A Separate Reality

On a warm Sunday morning in June, I was sitting in the garden of Bistro Aquarella, gazing dreamily at the sea and Meropi, the small island off the coast. I have been here, to Aquarella, a lot since I moved to Greece. This cafe in picturesque Kardamyli is located right by the sea and has a subtle inspirational effect on me. The calming waves and the deep blue of the Mediterranean complement the bistro’s shady garden to create a place of natural tranquillity. This place always gives me a feeling of inner peace and deep gratitude.

I was once again immersed in this paradisiacal state when a young woman approached and said to me, ‘Excuse me, you’re Richard Neubersch, aren’t you?’

I looked at her in bewilderment. She was pretty and looked me in the face with confidence.

‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘How do you know that? Hardly anyone here knows me, let alone my surname.’

‘I saw a picture of you on your website. May I sit with you?’

She didn’t wait for an answer, but sat elegantly in the armchair to my left.

‘Pretty cheeky,’ I thought. I said, slightly amused, ‘Oh, please, don’t hesitate! Please sit down next to me! What would you like to drink?’

She grinned at me and replied, ‘I’d love a double Ellenico Metrio.’­­­

Christina, the pretty waitress, must have been watching us and looked at me questioningly. I asked her for a double Greek coffee with a little sugar. She nodded knowingly and disappeared again.

‘And who are you?’

‘My name is Carinda, Mr. Neubersch. Of course you don’t know me yet. But you met my aunt about a year ago.’

‘Uh-huh?’

‘She met you at your exhibition stand in Würzburg last year and asked you a lot about your products and technology. Do you remember? She also asked you if you would visit her.’

It didn’t take me long to realize which woman she was talking about. I remembered immediately because she left a lasting impression on me.

I replied, ‘Yes, I remember her. She was very self-confident and very interested. I thought it was strange at the time that she wouldn’t tell me her name and where she lived, even though she asked if I would visit her. Does she live right here in Greece? That would be a nice coincidence, wouldn’t it?’

‘Yes,’ she replied, ‘you could say she lives nearby. When would you be willing to visit her? Could it be today or do you already have plans?’

‘Oops, young lady! Not so fast!’

‘Why not? The day is still young.’

I thought about it. It was Sunday and I had no plans. Why not? I agreed and she asked me to follow her, clearly delighted.

‘Wait a minute! I have to pay first.’ I quickly ran to the waitress, paid and was already at the exit when I heard, ‘Hello, sir! You’ve left your phone behind!’ I felt my pants. Indeed! No phone. I ran back and thanked the friendly gentleman at the next table.

‘You can leave your phone in the car. You won’t need it,’ advised my kidnapper.

‘And if you do?’ I asked pompously.

‘There’s no reception here. You’d just get frustrated!’ was her reply.

‘But for photos!’ I interjected.

‘No photos.’ She grinned.

‘All right,’ I agreed and asked, ‘Aren’t we going by car? Where is your car? We can drive mine too.’

‘We’ll take the boat.’ She pointed to the small harbour, which was only fifty metres from the Aquarella.

A simple boat was moored there. It was the size of the small fishing boats that are common here. But it looked much more modern and was admired by a few tourists who stood on the quay and watched us curiously.

Because I hesitated a little, Carinda said, ‘Go on, get in!’

As soon as I was in the boat, the engine started and we chugged into the open sea. After a short time, however, the engine stopped and I looked at my companion, puzzled. She reassured me, ‘Don’t worry! We’ll keep going.’

I leaned over the edge of the boat and looked into the water. Indeed! We were gliding silently through the waves. I looked up in amazement. No sails.

‘I guess you call that free energy,’ she said with a grin. ‘I’m delighted that you’ve accepted, Richard. I can call you by your first name, can’t I? We’re all on first-name terms here on the island.’

‘Yes, of course! With pleasure!’ I replied. ‘So we’re going to an island?’

‘Yes, we’ll be right there.’

Full of anticipation, I scanned the sea in all directions as far as the horizon. I wondered where there might be an island here.

