Shortly after the police brutality and the arrests Bobby rang his parents and Rasputeeeen, Shiva and Bobby told them what had happened. Shortly after that Bobby typed the following message on the Eighties computer in the cupboard in the hall between the shoes and various quilts and blankets.
“HAPPY FATHER’S DAY DAD. WEST WALES COULDN’T BE A MORE SCENIC PLACE FOR IT! HOPE YOU ARE BOTH WELL. LOTS AND LOTS OF LOVE FROM SHIVA AND BOBBY.
PS DAD.... YOUR SON HAS NEVER FELT MORE JUSTIFIED IN HIS LIFE! THAT WHICH DOES NOT KILL YOU MAKES YOU STRONGER! YOU TAUGHT ME THAT WITH THE WAY THAT YOU DEALT WITH YOUR HEART-ATTACK. I’M SURE MOTHER UNDERSTANDS HOW SHIVA FEELS AT THE MOMENT. WITHOUT THEM US MALES WOULD BE IN BIG TROUBLE.”
He then printed it on an old Eighties, recycled British Telecom printer that was loosely compatible with the recycled stock market computer. The letter “k” appeared before every line of print and various symbols and icons would sometimes end lines of writing.
Shiva and Bobby had obtained these two invaluable artistic tools from The Bow Bruja and The East End Wizard. They and Terry the Biker with his son Garth were a revelation on the rough and tough council estate they lived on in the Eeeeeast End of Lundun.
Garth was a typical Hell’s Angel’s son. Sometimes at festivals he would pretend to be a dog and scamper about on all fours barking and scaring the shit out of fluffy Hippies. It must be added here that after their initial concern the Hippies would always express their amusement at Garth’s behaviour. Garth, however, when asked, would often entertain the philosophy that by then it was too late for them to sincerely employ social airs and graces. He considered their polite reactions as merely a front in order to hide their shock.
Terry, Garth’s Dad, liked fluffy Hippies and rounded on his son with extreme verbal outrage if he caught his son barking at them.
Garth did come unstuck at the first “Exodus” festival though.
Bobby Rewind had been billed to play in “Lord Snooty Deceased” at the festival so a snooty posse descended on the estimable “Exodus” commune near Luton. It included Terry and Garth. It was the last weekend in August 1997 and this Traveller’s free festival was a riot of fringe acts, fringe DJ’s and mad Anarchists from all over the world. Thereafter the festival became exponentially bigger each year for three years.
At this first one Garth fell head over heels in love with a fluffy Hippie girl who was not impressed or intimidated by his barking. Seeing as they were both about eight years old it was a sight to behold. They spent three whole days playing with one another. She had Garth making daisy chains and he only acted like a dog when she gave the order. Of course the girl’s mother and Terry were in a state of panic. Both were obviously anxious about talking to one another but Terry, being quite a humble chap, bordered on sheer terror every time the mother honed into view. This made Bobby Rewind laugh and he kept encouraging Terry in the area of courtship where the Hippie mum was concerned. Needless to say the adults never exchanged a word by the end of the festival which says something about the socialisation of adult-hood.
This being said Terry, Shiva, Bobby, The Bow Bruja and The East End Wizard and most of their mates did have a gung ho spirit when it came to most things. They had certainly resisted and broken many of the shackles of hyper-normality that post-industrial society had tried to bind them with.
Why not? Conventional religion was having a hard time convincing people that they should suffer on Earth in order to get into Heaven. Corporate allegiance had no chance of filling the gap organised religion was leaving behind. Shamanism had more influence on their lives than organised religion. To Shiva and Bobby and the vast majority of their mates life seemed far more individually spiritual; each of them concocting their own fusion of ideas and then constantly feeding those ideas back to each other. With each new thesis there was an antithesis to be considered. The fusion of the two could then arrive at a synthesis. With each new synthesis then set down as a possible thesis the evolution of thought took ever-bigger leaps forward.
Bobby was sitting on the grass at the first “Exodus” festival reading “The Tibetan Book of the Dead”. He was reading the bit about dying....
