Daniel’s Secret Journey Episode 13   

TRYING TIMES

The weather turned really bad with high winds and heavy rain so there was not much outside work that the builders could do. Similarly Daniel was not going up to the castle in either direction in such bad weather. Luckily, they had all they could cope with in the carpenters shop including making up shelves for the new shop at the Abbey, and there were some old pews that were being modified for the tearoom, so Daniel was kept busy during the day, while the decorators finished the painting inside the new building at the Abbey. At the end of the week the weather improved, and they shipped the whole lot out to the Abbey.

            Once all the timber was delivered Daniel was asked if he would come out to the Abbey each day rather than the yard to help fit all the shelving and generally clean the place, ready for the final set up by the monks for their first visitors to the new centre.

            This was due on St Bartholomew’s Day, Saturday 24^th August, when the local press and dignitaries both temporal and spiritual were being invited for the official opening, with an inaugural tour and tea. The following Monday was a Bank Holiday so “Joe Public” might also turn up after, hopefully, some positive write ups in the local papers to give them a good start.  

This was Daniel’s cue to spend some more time with Brother Mark, and to get some more answers to his many questions.

            “One thing I meant to ask you,” he said when they met up again, “was why there’s no mention of the secret chapel in any of the plans of the Abbey?”

Brother Mark smiled:   

“Because it was secret from the very beginning,” he said, “not the choice of the Abbot but of the local Lord, really a Prince in his own right, who was given charge over the building of the Abbey. Apparently according to our Charter, which I searched the other day, he acted for the King in his absence. So as he was the provider, he could choose how he constructed the place and as you see it was his escape route that was important to him, so it must have been included as a personal instruction to the masons of the time. I doubt very much whether the King knew of it, and as you have found out it doesn’t appear in any other books or documents in our possession.

            Originally the chapel in the crypt was just a refuge for anyone fleeing from the castle, but over the years it became the place where a few would meet in secret from time to time. Then as the castle was taken over and plundered it fell into disuse and into disrepair as the castle eventually became the ruin you see today. However it still holds some secrets as you have found out, that you’ve been guided to in various ways. 

            This secrecy was known to only the few in the beginning, but over time it became just a myth as the conscious memory faded, leaving no record. But nothing is ever completely lost; memory does not die with the physical body, everything we do is recorded, we each have a recording angel who notes everything that happens to us. It is believed by some that this is placed in the Universal Halls of Records that are referred to as the Akasha or Akashic Record. I tend to the understanding that our soul also carries its own Akasha, of all of its existences or realities with it throughout eternity. With the right connections and the right keys this record may be accessed, and information brought forward from any lifetime.”

            This was a real eye opener to Daniel who thought that it was something of a mind magnifier.

            “So you’re saying that if I want to know something hard enough, I can get it?” said Daniel.

“Well it’s not as easy as that Daniel,” Brother Mark replied, “everything in the Universe is controlled and there are many levels. How shall I put it? Rather like a building with many floors linked with staircases. That building is actually inside another building that is inside another building and each floor has more than one building inside it. You can perhaps see the complexity of the dimensions that exist, which may bring some meaning to the phrase ‘There are many mansions in my Father’s house’, as written in the King James version of the Bible. Can you begin to understand that?” 

            Daniel thought that, never mind magnifying, he imagined that his mind had just blown a fuse: 

“It’s a bit difficult to fathom, isn’t it?”

“Well yes, it is at first. But you know it resolves itself into something very simple if you follow some easy guidelines. When you perceive a problem like this, that is difficult to comprehend, when you say your prayers give the problem to God. It’s a bit like delegating upwards.

            Then when you sit in your time of quiet reflection, or meditation as it is called; let all the everyday things slip away from your mind and imagine that you’re sitting with God and He fills you full of the light of understanding. So that every tiny corpuscle of blood in your body and every tiny cell is filled with white light; in this way you will connect to God within you and anything and everything that you need to know will be given to you when the time is right and for your highest good, in this way you become a true Child of the Light,” said Brother Mark.

All Daniel could say was:

            “Wow!”

“In fact a lot of fuss is made of what is referred to as the Grace of God given at certain times, almost as a reward for being good, but in fact, it is with us constantly, so long as we choose to recognise it, and don’t deny it. Its purpose is for us to be attentive to everything and everyone in our life, a bit like a mixture of empathy and compassion; in so doing we also receive the energy of Well-being ourselves, to benefit our own health. Do you understand?”

“OK, so who decides what I can know or not know. Is it God?” 

Brother Mark thought for a moment, then explained:

            “There are very wise beings that work for God and watch over you, Counsellors if you like, who only have your best interest at heart. They understand your purpose in this life and know what you need to know, and what you are ready to accept; this is a joint decision between your guardians, guides and your higher self, or your soul if you like. You can receive information about a previous life through dreams as you have found, or in your quiet time of meditation, from your higher self. Essentially then it is you that decides, but at a level much higher than your personality this time round, That is, so long as you accept, do not resist, and do not doubt or deny, it’s as simple as that.

            If you can imagine that there is a super-consciousness or universal consciousness and there is your own deep subconscious level of mind, when you dream the two come together and that is how you receive information in your dreams. This is why it’s important for you to try to remember your dreams. It would be a good idea to have a pencil and paper by your bed so you can jot down the main points of your dream as soon as you wake, before your conscious mind gets going and the dream gets lost. Of course sometimes the dreams are all wrapped up in symbols and images that need a bit of unravelling, but even today there are those who can help to untie the knots as it were,” said Mark. 