My gaze wandered to Carinda and lingered on her. She must have been in her mid-thirties and looked outrageously attractive. Her summery, knee-length dress blew happily in the breeze, as did her long blonde hair. Her face was exceptionally graceful. It not only conveyed external beauty, but also revealed to me her inner depth. My eyes scanned her body. Any fashion designer would be willing to spend a fortune on her as a model. Her long legs and slender ankles and calves promised a visual treat for the man who would have the privilege of seeing this woman undressed.

As soon as I had this thought in my head, she turned to me and looked at me in a challenging way. I blushed because I felt that she had somehow caught me out.

She pointed ahead and said, ‘Look!’

 

* * *

 

The sea opened up in front of me. Yes, I have to describe it like that, because that’s exactly what it looked like. As if by magic, all the waves were suddenly wiped away, vanished into thin air, and an island became visible in front of me.

Carinda noticed my confusion and explained, ‘Our protective hologram has just dissolved for us. The island is invisible to the outside world and no one knows about it. You are one of the few who can see it. Welcome to Libidos!’

‘What now?’ I simply couldn’t think of a more intelligent question. My mind was wiped clean. ‘I don’t understand,’ I barely managed to get out. How could it be that large parts of the sea disappeared before my eyes and a huge island became visible in its place? Protective hologram or not, that’s impossible!

‘My aunt will explain everything to you in detail,’ said Carinda.

We had now docked in the harbour and with a gesture she instructed me to leave the boat. We took the main path that led uphill from the harbour past small houses. Carinda walked alongside me. Every time I turned around, fascinated, to take another look at this idyll, she waited with a smile. She seemed to enjoy my admiration of this little harbour town. All the houses that lined the harbour were made of terracotta and had pyramid-shaped roofs that glistened in the sunlight. All the other houses further away were also terracotta pyramids with similar glittering caps. Between the houses, I could see lush gardens that glowed with colour.

‘It’s beautiful, Carinda,’ I gushed.

She smiled and said, ‘I’m glad you like it here. Shall we go on to the palace?’

‘To the palace?’ I wondered and asked, ‘To which palace?’

This was getting more and more surreal. I stared at her, completely confused. At the same time, I felt a strange sense of joy that I had never experienced before. Do you perhaps remember the feeling of anticipation you had as a child before receiving presents? It felt similar for me, only much more intense and with lots of butterflies in my stomach.

I heard Carinda say, ‘Yes, my aunt is the Queen of Libidos. Her real name is Marvella, but we all affectionately call her Mara.’

I felt completely overwhelmed. This island that nobody knows about, with one of the most picturesque little harbours I had ever seen and with glittering pyramids all around me, had already blown all my expectations out of the water. Hearing that the woman I met in Würzburg was the queen of this island didn’t make it any better for my otherwise clear mind. On top of that, I remembered Carinda’s remark that few people from outside had ever visited the island before. I did what I always do in moments that unsettle me. I clung to my mantra: ‘Don’t act, just feel.’

I didn’t pay attention to all the beautiful things on the way to the palace. I was too preoccupied with my feelings. My body automatically ran alongside Carinda, steadily uphill. Only after a bend did I lose my inner focus, because there was a large but simple building in front of us. Despite its inconspicuousness, it was impressively elegant with a strange aesthetic.

‘The palace!’ Carinda exclaimed. Her voice revealed that the ascent had taken her breath away as it had mine.

I looked around with interest. I couldn’t see any guards or servants anywhere. When we got to the entrance area, part of the wall dissolved into nothing, revealing the way inside. Another hologram, I thought, as another wall opened and we entered a room that wasn’t made up of four walls, but was completely round. I estimated its diameter to be about twenty metres. I peered upward into a dome of pleasantly warm light. In the centre of the room was a comfortable seating area where the person I vaguely recognized as the woman who had stood opposite me at the congress a year earlier was sitting.

 

* * *

 

‘Mara,’ said Carinda, ‘here he is. I thought it was great that he came along spontaneously. Thank you for putting me in charge.’ She bowed and left the room without me being able to say goodbye to her.