According to Chogyam Trung Pa.... “The book describes the death experience in terms of the different elements of the body, going deeper and deeper. Physically you feel heavy when the earth element dissolves into water; and when water dissolves into fire you find the circulation begins to cease functioning. When fire dissolves into air, any feeling of warmth or growth begins to dissolve; and when air dissolves into space you lose the last feeling of contact with the physical world.
Finally when space or consciousness dissolves into the central nadi (pathway of energy or “prana” in the human body. Nadis are the pattern of response to reality) there is a sense of internal luminosity, an inner glow, when everything has become completely introverted.”
Sydny Smith flew like the wind across The Desolation of Cain. Most of the time he shut his eyes to avoid glimpses of unspeakable abominations, cruel activities and disturbing acts of destruction that would play on his mind forever. He heard blood-curdling screams and gurgling hissing noises. He heard pleas of mercy, hideously angry threats and evidence of sexless, capitalist ambition. He heard the echoes of plots and betrayal phasing in and out of the foul smelling winds of corruption.
After a while he figured that too much audio was playing with his imagination too much and he would have to take a peak. He’d only been flying for two minutes and counted himself lucky that none of Cain’s inhabitants had gobbled him up or captured him for some later form of torment. Life expectancy was atrociously slim in Cain.
Sydny quickly opened his eyes simply to distract himself from the foul, polluted air that was beginning to overwhelm him. There had been such a build-up of carbon monoxide and acid rain in Cain that death from toxification was as much of a threat as its inhabitants.
Sydny opened his eyes and a huge watery tentacle reared up in front of him. It grabbed him so quickly that all he saw was a rushing blur of colours ranging from light grey to dark grey. Sydny closed his eyes tightly shut as he disappeared below water level.
He experienced something like an electric shock and then suddenly felt a rushing cascade of liquid pressing on the top of his head. He was spat out through the liquid with the force of a bullet from a gun. The vortex once again spun into view as he realised he was moving backwards at an incredible speed. The vortex receded into distance as he flew backwards through a lozenge shaped orifice.
As the orifice shrank in size he realised it was set into the top of a can of lager.
Bobby Rewind looked up at the splendid view that the “Exodus” festival afforded him. Giant colourful marquees with psychedelic banners rippled in the light breeze. It was hot and sunny at present and kids were running around in gas masks painted in swirling, primary colours. Terry and Bobby had bought a load of them for a nominal fee off of the “Exodus” posse who lived communally on the sight where the festival was being held. They then gave the gas masks to the kids via Garth and suggested that they go and wave at the monumental hoards of post-industrial vehicles that relentlessly inched their way up and down the motorway that skirted the site.
There was a rail track on the other side of the site and this was barely used at all. It was easy to see how global warming and toxification was building up in the last throws of the Twentieth Century. By contrast the “Exodus” site looked like an eco-friendly nomadic settlement. There was a permaculture site, myriad forms of wind energy generators with a host of recycled propeller blades slowly moving amplified sound through the breeze. The sounds, of course, ranged from slow, soothing Heavy Dub Reggae to fast psychedelic guitar and the swirling rattle of Drum and Bass.
It seemed to Bobby that sub-culture had planted a Garden of Eden next to a feed route straight into Babylon central. London was only a short drive away and the importance of this festival site seemed even more poignant since commuters in and out of London caught a glimpse of it.
From the motorway the festival looked like the best kind of fun fair. Full of human activity and a sense that there are other ways to spend your time than some repetitive money-chasing slavery. Who wants hierarchy when you’ve got freedom of expression? As long as it is non-violent and co-consenting there can be nothing wrong in abandoning the chains of command.
Bobby took photos of the kids in gas masks waving at the traffic. Over the course of every festival held at the “Exodus” commune a certain amount of that traffic thought “what the fuck’s going on over there?” and consequently popped into the parking area and investigated. None of these visitors ever seemed intimidated or let down. They all seemed to join in and some had their lives changed forever.
At night the festival was a flashing, pulsating, spectacle of dancing lights and many a vehicle would pull in and produce groups of people that could not believe their luck.
THE FESTIVAL WENT ON KICKING ALL NIGHT LONG!
