The Secret of the Ancient Alchemist

by Yasmin Esack

  His moment of quiet reconciliation didn’t last long. A buzz in his ear made him turn.

  “What is this?” he muttered.

  He was taking on too much, he thought and needed to relax, a rare occurrence for him. He pressed his ears hoping to clear the sound but it persisted. He stuck his fingers in them now. It still didn’t go away. The buzz was low in tone but audible enough for him to discern that something was trying to make contact with him. He knew of telepathy and people hearing voices but he didn’t think he was that way. He decided to wait, sitting still for a moment. The sound turned to a voice, a clear male voice.

  “Hey, Hart,” he heard.

  His face tightened. He looked around sure it was all a prank. His students had invented a type of sound-piercing device and decided to test it out on him. Communication technology has soared to a new level. He felt relieved as the sound disappeared and he turned back to his notes.

  He hadn’t gotten further than page two when the voice called again.

  “Hart? Hey, Hart?”

  “Stop your crap, guys!” he shouted out in the air.

  The silence that followed was eerie. Nothing stirred. He could hear his breath as he breathed in and straightened up to compose himself. He needed to be strong for the road ahead was going to be a long and winding one for him. He had settled down again when the sound returned.

  “Dammit!” he banged his desk.

  “You need me, Dr. Hart. Don’t be alarmed by my presence,” he heard this time.

  Hart shot up confused, wondering if to answer or not. He looked around but there was no one, except a voice that came from within.

  “You’re attempting an impossible mission. Listen to me.”

  “Who the hell are you?” he found himself saying.

  “I’ve come from far to help you. I know you want to find the universal mind. I could’ve come in your dreams but you’re such a stubborn man, you would’ve ignored them.”

  “Wh…what’s this? Where’re you from?”

  “Oh, I hop around the heavens.”

  “You’re a time traveller?”

  “I’ve been doing it for some time. It was easy to hone your frequency. I’ve come to help you find the base of creation. You’ve been struggling for years, haven’t you?”

  “How d’you know that?”

  “I know a lot of things about you. I also know you’re on the right track.”

  “I am?”

  “Yes, by suggesting humans have an inner realm. Please try and get accustomed to me. I’m here to guide you. You’re not really listening, are you? People need to know the truth, Hart. Don’t you think so?”

  “My problem is a universal force.”

  The voice sighed. “It has been a problem for ages and for everybody, hasn’t it?”

  “But, it’s in our realm of matter. It has to be.”

  “Of course it is. The realm empowers the human mind. I know.”

  “So, how do I find it?”

  “Be patient! You will.”

  “I will?”

  “Yes, and don’t be alarmed by my presence again. I’ll be back soon. So, bye for now.”

  The voice disappeared. He felt as if he’d been thrust into space as time stood still. It was like drama in a fantasy novel, he thought. Yet, it wasn’t. It was real, as real as the sun and it left him with an unexpected sense of calm. He didn’t need to run or hide. Someone from another time and place spoke to him. In his usual fashion, Hart decided to be blasé about it. Paranormal events weren’t that uncommon. Ghandi, Newton, Descartes and Beethoven all had them. It was a natural ability that was eroded by Man’s evolution. Humans had no concept of their realm and its capabilities.

  He thought of the power of human potential witnessed over the years. Edgar Cayce had prophesied for forty-three years and predicted the collapse of communism among his many prophecies. Cayce had said a lot of things while in a trance, as if his sub-conscience was accessing information from the realm. Hundreds of years ago, devout alchemists had healed people. The mystical hermits of Egypt drew water from rocks. They too had meditated for long periods, tapping into the realm to achieve their goals.

  “Consciousness can be conditioned by intelligence in our realm,” he said. “I know it can.”

  Hart stared at a text message on his phone. It was the message he was waiting on. It came from Andres Laveau, a parapsychologist working at Stanford Research Institute in California. Laveau was available for a discussion. He was glad for he had read his work and was enthused by his experiments on mind and matter. Laveau identified realm signals in the brain.

  He sighed. A discussion with Laveau would have to wait. He turned to the sound of his students’ voices.

  “Dr. Hart? Dr. Hart?”

  Chapter 6

  “Sorry, guys, I was just thinking over some stuff.” Hart straightened up his slim frame.

  “Are we going to get on with this class?”

  “Yes.”

  He headed to the board. The flow of his black marker reflected the potency of his mathematical mind as he wrote five equations out. Setting the marker aside, he turned to his students sure of what he was about to say. The human mind wasn’t just a storehouse for data. It was a vehicle to take one to the great beyond with a driver no one saw.

  “Our minds are quite abused and misused by our cruel world,” he began.

  “We know that, Dr. Hart. Can mathematics fix it?” A light chuckle rolled through the classroom in response to the remark that came from the back of the class. Ignoring it, he continued.

  “We can set our minds and be all we want to be. We can make them supreme. We have the power to do it!”

  Dead silence followed. The students stared at the hard face of Hart. He was a man of conviction but his message wasn’t meant to change the world for he was no pastor of promise and hope. He was a man with a desire to bring forth knowledge, a man who had something to say.