‘You’re very welcome, Richard! I can call you that, can’t I? I’m sure Carinda has already explained that we’re all on first-name terms here? My name is Mara!’

‘Yes, of course, Mara. I feel honoured,’ I replied, slightly unsettled, and added, ‘Above all, I’m totally surprised to have ended up in a palace. I would never have guessed that when we were talking in Würzburg. Not to mention the island, which nobody knows or has ever visited. Why me of all people?’

I really had no explanation for being here. Why was I here? Why is a queen receiving me and what does she want from me? Is she even a queen? She was only wearing a simple white dress that reached down to the floor. With her hair tied back in a bun, she didn’t exactly make a regal impression on me.

‘You’re wondering why you’re here and what I want from you, Richard. Or do you want me to call you pumpkin?’

My breath caught in my throat. How could she know about this? Only my mother had called me pumpkin.

‘Don’t be surprised. We on Libidos have abilities that are actually also available to you out there. But the difference is that you are no longer aware of their existence and it takes a little practice to make them your own. For example, we can read minds and communicate with each other without words by opening ourselves up to our counterpart in the spiritual field. We can easily retrieve any desired information from the spiritual field and send information just as easily. You are very familiar with such things.’

In principle, this was nothing new to me, as this knowledge was part of everyday life in our company. It corresponded to my world view and understanding of augmented reality. So I replied, ‘It kind of makes sense to me. I just didn’t know that there was a people who used these abilities as a matter of course. But that doesn’t answer my question. Why did you invite me? Do you want to harmonize the whole island?’

‘No, Richard. I wasn’t interested in Swiss Harmony when I was in Würzburg, but in you,’ she replied.

‘Me, why me?’ Now I was curious.

‘Let me first explain where you are here,’ Mara began. ‘We call ourselves Archicans because we have retained our originality. We only still exist because we have kept ourselves hidden from the rest of the world for many thousands of years. If we hadn’t done this, we would have been so heavily influenced by your society, whether Western or Eastern, that we would have lost our state of being too.’

I asked, ‘What is your state of being? Can you lose your state of being? What do you mean by that?’

Mara replied, ‘No one loses their state of being. Every living being, whether plant, animal or human, has a self-perception that determines its state of being. It depends on what quality it has. In humans, the quality is enhanced by individual consciousness and free will. This makes us special creatures on this planet. But it is also free will that can lead us more and more away from the state of being of the perfect being that we were created to be. And that is exactly what has been happening in your world for many thousands of years.’

Your words could have been mine. I have long been convinced that we are being kept stupid as a collective.

‘That makes sense to me,’ I agreed. ‘That’s been my talking point for some time. I always say that we’ve all been brought up with misconceptions and supposed truths. They have been passed down to us from generation to generation and when we are born, we learn the current social conventions in the form of rules of conduct in moral, ethical and aesthetic terms. At school, we usually only learn untruths that are indoctrinated into us as so-called sciences. As a result, we lose contact with our actual divine essence, if we ever had it at all. To make matters worse, nowadays we are completely lulled into a deep sleep by television programmes, social media and the omnipresent high frequencies.’

‘You’ve described it well. It really is like that. The result is that you live like eagles in a henhouse. You collectively believe you are chickens and behave like chickens because you no longer know you are eagles.’

‘And you’re the eagles?’ I asked, a little provocatively.

Mara remained unimpressed and replied, ‘Just like you. The difference is that we know it and live like eagles.’

She was undoubtedly right. I had often used a similar example myself. I always spoke of lions among sheep. But now I wanted to know why I was here. So I persisted and said, ‘That’s very interesting, Mara. We could talk about it for hours. However, I still don’t understand what gave me the honour of being on your island. Carinda told me that there was rarely anyone here from outside. So why me?’

Mara seemed to be hesitating and thinking. I didn’t take my eyes off her. Then her face lit up and she asked, ‘Oh, forgive me, Richard! I didn’t even offer you a seat. We don’t have to discuss all this standing up. Why don’t you sit down? And I didn’t offer you anything to drink either. How inattentive of me! Can I get you a coffee or something else?’

