Marie Antoinette at Versailles 1979

The Chalice, a review

The Chalice is the sequel to the novel The Crown, a story of a young Dominican novice whose vocation is interrupted by the political decisions of King Henry VIII. Nancy Bilyeau, editor of DuJour magazine, graduate of the University of Michigan, history major, has taken her readers to the hostile environment of an English King whose lifestyle has cost him the support of the Catholic Pope. King Henry VIII in his decision to dismantle Cathedrals and churches has cost him his faith, as he has been excommunicated, a serious violation in the Catholic faith. Nuns, priests, and novices, and postulates are displaced, unrecognized, and forced to change their lives in order to survive. Joanna Stafford is a distant cousin of the King, so she has many connections to the court, but she has chosen to live her life as a bride of Christ, hoping to have served as a nun but now unable to practice her true vocation. She soon gains the support of fellow Dominicans who all band together to try to survive the changing times. However, when a young child before she entertained thoughts of piety, she had been taken to a seer, a prophetess who had seen into her future. Because her mother was so determined to learn her fate, the young Joanna had to confront this awesome seer to learn her fate. It appears that Joanna is going to play some important role in the history of England, and only she can do it. She is a chosen one in this time of turmoil. Nancy keeps us absorbed in the pace of the novel as we follow Joanna and her friends through this dark period in which they no longer have the consolation of a solid and sound faith since it has been taken from them. Clinging to their beliefs, they are in a whirlwind of destruction as churches tumble, artifacts stolen, and cherished beliefs are tossed aside. ** Because of the fear that King Henry VIII has of prophecy and seers, the original seer is forced to recant making Joanna believe that perhaps the fate dealt to her is not really true after all. Eventually,she learns that the seer avoided telling the court anything about Joanna to spare her in this time of cruel torture and certain death.** The seer is sacrificed but Joanna survived hoping never to have to fulfill this prophecy. However, the true Catholics are hoping that Joanna can indeed save them and their faith due to some action on her part. Thus, she is forced to meet with a second seer and finally a third to learn the truth of her role in English history.** Nancy uses real historical characters along with fictional characters to develop this torturous and cruel adventure. Young Joanna must face watching her friends, relatives, and loved ones die through either the burning at the stake or by the fall of the axe. She proves her own muster and courage in facing down an execution of a caretaker, so that one becomes emboldened by her acts of bravery against all odds. Her prayers and her faith sustain the men at the hour of death.** Joanna is held captive by her love for her Catholic friends so that she is compelled to visit the final seer to complete her mission in learning of her role for the sake of the Crown or the King, or her faith...she finally does succumb and does prove that she is worthy of the trust given to her. Despite the fact that she has been betrayed many times, she keeps her faith, behaves with courage, and remains the sweet, innocent beauty that the men around her love. With her long black hair, her high bosom, she has attracted many men's attention but she has remained true to her faith and her calling, loving only one.** The final seer has promised that they will meet again, so I am hoping that another novel will be in the works.** Well written, exciting, historically sound, and fascinating...The Chalice is a great read.**

A discussion of Mary Renualt

I read a discussion on Mary Renault on facebook the other night. Someone had written a review of her trilogies. I did not enter the conversation in the comment section simply because I am too emotionally tied to my experiences in past lifetime memories to Alexander to appreciate other people's imaginations about him. I had picked up a few books to read, but could not get past the first chapter in Fire From Heaven so I have never read it at all, and finally sent the books out when I had to pick and choose which to keep and which to let go...At the time, I had just spent time in the person of Alexander as I had been trying to gain information to convince me that I had lived in that lifetime in his person. So any books and stories about him disturb me more than anything when I feel it is contrary to all that I have learned. I would not really care one way or another about any historical figure when I am not personally involved, but if in fact, I am convinced that my memories prove to me that I had been that person, then I do not want a pack of lies to prevail and influence others about his life. That is one of the reasons I chose to write about experiences as I had had so many of them happen to me after I began digging it all up. Again, I do not choose to try to convince anyone else of anything, because it is MY personal problem, not another persons. I do not think that Louis XIV or George Washington need another book about them, but I may write a book if I feel up to it after I finish the one about Alexander. I work it in my mind all the time, as I am wanting to expose his childhood growing up that made him the child wonder of the world at that time. When I was reading all about him, the thing that impressed me the most is his army and his friends. So that is my main interest in developing his childhood background, demonstrating the kind of environment that caused them to think as a single unit, and to work together. Alexander did not do any of it alone...He was not a loner. He and his army together conquered the world, but he was the leader, the inspiration, and the glue that held them all together. That is what I am trying to work out in my effort at writing an interesting novel about his youth...so I am now trying to adjust to scrivener and pages on my computer to finally get back into it. The important thing to remember is that the more famous you become, the less real you become...fame is often a problem since people want to mold you to their fantasies rather than accept the simple truth. Just as I have had strange experiences in my lifetime, the Greeks and Macedonians believed in gods who made personal appearances to whoever they chose to influence. The plays and stories of the times reveal that the gods and goddesses would appear and disappear at will...it seems to be possible that it continues today for those who see and those who hear.