  A student stood up. “Dr. Hart, what kind of mind is a supreme mind?”

  “A supreme mind is a perfect mind.”

  “What d’you mean?”

  “A human can do anything with a thought.”

  “Like what?”

  “Raise the dead, traverse the universe.”

  “We can do that?”

  “At some point in our existence, at some point on our long journey, but, the conditioning starts now.”

  Hart stood firm in his tailored suit unperturbed by many who sprang to their feet in doubt. The response didn’t surprise him. It was the same wherever he went and when he spoke but his view that humans didn’t understand who they were and needed to, meant more than any glance of dismissal. He was a gentleman, he took it in stride. The scent of his cologne permeated the air as he came closer to the class and prepared for a barrage of questions.

  “One at a time. Yes?”

  A German student pointed to the board as he got up.

  “What’re these equations meant to show, Dr. Hart?”

  “That another dimension exists in our lives.”

  “Another dimension? No one has ever done that.”

  “And, by solving these equations, I think I can.” Hart approached the board again. “The challenge lies in finding a correct value for this.” He pointed to the letter, (g), written in his equations.

  “That’s gravity, Dr. Hart.”

  “The force that holds our matter together. Our lack of understanding of it has kept us in the dark, kept us from unlocking nature’s secrets, kept us from finding realms.”

  A female student put her hand up.

  “Yes?”

  “Where would this dimension be, Dr. Hart?”

  “Outside and inside us.”

  “Inside?” the young woman reacted with shock. “But, where?”

  Before Hart could reply, an IT specialist cut in. “You’re saying we can log into a realm that’s in us? Is that it?” The man’s eyes rested firmly on Hart.

  “That’s what I’m saying.”
>
  “Can you prove it?”

  It was a difficult moment for Hart. All he touted about human supremacy rested on his finding a realm within and he didn’t have proof as yet. He needed time to do it all. His eyes didn’t miss the anticipation in his students’ eyes, eyes that bored into him waiting for an answer.

  He turned and plucked his antique watch from his pants pocket noting his class time was already gone.

  “We can’t go much further with this now, guys. In our next class, we will,” he said turning back.

  “What? Come on! You’re making statements you can’t support!” someone yelled.

  “Give us something to go on,” another requested from the back.

  He thought of what to say. To explain how humans were not entirely of the seen world was a difficult task. He looked at the growing impatience in their faces and spoke.

  “To put it simply, I’m saying the universe is in us, a universe that answers our calls. I assure you, I will prove it.”

  “Wooh!” the disbelieving chorus came from those who figured Hart was kind of crazy. He was simply attempting the impossible. He could never do that. Yet, many came to him, hurling questions.

  “How soon can you prove this, Dr. Hart?”

  “Dr. Hart, is the inner dimension energy?”

  “We have inner light, don’t we?” another inquired.

  “Are you saying miracles are possible? How do we connect, man?”

  “Let’s have some order, please!” A burly American guy quieted the room and turned to Hart. “Hey, you’re fantastic. Finally, there’s someone who’s going to show us who we really are.”

  Hart cocked a brow. His smile widened to a grin.

  “No, I’m not. Anyone can solve the problem of gravity and prove a dimension exists in our lives. The challenge is to find it in us. Julius Olsen’s really your guy, not me. He’s the man of the future. He’ll be here for a guest lecture soon.”

  “The Dane who’s searching for the time when the earth will have a new age? You’re kidding? A skinny lad looked at him through his thick lenses.

  “No, I’m not. I’m happy to say he’s my mentor.”

  All round him stares lingered but Hart gathered his worksheets and started his way out.

  “Have a great summer and see you next term,” he said.

  Chapter 7

  Hart headed out the door hurrying along the well-lit hall. Footsteps shadowed his. It didn’t surprise him. His work was revolutionary.

  As a student at Cambridge University, he had studied matter, looking at particles like gravitons, which mediated the force of gravity. Except for a couple of mathematical deductions which he needed to complete, it wasn’t at all superfluous of him to suggest the universe had a realm.

  “You’re sure our universe has a dual form?” an Asian student asked, struggling to keep up with the fast-walking Hart.

  “I’m sure.”

  “And, it’s in us? What’re you saying, Dr. Hart?”

  “Simply, what you see in front of you is in you, in a dimensional realm. That’s the real world and it’s a platform of unimaginable possibility.”

  “You’re sure about that?”

  “Yes!”

  Suddenly, Hart recalled the day he had jostled his way into a clerical meeting in Rome. He had gone there to attend a symposium on matter and had decided to pay a visit to the clergy of the Roman Diocese.

  “For goodness sake, we need to understand who we are,” he had shouted in the Abbey of Monte Cassino.

  “You barge in and suggest we don’t?” A stern-faced member had glared at him.

  “Not at all, but…but… listen to me. Nature designed people for exceptional things. It’s stated clearly that someone can say to a mountain move and it will. Isn’t that so? I think I know how and I want a chance to explain it all. I know…”

  Hart had struggled to get another word in. In less than a minute, he was out the room.