Bobby played in bands at every festival that was held here for the first four years and many of these gigs were full-on at 3, 5 and 7 a.m. There were no curfews here and careful location of sleeping quarters separated those napping from those having it large.
The kids came back from the motorway laughing hysterically. This made Terry and Bobby laugh hysterically.
Terry wandered into the distance to get a brandy-coffee off of the stall run by the Brutal O’Flynn Brothers and Bobby returned to The Tibetan Book of the Dead. He drew on the long skunk spliff that Terry and he had been sharing and blew smoke into the air. As his eyes followed the wisps of smoke the sun quickly flashed across his vision. Bobby blinked and stared at a cloud. It seemed to resemble a giant woman with the head of some great beast. There was something Egyptian about it that made Bobby think of pyramids and stars.
Bobby blinked again.
Bobby’s blue/grey eyeballs had been replaced by black, dilated pupils in one second.
Bobby blinked again.
When he opened his eyes everything had grown in size.
Bobby blinked again and everything shrank back to normal.
Bobby blinked again.
His pupils had changed back to their normal size and the colour returned.
Sydny Smith opened his eyes. The spread of the “Exodus” festival had disappeared. Before Sydny stood the goddess Sekhmet. Sekhmet was the goddess of vengeance, battle and punishment. Sekhmet who was the goddess of female sexual heat. She stood before Sydny and towered above him as her naked human body rose fifty feet in the air.
The air, itself, was filled with crackling spears of light that seemed to be emanating from a tubular staff in her right hand. She held an Ankh in her left hand and her only adornments comprised of two golden necklaces. On top of her shoulders was her giant lioness head with a long golden mane hanging down her back. Around her head was an orbiting sun that was a little larger than her head itself. Coiling around the sun was a serpent that changed colour continuously but never losing the definition of its scales.
“Hello Sydny.”
“Hello Sekhmet.”
“Having problems Sydny?”
“Well I’m pretty sure this isn’t a social call so I’ll assume you know that I am.”
“It’s about Bobby. I feel he is owed some revenge here and I just wanted to see if there was anything I could do to help.”
Sydny flew up to the level of the giant head of a lioness.
“Sekhmet.... we obviously can’t exact revenge on Malthus at the moment and he seems to be the force behind this incident with the cops in the year 2000. He seems keen on trapping both Bobby and me in his attempts to gain access to Earth. He’s managed it before but after Trafalgar Square at the end of the Dockers March in 1997 the success of our mission to expel the Forces of Cain from The Forest of Able buried the memory of his involvement deep in the collective subconsciousness of humanity. We thought the binding spell that was put on him would prevent him from interfering in human affairs but it seems that my experiments have allowed him to breach the confines of that spell.”
“I’m not talking about Malthus. He is largely contained and we can deal with him later.”
Sydny looked shocked. At length he said....
“Surely you don’t mean direct involvement in human affairs!”
“Why not? I didn’t see anyone complaining when we nudged the Egyptians this way and that.”
“I don’t think it would help matters if you terrorised and destroyed a few British coppers. They are, after all, only pawns in Malthus’ evil plans.”
“Who said anything about coppers? They’ve always lived in their own Earth-bound form of hell. They invariably suffer at their own hands so I see any extra torment as largely a waste of time.”
“So who then?”
“The British dental profession.”
“The British dental profession?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Does the 18th January 2001 ring any bells?”
“Look I may have pushed it a bit with my experiments with this vortex experiment but I can’t spread my analysis of humans too far into the future of Earth’s space/time continuum if I am to link with the incidents set in motion by our involvement in Trafalgar Square.”
“Fair enough I’ll be on my way then.”
“Hold on a second Sekhmet.”
“Are you summoning me Sydny?”
“I thought your presence meant I inadvertently had.”
“No. My presence is a result of your vortex experiment. Your increased involvement with the affairs of Earth will naturally draw the attention of beings like myself.”
“Why?”
“Because that is our role. Whenever the gap between Eden and Earth is bridged for any prolonged period of time it is the job of such deities as myself to redress any imbalance caused.”
“But I thought you had to be summoned.”
