The Gathering Darkness (the Connor series) - Dirk B. (Page 10 of 57)

Okay two books. In the meantime, I need a good name for a doomsday asteroid or comet rapidly approaching Earth. It should be a name that combines a scientific designation with an obvious doomsday connection.

Asteroid Omega.  Omega rock.

Because Apollo loosely ties to he other series.

I sneak these in all the time - some more glaring than others

Hmm. More books, although they're for reference.  Pocket guides for Christians touring the Holy Land. Got the paper (non-Kindle) versions. I'm starting to pull together good descriptions of Christian sites. I'm halfway through my second of two Kindle pilgrimage books. I then have to convert both of those into table notes. Then...the first outline. Yay! I realized I don't need to outline books two and three to write book one, although I'm making lots of notes for all of them. Besides, it's highly unlikely I'll publish the first book without being close to finished with the third. There'll still be time for changes to book one.

Now if I could just get my sleeping pill regimen sorted out, I might have some energy during the day. Kdot, aren't you wiped out on three hours a night?

I'm glad I get to make up my landscape.  Actually, I research medieval and Elizabethan settings all the time. Not to mention, Hossenfelder's, "Lost in Math," to inspire my faux-science.

Following is from the dictionary: An invisible emanation or field of energy believed to radiate from a person or object. On second thought, that seems right. Yes?

Aura is probably fine.  But in energy psychology, your aura is different than your energy field, which can contain isomorphic manifestations of your thoughts. Your aura is a colored field said to enclose a human body. It is sometimes thought of as a subtle body. Your energy field contains chi, the chakras, any effects from kinesthesiology, the flows that allow acupressure to work, dim mak, the power of chi kung, which can be used (and I know this because I have done it) to move an opponent's body against his will.  So it depends on what you are trying to say.  Sounds to me like it's aura, as it sounds like you're talking about the subtle body of Christ following along your character.

In paranormal literature, an imprint is usually part of an energy field--left by a spirit, for example.  Auras also can show whether you're happy, or fearful, that sort of thing, by whether they are expansive or hug the body. If he's supposed to be the reincarnation of Jesus, then I suggest that you use the analogy of remembering a dream or recalling repressed memories (controversial because of the blend of fantasy and suggestion, but they might make a good model). Also, maybe if you hear yourself when you talk to yourself, that could be useful.  One person I knew heard a voice in his head that told him he couldn't be successful.  Using an energy psychology technique, he "tuned" the voice up until he recognized it--it was his mother. So think of the times like that, when you hear a voice in your head telling you something--and maybe have Connor hear a voice, unbidden, like an ego-alien, say the Sermon on the Mound.  He tunes it up (have him go to a psychologist or hypnotherapist, and as he hears the voice more clearly, he realizes it's his voice. Or better still, have him hear the voice of Jesus (from Zeferelli or others who have produced films), but as he tunes it up, it's his voice. 

SPOILER ALERT.  IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FIRST SEASON OF WESTWOLRD, DON'T READ FURTHER. Another possible model.  Delores kept on having 'memories,'in scenes where she and Bernard were talking, and he was probing the breakdown in her programming.  But when she finally gets to the center of the maze, she first sees Bernard, but she turns around and it's her talking to herself.  Freedom and sentience is when you hear the voice of the gods as your own voice.  SPOILER ALERT.

So Connor, in his way to self-discovery, when he talks to himself, at some point is talking to Jesus--and Jesus becomes him...Just thoughts and I hope I didn't spoil that part of WW to you if you haven't seen it.

I haven't seen WW. I'll try Netflix. In my case, it's tricky, because he "may" be Jesus, hence the pilgrimage to jog his memory. He also goes to the Holy Land to get away from the Antichrist in Rome, who has begun to hunt him while simultaneously killing off cardinals and bishops at the Vatican. There is a possibility that he is not Jesus at all, but someone else entirely. His true identity is revealed at the end of book one. If he's not Jesus, I wonder how much of the original Christ he should see and hear. I'm leaning toward letting him experience all of it, aura and sound. Sound would include not just words, but also moments like the storms on the Sea of Galilee.

You didn't spoil anything for me, Rachel. I don't have HBO, so the details will be long forgotten before I ever see it. HBO is only available through an expensive cable package in Canada. I don't watch TV, just the occasional Netflix show or movie. I spend most of my free time trying to finish the research for the trilogy. My latest research book has some useful elements, but it's incredibly long. I've been reading for two weeks off and on and am only 60% done. I've begun skipping passages looking for modern descriptions of New Testament sites in the Holy Land, which is why I bought it in the first place. For example, I learned tonight that the short route from Old Jerusalem to Bethany (where Lazarus was raised) is blocked by a wall built to separate Israelis from Palestinians, requiring a major detour. There's no mention of the wall in Google Maps. It looks like a short hop. Bethany and Bethlehem are in Palestinian-controlled territory, although they remain open for tourists. And the site where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist is in Jordan. The Jordan River no longer runs by there, so someone built a modern baptism site on the Israeli side of the Jordan. For a few shekels, they'll rent you a bath robe and duck your head underwater. :-)

The old site where Jesus was baptized has been designated a World Heritage Site by the UN. In English the site is called Bethany Beyond the Jordan (no relation to Bethany where Lazarus was raised). In Arabic it's called Al-Maghtas, which means baptism or immersion. The tourist alternative in Israel is called Qasr el Yahud and lies directly on the Jordan River.