendence. Remaining fixed to its form, whether with simple faith or in saintly vision, is therefore to remain in mind historically bound and attached to an appearance preconditioned by our environment, family and religious education.”

  “And education does not necessarily help either for look at how we are taught…how the Church educates us,” Theodoric said as Sister Lucy came and sat beside him. “It leaves no room for personal or individual discernment, personal integrity to stand up to what at times is blindingly obvious as being wrong, or even a way to see a balanced understanding of the real world…for it is presently a sad fact that the dust of acquired knowledge is more often shown to ‘obscure the mirror of the heart’ than to enhance one’s rational faculties and finer perceptions. It strangles our open mindedness to enquire and learn.”

  “Whoops…I think you have got him started,” Sister Lucy joked and held his hand tightly.

  “Okay I shall stop before I rant…but in truth, the Church denies the existence of many things that would greatly help and advance us…they keep us in ignorance and the zealot fanatics who follow its every word, to the letter…well that just makes the Church become like a big penis.”

  “Really, how so?” Thomas asked laughing as Upside clasped his side again as he too laughed.

  “Religion is like a penis. Its fine to have one and it’s fine to be proud of it, but you shouldn’t whip it out in public and start waving it around… nor would you force it down someone’s throat yet this is exactly what the Church does,” Theodoric explained as Sister Lucy covered her mouth, trying not to laugh.

  “I think I will leave this conversation. Who would like a full wooden peg ale tankard filled with heated Syrup of Jule?” she asked as she stood up again slowly, still laughing.

  “You have a way with words, Theodoric,” Attar remarked. “And yes please,” he nodded toward Sister Lucy.

  “Hey it was you who told me that years ago…and ‘Revelation cometh!’ and it will be the watchers who help herald that in by a new breed of hero,” Theodoric laughed back.

  Thomas and Upside both bowed their heads in acknowledgement to Sister Lucy.

  “Heroes…such like?” Paul asked, bemused.

  “No idea,” Theodoric replied and smiled.

  “Paul, it is said that the watchers imparted great knowledge and wisdom to certain men and women, but even then, they were so strongly influenced by the religious impulse and dogmatic preaching’s so strongly engrained within them, that even then they could not break away from their old ways of understanding and perceptions,” Attar explained as Upside listened very intently.

  “And the new type of hero, though I use that word loosely, for what is a hero really, will be individuals who are service to others first and foremost… not service to self,” Theodoric explained.

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  “A hero must be honourable, must have honour for you can’t have honour if you’re a liar. There is no honour in lying,” Upside stated.

  “Brother Baldwin…like all perceptions, even lying has to be viewed for what it is. An honourable knight may have to lie to save a person’s life. Does that make him dishonourable? People tell many forms of lies for many reasons…,” Theodoric remarked, looking at Upside.

  “We all lie at some point for I certainly have,” Paul interjected.

  “Yes, so have I and we all know Percival did yet he is perhaps the most noble amongst us, yes?” Thomas said as Sister Lucy placed several wooden peg tankards down and began to pass them around.

  “I do not wish to offend or insult, but I never lie,” Upside remarked as he placed his hands around the tankard. “It surprises me to hear you admit such,” he said as he looked up at Paul.

  “I feel no shame for lying. ’Twas a small but necessary evil to save lives…,” Paul answered.

  “Whose?” Upside asked.

  “Oh, Reynald’s, Gerard and my brother, Stewart…,” Paul replied.

  “How so?” Upside asked instantly.

  “How else do you think they escaped? They were aboard my vessel with Percival and I…and now if we do not continue with our lie, ’tis us all who will pay the ultimate price.”

  Upside shook his head in surprise and looked at Attar and then Thomas before looking back at Paul.

  “And you admit such in our company?”

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