She sat up, and continued. “In desperation, I mustered whatever strength I had left and kicked out. He tried to calm me, still stroking me with his warm hands. One of my kicks must have hit him. I heard a shout, then a curse. Next, I was slapped violently on the face; soon after that I felt that odiously familiar pinch on my arm, and passed out.”
“I’m sorry, Orsina, I’m so terribly sorry. But,” he hastened to add, “that must have been the only time. It’s very possible that he hasn’t violated you at all.”
“How do you know?” It was the most painful of conversations, but she obviously needed to get it off her chest, and he wanted to ease her pain.
“I’ve read the secret edition of The Magical World many times during the last two weeks. There’s a passage in it that I’ve learned by heart, because the more I worried about you and what you had endured, the more it gave me hope. When Cesare writes about ungifted practitioners of magic, like your uncle, he notes that ‘if they cultivate the love and friendly cooperation of a Hebe, then through suitable intercourse with her they may be led to accomplish no lesser marvels.’ Elsewhere in the text, he stresses that a condition for this friendly cooperation to work is love. The twisted bastard had managed to influence Angela in such a way, I saw her in my vision looking like a zombie, defenseless and even affectionate in his arms. But he never had any control over you, so—”
“That’s enough, Leo, that’s enough. I’ll learn to live with it.” She buried her face in her hands, and cried. But soon, she was willing herself to snap out of it, and did.
“Forgive me, Orsina. I’ll never mention the past again. I promise. But what of the future?”
She opened her eyes; it was her turn to explain. Facing Leo, she said: “Thank you, Leo; thank you for everything you’ve done. I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”
Leo felt that he was grateful to her for allowing him to be of help, but he didn’t say it out loud. There’d been enough show of soul for the day; she was still weak. He simply smiled. She resumed.
“My life has become very complicated. As soon as Uncle died, the family lawyer contacted me. I have inherited his whole estate. I don’t yet know what that includes, but there’s property scattered all over the place, and not just in Italy.
“My lawyer says that the million-Euro ransom that Uncle pretended to pay must have been raised from friends, on the security of his properties, and that they’ll certainly let me know in a discreet way when it’s due for repayment. He thinks that the police may be persuaded to give back the money they confiscated. And Uncle’s assets are no longer frozen. I won’t tell the lawyer that it was Uncle who kidnapped me; I have decided never to tell anyone. It’s our secret, Leo.”
“You’re forgetting Bhaskar and Soma.”
“No, I’m not, nor am I forgetting Giorgio.”
“Giorgio?”
“Yes, he’s the one who abducted me. But he must have been brainwashed by Uncle as much as poor Angela. I can’t realistically say that he acted of his own will when he became his accomplice. As for the Indian servants, they were blackmailed.
“The three of them know only a small part of the truth. It’s in their best interest to keep quiet for ever. Of course, I’ve fired them all, it’s the first thing I did. But I don’t feel revengeful. What matters is that the monster is dead.”
Leo felt that it was time to change the subject. “Nigel seemed happy last night,” he put in.
“Happy for me, yes, and relieved to be off the hook himself. He’d prefer to forget about the whole thing, obviously. As for Inspector Ghedina, he’s been so useless, I don’t owe him a solution to anything. So, all things considered, I agree with Nigel: forgetting would be just fine. But what’s left is immense. There are the two properties you know about, the Villa and the Palazzo. I feel an enormous responsibility to the Riviera family. That’s why I can’t simply get rid of them, as Nigel could get rid of this house if Provence started to bore him. I feel absolutely burdened with things, with places, with wealth, and I feel all this responsibility landing on me when I’m weaker than I’ve ever been.
“By the way,” she added in a different tone, “Nigel and I sleep in separate bedrooms now. We’ve agreed that our marriage hasn’t worked out, and never will. When all the publicity’s died down, we’re going to get a very quiet divorce.” She forced a smile as Nigel was heard outside.
****
Two days later, the chauffer was driving the impeccably restored Citroën DS toward the airport in Nice. Orsina was sitting in the back with Leo, holding hands.
“After what you told me,” Orsina said at length, in English, “I’ve decided to have the hunting lodge demolished. I love Villa Riviera too much, I’d never sell it. But the lodge must go.”
Leo continued to hold her hand and said nothing.
“As for the Palazzo,” she added, “it’s too important for the dynasty, but I know that I could never sleep in it again. Not after what happened.”
“You don’t have to tell me anything, Orsina. I’m sure you’ll make all the right decisions. Just give yourself some time.”
She looked him in the eye and smiled.