Explaining Strange Events

When one does decide to communicate with others about the strange experiences one has had, one is displaying a kind of trust that there is at least someone who will understand and not merely poo-poo the effort as that of a deranged mind. I am well aware of all the repercussions of true confessions of any kind. When I wrote of my egg experience, I will admit that I realized the vulnerability of our belief in material goods. I for a while was a wee bit fearful that most anything could be taken away from me in a manner that I could not protect. And in fact, hurricanes, tornadoes, and other acts of God (business law school terminology) do prove that Mother Nature can take away any and all possessions whenever she wishes to strike us. But my point about the egg is that it truly did happen, and that I bore witness to it, being unable to do anything to stop it...because the very act itself is mesmerizing. I later decided that we should fear God also. I had never feared God ever. I have feared the bogey man, evil doers, and other threats, but in God I have trusted. However, I began to realize that a God can do anything, create matter out of nothing, and if need be, reduce all matter back to nothing. We should learn to respect that. Personally, I do not believe that people can convince other people of anything about life that one is not willing to accept. So I did not write this for the purpose of convincing, but of sharing, and hoping that at least one someone will realize that this is true, and that it is something that is out of my hands anyway...Maybe somebody else could have handled this better than I did. All I did was share and tell. But it taught me some lessons. The first time was several years ago. The incident with the fried egg was only a week or so ago, and many other strange things have happened in this apartment that were even stranger so I am on guard and watching all the time. I take notice of every thing around me. I did share some of this when it happened to a discussion group called Cayce Cayce. So it is a bit of a history. I remember years back when I was seeing lights in the clouds that had caught my attention. I thought that they appeared in the shape of angel wings. One night while watching, I noticed a red dot that appeared on my leg near my knee. I have been watching that red dot expand and grow over time. I always associate it with a person of history...time will tell. I will save that story for another time.

Follow up to Easter Sunday

I had mentioned that I am an eye witness to divine experiences. At least I call them divine rather than Satanic. I am not much of a believer in the Devil to be honest, but I acknowledge that evil does exist and that there are probably many events that could be considered works of the devil. But the incidents that I am witnessing do not seem to be demonic or evil. But they are perplexing. I have made them somewhat public, but I know that the judgement is usually that I am probably behind it all. If I were, I would certainly not draw it to someone's attention. One involves eggs. This has happened twice now...I saw an egg disappear right before my eyes. I had made a perfectly hard/soft boiled egg just the way I like it...I had it all peeled and placed in a saucer, and had taken one bite of it...the next thing I see the thing evaporate into thin air in front of me...it us up and disappeared...I was so upset as it was set just the way I like them. At the time, my brother was visiting so I did tell him and my dad. I have no answer about how it disappeared. But years later as that had happened at our house on Palacio here in AZ, I cooked myself another hard set egg, only fried. I put it on a saucer. I no sooner turned around and went back to find it and it had disappeared. Twice now, an egg has just up and disappeared into thin air. How? Don't know...But I did not eat it...and again, was disappointed that my egg was not in that saucer. Where did it go? I do not know...it just vanished. I have a trillion (slight exaggeration) other stories about mysterious things that go bump in the night like that, and have had them, and have told them to different individuals over the years. So yes, I became a believer in the unknown. It proves to me that there is a power that ca do these kinds of acts. I swear this is all true but while I am not afraid of it, I do realize that all material things are at best fleeting...I seriously began to worry a bit about other objects as I know that things can appear at will and disappear at will. Why? I do not know the answer to that either. An old Indian legend does say that a coyote can enter and steal your food...maybe that legend is true...I do not know...

