THE ISLAND OF CHARON
a novel in the series
"PLAYING ANOTHER REALITY"
CHAPTER 9. CHARON’S SECRET
9.2. CHARON, THE OLD MAN
“Charon… The Old Man is Charon!!! My God…”
I turned to the left, even though the Lake of Lovers brought me back to the memories of my own death. I tried to gather my thoughts on the way to the cemetery.
“That is the way we all live, running back and forth, doing all sorts of earthly affairs and even, as it seems, remembering about Death. But Death seems to be something unrealistically far away, that will happen sometime later, most importantly, not now, and as if not with us.
As the Stargazer correctly says, everyone on Earth has some plans for the Future. We make wishes on New Year’s Eve and often dream about something until Death looms on the horizon and declares itself in one form or another, however, in advance, as if giving us some time to clean up the tails.
And what if Death happens like that — instantly, suddenly? Bang! — and I’m already abroad, that is, here, not there… I’m dead… Such a thought would have made me hysterical a couple of years ago, but here and now there is only a strange feeling of uncertainty of what is happening and the total lack of understanding of my Future, which — what if? — no longer exists…
Perhaps I’m so calm about what happened, only because at the time of my own death I was already so tired of life that I didn’t make global plans for the next five years and didn’t expect any miracles?
Perhaps the sudden death happened to me just in time?
Now, on my way to the cemetery, to Charon, looking back and leafing through my life from the very beginning, I don’t feel much regret. I’ve made a good career and realized myself in creativity, I’ve traveled a lot and loved a lot: people — not mutually, but animals and books — even very much… And I don’t feel like returning home, to my abandoned apartment in particular, or to Earth in general. I have led an ascetic life for the last few years, hardly communicating with anyone, except for worthless posts on social networks… and even that…
Now I’m worried about something completely different: where am I and what should I do next?”
It was about an hour before sunrise. A deserted rocky plateau with a cemetery fence and black metal wide open gates appeared in the distance.
As I got closer, I saw the sign…
“THE CEMETERY OF MEMORIES”
I stepped inside — there were no crosses, no tombstones, not even mounds and… not a soul! — only the silent black birds, guardians at the entrance, studied me with curiosity, following me with their eyes till the dilapidated house of Charon, located in the farthest corner of the cemetery.
I went to the door and knocked. Was I scared? No. Sofia was right to “fear the living, not the dead!” However, as I checked with the Stargazer’s Books of the Moon and of the Sun, it was only Charon, the owner of the mysterious Island, who turned out to appear in both (!) Books at the same time. Such an obvious non-standard, the pattern breaks or simply a glitch, meant that there was hidden something real, the key to the Truth.
The door opened, and I saw the barefoot Old Man in the canvas robe.
“Welcome, my dear Soul,” he said and sighed. “What do you want?”
“To talk to you.”
The Old Man gestured for me to come inside. His ascetic dwelling resembled a monastery cell. He materialized a chair, and then a lantern, and invited me to light it. It wasn’t a big deal. The lantern flickered instantly. Charon hung it on the wall and sat down on the wooden bench.
“Am I dead?” I asked cautiously.
“One has several bodies, you have parted with your physical one, but you are talking to me now. Or is this not you?” the Old Man grinned.
“I am.”
“Fine, my Soul. Here comes the conclusion: you can’t consider yourself dead.”
“And the Island? Where are we now? Is it projected by my brain? It isn’t Camotes, is it?”
“After the death of a physical body, the earthly device called ‘brain’, which most people mistakenly identify with Consciousness and Thought, dies. The death of neurons during the first 10 minutes after heart stopping can cause hallucinations, but it doesn’t at all contradict the opening of the : everything hidden in the depths of the soul and forced out of the Consciousness during earthly life, seemed to be forgotten and even released forever, comes to the surface.”
“Why?”
“In order to complete or to resolve post mortem those situations that the person consciously or ly regrets at the moment of death of the physical body. Perhaps he did not have time to do something, or he did something wrong.”
“I don’t quite understand, sorry… It turns out that only the souls with situations, unresolved during their lifetime, come here.”
“Do you really think that many people leave Earth with an absolutely pure and calm , like the Ocean on this Island? Usually they are Saints.”
“But why Camotes?”
“For you personally,” the Old Man clarified. “You visited Camotes during your lifetime, however, it left a mystery in your soul. You wanted to come back to solve it, didn’t you?”
“Right.”
“The desire brought you to Camotes. But it’s only a copy of the earthly Camotes. Projection of the . The Island is holographic, it was created for your soul to complete some tasks here and to put a dot or a comma. It’s up to you.”
“And then… Will a ferry come to take me to… the Sky?”
“Certainly, in myths and legends there’s Secret Knowledge about the Truth, which is incredibly difficult to describe in words. But… pay attention to the fact that the Creator doesn’t act against your will and never deprives anyone of the right to choose.”