Daniel had heard something similar from Mum Creck, so it was good to get it confirmed. 

            “So should I meditate every day as well?” asked Daniel.

“That would be the best decision you could take in your life.” replied Brother Mark, “it will also prepare you for the time when you can join us in our secret circle, sometime in the future.”

Now if that wasn’t an incentive, he didn’t know what was. Daniel resolved there and then to meditate every day of his life from then on. 

“I’ve had my quiet time in the woods, up until now,” he said, “but I can’t do that every day, especially if the weather’s bad. Where do you think would be a good place?”

“Best in your home at a time and place where you will not be disturbed. The early morning is the best time for most of us,” said the brother.

“O dear, I’m not very good at getting up early.”

“There should be no stress attached to this, so take your time and a moment in the day to suit you will come naturally.”  Daniel thanked his spiritual teacher and went back to work in the New Centre.

As the weather had improved Daniel cycled home prompt at four, did his chores and told his Mum that he would grab something later as he had an errand to run and walked up to the churchyard. He picked his way through the graves and found to his horror that some well-meaning souls had begun to clear the cemetery of weeds and tidy up the graves. 

            Luckily, they were still a fair distance away from the tomb, so he had to make the most of his secret entrance before the broken padlock was discovered, if they ever made it that far. He found his way easily to the cellars in the old house and this time went through the archway to see what lay beyond.

            Never without his trusty torch now, he shone it into a room that was along a corridor through the arch and found the slit in the wall that he’d looked through from the secret passage, and sure enough it was in line with the grill in the wall at high level to the outside. It seemed strange that that was the conclusion of the cellars. He’d expected more, or at least a dungeon or two. He shone the torch around the room again and this time his heart skipped a beat as he noticed that there were two rings in the wall like the ones in the Abbey. He turned first one then the other, but nothing happened. There was either nothing there or the mechanism had broken over time. He guessed that previous folks in the castle may have just tethered animals there in the past, perhaps bringing in cows or goats to milk.

            He decided to try outside so went up the steps to the kitchen and just managed to squeeze through the larder window, as he was a bit bigger now than the first time and jumped to the ground outside. He walked to the far end of the castle ruins to where he’d found the entrance to the secret passage. He walked around the perimeter of the walls at that end and found the beginnings of some steps leading down at the base of one of the other towers on the opposite side to the tower that Jake had lived in. It made sense that there could be dungeons on the opposite side to the cellars for provisions. The steps went down only so far and then were totally blocked with stones. Another false lead; but at least he was tying up another loose end.

            It was getting dark, so it was an ideal time to have one more go and making sure that he was alone, he went through the secret door in the fireplace to the passage beyond. He made his way along the tunnel and this time shone the torch to take in every detail of the passageway.  It was clear of any obvious levers, handles or rings. On reaching the small slit in the wall Daniel heard voices, quickly switched off the torch and stood still hardly daring to breathe. The voices became louder and there was the sound of a match striking, then candles were lit, and the light shone through the slit onto the opposite wall of the tunnel.

            Daniel could make out the voice of Jess Tate and another older sounding voice with two or three younger voices he didn’t recognise, there seemed to be four or five men in the room. They were discussing the arrival of a boat on the next night when there would be no moon. It was to be at midnight on the following Sunday. Daniel had to decide whether he wanted to witness this or just to let it go. Standing there in the dark he decided that it wouldn’t profit him to be around when the smugglers were in action, so he decided to let it go. When the men had made all their arrangements, as to who was going to do what, they decided to adjourn to the pub and Daniel was left to get on with his own business. It must have been the Swan pub, which was near the beach, as Daniel had never seen these people in his pub.

He went further down the tunnel, towards the Abbey again, looking at all the details of the walls and floor to see if there was anything that might look like an entry to other areas underground. Nothing was found so he decided to retrace his steps. On turning round the tunnel seemed to take on a different appearance, with the light from the torch casting different shadows. He’d just passed the slit in the wall and on the opposite side of the tunnel there was a narrow opening, like an alcove, not seen when facing in the other direction, just like the tunnel by the stream, masked with a curtain of cobwebs. He brushed away the spiders webs and shone the torch into the opening to reveal a simple oak door, with a beam across the door wedged into the walls either side. With his heart racing he got his shoulder under the beam and heaved it out of the way, turned the handle and pulled, but nothing happened, heaved again with all his strength and the door suddenly opened and Daniel fell back against the opposite wall of the tunnel. A draught of very cold air rushed out of the exposed room hitting him in the face, and he had a sudden feeling of dread. Daniel went gingerly into the room shining his torch and saw that the room was identical to the one in the Abbey crypt with a stone altar. But here it felt very uncomfortable and as he shone the torch around the room it hit a group of skeletons that seemed to be huddled together in the far corner.

            “O my God.” He said out loud.

Suddenly with a crash the door slammed shut behind him. He dropped the torch as he backed against the wall, and a voice rasped:

“Who dares disturb our space?” Daniel stood against the wall by the door and stared into the blackness and waited. He began to see something moving in the dark. Cloaked figures began to materialise both male and female, that seemed to have their own light about them, giving the glint of reflected light on swords, on chain mail and with a breastplate showing beneath a cloak. The shrouded figures came closer and closer to him…