Through the Gate of Dreams Chapter 7:2

Finally, torches fitted in holders along the walls light the way to the temple’s central chamber.  The familiar strong sweet honey and vanilla perfume drifts in the air.  It evokes a sense of mystery and seduction.  Hmm?  The scent of those orchids is masking, hiding another scent, a very ancient scent.  It is the scent of blood and excrement.  Yuck.  But, it’s hard to really concentrate on the non-visual right now.  The sight before me overwhelms all else.  Behind a large altar is a raised platform.  On that dais lies a woman.  She must be the head honcho here.  On an ebony couch with legs carved in the shape of cat’s paws, this Goddess reclines.  My guide departs.  Curled up against the back of her throne-like couch; the Goddess’s green eyes intently fix upon me.

Her face captures my eye.  It’s the color of a polished mirror.  I check the rest of her out.  Wow.  What I see sings a song that bypasses my brain and awakens a part of my anatomy that is way more primal and it’s very happy to be seeing her.  Her neck and shoulders are reflective night black, her right arm and the right side of her upper torso are stark white, while her left arm and the left side of her upper torso is sunset red.  From her hips down her skin is the color of ocean blue.  What I thought were wispy clothes is nothing of the sort.  She wears no clothes at all!  Gray smoke coils around her body offering a modicum of covering.  The swirling smoke doesn’t quite conceal her bountiful double-D charms and curvaceous form.  All she needs is a staple through her navel and she’d be the ultimate Playboy centerfold.

She glistens with reflected torchlight.  Her hair is the color of primordial midnight.  It pours all the way down her back to the base of her spine.  Her lips are scarlet red and around her neck is a turquoise and silver necklace of small skulls.  Around her left arm is a living silver serpent with turquoise colored eyes.  Lastly, I notice her long, carefully manicured fingernails and toenails, which are also painted blood red.

“Come closer Lamont,” she purrs.

From the moment I gazed upon her, I’ve had a sense of déjà vu.  That feeling becomes even stronger with the sound of her voice.  That
voice makes the simplest words sound like rapturous poetry.  I was right.  That voice is the one from my dreams.  That explains the déjà vu.  I approach as I was asked.  The closer I get the better she looks.  Wow!  I can’t help myself, I’m just starring and ogling her, focusing all my attention on her, looking deep into her eyes, deeper and deeper into her gold green eyes, her eyes are like the sun streaming through deep woods...

Huh.  What just happened?  I lost it for a second.  At least I hope it was only a second.  Have I’ve been standing here like some silly kid with my jaw hanging out and just staring at her?  Though, she isn’t looking at me like I’ve been doing anything stupid.  If I didn’t know better, I think she is pleased to see me.

“We are called Tezcatlipoca,” she recites.  Once we were worshipped by many peoples in what you know as Mexico and Central America.  Our worshipped ceased when a rabble of people, came to our land for mere plunder.  You, my dearest Corazon, are a descendant of those Spaniards who came with that Cortez in the year 1521, according to the reckoning of years by your God.  They butchered our beautiful people, the Aztecs.  In the ancient tongue of the Aztec’s our name means Smoking Mirror.”

I bow before her.  “My name is Lamont Corazon, and if what you say is true, then in the name of my ancestor, I apologize for their brutally.  It is wrong for one people to slaughter another.  I have come to ask Tez-cat-lee-poca.  Hmmm...  That’s a mouthful.  How about I’ll call you Tezcat, for the sake of simplicity.  Tezcat, would you really aid a young woman who has lost her true love?”

“Why did you come to us seeking aid?  Why did you not go to the temples of the Sun King or the Moon Queen?”

Hmm?  She seems disingenuous asking this question.  “To tell you the truth, I don’t know.  I was drawn here and so here I stand.”

“That is as it should be.  Lamont Corazon.  You followed the callings of your heart.  Your heart heard the silent song that we sung.  Yes, we have chosen you well.  This Jon and Lana have served us well. No longer do you need to be concerned with them. Their purpose to us is at an end.”

