The next morning we breakfasted at Skylar’s apartment. Both she and Kayden had to work for a few hours before we could be with them again. Like most of the people here they did not have to work long hours, and because of our visit they planned to leave work extra early.
«We thought we would visit the Historical Museum first of all», Natalia said to me, then added «And if you think that sounds boring, just wait and see...»
«I am ready for anything» I replied, «and I have not been bored by anything here!»
«Great! Then let’s move!»
With that we got up and said goodbye before leaving the apartment and taking the elevator down. Already there was quite a lot going on outside the building. We were headed for the City Centre, a walk that took quite a few minutes. The city consisted of a lot of Nature and very little tarmac, so it was a very pleasant stroll. We arrived at the large building that housed the museum and entered it.
«Here you’ll see different departments that contain artefacts, clothing and many other things that represent different ages» Natalia explained.
«We have such museums in my time as well» I said.
«Sure, but perhaps not this?» Natalia walked towards a large opening formed like a gate, or rather, like a virtual gate. As we passed straight through it, I was utterly overwhelmed. We had entered a different world! It was almost as though we found ourselves in another dimension of time. Apparently we were back in pharaonic Egypt. We literally walked around in their society. Many people and buildings from that time surrounded us. We saw their daily lives. This entire huge hall consisted of a living hologram, with sounds and even smells. Besides, there were plants, palms and flowers that were holographic as well. Even the walls and ceiling blended into this hologram, or rather holograms, for there must have been several ones somehow joined to form a whole. In any case it was an incredibly exciting experience to walk around here. I could see a difference between Natalia and myself and the people who walked around here in the hologram itself. We were somehow more solid.
«I am almost lost for words» I said as a person from pharaonic times passed close by me. I stretched out a hand, but of course it just went straight through the person. But it did seem completely real!
«There are several ages one can explore in this way. Just this month the focus is on Egypt and the time of the pharaohs. Other months we can see other civilizations and ages» Natalia explained.
«What are the people over there doing?» I asked and pointed to a group of people who stood around a large stone boulder. They seemed very focused on something.
«That boulder is to be placed on top of the Cheops Pyramid, which you can see a part of over there. They employ vibrations and energy fields in order to repeal gravity and in that way be able to lift the boulder and put it in place. This is a forgotten knowledge that we are engaged in acquiring again. Of course, everything consists of vibrations.»
«Do you mean that the Cheops Pyramid was built in that way? That is not something one would find credible in my time.»
«No, that is true, but a great many things that were viewed as crazy and impossible earlier are seen as true and natural today, just as most people in the Middle Ages would consider many of the things that you in your time believe in and practice as crazy and wrong, and as something one could easily find oneself in trouble for believing. In any case, a great number of things have changed by this time. You have seen how our society has changed. Our understanding of history and earlier civilizations has also considerably increased. As you must know, in your time they are experimenting with levitating objects by means of sound frequencies, and I know that they have succeeded.»
«Yes, granted. At least I know that one has succeeded in bending spoons with the force of thought, so I know for a fact that that is possible, and scientists now say that the observer affects the object that is being observed. So why shouldn’t our impact influence matter and thus a boulder?»
«It is not miracles we are talking about here» Natalia said. «A miracle stops being a miracle when one knows what it is and how it works. Just as this particular pyramid was not only not built by slaves, like most people in your time believe, but by highly conscious people. Highly developed civilizations have existed on Earth in earlier times. And you have also had visitors from other worlds who have assisted. Besides, the pyramids were not primarily used as burial chambers. That would be the same as saying churches merely were built to honor the dead. The Cheops Pyramid contains shafts, among other things. Through them energies were channeled for different purposes. In churches in your time rituals are performed, in some of the pyramids there were initiations and consecrations. The people who built the pyramids employed concentrated mental force and chanting combined with a type of instruments that altered the vibrations all the way down to a molecular level in the objects they wanted to move. In that way they mastered the antigravity forces. Thus they were able to levitate the objects, these massive boulders, move them to where they wanted them, and in this way build the Cheops Pyramid.»
«Cool, as the youngsters in my time would say!»
«Yes, you are right. But it is a bit odd that people in your time called things they did not understand for miracles, when all of life itself is a miracle! The fact that we can see, hear, smell, feel and so on could also be called miracles. That one tiny fertilized egg – an embryo – can grow and become a complete human being is fantastic, but usually people don’t lift an eyebrow at the thought of it. Scientists and people in general at your time tried to explain miracles and mysteries from their own level of understanding, but they could only do so as far as their own conceptual world could reach. Our understanding has expanded and by now generally encompasses a lot more than earlier. Science in your time created resistance when new discoveries shook accepted scientific truths, which is rather strange as the pillars of science are precisely to be open for new knowledge, or at least to not counteract or ridicule it.
