Discovering that Palmyra, Syria was a place of power where ley lines crossed, creating a vortex of energy was fascinating. Of course, I should have known because the Temple of Baal, situated here, and similar temples, were likely built by the gods Marduk and Ruda about 8000 BCE and I was thrilled to explore another ancient sacred site. Sacred geometry would have been incorporated to determine a site with immense telluric power. Creating a temple on such a site, one can utilize the telluric, geomantic, celestial, and solar power. As mentioned in the archives of Mari, the language used by these creators was Aramaic.

Ishtar, also known as Astarte and Aphrodite, was honored here, as well as other lesser-known gods and goddesses in times gone by. I was wondering what these ghosts wanted with me as I wandered around in my hotel room assuming they knew me and that I had been here before.

Years later, after I had cleared my karma I was in retreat at Mt. Shasta,California, and was told by an Ascended Master that I was known in the higher dimensions as “Ishtar”. That explained why the phantoms here knew me! I had been here before. I am determined to keep myself in an ever-expanding way so that all versions of myself keep funneling my way. I accept the mantle of my creations!

Not being able to rest, meditate or sleep, my husband was soon roused, and we headed for the underground grotto of mineral water for a soak and mud bath.

This ancient spring, Efca, emerged underground nearby Mt. Mazar, where since time immemorial, soaking had been the order of the day. Even formidable Zeus is reported to have soaked his aching body here. Inscriptions honoring him lined the walls. I consciously walked down the stairs to the thermal spa galleries and chambers beneath the sacred mountain and entered the opaque pools of hot water, feeling the mystique of this place. This very river flowed underground to the Tigress and Euphrates rivers! The Hittite and Sumerian civilizations I had been fascinated with for some time, emerged in that area. Our friends were already soaking in the thermal spa in various corners, drinking champagne, when almost immediately the lights went out in the grotto! We were sitting in the pitch dark in a cave that constituted a kind of emantoium—its purpose to diffuse the vapors given off by the water. I immediately recalled the huge spirit that had followed me around in our hotel room, but then laughed when the lights came on a few minutes later. I discovered the hotel management was playing a joke on us. *Photo, author in Efca Cave and Spring.

Dinner was nothing to write home about, but afterward we gathered in the elegant turquoise and brass lounge for a few drinks, and my Finnish friend cajoled me into playing the grand piano that graced the luxurious ballroom that had been built for who? Tourists? We have not encountered any. I played a few classical pieces I still knew and sang a song I wrote many years ago when I met the blond fighter pilot extraordinaire who I've always called Adonis.

The next morning arrived much too early, but we dressed quickly; an ancient Arab castle on a mountain top and a breathtaking sunrise awaited us.  It was still dark out when we parked and we headed across the rickety moat bridge just as the sun rose over Palmyra. One expected the hustle and bustle of yesteryear to immediately begin! This split second encompassed me in awe, and I placed my hands into my pockets and then around my husband, shivering not only from the cold but also from the unexpected glory of the moment. Arm in arm we stood, and I was thinking about what an amazing gift I had been given, traveling throughout the Middle East on my husband’s UN payroll.

Our guide explained how Palmyra had become an important caravanserai city 5,000 years ago because it was at the crossroads of commercial traffic plying between the Mediterranean coast and inland cities. Following a series of “watering holes” and caravanserai, the precious caravans of spices and jewels from India and silks and furs from China came through Palmyra first. It was part of the ancient Silk Road. This colorful, glorious pandemonium of caravans, camels, and horsemen rang in my ears as our guide talked animatedly.

After sunrise and a bite to eat back at our hotel, we toured the Temple of Baal, a huge structure with a great colonnade, and a Holy of Holies still in place. It was a replica of Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem, with the cosmic nature of the god Baal or Bel appearing on the soffits of the lintels. (This temple has recently been destroyed by Islamic militants). The word “Baal” is Semitic and means “master”, or “lord” and the temple would accommodate whoever was the high priest or “master” at the time. A statue of a gigantic eagle with outstretched wings stood against a background ceiling of blue stars. The eagle with outstretched wings is still a symbol of Syria today, and I was reminded of the parallels with Egyptian temples and tomb paintings.

Massive blocks of black basalt had been carved into sphinxes, lions, buffaloes, and men. The Hittite civilization had always intrigued me, and as I stared at the statue's eyes, something awakened in me. “I have known these characters before,” I kept whispering to myself. I turned a corner in the temple and came across a huge life-like statue of Saint George slaying the dragon. In this depiction, the dragon was not a dragon at all but a beautiful woman. My heart raced and I stopped dead in my tracks to have a second look. Like Medusa, snakes entwined her body, indicating she was a wise woman healer. What a gift! In her left upheld hand was a cauldron of black basalt stone representing her powers of transmutation and metamorphosis. I fell to my knees to honor her and all courageous women of the past.

We drove further north to Hamas on the Orontes River and here found the ancient wooden water wheels—50-60 foot wooden wheels still churning away, grunting and groaning as they did at the time of their construction, years ago. Very little water flowed. As they turned, they stirred up sickly-looking green water, and thoughts of fresh, clear, fast-flowing Canadian streams infiltrated my consciousness.  As I leaned over the rails, munching on the freshly baked pita bread I had purchased, I watched the wheels turning, and thought about the turning of the present wheel and that of yesteryear, feeling it all and wondering how and what would be “turning” for me, in Syria and planet Earth soon. I was reminded of the cosmic road we all travel on, the twelve energy forms we are tooled to fit into, taking us to great shifts in consciousness and that we are soon required to take the great leap of faith!

The Syrian men leaning on rails across the river stared at those of us who were blonde. If our husbands had not been present, their disgust for us western women would be shown by hissing at us. I had experienced this in Damascus when on a girls trip there a few months ago.

 

When I wandered off into the local souk, I came upon gorgeous handmade copper pots and tiny vessels made of intricately woven silver thread, and wandering deeper into the souk, I was suddenly surrounded by several women wearing hijab and niqab, and shopping for bras and sexy underwear in the underwear souk. As I turned to leave, one dark skinned woman approached me and touched my white skin ever so gently, all the time looking into my eyes. Her tenderness surprised yet delighted me. Me thinks she had not ever seen a western woman before and we connected on a deep soul level. By touching me she touched the western world, that she may ever only visit in her dreams. 

*To be continued.