How obviously she was avoiding an answer! Slightly irritated, I replied, ‘Coffee would be nice. Please tell me why I have the feeling you’re finding it difficult to answer?’

She sat down on a sofa and gestured for me to sit next to her.

A young man appeared out of nowhere and served me coffee. Mara had ordered a tea for herself. Everything works non-verbally here. She waited until he disappeared again and began, ‘It’s true, Richard, it’s difficult for me to answer at the moment. But I will do my best to answer at least part of your question.’

She paused, watching me drink my coffee. Only after I put my cup down and fixed her with a prompting look did she continue, ‘Look, I’m sure it hasn’t escaped your notice that you are not only exceptionally intelligent, but you also have a spiritual understanding that has made you stand out from the crowd in recent years. You know today that you are not separate from what you humans call God. You live without fear and always strive to keep your small, individual self in check. In fact, you no longer even need to make an effort, because you immediately notice when your ego wants to interfere. You give yourself over to life without having your own plan or goals. Your only desire is to live in harmony with the cosmic order.’

‘It’s exciting that you mention the cosmic order. I was talking to a friend about that a few days ago,’ I replied, fascinated.

‘I know,’ said Mara. ‘I made sure you had such a lively conversation about this subject. Christina has very good intuition.’

‘It was you?’ I couldn’t believe my ears and how did she know her name? Christina, a good friend from Berlin, had visited me in Kardamyli last weekend. We had exchanged a lot of ideas and insights. One of the main topics was the divine order. Was it all staged?

So I asked her, ‘If that was you, then I wonder what else you’ve staged.’

‘I’d like to tell you that, because it’s part of my answer to your question. I have to go into quite a lot of detail. First of all, you need to know that we are in constant contact with alien species. Decades ago, we were asked by one of these species to keep an eye on you because you are one of the souls that belongs to them.’

‘What?’ I couldn’t believe my ears. ‘Now it’s getting really weird, Mara. You expect me to believe that?’ A kind of mental paralysis made any further thought impossible.

‘As crazy as it may sound to you, Richard, it’s the truth.’

I looked at her helplessly. I could see clarity and compassion in her eyes. I was in a state of shock. Mara waited. She seemed to know exactly what chaos was going on inside me.

Where do I come from? Who am I really? Do I even know myself? Who is thinking here right now? And what is the point of all this anyway? It made no sense.

Mara smiled and said gently, ‘I realize this must come as a shock to you, but I know you can handle it. Give yourself time. Slowly but surely, you will be able to identify more and more with your true origins, and your original knowledge will come back to you. You don’t need it at the moment. The time will come.’

Her words relaxed me. A thought occurred to me, which I immediately threw at her: ‘When exactly were you asked?’

Mara replied, ‘About forty years ago.’

I wanted to know more and asked, ‘But why did they ask you in the first place?’

‘We were told that at the age of twenty-seven you could be in danger of being lost to them because you sold your company for a lot of money at that time. At such moments, a person can become completely addicted to Mammon. Experience has shown that he is usually no longer available for the higher levels of the divine order.’

I replied thoughtfully, ‘I remember that time well. I had this big cheque in my pocket and thought I had made it. But at the same time, I felt fear coming up and I wondered what it really takes to be happy.’

‘See?’ Mara asked with a grin, waiting for the penny to drop for me.

‘That was you?’ I asked incredulously.

She just nodded and continued, ‘Yes, that was us. Later, we also had a hand in it when you split up with your first wife. Can’t you remember the applause that night? We were so proud of you.’

I remembered the night I confessed to my wife that I wanted to separate from her. It was dramatic and at the same time I was sure I was doing the right thing because I felt as if all my spiritual helpers were applauding.

‘That wasn’t fair!’ I replied indignantly.

Now I felt like a puppet, a plaything of other people’s forces in my own life. Anger turned into rage, which Mara noticed immediately.

