This time she woke not to smell of cardamom, but to the smell of cinnamon and liquorice, which was being poured into small cups by Simmi, who was talking to a man with his back to her. As she moved Simmi nudged the arm of the other man and he picked up a cup of the hot liquid and walked slowly over to her with a radiant smile on his face.
“Isabella, how nice.” He said handing her the tea. “So you found me deep down in the bowels of the earth then, I wondered when you would.”
She did not reply immediately she sipped her tea and watched Simmi fill the samovar before he departed with a smile and a wave. ‘Simmi, don’t go,’ she wanted to call, but she stayed silent and sipped her tea while she watched the man closely as he went back to the samovar and poured himself some tea. Then he came back and joined her, but he did not, she noticed, choose the elaborate upholstered chair in front of her but sat on a simple rocking chair to her right and rocked gently. There was something about this man that made her feel at peace and the silence that settled between them like snow was neither uneasy, nor empty.
Her head was full of the images in the books that she now associated with this place, especially the colours of the inks. She remembered the designs and the images as if they were alive and speaking to her, but in a language she did not fully understand.
She glanced at his simple clothing to see if he wore a dog collar, or a cross, for there was something of the Priest about him, or perhaps a Rabbi, but he wore nothing that was a sign of faith. Her thoughts turned to Danny and she looked around the room to see if perhaps he had arrived while she had been asleep, but there was no sign, not that she could see into every chair in the room.
“I am Jonathan,” he said extending his hand which was warm from his tea bowl. “What do you think of our little cathedral?”
“I think it is beautiful,” she said, “it is so peaceful I could stay here all day. Have you seen my friend Danny, he was meant to come with me?”
“No one else is visiting today, just you. I understand that you have been a great help to Icarayus, thank you for that. He can be such a fusspot sometimes with his birds, it is difficult to watch him worry over a storm here, or a volcano there because of what may happen to one of his treasured flock. They always return, of course they do, and he knows that but some return too soon and have to go back out again to gain their flying miles so to speak. Some return so bedraggled that they are hardly breathing, but you know that of course, because he tells us all how you breathe new life into them. We could not do that without you for our form of life is different from yours and the Spectas need your form of life.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that you are more human than spirit and we are all spirit. You do, of course have spirit within you, but you also can cope with the ways of the world and live in a body. Most of us lived in bodies, but some time ago, so now we are but shadows of our mortal selves, but still full of light and life. A difficult concept I’ll grant you. I expect you’ll be describing us to your friends as ghosts which is how humans see us, but we are so much more.”
“I can see that,” laughed Isabella, “I don’t speak about you to anyone. Did you create all this?”
“It was a joint effort, everything is a joint effort over here, but the design was mine. When I was on the earth I became a priest after my father lost his mind and I became the head of the household overnight. It was hard to provide for my mother and sisters at 14 and I too worried that it would cost me my mind. So in the end I turned to God for help and sustenance and what I found at such a dramatic point in my life was such a complete peace that I wanted to share it with others. So I started constructing a church, but I became overwhelmed with people’s demands and expectations and when I could not help the sick, or feed the poor, I became very disillusioned with God and felt that He had deserted me and made a mockery of me in front of the very people I wished to serve.
“My youth passed me by before I could talk myself out of the anger that I felt spiralling inside, I turned away from God and looked elsewhere for my answers, but did not find them there. I stopped caring about the sick and the hungry and myself until one day I met this angel. At the time I did not know he was an angel, he looked like you or me, well to be honest he looked a lot more like you than me.
“He took me to a small room in the backstreets of my town, a place where I had been frightened to venture before. He led me into a small room and although I followed I was very wary indeed. The room was filled with incense and lit by hundreds of candles. I felt intoxicated. I sat in front of the fireplace and was entranced by the warm glow but then slowly and quietly it changed from a warm glow to a moving tunnel of light, inviting me to enter it and escape from the misery of my life that was threatening to consume me. He held out his hand and invited me to enter and at first he walked beside me, but eventually he disappeared, so I carried on with some trepidation at first and then with more confidence and determination. I had no idea of where I was going, or what I was partaking in, but because I had so little to lose I was willing to go where this journey took me.
