A Fistful of Honey

by Malena Crawford

  She quieted her mind and drew in deep, long breaths and released them slowly, letting her chest rise and fall peacefully. With ease, the words came to her.

  “I call you in.”

  The smell of sweet burning herbs reached her nose and she opened her eyes to find a single, milk white dove perched on the arm of her sofa. When her eyes fixed on the creature it flew into her open hands, and at once Alena found herself standing before a great ancient temple. Hieroglyphs of Isis, Osiris, and Horus were carved into its massive walls and towering stone pillars. She walked through the temple’s hulking pylon where a stately Nubian woman stood waiting. Her long braided hair hung down her shoulders, and she wore a gauzy white linen tunic that fell to her ankles. She smelled sweetly of lotus flowers. Alena’s eyes fell on the familiar amethyst amulet hanging at her throat.

  “Welcome Sister. I am Tabiry,” the high priestess greeted Alena, her hand gently clasping her shoulder.

  “Who are you? Where am I?”

  “I am your guide in this realm and this is Philae, the Holy Temple of our beloved Mother Isis. We have been expecting you, Alena. Let us go inside with the others and prepare for her invocation.”

  What invocation? Alena thought. She had many questions but she didn’t think this was the time to ask them.

  Inside the temple the incense of myrrh hung heavily in the air. The clinging melodies of flutes, cymbals, and sistrum flooded the court. The shrine was piled high with a banquet of offerings to Isis. Tabiry offered Alena a copper goblet of sorghum wine and commanded a band of priestesses to dress and clean her for the evening’s event. They bowed their heads gracefully and poised their ebony arms to gesture the way through a grand hall bedecked with carvings of voluptuous goddesses. Inside an opulent chamber room, the priestesses helped Alena bathe in sacred herbs and anointed her wrists and throat with frankincense oil. She was dressed in the same fine white linen tunic as they all wore.

  “You must not gaze directly into Mother Isis’ eyes sister,” one of the priestesses warned her softly. “Not until she allows.”

  Tabiry clapped her hands to signal the start of the invocation and the music fell quiet.

  “On this evening we invoke the full and complete presence of the Great Mother Isis herself. We call upon you Holy Mother to help your children and bless your daughters of this temple with your mysteries.”

  With a wave Tabiry’s hand thousands of flames bloomed from their golden torches setting the grand room alight. Alena was awestruck by the colossal statue of a winged Goddess Isis that stood surrounded by throngs of mystical artifacts. Her outstretched lapis vulture wings spanned across the entire width of the room and a solid gold throne was perched in her headdress.

  The other priestesses joined Tabiry in preparing for Isis’s blessings, flooding the temple with their chants to the deity. As they prayed from their hearts, the temple walls shook and the stone floors quaked beneath their feet. The enormous statue cracked open and the room flooded with blinding holy light. Alena and the priestesses sunk down onto their bellies, prostrated before the crumbling relic. From it, the great goddess Isis appeared. Alena’s jaw dropped. Her skin was as rich and black as the silt of the Nile, wondrous as a swath of starless night sky.

  A crown of twelve gleaming stars sat atop her head and a cloth of beaming sunlight cloaked her body. Around her neck a resplendent gold collar encrusted in jewels. As Isis drew closer she saw that they were not jewels at all, they were planets orbiting within the piece. Alena shielded her eyes from the impossible depths of Isis’s lightening like gaze as the priestesses had advised her.

  Just then, Isis addressed Alena directly. “Daughter, do not be afraid, you may now gaze upon me.” Alena opened her eyes tentatively but kept them lowered.

  “You have come so that you may learn.” Isis beckoned for Alena to come closer. Tabiry and the others remained prostrate on the ground.

  “Come Daughter and I will give you the secrets of the ages, I will give you the power you seek.”

  Alena obeyed and on trembling legs stepped forward to Isis.

  “I am the Nubian Queen who has descended from the Heavens. I am the same God of your forefathers Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David., ,” Isis said in a thunderous voice.