The moment they both dreaded had arrived. Leo was going back to the States, and was about to go through security at the airport. His plane was leaving in half an hour. Orsina had brought along a sizeable bag from the local chocolatier. “Here, Leo,” she said, handing the bag to him. “Here’s something to remember me by.”
Leo thanked her and peeked inside, expecting a big box of chocolates. Instead, there it was: the Forbidden Book. He looked at her. Was she sure about this?
“Yes, Leo. You keep it for now. You must have finally realized that you yourself are gifted. How else do you think you would have come through vaticination alive?”
“Yes, I’ve been thinking about that. It’s both humbling and scary.”
“No, no need to be afraid. The two of us will work on the book, together, soon.”
The boarding of his flight was announced one more time.
“Orsina, I know that this is not the place, nor the time, but I meant to ask you if—
“Not now, Leo, not yet. Soon. We need just a little more time. Keep the book in a safe place, promise me.”
“Yes, of course.” Mechanically, he took out his passport and boarding card. “It’s really time I went, Orsina; unless, of course—”
She kissed him. He could feel her tears on his face. She hugged him tightly. It was dizzying and blissful. Leo was more than prepared to miss his flight. What was he leaving for? He closed her embrace, but she broke away from him. “Go, go,” she said, “you’ve got things to straighten out in Washington.”
“Orsina …”
“Go, now, go. We’ll be together soon, very soon, and then nothing will set us apart again, nothing.” She choked up, but then added, “Have a good flight, amore mio.” As he hesitated, she turned on her heels and made for the exit.
The security clerk said: “Monsieur, do you still want to catch your plane? Your passport and boarding card, please.”
AFTERWORD
Plots to blow up the fresco in San Petronio, Bologna
The fresco by Giovanni da Modena in the Basilica of San Petronio, Bologna—inspired by a scene from Dante’s Inferno in which Mohammed displays his own entrails—exists in reality. On two distinct occasions, Islamist groups directly linked to Al Qaeda threatened to blow up the church. In 2002, a plot was discovered, orchestrated by a key figure known as “Amsa the Libyan,” who was arrested in Britain for possessing false papers, and suspected of having passed orders from Al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan and Iran to terrorist cells in Europe.” The Italian police arrested four more suspects. In 2006, six terrorists were arrested, three of whom were later deported from Italy, two detained and one placed under observation, while a seventh man was still sought.
Saint James the Moor Slayer
The statue of Spain’s patron saint, Santiago Matamoros (Saint James the Moor-Slayer)
, exists in reality inside the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, one of Europe’s supreme pilgrimage sites. The Compostela statue is an 18th-Century work by Jose Gambino depicting St. James on a white horse hacking off the heads of Moors, symbolizing the Reconquista (reconquest) of the Iberian Peninsula. In 2004, in the wake of the Madrid train bombings, it was decided that the statue be removed to avoid provocation to Muslims. After strong public objection, however, church officials were forced to overturn their decision.
Anti-Islamic activism
Anti-Islamic activism in the European radical right, or ultra-right, is a reality, and there are many groups and individuals acting independently of the political forum whose common features are, apart from strong anti-Islamic sentiment, nationalism, racism, xenophobia, anti-democracy and the push for a strong and encompassing state. According to Europol among others, right wing terrorism and/or extremism are gaining in importance again.
Villa Riviera
The Baron’s country residence is based on Villa Costafredda, in the town of Colognola ai Colli, between Verona and Vicenza. Formerly a convent, it is a rare example, for the region, of rococo style, and has belonged for centuries to one of Verona’s most illustrious noble families, the Maffei-Faccioli.
Palazzo Riviera
The Riviera palace in Venice is closely based on the real palace called Ca’ Rezzonico, now the Museum of the Venetian Eighteenth Century. It is the work of Baldassarre Longhena and one of the first baroque palaces on the Grand Canal. Palazzo Riviera is situated as though inserted between that building and the adjoining Campo San Barnaba.
Il mondo magico de gli heroi
The “forbidden book” is an authentic alchemico-magical text by Cesare della Riviera (Milan: Pietro Martire Locarni, 1605). A landmark in the final, triumphant flowering of Renaissance Hermeticism, Della Riviera’s treatise draws on John Dee’s “hieroglyphic monad” and launches a particularly Italian stream of spiritual alchemy, which persists to this day. There is at present no English translation of the book, but two modern editions: (1) with text in modernized Italian, Introduction and Notes by Julius Evola, Carmagnola: Edizioni Arktos, 1982; (2) original text in modern characters with Introduction by Piero Fenili, Rome: Edizioni Mediterranee, 1986. Most of the quotations in The Forbidden Book are authentic, translated by the Authors. There follows a reproduction of the frontispiece of the first edition.