«I do at least know that the Cheops Pyramid consists of more than two million boulders, and that most of them weigh several tons. We are in fact talking about building a mountain!» I said.
«Yes, and there is a lot more to say about the pyramids, for example how the boulders were made and where they came from, but I believe that will have to suffice for now. Let us walk on.»
Natalia started to walk and I followed her. We passed a river which I assumed should represent a part of the Nile. Beautiful river boats were gliding along. It was a wonderful sight, and I reflected on how fortunate I was to experience all these things. A feeling of profound gratitude engulfed me, not just for having been able to visit this building and all it contained, but even more for Natalia and everything I had experienced together with her.
«We’ll meet with Skylar and Kayden in a little while. They wanted to join us at the Centre for Outlook on Life, so I suggest we walk over there now.»
«Fine. It sounds interesting» I said. We had left the museum, and Natalia pointed to a large building not far away.
«That looks rather special, even for this place» I commented.
«That building is also a museum equivalent to this one. Except that this is to show how our dear cosmic friends live. In that way we can wander among them without having to travel all the way into Space in order to visit them. By now a great many people will get to experience this. We are the only ones on Earth to have such a Visitors’ Centre, though.»
«Oh, wow! Can we visit it, please!»
« I’m afraid that is not possible. It has still not been completed, but it will open quite soon. And you are not the only one wanting to see this centre, we are reckoning with masses of visitors from all over the World once it opens. In one part of the building there is a real UFO, as you call it in your time, which has been gifted us by our friends. One may enter it and be shown around in it.»
«Maybe I might come back here at a later time!»
«Possibly. That would be very nice and I really hope so, but we’ll have to see» Natalia said and smiled at me.
«The other building over there is open for us to visit, and that is where we are going. Do you notice the form of the building?» she asked.
«It seems to be round.»
«In a way, yes, but not completely. Seen from above it is like a spiral-formed shell with a beautiful glass dome in the center. The building has two main functions. The central part is used for spiritual activities and rituals of all religions and spiritual paths. The outermost part is the museum. Between these parts there are offices, classrooms, a café and a conference room connected to the museum. Just at this time there is an exhibition of unusual and controversial belief systems that flourished in your time. At that time there were lots of odd things, like for instance many different conspiracies.»
«That’s for sure!»
«There is a specific reason for the building being spiral-formed. It is meant to illustrate the fact that our development and understanding always moves towards higher levels as time passes, that the development never stagnates. Also that it is in constant cyclical movement.»
«Hi! There you are» Kayden and Skylar were approaching us. We greeted each other and walked together towards the building through a beautifully designed park with lots of flowers and many different symbols. I assumed they were meant to indicate several different religions. Inside we were met by particularly beautiful decorations and illuminated works of art everywhere. Light from outside shone through and lit them in a very fine and well-considered way. The large central room was a revelation! The ceiling was round and had some fantastic colorful decorations, Tiffany-inspired, it seemed. The walls had decorations as well, and even the floor were discreetly beautified. For quite a while we stood silently and just perceived all these lovely impressions, and then we walked on to the museum.
Natalia continued with her introduction. «The Museum for Outlook on Life contains hologram modules that can be programmed, as you can see in different places here. These modules are based on different beliefs and views of life, and they are flexible in a way that makes them, as well as the decorations pertaining to them, easy to move. The digital pictures on the walls can of course be changed according to need. When we discover something new, or we change the time period we are displaying, we simply rearrange the modules. There is also room for completely new modules at the front of the spiral.»
Skylar, who apparently also had been here before, took over. «As you can see, Aron, the exhibition starts with humanity’s first budding understanding of the Divine. We know there have been other civilizations before us who have had a different understanding and other paths, but we have concentrated on our own civilization. But actually, we do have a separate building here in the city dedicated to these earlier civilizations that we have some knowledge of.»
«Why have you dedicated an entire museum to depict the history of humanity’s view of life?» I asked.
«It is primarily because that which mankind regards as truth in many ways determines our lives. What we think, believe in and regard as truth shapes not merely the life of an individual person, but of society as a whole, as society of course is the sum total of its individuals. Actually, we regard the museums of views of life to be the most important museums that exist» Skylar answered.
«Then I think I see how important this is!» I responded.
