steps deeper and threw the third stone. But instead of a crash, there was an explosion, a giant flash of light. Suddenly I was surrounded by swirling stars and galaxies enveloping me. It was as if I were watching the birth of a universe. And then I was back on the seashore behind the ram.”
THE SKELETON LADY
“When the next vision began, I had no idea what I was seeing . . . massive objects scattered over a vast landscape, moving, colliding into each other. I watched as a structure emerged. It was a gigantic skeleton lying on its back. I estimated that the rib cage alone had to have been around two hundred feet high. I watched as sinews and muscles appeared on the skeleton, then skin, and then hair, long, wavy black hair. It had assumed the form of a colossal woman in a robe of blue and white, beautiful but lifeless. Suddenly she opened her eyes.”
THE KING IN THE WHITE HOUSE
“I turned again and found myself standing in front of the White House. I watched as an old bearded man in a long black coat and a skullcap entered through its front doors. He made his way to the Oval Office. I followed him there. In the center of the office sat a bearded king with a crown of corrugated gold, a scepter, and a robe of white, purple, and yellow. ‘Are you the one,’ asked the man in black, ‘anointed to set the captives free?’ ‘How could I be,’ said the king, ‘and not know that I was?’ At that the king rose from his throne, walked over to the desk, opened its drawer, and took out a clay cylinder covered with symbols. He then walked outside the Oval Office, where a large golden eagle awaited him. The moment he stepped outside, his appearance changed. It was now that of a man with short cropped hair, a light-colored suit, a light-colored hat, and glasses. He placed the cylinder in the talons of the eagle, which then flew away. ‘Will you look at that!’ he said as he watched the eagle in the sky. He then came back inside and sat down on the throne. His appearance reverted to that of the king. ‘I am he,’ said the king.”
THE BOY OF THE ARCH
“I continued following the ram along the shore. I looked to my left and saw a boy with dark, wavy hair, dressed in clothes from the turn of the century. ‘Come,’ he said. ‘It’s going to begin.’ In the distance ahead was some sort of monumental arch, so close to the ocean that the waves were crashing against its base. He took my hand and led me over to it. ‘Look,’ he said. On the arch were engraved images. As I watched, the images began to move. It was telling the story of the siege of a city and destruction of a land. ‘Now watch what happens,’ said the boy. The images then changed from destruction to restoration and life, mothers with children, people planting, farming, and rebuilding. And then the engravings became still again. ‘Who are you?’ I asked the boy. ‘One who was, who was not, and was again,’ he said. I looked away to make sure I could still see the ram. Then I turned back. The boy was gone. I looked again at the engravings on the arch. And then I saw him . . . on the arch . . . the boy. He was now an engraved image in the scene of restoration . . . just smiling.”
THE MAN IN THE PURPLE ROBE
“I looked again and saw a bearded man in a purple robe sitting on the shore, turned away from the sea. Around him were broken branches of all different kinds and sizes. He was wearing a crown. He was a king. As I approached him, he spoke. ‘I built a house,’ he said, ‘but the waves destroyed it. And I have no one to help me rebuild it.’ Just then another man appeared and approached him. ‘I am the bearer of burdens,’ he said. ‘I will help you to rebuild it.’ So the two began piecing together the branches until a structure emerged, a shelter or house of branches. The moment it was completed, five white flowers sprung up from the sand in front of its entrance. And the vision ended.”
THE FOUR JEWELED KEYS
“In the last of the visions I saw a man in a dark-brown cloak. In