‘Stop!’ she ordered sternly. ‘Don’t allow such feelings. Your ego feels betrayed. Your little self feels offended and disempowered. Remind your ego to serve you and not play the diva.’

That was helpful. I made the decision to calm down and my excitement quickly subsided.

She continued, ‘Do you think this all happened without your consent? You thought wrong. According to our clients, before your great journey, you pledged to fulfil your task at all costs, come what may. You authorized them to take corrective action should your mission be jeopardized.’

‘Interesting,’ I remarked and asked, ‘and why don’t I know anything about this and this mission?’ Something new again. A mission! My ego was preparing to jump again when Mara replied, ‘Because it was about you remaining unrecognized until a certain point on this earth. To do this, it was necessary that not even you yourself were allowed to know who you were.’

My ego relaxed again and I said, ‘Well, Mara, that’s pretty strong stuff and raises countless questions. The most important one is certainly: what is my mission? I’d just as soon know why you brought me here.’

‘All in good time,’ Mara replied. ‘We’ll have lunch together in an hour. Then I’ll introduce you to some more women and men from Libidos. But now it’s time for love. Let’s go to my bedroom!’

She stood up. I remained demonstratively seated. Did I hear correctly? Time for love? Bedroom?

‘Wait a minute! What do you mean?’

Mara was already on her way to one of the far walls. She turned around and smiled mischievously.

‘You have the church services. We have something else. What you call God is actually cosmic love for us. For this reason, we honour our God in a daily ritual of love.’

It’s getting more and more beautiful! But not with me!

‘Yes, but I hardly know you and who told you that I want sex now? Don’t I have a say in that too?’

The mischievousness in her smile had taken on a strangely seductive charm. Her words were firm and authoritative: ‘No, you didn’t! Libidos is a matriarchy. Do you know what that means?’

‘Explain it to me!’ I replied defiantly.

‘Here at Libidos, we women rule. You will learn to obey every woman. Did you hear that? Every woman! And for as long as you are on our island, my dear!’

‘For me, Libidos is the island that drives me from one shock to the next,’ I replied and stood up, ‘and this is probably the most intense. I want to go back immediately. Find someone else for your ritual!’ I turned away and looked for the exit.

‘Richard!’ she called out in a sharp tone. I paused, but didn’t turn to face her.

‘Listen to me!’ Her voice was softer again now. ‘I realize that your world view has collapsed several times today. It must be very hard for you. I’m sure you’re very confused. But don’t act impulsively; face up to the gifts life has to offer. How can you turn away from something you don’t know? I wish you would turn around and come to me.’

I decided to give in to her wish. She was right. After all, my philosophy of life was to be grateful for everything that exists and not to say no to life. What could I possibly lose? Now I was facing her again. If I had just perceived her as a conversationalist with no female attributes, I now had a completely different perception of her. Unbelievable! I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

Her skin seemed to glow a delicate shade of gold. Where did it suddenly come from? Why hadn’t I noticed anything like that before? I hadn’t even noticed her feminine curves until just now. Now, they had a strong attraction that drew me in like a promising invitation. It was pure magic in its most beautiful form. Without being able to think about it any longer, I followed her without resistance as she took my hand and pulled me through the now open wall.

In front of us was a large reclining landscape with white blankets and cushions. The sides were adorned with fragrant lily arrangements and on the opposite side I recognized a life-size nude made of light marble.

The light was subdued and took on a blue hue in the back of the room.

Mara, the Queen of Libidos, was now standing in front of me again, undressing with elegant movements, fluidly and completely naturally.

And her charisma! Divine was probably the most appropriate term at that moment, which made me forget all sense of time.

‘Mara,’ I stammered uncertainly.

Completely naked, she took a step closer and began to undress me very slowly. She spoke with gentle words:

‘Here on Libidos, the worship of love is the highest ritual of our people. The most important thing you need to know is that it is not about your physical urges. While sexuality is the force that will magnetize us into union, we do not focus on it. Think of it like your ego, which you don’t let become a diva, but make yourself a servant. It’s the same with your sexuality, which enables you to unite but doesn’t become the dominant drive.’

