“There’s been a lot of hurt,
I’ve seen a lot o’ pain.
One thing’s for sure,
Your time, this time
Is back again.”

……..inspired by “The Messiah Will Come Again”, Roy Buchanan [1].

(Photograph of Tynemouth Castle, where I was raised, from newcastlephotos.blogspot.com)

His face was solemn not grim. As tradition has it, he wore a long dark robe, but no scythe, no outstretched skeletal hand.

He came through the window. I stared up into the bowed, hooded face. I acknowledged his purpose silently. “OK, let’s go” I nodded. My guide’s face turned a polite friendly smile as he took me up into the night sky.

We travelled north. We reached Rothbury, the place of my birth, in the heart of Northumberland. It was a bright sunshine dawn, 31^st July 1951, over 60 years ago. The castle stood by the River Coquet, set amongst the Simonside Hills.

As we approached the sandstone walls, a lady walking, came the other way. She approached her car, sharing a few pleasantries with my guide, as she got into her green Morris Minor and drove off.

“Who is she?” I inquired. “Oh, she’s a Guardian Angel, heading to the local hospital” came the reply. We walked on.

“We are going to heaven aren’t we?” A big smile and a knowing chuckle was all I got.

We entered a courtyard, the size of half a football pitch. People were gathering, milling; exchanging curious, friendly and nervous greetings. Before us stood a group of young women. One of the women, seemed familiar. Like from a photograph.

“Kiss one another!” instructed my guide, to me and the woman who looked familiar, “see what happens!”. The woman and I smiled at one another. We raised our eyebrows, and after a short nod of mutual approval, we obliged. We embraced in a suitably affectionate kiss, not too short and not too long. We took a step back. A moment later – woooooaaaahhhhh! It was like all the kisses I’d ever been kissed, packed into a 10-15 second rocket trip.

The kiss was beautiful. “Wow, this place is amazing”, I shrieked. “It can be everything you want it to be”, my guide replied. My guide and I walked on.

Passing a field, I noticed beautiful large fruit, deep red, luscious. A farmer with a silent tractor was tending the crop. “Strange, to have tractors here (being uncertain where here actually was); what about carbon emissions” I asked “and why is that farmer toiling?”  “That’s no ordinary tractor”, my guide assured me, “it runs on the continuous energy from the Sun. Tending and sharing fruit is the farmer’s choice. It is a labour of love.”

“C’mon” he said, “let’s get you to the hospital. It’s been a long journey and your spiritual body’s atoms are still a wee bit out of kilter. You’ll be as right as rain, by morning.”

I awoke refreshed and chose to explore, alone. I went into the depths of the castle and found myself walking down a street that reminded me of ancient Rome; cobbles, little terraced houses. At its far end I saw an entrance to a dark cave. In the entrance stood a large lion, with a huge mane of black hair. “Uh-oh”, I turned to head the other way, only to notice a lioness walking toward me. I started to panic. I made my way into a house, BUT it had huge glassless window frames. I ducked under a table and hid. Just then, my guide walked in. “Come with me” he said, “let’s go to the changing rooms.”

We went into small building across the road and waited in the hallway, with shower cubicles and a changing room annexe at one end. Out of the annexe stepped a man and his wife. I recognised the black whiskered eyebrows they both had in common. Acknowledging my guide, they smiled me a friendly hello and left. “They have been shape shifting” my guide explained. “On earth they have been lions many times and enjoy the freedom. So they come here to be.” “Let’s explore”.

My guide and I passed through fields where we saw people at play. Finally we came to a field where two knights were in combat, sword to sword. Eventually one knight dealt a crucial blow, felling the other. “Woe” I said “this can’t be right, people slicing one another up?”

“That’s no ordinary sword” my guide replied. “It’s a spiritual sword of Truth and those knights are spiritual bodies. A quick trip to the hospital and the fallen knight will be fit and ready to fight again. These knights are the guardians of The Truth, The Grail. They have fought many battles on earth. to keep its secret secure. For only he who is borne of Truth can know the secret of The Grail. (Only Arthur, borne of truth, could extract the sword from the stone.) The knights keep their skills sharp, retain their wisdom of, and practice in, battle – ready when needed.

“It’s time we went to the Assignment Room” my guide instructed.

Following, I entered what looked like a small very old fashioned shop. On the wall, inside, hung a huge and complex flow chart connecting people’s names, events and outcomes. The parts  could be moved around like a child’s sliding puzzle. So that people, events and outcomes could be brought together ata specifci time. The whole history and future of mankind was mapped out. Administrators were constantly making adjustments – as they pushed around the parts, sliding them up and down into the right pattern.

There on a small plaque in the middle of the chart, I read my name, ‘Paul C Burr’. “Why me?” I inquired.

“You have a role to fulfill, a contract. Now it is time that you return and fulfill that contract.” The guide replied.

“But what is my contract?” I inquired.

“Continue to write, for now. You’ll find out, when the time is right,” my guide replied.

“Go in peace!”

I thanked my guide for the wisdom and quest. As I headed back I suddenly realised the coincidence that my favourite band for many years is called The Grateful Dead. Coincidence?  Maybe not.

Ω

Shine on…!

Paul C Burr

5^th May 2009 (revised 15th August 2011)

"Borrowed" from The Blue Bowl

“Walk out of any doorway
feel your way, feel your way
like the day before.
Maybe you’ll find direction
around some corner
where it’s been waiting to meet you.”