“If the bridge is as a result of a conscious summoning then sure I am obliged to appear but you know that happens once in a blue moon.”
“So this is a subconscious summoning.”
“Yes.”
“So why is it that you have appeared as opposed to Kali, Thor or Hermes?”
“Who knows why I arrived first but I reckon you’ll be getting a visit from a few others along this path you have chosen.”
“How come you’ve manifested in a conventional visitation when we could have had an informal chat in The Garden of Eden?”
“That’s easy to figure out Sydny. As far as I am aware you fled Malthus and were saved from the horrors of Cain by the vortex.”
“It’s true. I’d have had next to no hope of escaping The Desolation of Cain if the vortex hadn’t sucked me into Bobby’s body at this festival.”
“Well it was the vortex that attracted my attention and it was the nature of the bridge between Earth and Cain that compelled me in this direction.”
“Wait, hold on a minute! If I am in Bobby’s body that means you are also on Earth!”
“Not quite. You have left Bobby’s body by all accounts. This visitation is contained in my own manna or aura and we stand on the thresh-hold of Earth but not on Earth itself. The Goddess that oversees our behaviour would not think it wise if I just manifested on Earth according to my own design. That kind of egocentric behaviour would make me nearly as bad as Malthus. As you know ours is a collective responsibility.”
Sydny flew around in an excitable manner, spun around to face Sekhmet again and carried on with the conversation.
“Knowledge of Earth had faded into myth for many of the residents of Eden until recently. Have you held onto your interest in Earth while the rest of us were preoccupied with internal affairs and the affairs of other dimensions?”
Not really. Every now and again my knowledge of Earth would surface but it was only with humanity’s involvement in Cain’s invasion of Able that I regained my interest in human affairs. I haven’t really been that conscious of humanity since its original Egyptian civilisation. It now appears that the paradox between those humans who are essentially destructive and those who are essentially creative has grown larger as have their populations. They now seem on the brink of either genocide or an enlightenment never before seen. Those of us used to dealing with human affairs must try and break the link developing between the more destructive humans and The Forces of Cain. Our actions may then strengthen the link between the more creative humans and The Garden of Eden. This, though, does not mean you are wise in risking links before they are due. Cain can exploit bridges that are not guarded by strategically placed deities or magickal creatures from The Garden. You do not, at present, seem in a position to guard any bridges. You seem to be travelling at random.”
“True.” agreed Sydny. Sydny flew around a bit more and then spun to face Sekhmet again.
“So what about the 18th January 2001?”
“If you want to know about that you will have to summon me. If I just tell you I will be meddling in human affairs without a collective endorsement.”
“Hang on.... you talk as if I am human!”
“You were the equivalent of human while you were in Bobby’s body. That’s when I decided to pay you a visit. Obviously for us to chat I had to temporarily pluck you out of your symbiosis with him. I cannot, however, break that symbiosis for any length of time so we must be quick here.”
“Oh sod it, I’ll summon you.” Sydny flung his arms out sideways, looked up and shouted....
“OH GREAT SEKHMET.... GODDESS OF VENGEANCE, BATTLE, PUNISHMENT AND SEXUAL HEAT I SUMMON YOU IN MY QUEST FOR ADVICE AND ASSISTANCE!”
“And the rest Sydny.”
Sydny looked up in a slightly apprehensive manner.
“Come on Sydny you know the rest.”
“I’m a bit overwhelmed to tell you the truth.”
“Well you certainly will be in a minute!” said Sekhmet laughing.
“Oh well here goes.... OH GREAT SEKHMET I PLACE MYSELF AT YOUR MERCY AND OFFER MY BRAIN AND BODY SO THAT YOU WILL DO WITH ME WHAT THOU WILT!”
Sekhmet changed colour about fifty times in a split second and spun around on her axis so that she resembled a psychedelic whirlwind. The serpent, coiling around the miniature sun above her, remained static but spoke with its eyes flashing with stroboscopic light....
“Sydny Smith.... I am the memory of the reptiles expelled from Eden. I have their knowledge of Eden in my safe keeping and am a guardian of the sun through which we all evolve. Do you promise to honour Sekhmet’s wishes so that she may impart the knowledge you require?”