I stood naked and erect in front of her. She lovingly pulled me on to the oversized bed and added in her enchanting voice, ‘You see, your erection is a completely natural reaction to my charisma. It’s not really my perfect breasts, my slender legs or any other external forms, but it’s the frequency of my inner being, which I have now completely and uncompromisingly tuned to devotion to love. It stimulates the same frequency in you and because you have already learned to surrender unconditionally in your life, you can answer me. Don’t think, don’t worry, surrender to my energy and just let yourself fall!’

And I fell …

 

* * *

 

I opened my eyes. Where was I? It was so quiet. I was lying naked on the bed and remembered that Mara had got up at some point after giving me one last kiss, which I could still feel on my lips. I must have fallen asleep.

What an experience! Mara had reduced everything I thought I knew about sexuality to absurdity. In that hour, I had come closer to realizing my own divinity than ever before. No, stop! That’s not all. There was more. But what? I probably had to sort myself out first. Inwardly. It wasn’t enough that I was gathering my socks, I was also looking inside myself for direction. I didn’t really succeed. What remained was the certainty that I never wanted to experience sexuality the way I used to.

I got dressed, sat on the edge of the bed and tried to find words for what was happening without words. Inner images emerged. Images for which I had no description. No thoughts, no words, just images. Honey is the only word that comes to mind when I think back to the erotic tension that was clearly created by Mara’s dominating charisma. The sweet reward of complete surrender to the feminine left me absolutely will-less as every cell in me greedily drank in her love. It was cosmic. Did we even still exist as individuals? Were we not rather dissolved in cosmic honey? Yes, that fit best, even if it may sound corny overall, but this metaphor does the experience the most justice.

I got up and went to the spot on the wall where we entered the room. Nothing happened. I stepped even closer to the wall. No reaction.

I sat back down on the bed. I knew that I would be looked after. And that’s what happened. As soon as I sat down, the door opened as if by magic and Carinda entered.

‘I’m sorry, Richard, that you had to stand in front of a closed door. We haven’t explained to you how our doors work. It’s quite simple. You walk up to the door and are absolutely certain that it will open.’

I replied, ‘I thought I did the same. After all, I watched the doors open for you.’

Carinda explained, ‘Yes, you can draw the wrong conclusions from that. You need to know two things: firstly, you need to be in harmony with the door. You can only have this if it belongs to you; that is, if it is in your own house or if you feel authorized, namely invited, to go through a certain door. That’s why no unauthorized person can enter our rooms. The best way to explain the second is as follows: imagine you want to drink a cup of coffee. So you take the cup and put it to your mouth. And now I ask you: have you thought about whether your arm and hand are making the right movements? Of course not. They are following your clear, unadulterated intention. It’s the same with our doors. Let’s practise it! Do you want to try?’

‘Sure, it will work now!’ Her explanation made perfect sense to me. I’d love to have doors like that in my home too.

I walked towards the door and it opened. ‘Why didn’t it work the first time?’ I asked. ‘I was expecting it to open too. What was different now?’

‘The first time, you still had doubts because you were unfamiliar with such doors and couldn’t be sure exactly how they worked. This tiny uncertainty caused minimal frequency anomalies and the door remained closed for you.’

‘That makes sense,’ I confirmed. ‘I actually had a slight insecurity.’

While we were talking, we walked through the room I already knew to the opposite side and an area flooded with sunlight opened up, the outer sides and ceiling of which were made entirely of glass. I was mesmerized by the view. Deep below us lay the open sea. I could see ships in the distance and a small island off the coast.

 

* * *

 

‘Welcome to the Council of Elders of Libidos, Richard!’ Mara’s voice interrupted my astonishment. Only now did I notice her standing in front of a large, round table with roughly ten people sitting around it. She approached me.

‘The Council of Elders is already well informed about your visit and your origins,’ Mara continued. She took my arm and led me to one of the chairs next to her. ‘You’ll soon find that you’re already familiar with several of the people here. Let yourself be surprised!’