……Robert Hunter lyrics from Box of Rain, sung and played by Grateful Dead

Only now do I realise where to find the Cathedral…..

I sat straight in a comfortable chair – straight back, upper legs, lower legs and feet – all at 90°, perpendicular to one another – not rigid though, relax.

I closed my eyes. Steadied my breath, count to 4 in, count to 4 out; slightly deeper than normal, yet gentle and focused. I forgot who I am and why I am here. I forget my past and everything that leads up to this present moment.

I surround myself in a circle of white light. It travels, like a neon tube, anticlockwise (right to left) about my person. I secure myself.

I illuminate my spine, from its base, up through my neck, arced around the back, top of my brain, down again and out through my Third Eye, like a flame of gas. Light fills up my whole body on my in-breath. I shine on the out-breath.

(The illuminated spine, symbolised by the Shepherd’s Crook. And often used by Church Officers who may not realise its true symbolic value. Image courtesy of Black Fly Photos.)

I contact my higher self, my “inner CEO”, if you like. I ask for the grace of the Holy Spirit, to guide and protect me on my journey. A wave of energy shoots up my spine and fills my body. I tune into the feeling of “my vibration”. I, at peace, can’t help but smile uncontrollably – joy in the moment.

Eyes closed, I approach a large wooden door. Unlocked, my energy swells as I push it open, using my arm to mimic the gesture. I enter. Again I mimic the gesture, behind me, to close the door. Energy-swells tell me the door is closed. I face forward.

Before me lies a yellowish dusty path with green pasture to either side. (I don’t see it, as such. More, I feel it. I can describe what I feel clearly. “Insight”, to me, means a process by which I feel what I see.) I follow the path.

I begin to ascend, what to begin with, appears to be, a hill. The climb is steady, straight and not overly strenuous. I can’t see very far. Green grass to either side, the path remains clear. I have no way of getting lost. My energy swells again as I reach the top. Before me lies a vast a high plain and now I can see clearly across the flatland. I walk on.

After a short time, I see the outline of a spired building in the distance. I head towards it. As I progress, I notice that the spires seem to appear not that much nearer. The building remains distant. It must be very large for me to see it from where I am. I pick up the pace.

As I get closer, I approach what appears to be a huge cathedral. I see two spires although I feel there will be more. Its vast structure now stretches from horizon to horizon. The path enters a semicircular clearing. I arrive before the Cathedral’s large wooden double fronted door. My energy swells. I realise, for the first time, that each energy swell signals that I’m on the right track and I’ve come to a significant landmark in my journey.

It soothes my trepidation. I recall how I prepare for all the important moments in my life. I focus and build an inner calmness, to prepare for what is to come.

No need to knock. Like before, I mimic the gestures to open and close the right hand side of the double door behind me.

Inside, aisles, rows of pews and towering pillars stretch for miles, into the dark distance before me. I turn left and make my way, keeping the inside of the wall of the hall to my left. Another long walk ensues. I walk briskly.

An energy swell informs me that I’ve reached a corner of the great hall. I turn right and continue down the hall’s left hand side wall until an energy swell tells me I’ve reached the next door. I enter.

Inside, I begin to descend a long straight stairway. Down and down I go. At its base I proceed along an underground corridor. At the end of the corridor I come across an opening, off centre, to the right. I enter a small candlelit room.

Inside, slightly to the right again, stands an elderly man. His long curly beard brushes slowly down the front of his robe, and up again, as his silent, courteous nod acknowledges my presence. I nod lower and slower – to express the humility, trepidation and joy I feel. I stand before the Keeper of the Keys to the Locks, to The Akashic Records.

The Keeper stands before a huge vault, not unlike the bank vaults in the first Harry Potter movie.

He speaks, “Welcome”.

I nod again and reply timidly, “Hello”.

“How can I help you?” The keeper asks.

“If I may, I’d like to know the contract I made for this lifetime, please. The contract I signed up to before I was born, between my last life and this.” I ask.

The Keeper enters the vault and returns with a parchment. As I open it, the Keeper speaks its content….

“You are here to become whom you already are. The acorn already has the imprint and design of the Oak Tree it becomes.”

In the distant past you were very powerful. But you did not use your power from the highest integrity. In fact, just the opposite, you committed heinous acts of violence and sex. You have spent much time learning the nature of your cruelty, and not-cruelty. You have recently rid yourself of many of the dark unconscious remnants that have held you back, in this lifetime. You are ready now to proceed.

You don’t have far to go but first you must take it easy. You have travelled a long way during the last five years. You need not rush, for now. Take it easy for a short while. You are to continue the book (my second book) which you stopped writing, a short while back. Start again when the time feels right. You’ll know it when it arrives.

The path to your third book will open up in due course. You already have a hint about what it’s to be about. For now rest, have fun, and wait for your time to move on.

Follow your path and …..”   (the rest I will reveal when the time is right.)

I, overwhelmed, wept bitterly. I begged forgiveness for the dark deeds of my past.

“Forgiveness was, and is, not appropriate, only learning. And you have learned what you needed, to transmute darkness into light. Go in peace!”

I thanked the Keeper and “felt” my back, the way I came, to the first door. Energy swells signalled the landmarks again on my return journey. I walked back through the door and returned to my body.

I roused myself gently, to make sure I was thoroughly grounded.

Later, the energy swell, “my vibration”, kept returning. I continue to practise tuning into it, as best I can.

Only now, I realise The Cathedral, or should I say, The Temple, is built within me.

Paul C Burr

13^th August 2011