shadowed space undulating around him. No. He didnât want to leave this present, not now.
Struggling, Josh brought himself back, to the car, to the metal camera case in his hands. To the smell of the stale cigarette smoke.
Rome and its environs were triggering more episodes than heâd ever had before in one time period. What was happening?
He knew what Malachai would say. Josh was experiencing past-life regressions. But despite these multiple memory lurches, Josh remained skeptical. It made more sense that reincarnation was a panacea, a comforting concept that explained the existential dilemma of why weâre on earth and why bad things can happenâeven to good people. It was easier to believe reincarnation was a soothing myth than it was to accept the mystical belief that some essential part of a living beingâthe soul or the spiritâsurvives death to be reborn in a new body. To literally be made flesh again and return to earth in order to fulfill its karma. To do this time what you had failed to do the last.
And yet how else to explain the memory lurches?
Josh had read that even past-life experiences that seemed spontaneous were precipitated or triggered by encountering a person, a situation, a sensory experience such as a particular smell or sound or taste that had some connection to a previous incarnation.
He hadnât seen a single movie in the past five months, but heâd devoured more than fifty books on this single subject.
Something the Dalai Lamaâwho had been chosen as a child from dozens of other children because it was believed he was the incarnation of a previous Dalai Lamaâhad written in one of those books had stuck in Joshâs mind.
It was a simple explanation for a complex concept, one of the few things heâd read that made Josh feel that if what was happening was related to reincarnation, then perhaps it wasnât a curse, but an enviable gift.
Reincarnation, the Dalai Lama explained, was not exclusively an ancient Egyptian, Hindu or a Buddhist concept, but an enriching one intrinsically intertwined in the fabric of the history of human originâproof, hewrote, of the mind streamâs capacity to retain knowledge of physical and mental activities. A fact tied to the law of cause and effect.
A meaningful answer to complicated questions.
Something was happening to him, here in Rome. Time was twisting in on itself in amazing detail, and the pull to give in and explore it was stronger than it had ever been. Josh put the camera down. He stared out at the break in the tree line. He could keep fighting the memory lurches or he could open his mind and see where they took him. Maybe he would come out on the other side of this labyrinth understanding why heâd had to travel its path.
Chapter 16
Julius and Sabina
Romeâ391 A.D.
H e left the city early that morning while the sky was still dark and sunrise wasnât yet aglow on the horizon. No one was in the streets, except a few stray cats that ignored him.
She always teased him that he was early for everything, but it was urgent now that they be careful. It was better for him to leave with the cloak of nightfall to protect him, to arrive at the grove before daybreak.
As he passed the emperorâs palace, he glanced, as he always did, at the elaborate calendar etched on the wall. The passing of time had taken on a new and frightening significance lately. How many more days, weeks and months would they have until everything around them had changed so much so that it was unrecognizable? How much longer would he be able to perform the sacrifices and rituals that were his responsibility? How much longer would any of them be able to celebrate and participate in the ancient ceremonies passed down to them by their forefathers?
In the past two years heâd doubled up on his duties as fewer men entered the colleges, and now, in addition to overseeing the Vestals, heâd taken on the additional
Struggling, Josh brought himself back, to the car, to the metal camera case in his hands. To the smell of the stale cigarette smoke.
Rome and its environs were triggering more episodes than heâd ever had before in one time period. What was happening?
He knew what Malachai would say. Josh was experiencing past-life regressions. But despite these multiple memory lurches, Josh remained skeptical. It made more sense that reincarnation was a panacea, a comforting concept that explained the existential dilemma of why weâre on earth and why bad things can happenâeven to good people. It was easier to believe reincarnation was a soothing myth than it was to accept the mystical belief that some essential part of a living beingâthe soul or the spiritâsurvives death to be reborn in a new body. To literally be made flesh again and return to earth in order to fulfill its karma. To do this time what you had failed to do the last.
And yet how else to explain the memory lurches?
Josh had read that even past-life experiences that seemed spontaneous were precipitated or triggered by encountering a person, a situation, a sensory experience such as a particular smell or sound or taste that had some connection to a previous incarnation.
He hadnât seen a single movie in the past five months, but heâd devoured more than fifty books on this single subject.
Something the Dalai Lamaâwho had been chosen as a child from dozens of other children because it was believed he was the incarnation of a previous Dalai Lamaâhad written in one of those books had stuck in Joshâs mind.
It was a simple explanation for a complex concept, one of the few things heâd read that made Josh feel that if what was happening was related to reincarnation, then perhaps it wasnât a curse, but an enviable gift.
Reincarnation, the Dalai Lama explained, was not exclusively an ancient Egyptian, Hindu or a Buddhist concept, but an enriching one intrinsically intertwined in the fabric of the history of human originâproof, hewrote, of the mind streamâs capacity to retain knowledge of physical and mental activities. A fact tied to the law of cause and effect.
A meaningful answer to complicated questions.
Something was happening to him, here in Rome. Time was twisting in on itself in amazing detail, and the pull to give in and explore it was stronger than it had ever been. Josh put the camera down. He stared out at the break in the tree line. He could keep fighting the memory lurches or he could open his mind and see where they took him. Maybe he would come out on the other side of this labyrinth understanding why heâd had to travel its path.
Chapter 16
Julius and Sabina
Romeâ391 A.D.
H e left the city early that morning while the sky was still dark and sunrise wasnât yet aglow on the horizon. No one was in the streets, except a few stray cats that ignored him.
She always teased him that he was early for everything, but it was urgent now that they be careful. It was better for him to leave with the cloak of nightfall to protect him, to arrive at the grove before daybreak.
As he passed the emperorâs palace, he glanced, as he always did, at the elaborate calendar etched on the wall. The passing of time had taken on a new and frightening significance lately. How many more days, weeks and months would they have until everything around them had changed so much so that it was unrecognizable? How much longer would he be able to perform the sacrifices and rituals that were his responsibility? How much longer would any of them be able to celebrate and participate in the ancient ceremonies passed down to them by their forefathers?
In the past two years heâd doubled up on his duties as fewer men entered the colleges, and now, in addition to overseeing the Vestals, heâd taken on the additional
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