wrathful empathies – An appalachian Saṃsāra

Lost Mungo_1

 

My wonderful daughter Rebecca was inspired by my book to create this short film.  It was submitted as a project for her Fine Arts major at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Self realization.  Realization of the universal self.

This is the journey we are all on.

Wrathful Empathies is a story that hopefully surprises you.

Is the net of Urizen real?  Is it made by him or us?

Hello,

Hopefully, you have read my first book by now and have come here because you want more.  Research has begun on book two.  My mind won’t let me start until I close out everything for the first book.  This means I have to figure out a marketing strategy.  I purchased an German application called Book2Look.  I could never figure it out.   I would love to shoot a  video explaining the book.  I spent a spectacular day hiking all around Harpers Ferry which turned out to be of no use whatsoever.    Specifically, I hiked to the cliff opposite the train tunnel.  I waited for a train to enter but my camera battery died as it approached.    Didn’t run into any Kindred but I did find my new favorite bar in town.  It used to be called “The Secret Six” tavern but is now called something else.  This was the site in my book where DB and Lynn meet Magda.

The working title of volume 2 of the trilogy is  Wrathful Empathies: The 14th Colony.  Time travelers will pay a visit to the mountainous frontier of 18th century America.  Can you guess who that will be?  Already, I am having trouble sleeping because the cast of characters are creating a racket in my brain late at night.  That is when they seem most active or my mind is quiet enough to hear them.  Their voices are insistent and impatient for the story to continue.  I think second book should be more fun to write than the first.  I plan to  follow many of the story lines from book one.   Dip back into our favorite characters, places and events.  A few new characters will emerge.  There is a great historical figure I want to insert in volume 2 but the real history timeline is a bit off.  He was called “The Maryland Monster” who depending on which side you were on,  terrorized the PA/MD border.  Like so many historical figures, they must be viewed in context of their time.

The pith helmet is resting comfortably on the middle shelf of my bookcase.  I get the sense that it is always watching me expectantly for another adventure.  Reminds me of my dog who gets incredibly excited  whenever I pick up his leash.   Clearly, going outside for a walk in the dark woods is something that not only I enjoy.

P.S.  Keep your eyes on the news, the Authority is alive and well.  The battle for freedom rages as I type.   Pray for the brave spirit travelers out there on the various paths today.  I suspect the wrathful empathies are working the dark plain countering the fear mongering of Urizen.

I start work soon on the second book of the Wrathful Empathies trilogy.   It is called “The 14th Colony.”  Maybe you heard about it from some weird corner of history.  It is about the proposed colony of Vandalia that was to be carved out of the mountainous frontier west of the Blue Ridge.   I picked this conceptual colony because it links directly to the Raid on Harpers Ferry.   Remember how West Virginia was created?   Imagine if this happened a hundred years earlier.  Mountain people and slavery never mixed very well.   I find the concept of Vandalia fascinating.  Had it actually occurred, how would this 14th colony have impacted legislature of our country and the slavery laws.  Intriguing to contemplate.   The 14th colony  encompassed what is now West Virginia, and small parts of south western Pennsylvania, far western Maryland  and south eastern Ohio depending on what source you read.  A place of misty hollows and rugged peaks.  It never actually took legal shape except in the minds of adventurers and speculators.  I populate it with the usual ghosts, audacious warriors, historical characters, the ever present spirit travelers and the terrible Maryland Monster.  The fight against Urizen continues in multiple dimensions.  Orc grows into a powerful man.  Vandalia becomes the new, or old, battleground of good versus evil.  The fact that it never materialized as a colony doesn’t mean it never existed to those who fought and died there.  Check in for updates.  Unlike my first book which was predominately written in Berryville, Virginia and scattered camp sites along the Blue Ridge, this book will be written mostly in Maryland.  In fact, I plan to kick it off during a prolonged camping trip in the Green Ridge State Forest.  It is located in Western Maryland where some of the historical action I plan to use actually took place.  I hike and camp there extensively.    It is a place I know very well.  In the words of Dr. Martin Shaw it has claimed me.  Sitting at my desk far away, I can still hear the wind whisper through the tall hemlocks that cling to the Fifteen Mile Creek bank and the high ridges of Green Ridge and Town Hill mountains.   I know it is a good place to write because it is enchanted with spirits and ghosts.  I have seen them.  Wish me luck.  Cheers.

 

As you can probably tell from reading my book, Wrathful Empathies, The 2nd Raid on Harpers Ferry, the story loosely follows William Blake’s poem entitled “America, A Prophecy.”   I decided to breath life into this old story by imagining  his mythological characters coming to life at the dawn of our nation and through its constant struggles to maintain human liberty.  Based on some historical truth, I take liberty to create a narrative where real life characters mix with figures of my imagination in a battle that rages across time and space.   Through a mixture of fictional, historical and fantastical persons, I propose an alternative history of America.  It is a tale of patriots never giving up the dream of a Republic where all men are free.  I mix in a bit of Tibetan Buddhism to add dimension to their struggle as characters who fight in multiple dimensions of reality, and, of course, always get a second, third or however many lives they need or want to continue the struggle.  You may get a bit confused trying to keep ghosts, aliens, historical and mythological characters separate.   Maybe that is not necessary.  Anyone who delves into this world is a brave reader.  The struggle continues because it is eternal and I try hard to describe that condition using several themes.  I encourage you to use your imagination to join me in pushing back against a veil of subterfuge which keeps us from a deeper understanding of what life is really all about.

Keep in touch.  Cheers.

Hope you are paying attention.  Liberty has suffered a major blow.    Wrathful Empathies are stirring.  Soon they will be raging across the darkened plains of the In Between.  Mosby’s men are still riding across the Blue Ridge of old.  They will strike unexpectedly and sink back into oblivion.  The Kindred are preparing a new raid.  The Golden Path is chock full of travelers.  A new mission is underway to visit important times, places and people in our history.  The Maryland Monster will spell everything out.