Litigation of Souls

 

 The Edge of Reason

     She looked to be about seven years old.  She was sitting in the sand at the edge of the sea, watching each new wave roll in.  When the water receded, she gathered the broken seashells left behind. Then, with great resolve, she tried putting them back together, comparing one broken edge with another.

    

     I knew it was useless. There was a time when I gathered broken seashells too, sitting in the sands of time, at the edge of reason where the ocean of faith begins. I gathered fragments of ancient lore, books of forgotten practices, divination, magick, alchemy. Then, with great resolve, I tried putting the fragments back together to discover the supernatural secrets of the Universe.  I should have left that afternoon with the little girl.  Instead, I stayed for twenty years.

   

     One rude day I realized that none of what I gathered even matched. They were just isolated remnants from remote sources: myth, hear-say, history, random books, gurus, alleged grimoires.  The magick just wasn’t there.  I felt like I was pretending to listen to the ocean in a conche shell. It’s not really the ocean. It’s just the movement of air. But the bigger the conche shell, the louder the ocean; the more acclaimed the author…so on and so on….  The only real power I found in these writings was the power to hold my attention till I bought the next book.

   

      I didn’t like the inconsistent character of it all.  I certainly didn’t want truth that would be different next week from what it was this week.  I wanted rock-solid truth that wouldn’t budge or bend, even if it was pummeled by the world’s most enormous sledgehammer.  When that sledgehammer dust settled, I wanted that truth to be untouched, upright, and brilliant, totally unaffected by anyone’s ego or opinion.  I wanted Truth Absolute!

 

 The Vanishing Bookstore

      Being a seeker of Truth is not an endearing quality to have.  It annoys a lot of people. Not everyone is ready to ditch the status quo of their beliefs. But I was ready…very ready!  So, on a trip to the Florida beach, I left all my books at home.  I had been in the Occult for twenty-one years. I was a third-degree Wiccan High Priestess, and I studied and taught Kabbalah. However, without hesitation, I sent out an eviction notice to the crowd of voices that had gathered in my head: “Shut up and get out so I can think my own thoughts!”  That noble resolve lasted for one day.  Then I had to go out and buy a book.

    

     I didn't understand why I couldn't find that huge bookstore that we saw just the day before while driving into Saint Augustine.  It was a gigantic store!  I pointed it out to my husband as we drove by.  Now, just one day later, we couldn't find it.  It seemed to have vanished!  How could we not find something that big? 

     

     We finally gave up trying and drove around in frustration hoping to find any bookstore at all.  Finally, we stumbled across a small used bookstore nestled back off the road.   It was nondescript and weather-worn, planked in wood and painted a drab beige.  I don't even know how we saw this dreary little shop.

    

     The inside was as drab as the outside, but none of that was a concern to me at that moment.  I walked straight over to the shelf labeled “New Age/Occult.”  My eyes immediately spotted a thin white book. It was pulled out a little from the rest, and it seemed out of place.  It was a book sectioned off day by day for the month of May.  The title of the book was quite long but intriguing: The Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will: BOOK OF HEAVEN The Call Of The Creature To Return To The Order, To The Place, And To The Purpose For Which It Was Created.  By Luisa Piccarreta. 

   

      It was dogeared on the page marked May 13^th.  That very day was May 13^th.  As I held the book in my hand, I remembered an odd experience I had a few weeks before. A presence filled me with an inner notion that felt more like a lightning strike than a thought: It said, “If you’re Wiccan and believe in a Mother Goddess, how can you not investigate the appearances of the Virgin Mary happening all over the world and still stay true to your beliefs?”

   

     I bought the book and left.

 

 The Exile

      We returned to our rental condo, and for two days I read through the book twice.  It bridged the gap between the popular understanding of metaphysics and a magnificent mysticism that revealed a seamless ordering of the entire Universe. The laws in this High Ordering transcended the laws of Earth but didn’t contradict them; it expanded them. What I was reading occupied only the smallest edges of my mind.

      

     I learned that the Truth Absolute that I was looking for was not a single insight or even a comprehensive discipline.  Instead, it was a High Ordering that issues forth into our Universe from another Reality…not another dimension…but another Reality altogether. That Reality is the paradigm of the Divine Archetypes of Almighty God the Creator. We used to occupy that Reality with God, but we lost access to it as the title of the book makes clear. 

     

     I learned that we catch glimpses of this Paradigm in nature…but only glimpses, fragments leftover from Eden.  Since the takeover of humanity was orchestrated by the devil, the earth and its inhabitants have been exiled from this Supreme Existence.  It’s no wonder that we can’t find this Truth in occult books.  We no longer have access to this knowledge, and neither does the devil—no matter what he says!

    

     God created Adam and Eve and placed them in His Garden with instructions not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  But it wasn’t just about fruit.  It was about allegiance, and it carried long-term legal consequences.

    

     However, Eve got to talking with the devil, and he basically called God a liar. So, she decided to listen to the devil and eat that fruit anyway.  Then she gave some to Adam and he ate it too.  I’m pretty sure the devil howled in glee!  He had just ruined God’s plans for His precious human race!  He introduced them to sin, and the legal consequence of sin is death. They were now in Satan's jurisdiction.