“Excuse me… Are you saying that happening on the Island is the tricks of my ? Besides, I’ve seen a lot of people here and…”
“Everyone has their own island here. But no one after leaving Earth will be able to see what one has never seen on Earth. All images in the Astral Sphere are taken exclusively from the soul’s earthly memory. They are formed of astral matter particles in order to allow you to realize something through a familiar image. Essences can be real, like you and me, and fictitious, but both our and their appearance is illusory, because essences have no images, they are an informational energy clot. It’s always easier for the newcomers to perceive what is going on here through something familiar. Try to modify my image now, for example, to lengthen my beard and to change my height. And you will realize that everything that surrounds you is an illusion. Only those who can refuse it will discover the Truth.”
“But the only way to understand completely what’s going on here is to go beyond what’s going on. So, theoretically, everyone who is here now needs to leave the Astral World?”
“Correct. The character of the movie will not see the whole movie until he moves himself in the auditorium.”
“Okay, but… Some characters I’ve seen on the Island… Are you sure that I really met them during my life on Earth?”
“Perhaps not themselves, but someone who looked like you see them now. For example, the Girl is a copy of a doll from your childhood, and the Stargazer looks like a movie actor…”
“Are they all virtual and created solely for me to finish something?”
“Not all. Someone who is neither in the Sun Book nor in the Moon Book is virtual. Who is present in one of the Books may be as real as yourself.”
“What do phantoms of real essences look like?”
“If someone is real, and you were acquainted in life, when you meet here, your soul will instantly recognize his essence and automatically project his earthly familiar image. If you were not acquainted with some real essence, but heard a lot about the person, for example, as about some great one, the essence will take for you the image, which you personally associate it with. The one who is real, but you have never even heard of him, will appear, for example, as a character of the movie you watched on Earth, but the character should be similar to the very essence in order to give you the most complete picture of it.”
“Can a virtual essence pass itself off as a real one, taking its image?”
“Of course, it can. This possibility is used not only by virtual essences, but also by fallen spirits from the Lower Astral, appearing to people during channeling seances…”
“Then, how to distinguish a real essence from a fake?”
“Try to change its appearance. The real essence, familiar to you on Earth, will not be changed, but a virtual one changes indefinitely. However, it’s almost impossible to check by soul those whom you have never seen with your own eyes on Earth, it’s a task for your Spirit.”
“And who creates virtual phantoms? Me?”
“Your Spirit, my Soul. It knows much more than you, being a part of the Creator and having access to the Universal Data Bank. It led you through your life on Earth, being your Guardian Angel, and continues to lead you further.”
“And does my Spirit know why I got such a death?”
“Of course.”
“Was it my own choice to die this way?”
“Both live and die this way, yes. Your choice, made together with your Spirit.”
“Perhaps I came on Earth to pay back for my grandmother the witch.”
“Or, perhaps, you yourself in your hearts wished evil to someone, and it returned to you as a boomerang. However, you’ll get answers to all your questions when your Higher Self merges with the Spirit into a single whole, and the Tablets open on the right page. But I am sure it’ll become completely irrelevant to you then.”
“Does the Wish Tree really exist?”
“It’s to the Wish Tree light that the souls with unresolved situations, preventing them from moving on, fly like butterflies and moths.”
“And why does the Stargazer say that many people may leave the Island, but stay?”
“Because the Wish Tree is a trap. Of course, it exists to help souls to finish something, however…”
“It turns into a temptation, doesn’t it? Because the soul is tempted to stay here forever, creating its own ideal world, in which any desire comes true, instead of…”
“Exactly! Yielding to temptation, the soul itself, like many people on Earth, suddenly turns into a Wish Tree, sprouting roots in the Astral World, which images are like airy plasticine. Whoever could visualize a lantern and light it, is able to create the own Universe.”
“Do souls have the right to use the Portal to return to Earth? I know it exists. At least here, on my Island, in the Cave of Magicians.”
“The Portal exists anywhere in the Astral World, but, certainly, souls are more accustomed to tying everything to particular specifics… As for the Portal, each soul has the right to choose. Of course, it is officially forbidden to use the Portal. However, a soul, led by its Lower Self, can make a deal with representatives of the Forces of Darkness to come back to Earth in order to realize some earthly desires, getting inside someone else’s physical body, but sooner or later the retribution will follow. A soul can be sold to the Devil in service not only during earthly life, but also afterwards.”
“And what, according to the Creator’s plan, should happen to the Lower and Higher Selves after throwing down the physical body?”
“In most cases, the soul, being an astral body, is dual. It is a set of particles of the Lower and the Higher Selves in different proportions. The Lower Self must be dropped, like a physical body, and the Higher Self must merge with the Spirit, an indivisible and eternal particle of the Creator, in order to continue its Path.”
Thinking about Charon’s words, I noticed that the lantern I had lit up began to go out. I instinctively got up from the chair, realizing that the audience was coming to its logical conclusion, because I could not figure out what else to ask the Old Man.
“Have I answered all your questions?” he smiled. “So what do you want now, my Soul?”
“To leave this Island. Nothing keeps me here. And I don’t want to go back to Earth. However, I can’t understand what to do so that the ferry comes for me. If you are Charon indeed, as the Stargazer said, please sail me away from here!”
The Old Man came up to me smiling.
“When there’s really nothing to keep you here, you won’t have to ask anyone for anything.”