  She mounted her throne and struck the temple floor with her mighty Staff of Life, a blazing scepter of power, enchanting it. Instantly, the stone floors were transformed into a pool of dazzling black cosmos twinkling with a sea of stars and orbs of mighty planets before them.

  “My daughter, I have come so that you may know the truth of humanity, the truth of your creation, and the truth of your divine mission on the planet earth. Hear it with your heart.”

  Alena’s heart was busy fluttering as she darted a glance at Isis. The deity’s face was beautiful yet stern as she met Alena’s eyes.

  “You did not expect me in this form I presume,” A slight smile breaking across her face. “Of course not. You and the others have been made to believe that the God of this universe is a white man with flowing hair. I have come so that you may know my true face. I come to you now in my feminine form for I am the feminine aspect of God. I am the Great Mother of All Creation I am your Dark Mother, the Dark Matter whose love for you is so potent that it holds the galaxies together just as it holds your very cells together.”

  Alena could only glare in stunned silence. Isis waved her hand over the pool of cosmos. In its watery black depths seven beautiful beams in seven different colors appeared.

  “From the dawn of time the Divine Plan was and remains to create the Heavens on Earth and man in God’s own image. As above, so below. And so in the beginning, to conceive our holy sons and holy daughters your Father-Mother God breathed forth seven rays of light from the Divine Heart, each containing the qualities and virtues of God. They are blue, the first ray, yellow, pink, white, green, gold, and violet, the final ray.”

  As she spoke transcendent colors shimmers behind her, dazzling Alena.

  “Each of these divine rays is a facet of the same jewel, the universal seed of creation. Each and every one of my human children possesses infinite divine power. Every race of humans is given the gift of one of these rays and holds the distinct destiny of anchoring their ray’s attributes to planet earth through their human existence. This is the order of creation. There is no supremacy or exclusion in God. All are perfect and divine. Every soul on earth has incarnated at some time into every ray of God.”

  Alena’s mind raced trying to make sense of the revelations Isis was revealing to her.

  “So we are truly all one?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Isis answered with a gracious smile. “The human family is all one, with quite different yet equally important destinies to fulfill on earth. The souls that have incarnated in black and brown skinned bodies are the children of the blue and violet Rays. The blue ray is the first ray of divine light, the Alpha ray. It is the Will and Faith of God and the source of all the other rays. The violet ray is the seventh and final ray of divine light, the Omega ray. The Black race is the beginning and the ending, the Alpha and Omega the original people beginning the race of man on earth. With this truth comes a heavy responsibility and great sacrifice. These sacrifice have manifested as the massive struggles in human history that the Black Race has had to overcome. This race was called to anchor these rays and set an example of how to master them with integrity, unconditional love and undying compassion even in the face of grave adversity.”

  Exhilaration beamed across Alena’s face as she felt an incredible wave of peace.

  “It was from ancient Mother Africa that you have come, the mother from which all civilizations have emerged, the highest level of civilization ever known to man. She has been known by many names—Mu, Kush, Nubia—but it matters not. Her land, your land, was the true Garden of Eden.”

  Isis offered her hand to Alena. “Daughter, come with me,” she commanded. Alena froze, afraid and confused.”Come!” Isis repeated.

  The scene in
the pool had roared to life and with one hesitant step Alena was inside of it, transported with Isis to a land of almost unfathomable splendor. Alena rubbed her eyes as surreal images of an ancient and peculiar earth greeted her consciousness. The scenes drenched her senses in landscapes as vibrant as they were intense, laden with delicious abundance.

  This must be Heaven. Alena mused in her mind.

  “This is Mother Africa,” Isis answered, intuiting her thought. “It was a continent of great magic, wonder, and wealth. The Black Race was chosen by God as the true Hebrews, the first Jews. We made a Covenant with the First People that as long as they followed God’s law and continued to rule in love, they would always enjoy this heaven on earth.”

  Isis whipped them through the homeland without even touching ground. Alena scanned the rushing scenery, amazed by everything she saw. How did we lose all of this? She wondered to herself. They descended into a great valley where Alena beheld a sprawling golden city. At its heart was a great crystalline tower, its walls sparkling with precious jewels, its summit sheathed in pure gold.

