Chapter 31
Crystal Skull Portals
Lilly climbed between the cool clean sheets of her bed and drifted to sleep. Misty dawn light began to tease the window sill of her bedroom as she entered a dreamscape.
She was in Jackson Square, under an indigo sky. A new moon was rising over the Cathedral on the edge of Jackson Square and the planet Venus shown in all her glory.
A loud dissonant cawing, within her dream, broke the celestial spell. The source of the racket, a huge black bird, was perched atop the gate to Jackson Square. As soon as she saw it, the dark form took flight down Decatur Street. Lilly ran through the square following the huge black bird. She stumbled for a moment as music surrounded her. The lilting strumming of a mandolin rang in her ears as a Celtic tune filled the air.
Shutting her ears to the music, she turned to follow the bird. She stopped, the sidewalk was deserted. She had lost sight of the bird. She walked down Decatur Street and caught sight of it perched atop the metal sign of the Raven Moon. With no conscious thought or movement, she was standing beneath the creaking metal sign. Frozen in place, she stared into the darkened window of the occult magick shop.
Her eyes picked out a glimmer. A glowing crystal skull rested on a bed of red velvet on the other side of the window. She stared at the pulsing light within the skull. As she watched, empty crystal eye sockets morphed, expanded and swirled. A spiraling portal opened and drew her into a smooth crystal cave.
Purple light illuminated the walls leading into the crystal cavern. The light slowly faded and Lilly found herself standing still in the darkness. She placed a hand on the smooth wall of the crystal cave, and waited for her eyes to adjust. A dim green light began to glow, painting her face as she watched a tableau unfold before her. A thin, young woman, her face hidden by a bonnet, collected herbs in an ancient wood. A group of horsemen approached, jumped from their mounts and lassoed the young woman. They pulled her by the rope and threw her over a horse’s back, touching her as little as possible. Tying her hands and feet, they secured her to the horse, mounted their steeds and galloped into the dark woods, pulling her horse behind them.
The cruelty of the abduction sent shivers through Lilly’s astral body. She turned, wanting to return to the sidewalk and back to the Square. A dim orange light bloomed in the corner of her eye, and drew her deeper into the crystal cave. Slowly, she approached the fiery glow and recoiled at the scene illuminated before her. The same young woman, abducted in the woods, was bound to a post atop a pile of sap filled logs and kindling. A filthy hand tossed a burning torch into the wood at her feet. The flames grew bold, moving through the wood pile scorching the hem of the young woman’s dress.
A crowd chanted, “Burn witch, burn.” The young woman tied to the post, paid no attention to the chant or the men surrounding her pier. Lilly watched as the woman’s eyes rolled in her head and focused on the sky. Surely, she was entreating the Lord and the Lady to remove her quickly from her reddening body. As the flames rose, a cry escaped her lips and her search of the sky grew more desperate. Lilly’s eyes searched with her and caught sight of what the woman was seeking. A dark shadow became a pitch black raven plunging from the sky. He flew around the head of the woman. Lilly yelled, “Quickly, quickly!” Valiantly the bird attempted to cut the bindings with his razor sharp beak. The smell of burning flesh and singed feathers filled the air. The fire roared as flames crackled rising high, almost obliterating the site of the woman tied in its center. Lilly stepped back in horror expecting fire and smoke to engulf the scene.
A loud caw of triumph split the air. Sooty hands grabbed the raven’s back. The huge bird lifted the young woman from the fire, flew through the billowing smoke and disappeared into the night sky.
Lilly turned to run, but a solid glass wall restricted her escape. She could only go forward. Visibly shaken, she continued through the dark corridor lined with grottos, each offering a haunting tableau.
A pulsing purple light drew her to the next scene, a sacred temple, three marble steps leading to a center altar covered in royal purple cloth. On the altar, an ornate silver bowl glowed with an otherworldly light. Eight tapers in tall candelabras created light and shadows around the altar.
A door clicked quietly and Lilly watched a priestess walk across the marble floor. Lilly’s heart lurched. She gasped and fell to her knees in shock. The priestess embodied an energy she knew well. It was Lilly’s own divine spark, the light of spirit burning within her, the energy she had come to know through her meditations and rituals. “Oh Great Goddess, can it be? Do I look upon myself in a different life?”
The priestess leaned over the silver bowl and spoke a slow incantation. She lifted her hands and moved them gently, as a column of smoke curled from the silver vessel. A sickening green light exploded from the bowl accompanied by a putrid odor. The priestess fell back, the shadow of a raven shot from the bowl and began to circle inside the temple. The priestess watched in horror as the unnatural creature found a high window and flew out into the night.
The priestess fell