“All this for a chat about Bobby’s dental records?”
“You have seconds to decide Sydny.” said the serpent.
“Alright I promise.”
Sekhmet stopped spinning. She then grabbed Sydny’s legs and pulled out his penis that continued to grow until it was a size that matched the scale of her own genitalia. She then deftly slipped on a gigantic condom and unrolled it to the length of his enormous member. It constantly changed colour in the same way that Sekhmet had done. Sydny started swooning as he was dwarfed by his own penis. Sekhmet roared as she massaged her vagina with it. Sydny hung in mid-air in a state of hypnotised, erotic euphoria. Sekhmet slid the penis a little way into her vagina. She then started rotating her whole body so one second she was upright and then the second she was inverted then upright then inverted. Sydny still hung in mute hypnosis. Sekhmet’s rotating sped up to an incredible speed so that she was just a spinning blur on the end of his cock. She stopped suddenly upright and Sydny’s eyeballs bulged so that they were each the same size as his whole head. She then grasped his whole body in one of her huge hands so that everything apart from the shaft and the base of his massive phallus was hidden from view. As she gently squeezed her fist tighter, then loosened it, then tightened it, then loosened it and then tightened it convulsions ran along the length of Sydny’s penis.
So far she had merely excited the outer rim of her titanic vagina. She suddenly thrust his phallus deep inside her and then pulled it almost clear. She repeated this accelerating in speed until her fist was just a blur. She suddenly stopped with his penis half in and slowly opened her giant hand. She held him in the palm and he lay there visibly shaken. He quivered and perspired and moaned in a state of ecstasy. She bent down and gently kissed his whole body with her massive lioness’s mouth. She then suddenly pushed his cock back into her vagina and rested her palm on her crutch. Sydny had disappeared into her cunt.
She then put her hands on her hips and started gyrating her abdomen which rapidly evolved into pelvic thrusts which ended in one massive spasm while she flung her head backwards and roared.
At the peak of her orgasm Sydny shot out of her orifice swiftly followed by his extended cock. His wings were flapping wildly and he managed to stop his retraction just as his massive helmet was about to leave her orifice. With massive effort and his wings accelerating their feverish behaviour he pushed his penis back inside her and then kept flying backwards and forwards sliding in and out and in and out!
Sekhmet’s level of excitement began to accelerate again and she grabbed the base of his cock with her thumb and forefinger and spun Sydny round like a Catherine wheel. She stopped him suddenly and held him still.
She knew he was on the edge of a mighty ejaculation and grinned mischievously as she delayed his final exultation. This delay drove Sydny into a vibrating state of hyperventilation and his eyeballs started slowly expanding again.
Sekhmet then held his body between her thumb and forefinger and slid him almost fully out and then with a flick of the wrist sent him hurtling back inside her. She closed her legs with a speed that stopped him disappearing for a second time. Instead his tiny body was rammed against her shut legs with only his penis fully inside her.
She arched her head back again and roared another orgasm.
As Sekhmet roared Sydny bent his head back and screamed as his member let loose inside the cosmic condom.
Seeing as there was no discernible ground beneath their feet in this self-contained world Sekhmet had arrived in the two lovers had shifted on their axis quite a few times. Sex in zero gravity was not unusual amongst the inhabitants of Eden.
They both hung in space panting in the afterglow of their union. The serpent turned to face an audience of other cherubs who had appeared suddenly when the action started. The serpent spoke....
“It’s interesting that a similar sort of contraception is now used on Earth. The Goddess surely works in mysterious ways.”
The cherubs agreed and said that they didn’t think any terrestrial condom could take that kind of punishment. They then disappeared in a communal cloud of multicoloured smoke.
Sekhmet and Sydny disengaged and she kissed him.
“Jeeeesus Christ!” said Sydny.
“Who’s he?” asked Sekhmet.
“Some human revolutionary revered by parts of the 20th and 21st century human society I believe. Humans have recently started crying out his name when they are shocked.”
“I gather you are sufficiently shocked then Sydny.” said Sekhmet grinning.
“I SHOULD SAY!”