  If only they had given me a chance. If only someone would listen, he thought.

  “Dr. Hart?”

  The voice brought him back from his perturbation. He glanced at the student. “Tell me.”

  “We can’t see this realm even if your equations show it exists. So, how will we ever be sure of it?”

  “The issue is whether matter can become light. It can, and I believe that the light can be seen. Quantum Physics has proven that particles of matter can exist as waves of energy. Particles have a dual nature. There’s a realm of pure energy, of pure light.”

  “But…but you’re saying it sends us messages. How could this be?”

  “I’m working on that. It’s going to take some time.”

  “Hey, wait,” the students called. Hart approached an elevator. Was going to leave them in limbo? “When will we get answers?” they pressed.

  “You’ll have them when we meet again.”

  His words reflected certainty, a kind they hadn’t heard before. They smiled as the door closed on the blonde man.

  Hart exited and walked into the mid-morning heat of the campus grounds. His guest lectures at the university were completed for the academic year and in a sense, he felt relieved. He would have the time to work on the realm and take on the challenges of its nature.

  He pulled his iPhone from his pocket marvelling at it in the way he did with other gadgets. The atmosphere was the its message system. Air carried electromagnetic waves that enabled phone communications. To him, the system was nature’s crowning glory. He didn’t need to speculate about the waves of the realm. It could send messages from another time and place. The realm was his obsession.

  Hart dialled the Stanford Research Institute. Soon, the operator answered.

  “SRI, may I help you?”

  “Dr. Laveau, please.”

  “One moment, let me check. Dr. Laveau may be in his lab at this hour.”

  Hart waited with great expectation. Laveau held the key to all he believed in and that was a confirmation that signals from the realm entered the human brain.

  Chapter 8

  The SRI represented corporations across the globe. In a lab on the second floor, Andres Lavaeau, stared at a SQUID machine, a Super-conducting Quantum Interference Device. The SQUID measured even the weakest signals in the brain’s electromagnetic field. With his aptitude for detail, Laveau examined the brain waves of his subject who was feet away in another room. The young Romanian was seated staring at an object. Electromagnetic receptors were attached to her temples.

  Laveau stared at his watch. Five minutes of experiment time remained.

  He looked through the glass wall that separated them and saw the object bending. He turned to the SQUID. Waves on it pulsated intensely, indicating very high frequencies. Laveau knew they originated from an external source.

  He looked at his watch again. Four more minutes had passed and he started counting down the time. Five seconds, four, three, two, one.

  He ended the experiment. Back in his office, he took a call from Hart.

  “Good morning, Dr. Hart, a pleasure to hear from you. How’re you?”

  “As good as any, I guess.”

  “What can I do for you?” On the phone, he could hear Hart’s deep breath.

  “I’m quite interested in your research, Dr. Laveau.”

  “What aspect, Hart? Could you be specific?”

  “I’m sure you’ve had cases of people foreseeing the future.”

  “Oh! Yes. It’s actually called telepathic projections of images and thoughts. People can have visions of the future.”

  “Where do these visions arise?”

  “From another dimension. Where else?” Laveau sensed Hart’s hesitance on the line. “I scan brain waves during my laboratory procedures, and, I assure you, that many of them aren’t normal. They don’t arise from our domain. They’re supernatural.”

  “I’ve come across an Incan prediction that says the world will change. I’m awaiting the date for it. My friend is deciphering the data. Should I pay
attention to this?”

  “I see no reason not to.”

  “Anything more you can add?”

  “The mind can be driven by forces. There’s so much to learn about its hidden potential, I can go on forever. Henry Holt from Maryland was first to coin the term telekinesis for the movement of objects with the mind back in the early twentieth century. The wizard, Merlin, moved Stonehenge from Ireland to England with a thought.”

  Hart laughed. “That’s fantasy, Dr. Laveau.”

  “If you think so. Martin Caiden, Nina Kularina, and Eusapia Paladino all moved objects with their minds. Shape shifting is further proof of the power of a supernatural mind.”

  “Shape shifting?”

  “The mind can alter shapes. Uri Geller could’ve bent a spoon. My Romanian subject just did too. Human can do amazing things and have done in the past. It’s very possible to raise the dead by reigniting brain waves.”

  Hart was vastly intrigued. “How does it all work?”

  “There’re special types of radio waves that come to the brain. High frequency waves.”

  “Where in the brain, exactly?”

  “There’s a growth near the optic nerve called the Pineal Body, what we call the third eye. Waves stimulate it into producing neurotransmitters, which give the mind super powers. People can realize their dreams and do anything. The Pineal Body is but an evolutionary relic. It’s reduced in modern man. In ancient man, it was larger. Still, about one percent of the population has some ability to be telepathic.”

  “Just a couple more questions.”

  “Sure.”

  “Can you provide me with some details of the waves you’ve mentioned?”

  “Well, as I’ve said, they’re different from normal brain waves. We find them in people who pray and meditate.”

  “Who pray a lot and meditate?” Hart repeated.

  “Yes.”

  “You also mentioned another dimension, Dr. Laveau. What can you tell me about this?”