     

     But before God put the padlock on Eden’s gate, He told the devil a thing or two.  Since he had obtained legal authority over humanity by convincing Eve to believe his lies, another woman would come who would crush his head.  Then God kicked everyone out and locked the gate.

 

The Highest Reality

      Although the Creator of Time is not bound by Time itself, because humanity exists within its boundaries, the rescue had to play out within the cycle of human generations. But the actuality of the rescue already existed in the Realm of God’s Omniscience, for "...we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification." (1 Corinthians 2:7) Still, there were legal steps that needed to be Time-stamped. 

    

     God forfeited His jurisdiction on Earth when Adam and Eve switched their allegiance to the devil. Earth legally defaulted to the devil’s domain.  Adam and Eve and all their prodigy (each of us) became prisoners of war in Satan’s camp without rights or privileges--sentenced to death. But God did not forsake us. Step by legal step, He unfolded His Plan.

      

     From the Realm of God’s Omniscience, He called forth a pure human seed, uncontaminated by that original sin.  From this immaculate seed, He created the soul of Mary.  When the time was right, her sinless humanity would provide the sinless humanity for the incarnation of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. For God Himself--in the second Person of the Holy Trinity--would descend in human flesh to rescue His children.  But first...a test.

    

     God created Mary with all the God-given rights of a human will.  He never violated her free will, but He did offer her a Mandate that would reverse the failed Fiat of Adam and Eve. Mary accepted that Mandate and embraced the Divine Will instead of her own human will.  So, her allegiance to God was confirmed, and the Kingdom of God was established in her.

    

     When Mary was born upon the Earth, through her, God’s Kingdom re-entered the world. For God had to re-establish His Kingdom in humanity.  He would not have entered the world outside of His own Kingdom. 

 

     At the appointed Time and without human aid, God's Holy Spirit brought about the supernatural conception of the Son of God in Mary’s virgin womb.  His name?  Jesus.  He was born--fully divine and fully human--the God-Man who Satan saw in Heaven and fears to this very day. Now, flawlessly incarnated, working within the boundaries of Time, and operating from within His own Kingdom, God was legally prepared to pay the debt of sin for every soul.

 

 Swatted and Murdered

     The High Wisdom of God was not within Satan’s grasp.  Nevertheless, he kept a lookout for the woman who would crush his head.   He noticed the unusual presence of a man named Jesus, and His mother, also, seemed oddly different. But he couldn’t figure them out. 

    

     Jesus taught the people about the Kingdom of God, and the people began calling Him the Messiah. Satan was alarmed.  If this was true, he would need to eliminate this Man immediately. When the religious hierarchy began accusing Jesus of blasphemy, Satan jumped on the bandwagon. Using one of Jesus’ own disciples, he motivated Judas to sell information about Jesus’ precise location to the religious hierarchy.  So, on a Friday night, Jesus was swatted by Judas, so to speak, and arrested on trumped-up charges. He was tortured and nailed to a Cross for execution.

    

      Full of pride and feeling victorious, Satan and his hordes began leaving the scene. But they were prevented from leaving by Mary who compelled them by her spiritual power to stay and watch.  As they watched Jesus die and as they heard the words He spoke from the Cross, they became deeply agitated. When the sky turned dark and the earth quaked, panic set in!  It was at this point that they realized their mistake! How could they have gotten this so wrong? Yes! Jesus was the Son of God!  And He wasn't dying for His own sins.  He had no sins.  He was dying in place of each and every human soul. He was paying their debt in full, and Satan had helped to bring it about by having Him killed! If the rulers of this world understood this; they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1Corinthians 2:7.8}

 

The Harrowing of Hell

     Satan’s kingdom became unglued. His prisoners were being released in droves.  He flew into a frenzied rage and tried again to escape to Hell.  But he was forced to watch until the last drop of Ransom Blood fell from the Sacred Body. Humanity's debt was paid in full.  But for the devil, it wasn’t over yet….

    

     When the devil and his minions returned to Hell, Jesus was there waiting for them. And as they watched, He emptied the caverns where all the souls had gathered from across the generations.  These were the souls who had died in faith waiting for their beloved Messiah to rescue them and reopen the Gates of Heaven. The first to be released were Adam and Eve.  Then all the captives were set free.

  

     On the third day, Jesus’ body was resurrected glorious and immortal.  The second Person of the Holy Trinity was now in human form!  His Resurrection was the signature and seal of the Eternal God that all debts were paid, and the promises of forgiveness and eternal life were now offered to each human soul. 

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     An additional twenty years have passed since I left that seashore with its broken shells.  I know now that what Satan touts about today as occult power is just a mockup of similar abilities we had in Eden before the devil’s takeover. Today he tricks souls into maintaining allegiance to him by promising them these powers. Trust me on this one. It’s a lie and a con.

     

     Talk to the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Talk to Him like you would a friend. Ask Him about these things. He'll show you what's true.  He'll forgive your sins. He'll lift you up and place you safely in His own Kingdom.  He's there for you with a Heart full of Love.  Just ask Him.  No magick is required.

 

Sincerely,

Maddalena,

Former Wiccan High Priestess 3^rd degree

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