The Mistery of Belicena Villca
– Don ' t be afraid son-- the old man they called Naassene said in Arabic . No one will hurt you here . You are an envoy of the Serpent God , Ophis-Lucifer , whom we serve . It is proved by the Sign that you have marked for His Glory .
He gestured affectionately to me to allow being taken in his arms , in order to " show me the image of God ". I was really needing an affectionate treatment because those fanatics did not notice that I was a child . I hugged the old man and he started to walk to one end of the room --which turned out to be a basement-- where a column rose on whose pedestal shone a small highly polished stone sculpture . It was shaped like a cobra standing on its own with glittering eyes , perhaps due to the inlaying of stones of a more intense green . The image fascinated me and I would have touched it if the old man does not back off in time . – Did you like the image of God , " little envoy "? – said the Master . – Yes --I answered without knowing why . – You have the right to possess the jewel of the Order . – The Master continued while he rummaged in a fine leather pouch that he wore around his neck .
– Here it is ! – exclaimed the Naassene Master – it ' s the consecrated image of the Serpent God . To obtain it , men go through hard trials that sometimes carry them a lifetime . You , on the other hand , do not need to pass any test because you are bearer of the sign .
With a sharp dagger which he pulled from his belt , he cut a green cord from a bundle that hung on the wall and , threading the silver replica on a ribbon , he placed it on my neck . Then he looked me in the eye , so intensely that I have never been able to forget . Nor did I forget his words , the ones that he spoke very loudly , ritually . He held me with his left arm and raised me to be seen by all , while with the index of the right hand he pointed to the Serpent God . He said this :
– Initiates of the Liberator Serpent ! Followers of the Serpent of Uncreated Light ! Worshipers of the Avenging Serpent ! Behold the Bearer of the Sign of the Origin ! To who can understand the Serpent with his Sign ; to who can obtain the Highest Wisdom that is given to know the Man of Mud ! In the interior of this Divine child , in the bosom of the eternal Spirit , the Sign of the Enemy of the Creator and of Creation is present , the Symbol of the Origin of our God and of all the Spirits imprisoned in Matter . And that Symbol of the Origin has manifested in the Sign that we , and no one else , have been able to see : Divine child ; he will be able to understand the Serpent from the inside ! But we , thanks to him , to his liberating Sign , have understood it outside , and now nothing can stop us ! – Yes , Yes . We can leave now ! – The unrestrained Ophite Initiates shouted in chorus . Minutes passed and everything calmed down in the shelter of the Ophite Order . The Arabs were engaged in some kind of preparation , and I , enthusiastic about the serpentine gift and reassured by the good treatment of the Naassene Master , did not distrust when he brought me a glass of soda mint . A few minutes later I fell prey to a deep slumber , surely because of a narcotic put into the drink .
When I woke up I was with my parents , in the British Sanatorium of Cairo , together with a doctor in a white coat , who was vainly trying to convince them that I was simply sleeping .
Over the years , I rebuilt the actions that led to my release . Apparently the Chief of Police moved quickly , fearing that the kidnapping of a member of the wealthy and influential Von Sübermann family , conclude with a purge in the Police Department whose head --would be the first to roll-- was him . Through confidants , beggars , vagrants or mere witnesses , they learned without a doubt that the perpetrators of the kidnapping were the fanatical members of the millenary Gnostic " Ophite " Order , considered harmless and even very wise .
This initially puzzled the policemen , who could not reach to glimpse the motive for the kidnapping but , following some clues , reached the Naassene Master ' s house . The Arabs , in the euphoria to transport me there , had behaved recklessly , penetrating all together in the middle of screams and exclamations . A beggar , an eyewitness to the strange procession , so eager to earn the reward my family had offered , as to avoid the police batons , gave the details of the house where the kidnappers entered . This was surrounded by the authorities , but , as no one responded to the calls , it was proceeded to force the door , finding a humble home , totally empty of people . Upon careful inspection , it was discovered , concealed under a carpet , the trap door that led , by means of a mouldy stone stairway , to the buried temple of the Serpent God .
A macabre spectacle surprised those present because , lying on a silk cushion , my lifeless body lay surrounded by corpses with a convulsed expression that , as a last gesture , directed the rigid arms towards me . All the kidnappers had died with cobra venom . The Naassene Master and the idol had vanished . The impression received by the newcomers was very bad because they thought I was dead too , but they immediately came out of their mistake and I was transported to the British Sanatorium along with my parents .
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