by Joe Vadalma
"I suppose you wouldn't. What do you suggest?"
"We should call the police and have her arrested as you pointed out."
Flebert shook his head. “Can't do that. You're the only witness, and we can't have your whereabouts known. She would simply claim that I kidnapped her and was holding her against her will. With the bruises she got when you were restraining her, she could claim that I assaulted her."
"And raped me,” said Lucinda. “You're DNA is in my vagina even if you didn't come."
Flebert rubbed his chin. “It's quite a dilemma. I can't let you go, and I can't keep you tied up all the time. Also, I'd like to know who wanted me dead."
CHAPTER 13. YIN YANG
Raven screamed with absolute terror as a demon grabbed her by the shoulders and began to shake her. Suddenly she was staring into the eyes of Cindy Looper, her friend and next door neighbor at the Church of Omega. It was Looper who was shaking her. She was back in her room.
"You were having a terrible nightmare,” Looper said. “You were screaming bloody murder."
Raven shivered as she recalled her dream. She smiled at her friend. “Thank you for waking me up. I was being attacked by demons."
"Are you all right?” Looper put her hand to Raven's forehead. “You don't feel feverish."
"I'm fine. It must've been the long flight and airline food. What time is it?"
"Four A.M. We've got two hours before wake-up call."
"I'm no longer sleepy. But you go back to your room and get that two hours in."
"Are you sure you'll be okay?"
Raven waved her away. “I'll be fine. Go to bed."
After Looper left, Raven contemplated her dream. Although parts of it were terrifying, other parts were very nice, such as when Michael was holding her and kissing her. The thing about the dream was that it did not seem like a dream. It seemed as real as the present moment.
I know what happened. I was concentrating so hard on finding Michael that once I relaxed, my aura traveled to where he was. This idea made her put more effort into recalling the details. She snapped her fingers. During the dream, Michael told me about a gateway to another dimension. It was in a Museum in New York. Yes, that was it. He said that Morgaine traveled to another dimension through a painting in The Museum of Fantastic Art.
Raven plugged in her laptop and did a search on museums of fantastic art. She found only one in Manhattan, and it was named The Museum of Fantastic Art. It had to be the one. She knew she had to go there if she wanted to rescue Michael, a task that she desired more than ever. But she could not simply invade a dimension that she knew nothing about. She needed to prepare a defense. But how could she defend herself when she did not know the nature of the dangers she would face. She must study all the arcane knowledge that she could get her hands on. At least she was in the right place for that. The Church of Omega had an extensive occult library.
She could not leave for New York any time soon. She was committed to a six-week course of study at The Church. When she finished it, she would be promoted from priestess to witch and enter the upper echelons of the cult.
* * * *
At six A.M. she got her wake-up call. She showered and changed into her priestess robes. She went to breakfast with Looper, and together they went to the Tower of Education. The professor was a Chinese man dressed in Mandarin style with colorful silk trousers, blouse and cap. He wore a que and had a long white mustache and beard.
He said, “Good morning. I am Doctor Kim Lee.” He bowed.
The class rose and said, “Good morning Doctor Lee,” and returned his bow.
He turned his back and went to the white board. Everyone returned to their seat. With black chalk Lee drew a circle. Within the circle he drew a curved line that essentially divided the circle into two equal parts. He drew a small circle inside each half. He colored in the small circle with black chalk inside one half and filled in the other half except for its small circle.
He brushed the chalk from his hands and turned to the students. “Can anyone tell me what this symbol is called?"
Almost everyone in the room raised their hands. He picked a student in the first row. She replied, “Yin Yang, also known as the Tai Chi T'u."
"Very good. Now who can tell me what it represents."
Fewer women raised their hands. Lee called on Cindy Looper. She rose and said, “It is the symbol that represents everything in the universe, the Chaos."
"And why is it half black and half white."
"Because the universe or chaos is half dark and half light."
"Very good. You will note that the two halves are enfolded. Why?"
Raven was one of the few who knew the answer to that question. “Because the two parts, dark and light, represent a duality, not in conflict, but enfolded in a dynamic reality."
"I see, young lady, that you've study the writings of David Bohm. Good. It means the unity of all things, and yet there are two sides to everything. In the Persian tradition, the god Zuryan is the father of both the Light God known as Ormuzd and the Dark God Ahriman. Together these two gods created the universe.
"Now the philosopher Zarathushtra took Ormuzd as being the Good and Ahriman as being Evil. Hence, this symbol represents Good and Evil incarnate. Now, who can tell me why we have the smaller circles?"
This had all the students stumped.
"I see. Well, if the universe is made up of two principles, one good and one evil, neither the good nor the evil are pure. Everything evil has some good in it; everything good has some evil in it. Think about this tonight. Tomorrow, I want each of you to give me at least two examples each of good within evil and evil within good."
Raven thought, There's a lot truth in that. Look at Morgaine. Some would say that she is pure evil, yet I've known her to be kind and on occasion actually fight evil.
Doctor Lee went on with his lecture. “In addition to representing Light and Dark, and Good and Evil, the Yin Yang symbol represents the male and female aspect. Again, those of us who are masculine also have a feminine side and visa versa."