“That was fun!” said Sekhmet.
At length Sydny spoke.... “Listen I didn’t really do that to get information. I think you’re fucking gorgeous. I never thought you were into me in that way.”
“Well Sydny I must confess that your interest in Earth and your ceaseless devotion towards exploration has endeared me to you recently. I could have told you about the dentist anyway but you know how it is. Ritual always gets me in the mood.”
“Good for you Sekhmet.”
“It’s all about love Sydny is it not?”
“It certainly is!” replied Sydny.
Sekhmet looked at him and smiled. She then said....
“Anyway back to the case in hand.”
Sydny cut in.... “Yeah, so what about British dentistry?”
“Oh nothing much. I have investigated a few of Bobby’s experiences recently to try and ascertain why you have formed a symbiotic link with him. On the 18th January 2001 Bobby was told that he had had mild gum disease for some time. To be honest I’m confounded as to how his regular visits to the dentist had not led to those in the profession warning him further in advance. It already seemed a nonsense that dentists had not rallied together in their attempts to prevent the public from having to fit more and more of the bill for treatment. Bobby was already annoyed that dentists had allowed their own further detachment from the National Health Service. When he was finally told that he had an incurable dental problem he took extreme umbrage.”
“So you think dentists should suffer.”
“Not really and neither does Bobby. A series of revelations in that field wouldn’t go amiss though.”
“Big project.” said Sydny.
“Well all health and education should be free of financial constraint surely.”
“Yeah but I think humans should be left to sort stuff like that out Sekhmet.”
“You’re right but if any of them fuck with Eden again I will recommend the involvement of those like me.”
“I see you’ve picked up the lingo of 20th and 21st century Earth.” said Sydny.
“It’s very contagious.” said Sekhmet.
“I agree.” said Sydny.
“So, Sydny, do you want a hand with your inadvertent blipping between Eden, Cain and Bobby?”
“No I think I’ve got to ride this one out Sekhmet.”
“Sure?”
“Yes I think so.... but keep an eye on it for a while in case the forces of Cain use my situation to their advantage. When all this is over maybe we could see each other again back in Eden.”
“That would be nice.” said Sekhmet.
“Yeah we could have a debriefing over a cup of Magick mushroom tea.”
“And the rest!” replied the goddess laughing. She then grabbed Sydny again and his penis immediately returned to its giant size and she twirled him above her head like a lasso. He was aware that he was starting to have a whiteout and just before the light engulfed him his last memory was of the jubilant laughter of his new lover.
When he came to Sekhmet and the serpent were gone. He had half expected to return to Bobby’s body at the festival but he should have known it wouldn’t be as simple as that. He appeared to still inhabit a kind of limbo just as he had done with Sekhmet. Instead of the giant Egyptian goddess there was another visitation for him to converse with.
It was Baphomet.
On Earth Baphomet was the god adopted by the Knights Templars during their most pagan phases of Gnosticism. Although the Templars largely believed in the right to pursue an individual spiritual life many had collectively decided to use the image of Baphomet as a focus for their irreligious activities.
He floated cross-legged in front of Sydny. He was about six-foot tall in the seated position. Baphomet was a fearsome androgyny with a woman’s breasts and an erect phallus. Baphomet was the goat-headed and horned devil of many a Christian nightmare. Yet he was a god of magick and initiation, concealing a smile within the horror that many Earthly religious orthodoxy’s had invested in him.
Two serpents coiled around his penis and continually licked its helmet. He had goat’s legs and hooves and a human torso, arms and hands. His right arm was held aloft with his first two fingers pointing upwards but together. His left arm was hanging down with his first two fingers pointing downwards but together. Sydny well knew that the arms signified “as above so below” solve et coagula (dissolve and coagulate), analysis and synthesis, the path of all knowledge. Sydny well knew that Baphomet would be intrigued by Sydny’s discoveries since the god had interesting theories pertaining to the replication of forms through event horizons as matter expanded and contracted into an infinite telescope of size in either direction.
