Chapters 1-5, Instant recap: Mindy Carlson was an 18-year-old psychiatric outpatient. Her encounters with demons and deities were held off only by medications which numbed her mind and chilled her soul. She stopped taking them and ran away from home in search of the Kin of Aries, an intentional community with an organic farm that practiced natural methods of soul-healing. En route, she morphed into her patron Goddess Athena-Minerva and ascended to Olympus for a talk with her heavenly parents. She arrived the next day at Soul Haven, the home of the Kin of Aries, and met some of the members ploughing a field with a horse. Vance and Carol were ex-“crazies” who could see her demons, and banished them with a magical ritual.
6. When the Gods Come Down
Vance and Carol put the farmwork on hold to take Mindy back to the “homestead”, as they called it, and she was very surprised when she beheld the elegant manse inherited from a previous owner, as told in Forefather Chapter 5. Most of the clan was still at work in the fields, but in the kitchen they found Diana and Elise preparing a hearty lunch for a baker’s dozen. After the introduction, Mindy couldn’t help but express another surprise as she said to Elise, “Aren’t you working pretty hard considering, um, your condition? I mean, you look like you’re close to nine months, if not more.”
“Yeah, she’s ready to pop any minute,” said Vance, “but don’t worry, she’s giving the lad in her tummy the best of care, prenatally speaking.”
“We’re resurrecting the ways of our ancestors,” said Elise. “I was out in the fields until last week, and I had this notion that if I went into labor I could just squat down and deliver the goods into a grass-lined hole, like our great-great grandmoms did. But my hubby Spike finally put his foot down.”
Flash walked in amidst the chit-chat, and Diana was about to introduce him when he and Mindy suddenly lit up in mutual recognition. Those of the kindred who were psychically sensitive saw them grow in stature, actually an expansion of their auras. “Athena!” said Flash.
“Hermes!” said Mindy. Then they flew into each other’s arms and had a tearful reunion. They pulled apart to arm’s length as she looked into his eyes and said, “How long has it been? A thousand years? More?”
“Though time is unending,” said the God through the mouth of the man, “it’s circular. And so we who live beyond time always come ’round again to our beloved kin.”
They hugged again, then deflated back into their mortal selves ~ or almost. “So what’s your alias this time?” asked Mindy/Athena.
“Flash Corbett, at your service.” He gave a melodramatic bow. “And you?”
“Mindy Carlson, a certified schitz-oo-frantic. Which is what led me here, so obviously it’s the will of Heaven.”
Everyone laughed, some cautiously, but Vance heartily as he said, “Hey, us schizos hafta hang together! Otherwise we’ll hang separately, or get shot up with drugs which are even worse.”
Lunchtime was approaching, and Flash and Mindy went out and sat at the picnic table awaiting the arrival of the workers. In her new state of happy clarity she remembered her vision of the previous night and said, “On the way out here I had a nice visit upstairs with Dad and Mom ~ y’know, Zeus and Hera.” Flash was impressed and asked to hear more. Mindy continued: “They told me some secrets and personal stuff, but the big news was a prophecy that I’d meet a new God-Man here, a white hero who would change the fortunes of our people.”
Flash broke out in a broad grin and said, “The word spreads from on high!”
“So you know about it! Will I be able to meet him?”
They were interrupted by the loud chugging of a tractor in overdrive. It emerged from among the trees on a dirt road and rattled to a stop in the parking area. Flash said, “Gavin drives the tractors like race cars, but he hasn’t damaged one yet. And he can plow a field faster and better than any of us.”
The boy jumped down; Mindy guessed he was about ten years old, but as we know he was only seven. He said casually, “Hi, Flash,” as he trotted toward the house, but then stopped in his tracks as he noticed Mindy. “Oh hi, Athena!” he said; “my father Apollo told me you’d be arriving soon.” She was too astonished to answer, and he jogged on through the back door.
Flash said, “Well, well ~ looks like it was a two-edged prophecy.”
Wrapt in a sense of wonder, Mindy said, “You mean that he’s the… the….”
“The Manchild ~ in the flesh.”
“It sounds like his father is really psychic too. Or did he mean the Sun God?”
“His earthly father was named Apollo. He died right after Gavin was born, but still pays him regular visits ~ ‘he comes down from the Sun’ is the way Gavin describes it, radiating Solar glory. So it’s clear that the birth-father and the sky-father are one and the same ~ it’s really Apollo.”
“How incredible ~ and wonderful!”
“His mother is Diana, who you just met in the kitchen. And as I’m sure you’ll come to recognize very soon, she really is Artemis.”
Groping for words, Mindy said: “So Gavin’s parents….”
“His father is the Sun and his mother is the Moon.” Now Mindy was speechless, so Flash added: “One of my stock phrases. The kin usually groan because they’re so tired of hearing me say it.”
“I don’t blame you at all!” she replied; “it’s what you carved on the Emerald Tablet, now fulfilled like a miracle ~ or a telesma as you called it.”
Now Flash was amazed, and delighted. “So you remember that too!”
“Yeah, my far memory is kicking in big time. Now if only those critters from Hades don’t come back and spoil it all.”
“Never fear,” he said squeezing her hand, “we’ll get you healed.” Their eyes locked for a long time, and tears trickled down their cheeks.
7. Mad Contagion
Coming soon!