  “This is what is known today as the Sahara desert. It was once a pristine stretch of luxuriant land. Its great beauty matched only by that of its people.”

  Alena was astounded by the sea of beautiful black people holding the majesty and regality of the Divine as they walked about the land. They dressed in bright, elegant clothing and were all so bold yet humble, untrammeled by cares or woes. Their skin was like that of her own, Mary Magdalene, Oshun, and Isis. She finally grasped a realization that struck her with a stupor that she too, Alena Ford, held the heritage of the Divine.

  Voices swirled from the above them. “Welcome home, Alena.” They seemed to be coming from the trees as if they were speaking.

  “What’s that? Who is speaking my name?” The breath caught in Alena’s throat once again.

  “Those are the voices of the elementals,” Isis explained. “In these golden times the trees, plants, animals, water, air, all of the elements of the Great Mother, exist only in their truest form and in perfect balance unfettered by the imprints of human ego.”

  “Why can’t they speak to us anymore?” Alena asked.

  “The elementals always speak. It is mankind who no longer listens. The original people took immense care of the earth and connected to the elemental kingdom and with a love so powerful that with it they could bid the trees to flower and the crops to overflow with harvest. For their devotion they enjoyed more than enough sustenance. As with all life, love is the true nature of the elements. They are greeting you.” The trees rained down their sweet, vibrant flowers, blessing Alena’s path with them.

  They came upon a lush tree dripping with sublime fruits, each ripened to perfection. Their rinds were rich in hues of the sunset with sapphire blossoms bursting from the tree’s limbs.

  “This is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. In the beginning, there were no bounds to the First People, only that they obey the Law and not eat of the Tree, lest they ingest the knowledge of good and evil. What the humans forsook was the Tree of Life, that which bears the fruit of God’s splendor.”

  Another tree emerged more magnificent than the first, with ten blazing crystal spheres beaming along its branches, trunk and root. In the next instant the landscape was changed dramatically. The beauty of the land and the people had disintegrated into ruin.

  “Those Dark Adversarial Ones were envious of God’s favor over the humans and tempted them away from their divine inheritance. They sought to take full control of the earth and began their savage reign to destroy the children of the blue and violet rays and their paradise with the divine. The First People did eat of the Tree and their disobedience meant the fall of Mankind,” Isis announced, “the dawn of suffering.”

  Alena looked around to see the bountiful crops now withered in the field. Rich forests became receding land littered with the corpses of great beasts, scorching by the sun. Those beautiful faces were now filled with sorrow over their fallen kingdoms. Their gleaming gold buildings had been destroyed and razed. Mighty villages burned ablaze in crimson. Their mighty civilization was no longer.

  “The Shetani was unleashed and infected human nature with the contagion of darkness, illusion and the curse of duality-a sense of separation from God and their fellow brethren. The divine order was betrayed and gave way to great chaos. The Shetani convinced humans that God no longer dwelled within them and urged them to replace God with their own manipulation. The people abandoned their sacred communion with the divine for black magic and dark arts.”

  “So is this why we’re struggling so much now, is this why we’re the most hated race on earth?” Alena asked in a timid voice.

  “The Black Race’s struggles began in these ancient times, when they chose against their true power, love. Their magnificent hearts became narrow and hardened, and so came the end of the Golden Ages and darkness fell over Mother Africa’s holy land. The humans began to turn on one another and war began on earth. They divided themselves and in their fervor to gain power, they sought to destroy and enslave their own people. They defiled the garment of the earth with their disobedience, abusing the elementals they once adored, greedily plundering the bounties of the land and violently throwing the Great Mother Earth out of balance. The continent became ravaged by floods in some corners and plagued by drought in others, turning lands once green and teeming with life into the yellow desolate sands of the Sahara desert. “

  Alena studied the faces of the people as Isis continued.