The Baron’s lecture on transcendence and the castes
This closely follows the principles of Traditionalist or “Perennialist” philosophers and social critics such as Ananda Coomaraswamy, René Guénon, Julius Evola, and Frithjof Schuon. See the latter’s Castes and Races (Bedfont: Perennial Books, 1982).
Police and judicial procedures
The entire police investigation and the criminal/judiciary procedure are carried out exactly as currently contemplated by Italian law. The Authors have consulted Italian lawyers for all pertinent details of both civil and penal Italian legal procedures. In particular, the police asking for the triangolo is a classic stratagem of the Italian Highway Patrol, so as to fine even the most virtuous of drivers (very few are aware that by law every car is supposed to have one on board).
Magical practices
In describing magical practices the Authors’ principle is to exclude anything they have learned directly from modern-day alchemists and magi. With one notable exception, as mentioned below, their descriptions are of practices that have been published, in whatever language and however remotely.
The general philosophy of magic “as science of the Self” is based on the writings of the Gruppo di Ur. See Gruppo di Ur, Introduzione alla magia quale scienza dell’Io (3 vols., Genoa: Fratelli Melitta, 1987). The first volume only has been translated by Guido Stucco as Introduction to Magic (Rochester, Vt.: Inner Traditions, 2001).
Correspondence of elements and humors
This is part of the system of fourfold correspondences (including the compass points, the winds, the Evangelists, and much else) described in the classic texts of Western ritual magic, beginning with Cornelius Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy (Cologne, 1533).
Breathing exercise
Although certainly practiced in the West, the science of breathing is best described in texts from the Indian yogic tradition. It is mentioned in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and elaborated upon in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika.
Alleged use of decapitated head for divination
From Athanasius Kircher, reporting on rabbinic commentators, in Oedipus Aegyptiacus, vol. 1 (Rome, 1652).
Apparition of Mithras
The vision is based on the Mithraic Ritual of the “Great Magical Papyrus of Paris,” published in Introduction to Magic (see above).
Hematidrosis, or bleeding through the pores
Reported by a deceased Greek publisher and high-ranking initiate of various rites, known to one of the Authors. He resorted to it at great personal risk for the purpose of healing the gravely ill.
Pressure on the arteries
This means of attaining an altered state of consciousness is known in Tibetan yoga (see W.Y. Evans-Wentz, Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines, Oxford University Press, 1958). Oral tradition holds that the representation of the Tibetan adept Milarepa with his hand to his ear is actually practicing it. However, it is never suggested as something to be used on another person, and any experimentation with self or others would be foolhardy and potentially fatal.
Vision of the dead
The literature of Spiritualism and the records of psychical research are full of instances in which a dead person has apparently communicated in visible form with the living. The unsurpassed collection of such cases is F.W.H. Myers, Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death (London, 1903). The question of the ontological reality of such visions (i.e., whether in any sense they are the deceased) is still unresolved.
The Baron’s sexual alchemy
Derived from reports of such practices in the Italian esoteric tradition and in branches of the Ordo Templi Orientis. See Giuliano Kremmerz, Istruzioni riservate. Da un manoscritto segreto dell’Ordine Osirideo Egizio, with an essay [in Italian] by Peter-R. König and notes by V. Fincati. Published unpaginated, without place or date, by Associazione Culturale “Il Filo di Arianna”; Peter-R. König, Der O.T.O. Phänomen Reload, Munich: A.R.W., 2011, vol. 3.
Architectural Plans of Palazzo Riviera in Venice
Floor One
Floor Two
Floor Three
Floor Four
Palace Façade
Acknowledgements
Our gratitude to:
Our wives, for everything.
The Contessina Giovanna Penco Salvi for her indispensable sympathetic magic and much more besides.
Hannah McClennen, for drawing the architectural plans of Palazzo Riviera.
Giovanni Quintavalle, attorney at law, for his advice on all legal details pertaining to Italian law, both penal and civil.
Juan Pedro Aguilar, M.D., for his ophtalmological advice.
Humberto G. Junco, M.D., for his medical advice.
Gianfranco de Turris, for providing us with one of the editions of Il mondo magico de gli heroi.
Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson, for his “rosé principle.”
Marco Salvi and Gardner Monks for a lifetime of support.
Paola Juilland, so kind, thoughtful and ever willing to help.
The Forbidden Book: A Novel Page 30