«Yes, precisely. Hopefully you will understand it even better after having been here» Kayden said. «Our first modules are dedicated to our early, simplistic religions, and what some people regard as so-called primitive systems of belief. This includes for example Animism, where everything is viewed as sacred and imbued with soul. The interesting thing is that we in our modern society here, also view everything as sacred and imbued with soul, but now in a much higher and evolved way. It is as though we have gone in an enormous circle and are back at the starting point, only that, as I said, we now have gained a far greater understanding and perspective.
But to return to the earliest time of our civilization: At that time there existed primarily only small groups of people. When the mighty forces of Nature, such as thunder and lightning, were at work, people gradually «created» different gods that commanded these forces, such as the god Tor in Norse mythology. Since they did not understand these mighty forces, they imagined that «the beings» who caused them were more powerful than they themselves were, and thus the first gods started to evolve. And to placate them, one began to bring them sacrificial offerings.»
Kayden showed us a hologram that was meant to illustrate this. The module where we were standing dealt with nature religions in general and had a large circular touch-sensitive table. I knew we had such things in my own time, but this was far more advanced, flexible, and also holographic. Kayden pressed a certain point, and a small holographic cloud formation with flashes of lightning around it appeared in mid-air over the table. We could hear thunder. We saw some people, wearing simple pieces of fabric, bending down towards the ground in order to show their respect for that which to us are forces of Nature. It looked like a three-dimensional live miniature world and was quite fascinating.
«It reminds me of a story from the end of WW2. I read it a long time ago in a book by Erich von Däniken» I said. «At some place in New-Guinea in the Pacific the natives had observed the Americans who had built a large base there. Aeroplanes carrying cargoes were constantly landing, and from time to time the natives were given some of the goods. When the Americans had left after the war was over, the natives cleared a small runway and built planes of straw that were supposed to imitate the real planes. I have seen pictures of these bizarre imitations. This illustrates the fact that mankind is at different levels of development. One might even wonder whether some of the religions of my time also have derived from misunderstandings…»
Kayden commented: «Then you ought to check with an author in your time called Neale Donald Walsch. He wrote a lot of books, among which one is entitled “God’s Message to the World: You’ve Got Me All Wrong”.
«Aron, that is definitely an interesting reflection, and you are onto something significant there. But we should also remember that we learn from these beliefs, for example from what many call Nature religions» Skylar said and read aloud that which was written on a display that had appeared on another part of the table. «Excavations show as convincingly certain that many of these civilizations were not hierarchical, but rather very oriented towards fellowship, and that they took care of each other and respected Nature. For example, when some of these societies had visitors for extended periods, the people in the community closely examined the goods the visitors had brought with them, and helped themselves to some of the things there was plenty of. In return they brought the visitors things they felt the latter needed.
They were dependent on one another for survival, and everyone had his or her place in these small societies. Women seem to have dominated in certain periods, and during these times one has not found anything that would indicate weapons or wars of any kind.»
Skylar made comment on what she had just read: «It is called matriarchy when society is governed by women and patriarchy when men dominate. If one looks at history, one sees that it has been dramatic, turbulent and warlike – to put it mildly – almost until our time. And who has been ruling!»
«It is quite possible that society was better with women in the driver’s seat, but I doubt that everything was just rosy in those times either!» I said.
«I am sure you are right. What matters is to find the famous balance. And I must say I think we have succeeded quite well with that in our society» Skylar said.
Kayden quoted from another display on the table: «Here it says that there existed many different Nature religions and that the people worshipped Nature in different ways. Some worshipped trees and animals, others the sun and moon, and so on. Some worshipped different gods and spirits, while others worshipped their ancestors, or some combination of all these things. It says here further that there still exist certain remote pockets in the world where these Nature religions are being practiced.»
We continued onwards past a few more modules before we stopped by one. Some other persons were just leaving, so we got to have the module for ourselves.
«This is something I think many people would recognize. Here we have namely got to the monotheistic religions like Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Baha’i and several others» Natalia told me.
«The word «monotheism» means «one god», so when monotheism made its arrival, people had turned from worshipping several gods to believing in only one God. We’ll take a closer look at this module which shows Christianity. On this display it says: There are many varieties of Christianity, but its common denominator is the belief that Jesus Christ is the Son Of God, and that he died and was resurrected for the salvation of mankind. Over time Christianity has changed somewhat and has generally become more open and including. In spite of that, Christianity and the other monotheistic religions, with the exception of Baha’i, have lost a considerable number of members during the latest decades. They are no longer so dominating.»
«There are quite a few holograms to choose between. Here we have something interesting we can have a look at» said Kayden and pressed the display on the table.
«This is about a large church gathering in the year 325. Present were representatives from the church, primarily bishops. Their aim was to try to achieve unity in their dogmas.»