“At the end the tunnel opened up and all I could see was this carpet of clouds stretching out before me. There were blues and greens and pinks and mauves all lit with gold and I just kept on walking, without wondering if they would hold my weight I held my head high as if I was walking down a sky-path.
“Then - and this was the scary bit at the time - a voice spoke, “Your future is what you make it my son.” That was it, nothing more and when I opened my eyes the man, who I now know to have been an angel, had gone and my future lay visible before me.
“I went back to my church and worked hard to finish what I had started. After that experience I knew that the church was not the place of solace, it was the quality of the relationships that would bring solace. So I concentrated on creating a place of peace and when I came here I was given the opportunity to finish it, for within my book of life was the original design and that is what you see before you now.”
“How do you construct things without bodies and machines?”
“With our minds and inspiration. Here we are all able to tune into the same filed of thought and support each other to create a holographic representation. That cannot be the same for you, your big house will not be the same as anybody else’s, even if they call it the same thing. It is rare for the big house to be shared by two people alive at the same time. You and Raven were an exception, being twins, most people have different families on the earth than those they would share their big house with in Arcania. The soul families that live in Arcania are vast, they include lives from all the periods of history, just like on the Iron Gates. Some of our Spectas, who you have not met, are preparing for the future too.”
“So when Danny asked me about visiting the big house he may not have been talking about this one then?”
“That’s right. In Danny’s case I can assure you he has a different soul family from you and Raven.”
“But he knew about the big house.”
“He may have used those words, but he has no knowledge of this place. Although I think he may have found his way to his own big house after Raven passed, which is good, it means he is open to the influence of Arcania and that will help him through his grief.”
Isabella was silent, she felt confused, disappointed and pleased all at the same time. Jonathan continued, “It seems to be a feature of humanity that there are as many perspectives as people and even more assumptions about what people really mean at any one time. I found that difficult myself when I was on the earth, I tended to take things rather literally and so found myself disappointed much of the time. Promises were never quite promises, commitments were never quite commitments and apologies were never quite apologies. However, after my visit from my angel, most of that ceased to matter for when peace settles most of the inconsistencies of life melt into an inconsequential background murmur that served as a reminder about where I had been, not as a portrayal of life AA.”
“AA? Alcoholics Anonymous?”
“No,” said Jonathan laughing, “After Angel. Although I understand Alcoholics Anonymous also brings peace to troubled lives.”
“Well, the peace has not left you.”
“Indeed not, but then if you think about it is the essence of this sphere. The very sound of this sphere is a deep resonance that echoes through our soul bodies and out into the universe. One continuous note of which we are all a part, Icarayus, Simmi, Raven and myself and - while you are here - you. Close your eyes for a moment and listen for the hum, the sound of the universe, that echoes in your inner core as a single unchanging note.”
She closed her eyes and listened and yes, she did find that space within that echoed to the hum of the universe and she felt a certain peace radiate out from her centre into her very being, but she also felt a breeze on her face and heard the movement of leaves close by. She opened her eyes to find a mildly irritated Danny looking down at her. She looked down to see his lager cans thrown around the base of the tree and felt a rush of anger.
“Did you visit the big house?” she asked.
“No, nothing happened I just fell asleep. You?”
“No nothing,” she lied “My goodness is that the time?”
She was down the tree and off back home as quickly as she could. This was not the time to have a discussion with Danny, or anyone else for that matter, about the big house. Especially Danny, who looked as if too much sun and too much lager were taking its toll. “Clear up the cans”, she shouted back up to him as she reached the floor, “they look disgusting.” Danny reply was muffled but his tone angry and dismissive so she decided to ignore his response and head home. What was more important to her than anything else was to preserve the peace that echoed around her from her visit to the crystal cathedral.