A priestess asked the question, “Doctor, which is the feminine, the white?"
"I'm afraid according to tradition, it is the black. Of course, the originators of the symbol were male chauvinists."
This got a chuckle from the all female audience.
"Another duality that the figure represents is spirit and matter.” Lee took out a large cardboard print and set it up so that the class could see. It showed a crowned and bearded man reflected in water. The two images formed a hexagram with a cross in the center. The entire drawing was bordered by a serpent swallowing its tail. “This was drawn by Eliphas Levi. It symbolizes spirit moving across the waters to cast a dark reflection in matter.
The doctor went on about this for a while. After a while, he took out another drawing by Levi. “This is the god Baphomet.” It depicted a winged figure with a goat's head sitting on top of the world. The figures forehead was imprinted with a pentagram. Baphomet is shown as a hermaphrodite. It had breasts and both female and male sex organs. A couple of the younger priestesses giggled softly at the explicitness of the drawing. In addition, a flame floated above the goat head.
Lee went on to describe the origin and evolution of the figure. He said that the figure was used by the Knights Templer and Scottish Freemasonry. He continued to expound on this until lunch time. Before dismissing the class, he said, “Tomorrow I will discuss The Great God Pan and the Ourobourus."
* * * *
The six weeks went by rapidly. Raven's days were spent in lecture halls learning different philosophical, religious, scientific and mythical views of the nature of reality and the universe and how it came into being. Many of them had to do with the teachings of such practitioners of necromancy such as Eliphas Levi and Aleister Crowley. The curriculum was difficult and required intense study of scholarly texts. In addition, there were written assignments, such as critiques of the works Raven had read. There were quizzes, experime
nts in magic and exams, concluding with a two-hour final whose grade was a third of the final grade. Raven spent many late nights burning the midnight oil. In addition to her studies, she spent time researching spells and amulets that she could use to defend herself against various types of supernatural entities.
On the final day, she was rewarded with a grade of A minus and a promotion to Witch. During the graduation ceremony she was given a diploma and an inscribed atheme. She was now permitted access to many secrets of the Church of Omega and The Children of Aquarius. She was told to expect to be called for a special assignment in a couple of weeks.
After the event, she called Westcott and told him what she was doing. He said, “Be careful. I should go with you. You'll need someone to watch your back."
"Don't make me laugh, Jack. You know nothing of the occult. You'd be a hindrance rather than an asset. Get that Gateway Machine built. Then you can come and rescue me.” She certainly did not want him along when she encountered Michael Ellul.
They traded insincere endearments, and Jack again warned her not to be reckless.
After she hung up, she booked a flight to New York, packed and said her good byes to Looper and other priestesses who she considered her friends. She gave the Mother Superior the name and number of her hotel. She told her that she would be back in three weeks to receive her new assignment.
* * * *
In another dimension, Morgaine gazed into a crystal ball and smiled broadly. She turned to Michael, who was on her bed, eating an apple. “It looks like our dream ploy worked. Soon Raven will be in our hands."
"I don't understand why you want all my former friends here."
"Because, otherwise they would cause me trouble and spoil my plan for Nicholas. Also, because of their obsession with saving you, they are putting themselves in danger. They were once my friends too. I must proceed carefully. I do not wish to be sent to Asmodeus’ torture chamber to suffer for many years or to become one of his pets. So far since I entered this dimension I've avoided that fate. Asmodeus considers my attempt to bring about Armageddon bungled, as you well know since I helped you sabotage it. If I fail, I'll be up shit creek without a paddle.
"Besides, I have a special feeling for Raven. I consider her a kind of a friend in a way. For a while she and I shared her physical body. During that time I got to know her quite well. Besides she has a part to play in my plan."
* * * *
Two days after Raven arrived in New York, she took a cab to area where the Museum of Fantastic Art was located. The weather was terrible for October. A gray leaden sky poured out intermittent rain for days. Raven had trouble finding the old brownstone that housed it, which looked no different than all the other apartment buildings on that street. Finally she spotted the small sign that had a picture of a dragon and read Museum of Fantastic Art. Just inside the front door a bored old man on a high stool collected five dollars a person to view the collection. When she asked him what sort of exhibit it was, he handed her a folded brochure. “Pictures of dragons and castles and fairies. You know, that sort of thing.” He did not seem very enthusiastic.
He pointed to a doorway on the right. This led to a room covered with oil paintings, watercolors and ink drawings that illustrated fantastic themes—castles being attacked by dragons, near nude females being chased by monsters, near nude warriors destroying their enemies with swords, fairylands, sorcerers summoning demons and fighting dragons, battles between knights in armor, and alien landscapes. Slowly she passed through several rooms of paintings and sketches, some of which contained small sculptures as well. She peered at each painting closely to see whether it could be the gateway to another dimension. Finally, after she had traveled through a horseshoe of rooms and was near the foyer, she saw it.
It was a large painting covering most of one wall. It portrayed an unusual building on a hill that consisted of dozens of turrets, Victorian-architecture ginger bread and wings going off in every direction. Gnome-like men with wizard caps and carrying wands or crystal balls wandered about the place. The label on the side called it The University of Sorcery and Magic. Raven had a premonition that this must be the gateway. But, how was it to be entered. Michael had said that Morgaine simply walked into it. Could that be possible?
