books just slightly out of this world
Whoopee! I just signed with a new narrator to read Under the Stone Paw! Beneath the Hallowed Hill is also in production. Both books in the Power Places Series will be on Audible for you to listen to soon.
To celebrate, I’m offering Beneath the Hallowed Hill for $.99 starting Sunday, August 14th for two days.
In my novels, many of the characters experience altered or higher states of consciousness. I’ve based these experiences on the teachings of the Vedas and Western Metaphysics, but in truth, all the world’s traditions recognize these as our true human potential. Some say that living in enlightenment is our birthright.
In Under the Stone Paw, the experience of Unity comes at the end when all the crystal holders come together to perform their appointed task of opening the Hall of Records:
“Something coiled at the bottom of the Nile, down deep near Elephantine, woke and stretched its head. Power stirring from far south flowed down river, gathering force as it came. From Khnum’s island and the island of Bigga it flowed, from the root of physical form to the womb of the world, then to Kom Ombo where the great crocodile dove in and swam northward. The river of power rolled on through the great temple at Karnak, Dendara, Abydos and Edfu, the essence of each temple they’d visited joining the flow, braiding in its particular frequency, its special light. The vast flood reached Giza, the crown jewel in the spine of the Nile, and the Keepers were inundated. Just as a river surrenders to the sea, all their limitations simply washed away.”
Tahir describes the experience as Unity Consciousness. Unity is the seventh state of consciousness in the Vedic (Hindu) system. It is that state in which we experience that we are the One Consciousness that has created and makes up the universe and that everything and everyone else is too. We experience this directly, not intellectually, but literally—like you know you’re sitting in a chair or holding a phone in your hand right now.
“Tahir smiled. Now they knew. The quest was over. Every single human being was a living, breathing library of cosmic knowledge. All humanity would return to this high state of consciousness, this exquisite unity that could never be written down, that had to be experienced. Just as the first lines of the Tao said and the Rig Veda. Hadn’t all sages said this down through the ages?”
Even this description focuses on knowledge, while the actual experience is more a vast sea of eternal awareness that supports and upholds us.
How do we achieve Unity? Most of these sages recommend meditation. Daily practice of meditation in which you allow your consciousness to go from your regular, daily reality and settle into the One Consciousness that supports you and everything. Some people use sound or mantras. Some use their breath. Some use mindfulness. I think you must find the meditation that resonates with you. Since it is a natural state, once in a blue moon it just dawns on a few lucky folks.
Power places can help—places that have naturally high frequency because of their location on the planet. Perhaps because of crystal in the rock, water, and sunlight. Places where people have done spiritual ceremony for a long time. Just regularly turn inward without focusing on the content of thoughts, but your awareness itself. Don’t worry about how long it will take. The universe is a big place and there’s plenty of time.
I’m happy to announce that new editions of the Power Places Series have been published. They have new covers and the second book is freshly edited.
A forgotten family legacy.
Six crystal keys.
One shot at unlocking the secrets beneath the Sphinx.
Anne Le Clair, a successful, young attorney, has always managed to remain free from her family’s gothic past—until now. When she inherits her eccentric aunt’s antique necklace though, she finds no escape from its secrets. Anne is immersed in a crash course of forbidden wisdom, secret societies, and her family’s own legacy. She soon discovers that her aunt’s necklace is one of just six powerful “keys” that, when combined with the other five at the appointed time, unlocks the legendary Hall of Records. However, another group, the shadowy Illuminati, is working behind the scenes to uncover the same powerful secrets—and make them their own.
Katherine Kurtz, author of the Adept series, says “ . . . one of the best esoteric novels of the past decade. Crater knows her way around Egypt and its mysteries. Evil Illuminati, ancient artifacts, and conspiracies abound. Surpasses the Da Vinci Code.”
The Illuminati have opened a hole in time
And now one of them is stepping through
Anne Le Clair travels to Glastonbury with her fiancée, Egyptologist and mystic Michael Levy, to investigate a house she inherited from a mysterious aunt…only to find trouble waiting. One of Avalon’s sacred twin springs is failing. Together, Anne and Michael try to restore the water flow, but discover there is much more at stake: the Illuminati master Alexander Cagliostro has activated an ancient crystal tower, tearing a hole in time which threatens much more than one sacred spring.
Meanwhile, in ancient Atlantis, Megan, priestess of the Crystal Matrix Chamber, flees the destruction of her world carrying with herself a vital artifact.
One of the perks for winning the fiction category in the Indie Spiritual Book Awards is that The Star Family gets its own book trailer. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGj73omnsMI&feature=youtu.be
I recently wrote a review for the book Masculinity, Senses, Spirit, which “examines the complex interrelationship between gender, sexuality, and the realms of the spirit and the senses in the Atlantic world from the Eighteenth century to the present,” (from Amazon). Yeah, it’s a bit on the academic side. But I wanted to read it because I’d discovered the research of Craig Atwood, whose research was important to my latest novel. He wrote about the teachings of Count Zinzendorf in the Eighteenth century that included more gender equality and sacred sexuality.
Yeah, the Eighteenth century. In my childhood church. I was intrigued, so did a lot of research. Then I got carried away and wrote a novel, released last year, The Star Family.
Reblogged from Mysteristas:
When my first novel was published, it was before the age of social media. Not that long ago, really. I didn’t hear much from readers directly. My publisher was a middle-man. I did get forwarded a letter or two, but that took a long time. It took a while to answer, too. And I had an option of whether to engage or not.
Now I hear from readers directly and immediately.
Like, “I couldn’t put it down.”
“Do you think that ritual in the end of Beneath the Hallowed Hill would actually work?”
That one stumped me.
This appeared on my Facebook page recently: “Like The Star Family? I LOVED this book! I could not have asked for more of my interests in one novel. Religion, sexuality, green energy, big oil, sacred geometry, chemtrails, ley lines, aliens, physics, trafficking, the Koch bros, ancient technology, and don’t get me started on the MUSIC! I could hear every note and each nuance. I completely related to Jane, wise yet naive, a pillar of strength and still fragile. If I didn’t have an enormous backlog of books waiting to be read, I’d read it all over again.”
Be still my heart. Thank you, Jennifer Knotsmed.
Or “Your new novel is great. When’s the next one coming out?”
I want to say, “Can’t I just lie here in a heap for a day or two to recover before you ask me that?” What a compliment, though.
Mostly I hear about my readers’ pets, what other books they’re reading, how their day is going. I learn a bit about their world views—all courtesy of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.
The divisions have been removed. Most writers are no longer those mysterious beings who sit in their rooms and spin out their web of words so mysteriously like the Lady of Shallot. We’re present, visible, warts and all.
Is this a good thing? Have we lost anything? We’ve certainly gained the joys of hearing from more readers.