“Chosen?  Served you?  That’s what you keep telling me.  How about filling me in.  What does this all mean?”

“You will serve us.”

“How?  Why?  Whom are you talking about?  Who will serve you?  Me or Jon and Lana?”

“All have served us.  All will serve us when the stars are right.  All will be made clear when the time for clarity has arrived.  You need not concern yourself with such things now.”

“Fine.  Be, mysterious.  Hmm.  So that’s what’s been going on.  The singing that I heard was yours.  Hmm?  I’ve also heard some rather scary laughter in my dreams.  Do you know who, or what, was making that sound?”

Tezcatlipoca laughs, “That was us.”

 “Did you mean to frighten me off?”

“No.  Only to test you.  To make sure you were up to the challenges that lie ahead.  Do you not think there have not been others before you?  You were not the first we have so tested, Lamont Corazon, but you are the last.  You have shown bravery for one so young.  You chose bravely of your own free will to venture into Dreamland and come to us.  This is as it should be.  Consent is the foundation of all things of consequence.”

“I thank you, your Highness.  I am deeply honored by your attention and efforts on my behalf.”

“In Dreamland much is controlled by us.  We are the voice of the divine will known as Ometeol.  That which is not controlled by us is made through the efforts of mortal minds.  Mortal minds who have dreamed collectively and individually, they have all shaped this realm.  Sadly, as visions fade or die, as beliefs are no longer adhered to, what was, slowly evaporates like mist before the heat of the dawning new day and lie in death dreaming.  One day soon, we will again be acknowledged.  We will again be worshipped as is our right.”

“I appreciate the civics lesson, but I’m not getting all this, what does it all have to do with me?  Why have you called to me?  What needs were you referring to, that I may fill?”

“You may ask, but this is not the time of clarity.  When that time comes round, we may choose to so inform you.  What we will tell you, is what we have been telling you all along.  You are the chosen one.  Your great destiny is through us.  Your first test was to seek to help the young female, Lana Ramona and her young male, Jon Dale, to desire to find him and to venture to dreamland. This you have done.  Your next test was to follow these whispers in your heart, which led you to us. This you have also done. As I said, those two young mortals need not concern you any further. Know this for a certainty; you are the chosen, the one who is the opener of the way.  Let this be an anchor to you in times of doubt.  Let this be a lodestone to guide you upon the paths before you.  The only way you can help them is to open up the gate between the worlds.  You must believe that what we are telling you this day is the absolute truth.  By accepting, and accomplishing this challenge your true destiny will be revealed.”

Again, somebody who only gives teasing morsels of information.  “Okay, I’ll take up the challenge, but could I get a little hint as to Jon’s whereabouts? “

“It is through our will that this Jon crossed through from the Waking World into the Dreamland.  There are many points of intersection of the two realms, and he stumbled through the one located in the place you call the Golden Gate Park in your city of San Francisco.”

“Do you mean that at these intersections one could physically cross over from Waking World to this Dreamland?”


“Yes, but only at auspicious times, or under auspicious circumstances.  The gate that opened and that Jon passed through will open again in accordance with its making in a hundred of your years hence.”

“A hundred years.  That’s way too long to wait!  How can I find a means to open the gate sooner?  Is this possible?”

“The answer is yes, it is possible.  That is why you were chosen.  The secret of the opening will come to you in visions that we will bestow upon you.”

“Why did you do this?  Why did you make Jon go through the Gate?  What purpose did Lana and Jon’s anguish serve?”
 
“You are here.  A great purpose you are serving and will serve.  That is all you need to understand.  Later when the time is at hand, we will speak to you then concerning such matters.  As for now, you need not concern yourself further with this matter. Know only this, you must find a way to open the gate, that is imperative,” Tezcatlipoca pontificates.

“For this task I was chosen, yeah, I’m getting the message loud and clear.  If I get this gate to open, then Jon will be able to get back to Lana, is that it?”
​
“All will be made clear in its time.”