  “With their gift of free will they had broken the sacred covenant. This disobedience of the Law had to be atoned for. In the Divine’s grace and mercy, a spark of holiness was returned to earth to restore the promises to mankind and break the Shetani’s reign over sin and death. From the Divine Heart of God, a Savior was sent forward to return the love to earth, incarnated in human form. It was, of course, the one you know as the Light and Jesus Christ, the Son of God himself. He conquered humanity’s curse of separation and broke the power of the Shetani with his cosmic blood. His name alone causes the Shetani to submit and flee. “

  Alena thought about what she had been taught in church, how her mother would talk about Christ her Lord all of the time but still was one of the most broken women she knew. She thought of what Mary taught her about the beasts in her heart.

  “Just as the beloved Christ endured persecution, suffering and rejection to demonstrate the will of God so have you souls of the Black race. In order to anchor God’s Will you first had to demonstrate the consequences of going against it. In order to demonstrate God’s freedom, you first had to demonstrate its opposite—enslavement.”

  A sick feeling heaved in Alena as Isis’ magic took her to another time and place. Under her feet were the worn wooden planks of an old ship. A slave ship. Alena flinched as the churning Atlantic waters sprayed her face.

  “A faction of brave and noble souls from the Black Race agreed to usher in the new earth by becoming the catalyst for the passing away of the old earth. The agreement was a new covenant with God in which the Black Race would anchor the blue and violet rays in the New World through their human experiences as slaves. As it is written, after breaking the first covenant, the Black Race was called to serve their enemies in a place they knew not of for 400 years.”

  Sorrow and rage pressed like a wall against her. She tried to bear it, she felt to be strong in that moment was the least she could do for her suffering ancestors.

  They were shackled and packed onto the ship in quarters black with filth, pressed flesh to flesh. Alena pressed her hands over her ears, their tortured groans of pain were deafening. They were no longer joined together by tribal blood, village celebration or ritual but by heavy links of chain clamped at the throat, the wrists and the ankle. Under the indignity of those chains no part of them would ever again find rest or joy. Alena smelled their sweat and blood. Their longing pulled on her as they tried to cram their minds with memories of the home land, the
soft weight of their babies in their arms, the desperate kisses of their beloveds, their natural names sweetly spoken for the last time.

  The salted air was heavy with their bewilderment, their anger and their deeply broken hearts as those cruel men barked their commands at them in strange harsh tongues.

  Isis continued, “When those mooring ropes were loosed and the slave ships set sail for the Americas, the New Blood Covenant was set forth. The heinous and brutal captivity of the Black Race at the hands of the white race, the children of the pink and white rays, was truly a holy work of sacrifice for the whole of humanity and for the return of the Black Race to their full righteousness. With another crack of her great staff, Isis and Alena returned to the temple.

  “You must understand that it was for the depth of your Spirits and Hearts that you were chosen for this mission. Your majestic power is unmatched. The Black Race are once again the chosen people, now in a strange yet chosen land. The New World, the Americas, was intended by God to be the land of freedom, the great melting pot in which every single ray exists together. The human suffering the Black race endured freed America and has commanded the attention and evolution of the entire world, of every single ray of humanity. America is the chosen land for the advent of humanity’s ascension. Your people’s enslavement meant freedom for all of humanity,” Isis explained.

  “With the new covenant fulfilled, a new day has come. Those who have been last shall be first once again. Those roots of fear and intimidation from generations past shall be plucked out. The mission of the Black Race is to remember the indomitable power that they stood in during those Golden ages and usher in the New Golden Age.”

  “How? Like I said, we are the most hated. We’re the most disrespected. If we have all of this honor, why does it feel like such a curse to be born black?”

  “The greatest illusion the Shetani ever defiled humanity with was the inferiority of the Black Race. Yet your indelible power is felt so strongly that despite the enormous energy put forward to mark you as inferior and suppress the very essence of the original blackness, you have only thrived. They first sought to convince the Black race to despise themselves, forget that not long ago at all they were the rulers, and will always be the mothers and the fathers of earth. The Beings of Light call you to illumination. You are your revolution. The Black race must take full responsibility of its divine power, whether you choose to wield it or not. By sacred contract you agreed to be the new pioneers of humanity, the Bridgers, and return many lifetimes later to reincarnate in this time and place.