Baphomet had large feathered wings which the Templars believed symbolised the flight of the liberated soul. A long flaming torch rose from the top of his head in-between two curving goat’s horns. This flaming torch, between the horns of virility, was the awakened sahasrara (or “crown”) chakra, the magickal light of universal equilibrium. Baphomet was a light bearer.
Baphomet’s right hand pointed to a white crescent moon that hung in the air. It was about half the length of his horns and floated just above the height that they reached. His left hand pointed down to a black crescent moon that floated just below the level of his left knee and was of the same size as the higher moon. Both moons faced inwards.
In the middle of his forehead was an interlocked five pointed star with the point facing upwards. It exuded a luminescence that almost commanded the attention of the onlooker.
“Hello Sydny.”
“Hello Baphomet.”
“I hear Sekmet’s been to see you.”
“News travels fast.” replied Sydny.
“Especially news about any bridge between Earth and Eden.”
“So.... no doubt you’ve come to make sure that any imbalance as a result of my situation is rectified.”
Baphomet’s smile turned to an angry leer. At length he spoke again.... “Don’t you mean an imbalance as a result of your meddling Sydny?”
“I had the best will in the world Baphomet.”
“Yeah, so did I but it still didn’t stop humanity from demonising me and using their supposed love or hatred for me as an excuse for murder, rape and torture. The same thing happened to their revolutionary Jesus Christ. At times I really relate to people like him. I was just getting down to a game of Dominoes with Hermes when one of you cherubs arrived in a puff of multi-coloured smoke and told us about Cain and Able. We were too late to help with that directly but then found that you had ignored the wishes of The Goddess and struck up a conscious and quasi-physical relationship with a human being!”
“Inadvertently Baphomet.”
“You must have known it was a risk. Surely you didn’t think it would be wise to inhabit Earth in any physical sense of the word. Humans are still barred from Eden until The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is once again full grown!”
“To be honest I thought the vortex was a sign from The Goddess.”
“Well that remains to be seen.” said Baphomet.
“So what interest do you have in all of this?”
Baphomet remained inert while he floated in front of Sydny. He then replied.... “If any humans meddle with Eden I am to scare them off. That is, of course, if they can’t be reasoned with and have their experiences submerged in the realm of the collective subconsciousness.”
Sydny looked shocked.... “You don’t mean to physically harm any humans do you?”
Baphomet laughed hysterically.
“Harm them physically? I neither wish to nor do I need to Sydny! The kind of shock I am capable of would send them scuttling off in a selective state of amnesia.”
“Well we’ll have to wait and see if that is going to be necessary.” said Sydny.
“The way things are going I reckon my skills may well be needed. I’m not happy with some of humanity’s treatment of other species. I regard my own composite form as a complimentary mix of genus and gender. Many humans abuse the great variety of forms that The Goddess has blessed us with. Admittedly some humans are sensitive enough to try and combat this abuse. There is an active campaign to oppose experiments on unwilling creatures. The abhorrent Huntingdon Life Sciences research centre in Cambridge is being targeted by the years 2000 and 2001. This is Europe’s largest contract research laboratory where 500 animals are tortured and killed every day. The irony is that, in Cambridge, at the same time, the companies Novartis and Imutran have interests. This pharmaceutical and agrochemical alliance poison millions of their own species every year. Not just content with hurting other species these and companies like them are even prepared to kill other humans in their pursuit of profit. Not that that’s any worse than needlessly killing other species. The company Monsanto also have a base in this area and their thoughtless genetic engineering interrupts the reproductive cycles of plant-life and risks environmental damage that threatens the genetic matrix of the very Earth itself! This anti-sexual behaviour has the stench of Cain emanating from it. Monsanto, in turn, may threaten the safety of the whole egg! The forces of Cain must be beside themselves with glee every time these companies make inroads into greater and greater levels of greed and irresponsibility. Any direct links between Cain and these companies must be exposed and destroyed. That is what we can do from our end and we must hope that the humans that are aware and concerned about this state of affairs carry on their attempts to stop it on Earth. Also, in Cambridge, there is the Oakington Detention Centre where the British government are holding 400 asylum seekers in prison conditions at any one time. Most of the detainees have fled totalitarian regimes that are propped up and financed by Britain and America themselves. Ah yes, America, the 20th and 21st century home of the true political descendants of the abhorrent Roman Empire. Since my renewed interest in humanity I have made a swift study of these things and conclude that worthy organisations like “Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty”, “Earth First”, the “Hunt Saboteurs Association”, “Reclaim the Streets” and “Genetix Snowball” must be protected from any direct attack from the forces of Cain. The newspaper “Schnews” is another collective of Egg-friendly activists that need protection. You should know these things Sydny so you are better prepared in your random meandering between Eden, Cain and Earth. You should also know these things in order to increase your appreciation of Bobby’s life in Britain as the twentieth century moves into the twenty-first. These facts may prepare you for more run-ins with that repulsive worm Malthus. I shall be paying close attention to your movements for a while.”
