We’re on the plane, about to land. I turn my attention to the land of the island – Cyprus.
“Who is calling my name?” I heard her ask – ancient, primordial, slow and deep. “Oh, it’s you”, she said after a moment. “Come, walk along me”.
Who are you? I asked. What will you share with me?
“I have been here a long time – longer than I can remember. Worlds have rested upon me, people have come and gone. Today, I am still here – and others now come to me”.
“We have never met”, she said, speaking of me. “We do not know each other. But I have secrets to share with you – about this world we both inhabit”.
Come, she added, “walk along me”.
Gladly, I said – ever curious.
We’re about to begin.
Archaeological Site of Palaepaphos
This site contains remains of a village and a temple dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite, active long before the birth of Jesus. Inside the small museum, among other things, they display the volcanic stone you see here.
The stone was part of the temple that stood on this site, and it represented the goddess of love to her worshippers.
I sat facing the stone, on the ancient mosaic floor, feeling its energy. After a short meditation, I began to hear it:
“I carry within me many memories from ancient times. I was created long before humans, and I will still be here for a long time.
“At some point in your history, humans found me. They brought me here on a cart, into the temple that stood here, and began to pray to me. I never understood why – I am not truly who they believed me to be – but I enjoyed the gatherings. There was much laughter and much weeping, as well as rituals and celebrations.
“Eventually it all ended, and I was left aside – until they dug me up and found me.
“Now I’m here, pulsing memories into the people who come. A small number of them leave a little different – with a knowing that has no words, about another world. A few recall a full memory, and even fewer speak to me directly”.
“Bless you,” she added, “for reaching out to me. It’s nice to have company for a change”.
Do you have anything to share with those who are about to get to know you?
“Don’t be impressed by stones – or by people who have stones in place of hearts. Be impressed by yourselves, and in doing so, you will shed the stones that close your heart”, She said – and fell silent.
I sat there a while longer before we went for lunch – and then some shopping.
Thank you.
Church of Archangel Michael
This tiny church – with remnants of paintings on its walls from the 15th century – is named after the Archangel Michael.
In my journeys of discovering the magical, I have visited several places connected to him, including the Glastonbury Tor in England.
Today, as I entered, I saw him – the angel – floating in the space of the church, smiling and winking at me.
What are you doing here? I asked.
“People expect to meet me here, so I placed a part of myself in this place. One day I won’t want to anymore, and I’ll leave. Perhaps by then, humans will do something else with this building.”
He sent me to read about him, so I Googled: the angel who defeated Satan, the only one mentioned by name three times in the Bible, and more.
Then I returned to our conversation and saw him almost sitting in the air, holding a sword, full of seriousness – then bursting into laughter.
“Don’t turn important things into serious things. Everyone treats me so seriously because they don’t remember that they are angels too.”
What is an angel? I asked.
“It’s a soul that has ascended to such a level – I’m trying to explain, and it’s not easy because it’s not three-dimensional – to a frequency that is very close to the divine frequency.”
Are we all angels?
“Not right now – some of you aren’t being very kind to others.
“But if you open your perspective – the breadth of your vision – then you can refine yourselves so much that you become angelic.
“That usually doesn’t happen while you’re in a body, but there have been cases, and there are, and there will be.”
Why am I meeting you today?
“Don’t be afraid of your own devil – we are, after all, friend-brothers, not truly enemies. Treat yourself that way, and maybe you’ll become an angel,” he said – and I could feel him wink and laugh.
Thank you.
Paphos
The heavy heat made us change our plans. In search of a café with air conditioning (we found a café – but no AC), we stumbled upon this church.
Inside the church, I saw him – floating in the air, crucified, smiling at me and winking.
I heard him begin to speak, and I stopped him.
Can I write down our conversation? I asked – knowing that if I don’t write, I won’t remember it all later.
“Write, write. When people don’t write what I have to say – just look what happens”.
They say you came to atone for humanity’s sins, I began to ask – and heard him burst out laughing”.
“I can’t atone for sins and wrongdoings – only the person can atone for their own. Not me, not anyone else – not a priest, not a rabbi”.
What is a sin? I asked.
“It’s what happens when you go against your own heart. You create a tear – small or large – in the fabric of life, and so love diminishes and darkness grows”.
So how do we atone for sins?
“You return to listening to yourself. What does your heart say? In what way does it guide you? Its guidance will always lead you to honor yourself, others, and the fabric of life in general”.
What does it mean – to honor?
“It means to be, to act, or to choose in a way that brings good – that embraces and uplifts. It means that your actions expand rather than shrink life. It means that, as a result of your actions, you feel good about yourself – rather than leaving with a sense of contraction, which is not only a feeling but an actual energetic contraction”.
It’s complicated sometimes in our lives. Some people claim we’re hurting them – but it’s manipulation, and it’s hard to know what’s true. There’s nature – we harm it just by existing, and sometimes even consciously, like when we eat meat. So how do we do good without giving up on ourselves and without being numb to the world around us?
“You listen to yourself and do good to yourself. You don’t live in an absolute world – so don’t try to be absolutely good. Sometimes there will be unintended impact, and you can’t expect that never to happen. What you can expect is to do the relative best, not the absolute best. You won’t be perfect – but you can be the best you can be”.
So your message was distorted?
“Partially, yes. Some of it came through – some of it was twisted – and most of it was passed on in a way that blurs the essence”.
Today is Yom Kippur for us Jews – a day of atonement. How can one truly atone for their wrongs?
I saw him approach me, as if lifting my face to his and looking into my eyes:
“You can love yourself”, he said. “It depends on no one – not on any religion. Love yourself even knowing you weren’t the absolute good. You were the possible good, the relative good – and that’s more than enough for me. It should be more than enough for you too”, he said – winked – and the conversation ended.
Thank you.
A spot along the way – somewhere
Bless you.
Somewhere along the road – between here and there – something nudged us to stop.
A stream canyon appeared, as if borrowed from another world – more precisely, from Western Europe. And in one quiet spot within it, a spring gently flowing, just as you see in the photo.
I paused, took a photo. Then another. And then I sat down – and closed my eyes.
I saw the path the water takes, rising from deep within the earth. I felt the smiling energy that moves it – Mother Earth, perhaps? – And then I heard, again and again:
Bless you.