In the middle of the table there appeared a hologram which was meant to illustrate how the meeting was conducted, we could see many people who were gathered, and we could hear voices talking. Some were gesticulating. Kayden drew a finger sideways to increase the volume so that we could hear what they were saying. They were discussing sentences, formulations and content. The point was to sort out what was to be true Christian texts and what should be considered heresy.
«Here it says something about the church’s view on the idea of reincarnation, by the way,» said Kayden and quoted: «From very early days the church did not like the idea of reincarnation. This was because the church spoke a great deal about sin. Many things were sinful, in fact even just not going to church was considered to be a sin. Seen from our time and perspective, this Christian God was considered to be a judging, punishing and ruthless god who threatened with punishment and hell if one did not obey the demands of the church. Those who believed in reincarnation, on the other hand, said that we all get a new chance, and that we therefore should just do the best we could. In order to keep their membership, the church therefore introduced the painful intermediate stage which they called purgatory, as well as many other rather dubious concepts and rules, such as indulgences. This meant that one could buy oneself out of most or all of one’s time in purgatory and instead go straight to heaven. Of course, this was limited to people who had plenty of money.»
«It really is quite incredible, isn’t it, how this religion that ostensibly preached love to such a great extent, consciously used fear as a means to keep their followers!» I said.
Skylar interrupted us. «Look over there! Here there is a new module. It is about the cathars, whom we talked about last night. How is that for synchronicity? It can’t possibly be just coincidence. We’ll have to have a look at it!»
We all walked over to the module. This one we also had all to ourselves.
«Let’s check if there are some holograms we can watch» said Kayden. Natalia came close to me and took my hand.
«Here we have something» Kayden said. «It says: “The last Cathars of Carcassonne” I’ll start it».
In the middle of the table a fortified medieval town on the top of a hill promptly appeared. We could see that the town was under siege. A text told us that the siege lasted for two weeks, during which quite a few people managed to escape through subterranean passages. At the end the hologram showed the last people coming out together. We saw that they were killed, in fact many were burned while some were hanged. At this point the hologram ended.
«Here is another one» Kayden continued. «This is some years later, in 1244. Here it says: “The Siege of Montségur”. Kayden started that hologram as well. An impressive fortress appeared on the top of a steep small mountain. It looked utterly impregnable. All of ten thousand soldiers besieged this fortress, it said, and this siege lasted as long as nine months. In the end these cathars also had to give in. They had been offered the possibility of saving their lives by converting to Catholicism, but many refused. More than two hundred persons were burned on an enormous bonfire. They actually had to build the bonfire themselves and went into the flames of their own volition.
I felt Natalia’s hand holding firmly onto mine and noticed that I was getting emotionally moved. I looked at Natalia and saw a tear appearing in the corner of her eye. We remained standing like that for some time. Skylar and Kayden were silent and gave us space to digest what we had seen.
«Perhaps we should take a break and visit the café?»
Everyone agreed, and we went in. Once there and seated, we all ordered lunch.
«There is such a muddle of belief, and it is quite scary to know of all the manipulation that goes on in the name of religions» I said.
«It reminds me of the Scientology Church which was founded by an author of science fiction» Skylar said. «That religion is simply based on one of the author’s books! As far I can remember the book tells about an extraterrestrial dictator and many other rather far out things. Here, as well, there was talk about a lot of money from members and that it became very commercialized. I don’t know whether there is much left of that religion nowadays, or whether it still even exists. It was just a sect, really. In a way one might simply call many of the great religions for sects as well. For what defines a sect? Is it the question of what is true and what is not true? Who is to define truth? What perhaps makes it all rather confusing is that after all there is more or less something true in all belief systems. Scientologists believe in reincarnation, for example.»
«The worst thing is that many of these religions use fear as a means to keep their members» Natalia said.
«Fortunately the belief systems change just like mankind changes. When one has lived several lives, one gains a greater understanding and more wisdom, as well as increased empathy and conscience. This is then reflected in our belief systems. By now there are not many left of that type of fear-based religions, and those that still exist have become very reduced during the latest decades. That is a good sign that humanity is evolving» Kayden said.
«At the same time there is something to be learned from all this» Skylar said. «For many people belief systems and religions are like a crutch they can lean on. People let others think for them, that is, the religions think for them. Gradually, - and I am speaking then of several lives - one begins to see through all of this. And then one begins to in a greater way trust oneself and one’s own intuition. That is the reason why Christianity and other religions have lost so many of their followers, at least in our part of the world. Some religions have changed in approximately the same pace as society is changing. They are the ones that have succeeded best.»
Natalia looked at me. «Shall we go down again and have a last look before we go on?» she asked.