“Sekhmet has said she will keep an eye out for any other attempts by Cain to exploit my situation.” said Sydny grinning.
“Good.” said Baphomet. He then continued his assessment of some of Earth’s problems....
“I am also disgusted that an oil tanker spillage is threatening the complex balance of life on the Galapagos Islands by the end of January 2001. You may like to know that terrestrial evolutionary energy is at its pinnacle of activity in this area of Earth. I suspect that the forces of Cain are interested in this multi-corporate blunder and may even be a part of it. We must look for its relative effect on Eden and search for links. Woe betide the humans responsible if they run into me in any search for a dialogue with Cain.”
“Both you and Sekhmet seem very interested in the year 2001 Baphomet.” said Sydny.
“Well since you seem to be symbiotically linking with Bobby Rewind in the late 1990’s and the year 2000 it seems reasonable to assess possible outcomes in terrestrial history just after the phases you have experienced. This way you may see patterns that will reveal ways in which we can combat Cain’s attempts to destroy Earth and the Egg. I’ll be in touch if there’s a need for direct action from our end.”
“Before you go Baphomet.... show me one of your techniques for scaring humans.”
“Sydny.... trust me.... I never harm them permanently and never employ physical violence. Honest.”
“Go on show me.”
“You won’t like it.”
“I’d prefer to know just how intense your tactics would be.”
“Remember that I am a light bearer.”
“Yes.”
“Remember I have the key to visual perception whether it be through the external senses or in the mind.”
“Yes I know.”
“Well I’ll do something like this.”
Sydny was suddenly in complete darkness.
Then he caught a one-second glimpse of what the Earth would look like if the forces of Cain got their way. He started weeping uncontrollably and the sense of loss made him crave the loving protection of The Goddess in a way that he had not felt before. It was as if he had been returned to the birthing experience only to find that where there was a chance of environmental protection there was now none. The infant fear as a result of no perceivable home shook him to the absolute core! There was a flash of white light and Baphomet returned looking concerned.
“You alright Sydny?”
“Fucking hell!”
“I see you’ve picked up on some of Earth’s speech patterns.”
“I believed that I was totally alone and vulnerable!”
“Do you reckon that that technique will prove sufficient in deterring any humans from allying with Cain?”
“Too fucking right! I was worried that you would use some extreme form of mental coercion but that was more like a revelation about the nature of belonging!”
“Excellent. Now I must be off. Hermes has been on his own with the Dominoes long enough. Be seeing you Sydny.”
“Be seeing you Baphomet.”
Sydny blinked.
Sydny’s black dilated pupils had been replaced by blue/grey eyeballs in one second.
Bobby blinked.
Bobby considered Shiva’s star sign Leo and had a flash of some giant lioness’s head in his mind. Then he thought of his own star sign Capricorn and had a flash of a goat’s head in his mind. He wasn’t sure why these flashes of astrological significance appeared exactly at that moment but he was pretty sure that it was not merely an invention of his imagination.
Bobby blinked.
When he opened his eyes he was in a pub. He had gone back a couple of years. These space/time hops were getting more regular for him. After a few seconds he forgot about the future at the “Exodus” festival where he had been reading the Tibetan Book of the Dead. It was now buried deep in his subconsciousness and could only be retrieved in the form of sporadic flash-forwards. He had instantly become the past self that he now inhabited.