Learning Pages and Scrivener

I find that this google processor is not paragraphing for me. I do not know what I can do to cure that.**** I am testing Scrivener's word processing device which is made for professional authors and writers. It is quite complex but it has been mentioned by many who write for the NaNoWriMo event each November, and one year's winner credits Scrivener with helping him to write his mystery novel. I am using all the tutorials and videos to help become acquainted with this program. It is quite advantageous in many ways since it formats the novel for you so that you need not worry about that process at the finish.**** I am also studying pages which is very similar but exclusive to Apple and Mac. Actually, the Scrivener device is a form of Pages but has many capabilities that Pages does not attempt. I am so new at it that I can only mention these since learning of each of them in the past few days. I studied the User Guide for Scrivener as well as using the Tutorial which means several more times. However, YouTube has many videos which help even more than the basic tutorials. It will take time but at last I can get going on my Alexander novel, and a few other projects in mind as well. It turns out that these are the way to publish e-novels, so that those who are serious about self publishing should buy into the Scrivener program.**** Today was April Fool's Day. I did not pull any pranks.

Happy Easter/ Happy April's Fool Day

Today was Easter Sunday, a day that is supposed to remember the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is important because all of Christendom depends upon his resurrection for the faith of his teaching. He had promised that he would rise from the dead three days after the destruction of his temple, the human body. He in fact died, was resuscitated by angels, and returned to leave the tomb to bear witness to his followers who waited for him outside his tomb. Some did not believe in him, but he showed his wounds on his hands to show that he was both physical enough to eat and to bear wounds, but also spiritually evolving to ascend into the Heavens. Christ is a mystery for mankind to ponder, but his leaving empowered the Holy Ghost to lead the few who believed and followed in the days after his departure. Going to church on Sunday is one of those things that religiously inclined people continue to do faithfully as an act of faith, a show of worship, and a desire to become friends with others who believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ. My entire life has been spent studying and pondering a variety of religious beliefs, espousing some, but not faithfully executing them in the manner in which the Church would like for me to do. I do it my way. I believe. I live, and I refrain from trying to convert or change others unless they want to be changed. Change always comes from within, not from some edict, some law, some rule imposed by some foolish minded preachers, statesmen, or zealots. A person will come to know the truth when they seek the truth. I have had some unique experiences of my own in which I believe very strongly for I am a bit a doubting Thomas as well, and must see for myself many times rather than take someone else's word for it. I do believe in the spiritual life, and am truly convinced that Jesus's life is valid but probably inaccurately reported and recorded. I have believed that Jesus is around me many times. The problem that most people have about entities like Jesus, God, or any other Holy person is the ego, as most want to know why would He bother with you. Why people are so demeaning about one another shows lack of good judgement on their part. The reason may be far simpler than they would believe since they believe with their own preset and predetermined attitudes, biases, and prejudices. I do believe that each and every person on the earth is worthy of God's particular and special interest. Self propelling one's self into fame and fortune does not necessarily mean that one has attracted God's blessings or interest I have learned many times. Miracles do happen to many people in many ways. People are simply amazing to me at times in the fact that so many overestimate their own importance while others underestimate their own value. Why it is that people make wrong judgements is probably the influence of friends and family who take one another for granted, and pay too little attention to the real value of the individual themselves. Too many stories float around with the idea that the child who is weak is the one who needs the attention more than the one who is strong, but conversely, it is the accomplished and the successful who get the most attention in rewards and recognition, especially in schooling programs where scholarships are awarded. I am one of those who attained many awards and recognition scholastically but did not go for scholarships. I did not want to conform to a scholarship program. My education was paid for by my parents. So yes, in a sense, I did owe it to them to repay them when I could, and I did. It is already April first now and Scott Oden has begun the day with an announcement that has all his readers wondering if he is pulling our leg or not...Since it is about Conan and Arnold Schwarzenegger I am suspicious that it is an April Fool's trick. But he is getting feedback from his "nice" friends. I never get into playing tricks but mild ones. I am too busy working on Wednesday's Pick draw for the lottery. It is possible to win it so I am working on it to try it. Hoping I catch at least five out of six and hope to get all six lined up somehow. Back to my discussion of Jesus being around me...I have felt a presence on more than one occasion. While I do not subscribe to the Left Behind theory, I do believe that Jesus does appear on occasions in a spiritual form that makes me feel his power and authority. I realized that perhaps people should fear God after all. I am convinced that the Love of God is so powerful that once one becomes aware of its full impact it is powerful enough to draw you to be faithful to God. But I also realized that true God is capable of acts that are mindboggling to the human mind. God can do things that are seemingly impossible. We are incredulous when we see it happen and have no explanation but it does happen. The story of the distribution of fish and bread in the Bible tales comes to mind. I have seen things just as dramatic that only a spiritual power could do. It is a mystery yet. But I believe. What is more I bear witness to some acts of Love that only a divine power could do...