The Oubliette

April has been a busy month for me in many ways. I finished the final revision of my novel, The Oubliette. I’m in kind of a slump. You know, that lost feeling you get when you’ve finished a long-term project? Now, with the writing finished and the editing process complete, I’m faced with my least favorite part of the independent writer’s life, switching hats to become a publisher. It means bearing the burdens of that complicated process, including formatting the book for the digital and print markets, cover design, marketing, distribution, and on and on. I just want to get back to work on the next novel. Therefore, I envy those who snag publishing contracts or have the money to pay someone to do these things. I’m sure I could find a publisher, eventually, though, considering the current market conditions, it might take decades – …I don’t have that kind of time. So many books to be written, so little time to do it. Please, just let me get back to work.

The Bloodline Heresy

On another note – I watched an interesting documentary on the Holy Grail this month. From it, I learned a few things about the original Grail Mythology. I speak of, Wolfram von Eschenbach’s “Perzival”, and the Celtic/Druid influence on that story, (interesting). But the most interesting thing was discovering the inspiration for the bloodline heresy that is found in so many contemporary grail mythologies, at least those written since the book “Holy Blood, Holy Grail” was published in 1982.

It turns out that the book’s authors’ finally admitted that their fabrication was based entirely on speculation that, at some time in the past, an unknown scribe must have misunderstood the words “Sang Real”, (meaning Royal Blood), and wrote instead, “San Greal”, or “Grail”, (meaning Holy Vessel). In truth, the author, Michael Baigent, has no proof that this ever happened. His mistake theory is pure speculation based solely on the similarity of the Latin words.

There is a dark abyss between the premise behind the words “Sang Real”, and that of “San Grail”. They are as far divided as the east is from the west in both meaning and intent. That is the crux of contention between me, Dan Brown, Steve Berry, and the many other writers in the genre who insist on perpetuating this bloodline heresy as an attack on the foundations of Christianity. In my mind, someone of faith must respond to this heresy in apologia. Lord, please let it be me.

Enter The Practician

All that said, I’ve begun the final draft of The Practician, my faith-based response. In fact, we had the beta-readers debrief early this month. It was my first ever encounter group and by God’s grace and with much human help, it went very well. I got a lot of valuable feedback on the manuscript, and I’ve started implementing revisions, part of which will be some changes to the central cipher that the plot revolves around. In the earlier manuscripts, I had no continuing object of mystery that could sustain the plot through the entire Gray Empire series, a planned quartet.

My initial cipher for the story, mysterious writings found on an artifact called the ninety-foot stone, is resolved too early in the story. Another artifact called the Leitch Bible, introduced in book one, falls out of the story once it’s had its effect on the protagonists. The predominant artifact, the Ark of St. John, turns out to be more a character in the story than a puzzle to be solved. The larger story of the Gray Empire needs a cipher, a puzzle that the protagonists must solve in order to overcome the evil plans of the antagonists. So, after much research, I have chosen an awesome cipher that will be founded on the Rosslyn Chapel Stave Angel.

The Consciousness of Water

My recent research into cymatics, (the shape of sounds), has put me on a rabbit trail that goes deep into an area of ancient esoteric knowledge once held by the Order of St. John, and then by the Templars. This rabbit trail goes much deeper, however, into the connections between Cymatic Patterns, Ley Lines, String Theory, and Biblical Scripture.

According to the Apostle John, everything that has been created was created by the Word, that is to say, that God Himself Spoke, and what he spoke became reality. In Matthew 4:4 Jesus says, “…man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” His words imply that God sustains all life and the universe by his continued spoken Word. That idea is reinforced in Zephania 3:17, which says, “The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will …rejoice over you with singing.” In other words, God is ever singing over us, thus we are sustained by his every word.

Nikola Tesla famously said, “Every living being is an engine geared to the wheelwork of the universe. Though seemingly affected only by its immediate surroundings, the sphere of external influence extends to an infinite distance,” and, “If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.”

That’s precisely what singing is, “energy, frequency, and vibration“.

Energy, frequency, and vibration are also at the root of string theory, a postulation from quantum physics that speculates that all matter and energy in the universe is bound together by tiny, subatomic torii they call strings. These strings are energy forms that vibrate in much the same way as sound. Thus I have become fascinated by cymatics and the study of sound in all its forms. In that interest, I discovered the experiments of Dr. Masaru Emoto on the Consciousness of Water.

Remembering the primary importance and uniqueness of water among all the compounds of creation, and that we ourselves are more than 70% water, I find the shaped response of frozen water crystals to sound, environment, and even emotion, to be astounding proof of our spiritual existence. All that said, I’m soundly, (pun intended), committed to the rabbit trail I’m on. I have no idea where it will lead, but I intend to follow it all the way to the True Grail. I hope you will come along.