«Sounds fine» I agreed. We all went down and continued our round.
«Science? Why has science got its own module here?» I asked, somewhat confused.
«Well, it is a View of Life, and besides, it developed into a belief system» said Skylar.
«How is that?»
«Basically, science is not meant to be a belief. Science develops through trying and failing. It must continually adapt and alter in accord with new facts. The problem is that a dogmatic way of thinking has sneaked into science over time, something which one associates with religious belief. Said in another way, science has a theory about something. That means that it is simply the best imaginable explanation one has at present. This is not worse than that it can be discarded if a new theory should emerge. However, that is in theory. In reality theories, which could just as well be called assumptions, all too often become fixed truths. But truths may be discussed, as we know. What is true for one person can be falsehood for someone else. What is true for religion is not necessarily true for science and vice versa. That which religion considers true, science regards as beliefs, not quite realizing that what they themselves regard as true is actually also a belief.»
«Do you have any examples of this?»
«How could science believe, because that is what they earlier did, that Life occurred entirely by chance? It was only a hypothesis! Where were the proofs? How could science believe that there was no other reality than the physical one? How could science believe that living organisms, like human beings, are complex «machines»? Where do feelings and emotions enter the equation? They believe that matter is without consciousness. Science earlier postulated that one had the answers to the most basic questions, just like religions do. This, as well as many other dogmas, science fought for and clung to for a long time, and even now there is still some residue left of it.»
«Why?»
«The human aspect enters the arena. Pride, fear of being wrong or admit mistakes. Inertia and habit. Strong convictions and beliefs that one is right. In other words, arrogant attitudes and lack of humility. Classic human undeveloped characters. By the way, you ought to study the works of a man called Rupert Sheldrake. He wrote a lot about these things in your time.»
«Then what happened to science as time went on?»
«One scientific discovery after the other, coupled with new instruments, rejected that which science itself was based on. Actually, quite a lot of it had already been refuted in your time, but largely because of the reasons I just mentioned, the new discoveries were not completely accepted. For one thing, the belief that everything is material and mechanical was very strong. The discovery that everything is vibration, on the other hand, changed all of this. It means that the physical in a way is an illusion, since all the miniscule particles vibrate at an incredible speed, something that makes reality appear to be physical. In addition, science discovered through quantum physics that we are able to impact matter by means of thoughts and intentions, that is, with consciousness.
But the big shift occurred when extraterrestrials made themselves known. Science, which had largely ridiculed those who believed in intelligent life somewhere else than on Earth, were now forced to simply admit that they had been mistaken, thoroughly mistaken. Because the Universe is teeming with life! This made science considerably more humble. It has by now become far more open and conducts a far freer research. There is now, for example, a widespread research into many of the fields they earlier did not take particularly seriously, except for the military which conducted this kind of research in secrecy. This might be paranormal phenomena like telepathy, clairvoyance, out-of-body experiences and near-death experiences, but also dreams, astrology, placebo and much more.»
«Here we have a module which I think we would find it interesting to explore. It concerns precisely one of the things you mentioned, a near-death-experience. I have heard about that, it means persons who have been declared dead but have woken up again and have the most fantastic stories to tell» I said.
«Perhaps we should look at a hologram?» Skylar suggested. «There are several available, among them one that describes the start of such an experience. It says here that it is based on many personal reports, and that the hologram shows that which they have in common. Another one is meant to illustrate two persons with totally different experiences during a car accident.»
«I would like to see that one» I said. The others agreed and the hologram was started. Again things began to happen in the middle of the table. We saw two cars driving towards each other at high speed on a curving country road where one’s view ahead was severely limited. Judging by the cars, this must have been quite a way back, before my time, in fact. We saw the cars colliding front to front. There were no passengers in the cars, just the two drivers, a man and a woman. The hologram focused first on the sequence of happenings for one of the persons. We saw the energy body of the person – the soul – which was a form of light-being, continuing out of the body and straight through the car, and landing in the road. The light-being got up, was very confused and looked towards the wrecked cars. It gradually dawned on him, as he saw himself lying wounded in the car, that an accident had happened. He was shocked. We could see that, because the camera had zoomed in on the light-being and its facial expression. As soon as the shock had diminished, persons were shown in an energy field around him. They were most probably meant to illustrate whom he was thinking of there and then. We understood that this was a person who had not reflected much around the deep questions, and that he did not quite believe that life would continue after death. Looking at his thought field we understood that he worried a great deal about his house and family. Suddenly we found ourselves in his own home. His energy body had moved there instantly because his thoughts were focused on it. He was there, but at the same time he was not there for those who were present