She examined the art closely. As she stepped to within a foot, she noticed that the small figures of the dwarf-like men moved about. The light in the room was not great, an overhead florescent with the flickers. She leaned forward until her nose almost touched the canvas. The entire piece of art came alive then, as though everything in it really existed and was right in front of her.
She took a step forward raising her foot over the bottom part of the frame as though stepping over a short wall. Instantly she was in another world, but not near the building depicted in the canvas. She was in a mountainous area near a cliff riddled with caves. Large boulders were scattered around.
CHAPTER 14. THE SPIRIT GUIDE
After Robert Longfeathers and Rhami Deju entered the Institute of Occult Studies, Longfeathers removed his western style hat, slapped it against his leg to remove excess water, hung it on a rack and removed his slicker. “Another day of bad weather,” he remarked.
As if to emphasize his statement, there was a loud crack of simultaneous thunder and lightning, and the lights flickered.
Deju grinned. “Perfect weather for necromancy, such as we are about to perform."
"I couldn't agree more. It's a good thing we've brought candles. The lights may go out any minute. Say Rhami, do you think what we plan to do tonight is wise?"
"Not wise at all. In fact, it is extremely dangerous, especially for us who have been infected by demons previously. Nonetheless, I know of no other method of saving our mentor and friend, Michael Ellul. Be brave, my friend."
"Oh, I am not frightened of a few demons. After all, my ancestors fought against men armed with rifles when my people had only bows and arrows. Courage is in our blood. It's simply that I worry that instead of rescuing Michael, we may make his situation worse. We may become hostages."
"You may be right, and yet you may be wrong. I shall try to determine what will befall us before we begin."
The men went to the seance room on the second floor. All the tools they needed for the sorcery they intended to perform were there. As they moved a round table to one side out of the way, lightning and thunder cracked so loudly that it was as though it had hit the building, the lights went out, and the rat-tat-tat on the roof sounded like a machine gun. The lights did not come back on. They were in utter darkness except for the almost continuous lightning.
"The power line into the building must've been struck,” said Deju. He took a lighter from his pocket. “We'll have to work by candlelight.” He went to a drawer, took out several candles in holders, lit them and set them on the table. He withdrew an Ouija board from another drawer and brought it over to the table.
Longfeathers said a prayer in his native Comanche to keep away evil spirits and tricksters. The two men sat before the device and each placed his finger tips on the planchette. Deju asked, “What will be the result of our necromancy?"
The planchette shivered slightly and moved slowly across the board, halting briefly at the letters, D, A, N, G, E, R. It stopped moving at the R.
"That didn't tell us much,” said Longfeathers. “What is the nature of the danger?"
The pointer spelled out F-E-M-A-L-E.
"Female? That doesn't make any sense. There are no females here."
"Perhaps, it means Morgaine."
"Yes. That must be it. Tell us, spirit of the Ouija, will we be able to contact Michael Ellul?"
The planchette glided over to YES.
Deju asked, “But will we be able to free him?"
The answer came back T-H-E-O-U-T-C-O-M-E-I-S-I-N-D-O-U-B-T.
Longfeathers took his cramped fingers off the device, stretched and said, “This is getting us nowhere. I say we go ahead. It seems that even the Ouiga doesn't know whether we'll b
e successful."
"I agree."
Another great crash of lightning lit up the room as though warning the men that what they were about to attempt could turn out badly.
They ransacked the drawers for the materials they needed and made a pile on the table. Among them was a flashlight. Longfeathers held the lamp while Deju drew a great circle on the floor with chalk. Inside the circle he drew a pentagram.
Deju consulted the ancient book on necromancy that he had brought to the institute. He found the page with the heading, “Summoning a Spirit Guide.” His hope was that the spirit guide would lead them to the place where Michael was held prisoner and help them avoid the dangers involved with traveling through the dimension controlled by demons.
Deju and Longfeathers stepped inside the circle. Deju placed a bowl of coriander incense between them and lit it. He anointed three black candles and two white candles with lemon oil, took an atheme and scratched the word “spirit” on each candle, and placed the candles on each point of the pentagram in so that each white candle was between two black candles. Starting with the candle at the top of the pentagram, he lit each candle and recited the following:
"Here do I light the candles of welcome."
May the light reach out across the dimensions from this world to the one where spirits dwell.
May it contact one who would guide us into the dimension we wish to enter."
Deju picked up the bowl with the burning incense by its handle and waved it about as he kept asking the spirit guide to appear. He stared into a hand mirror. At first there was only his own reflection. He concentrated harder on contacting a spirit guide. Eventually, a fog appeared within the mirror. After a few moments, it cleared, and he was peering into the eyes of a beautiful blonde woman. Her hair was the color of new wheat, her features that of an angel.
"Are you our spirit guide?” he asked in surprise that one so attractive should appear.
She winked at him. “Yes. My name is Sheila. Where is it that you wish to go?” she asked in a heavenly voice.