Smiling benevolently, she sat down on the neighbouring chair. Carinda took a seat at my other side.

Slightly unsettled, I said, ‘Hello! I’m a little confused, but I’m happy to be here.’ Benevolent nod.

I sat down and looked around with interest. Council of Elders my arse! Here were attractive young women and agile young men sitting side by side with older people.

Mara read my mind again, because she said, ‘You might be surprised to find young people in the Council of Elders. You should know that we’re all much older here than you might imagine. Look at Kerstin, for example, who you noticed right at the beginning.’

Her name was Kerstin? Really? What’s going on here and why had she noticed that she actually caught my eye immediately?

‘Yes, Kerstin. She doesn’t look quite like your Kerstin, but very similar, doesn’t she?’

I nodded.

‘How old do you think she is?’

She looked to be in her mid-thirties. ‘Thirty-five?’ I asked.

‘Not quite. She was born almost two hundred years ago,’ she replied with a grin.

‘And I’m supposed to believe that? You’re pulling my leg!’

‘No, Richard! Remember: we are eagles, not chickens. Eagles decide on their own ageing process and leave this physical plane when they feel the time is right. Some of the older people around this table are five hundred years old and ensure that we are always in tune with the divine vibrational frequency. They are the guardians of truth, so to speak.’

‘I thought something like that only existed in ancient myths and creation stories,’ I remarked in amazement.

‘All your myths actually have a realistic reference,’ she replied. ‘Here on Libidos you will realize that they are true, because we live in the spirit of the old myths. We have retained our knowledge and skills.’

To my right, I heard someone say, ‘Richard, do you know why you’re here?’ I looked back at him and saw the friendly face of an older gentleman with a full head of white hair. I guessed he was about sixty.

‘Not really,’ I replied. ‘I just know that I was invited by your queen. Since my arrival, I’ve had so many surprises and had to deal with so much information that I haven’t had time to think about it yet.’ I continued, ‘However, I have already asked Mara, but she still owes me the answer.’

‘Well, you can call me Nicholas. I’ve been with you since you turned twenty-seven. You know me from your inner dialogues with me.’

In fact, many years ago I had visited a medium to whom a being called Nicholas introduced himself as my spiritual guide. Since then, I had always had inner conversations with him in difficult life situations and his answers were invariably comforting and encouraging. The way it worked was that I simply typed my questions to him into my diary and then entered the words that came to mind. They invariably turned out to be a reliable guide to life. In recent years, however, my life had been so pleasant that I’ve felt no need to ask Nicholas.

‘You are my beloved Nicholas? I haven’t spoken to you for a long time. I’m sorry about that!’ I replied.

‘Why should you feel sorry for me? I’m not here to be entertained by you. Everything is fine. On the contrary: I have watched with great joy how your life has developed towards divine order. Your lifestyle and the way you have built and shaped Swiss Harmony is a prime example of human development for all of us here. That’s why Mara came to see you at the environmental congress. She wanted to get to know you personally and see for herself that you live in harmony with the truth.’

I hesitated a little and then said, ‘Actually, I should be happy now, but I don’t feel joy, I feel sadness.’

‘Why do you think you can feel them?’ Nicholas asked, sensitively.

I felt inside myself and tried to analyse where my sadness was coming from. But my head didn’t want to work. Then I heard myself say, ‘Because so many other people don’t get it right and suffer instead.’

Nicholas then said, ‘You see, this is where you show your true self. Your true self knows that we are all one and that is why you feel boundless empathy for the countless souls who are still trapped in the illusion and feel suffering instead of joy.’

‘How can we help them?’ I asked spontaneously and without thinking. After all, I knew that everyone has to decide for themselves how they want to live and that we shouldn’t interfere.

‘You’ve been helping for a long time, Richard,’ Nicholas replied. ‘Your being leaves its mark on the consciousness of everyone you meet in your life. Just recently, you have given many of your clients and other acquaintances and friends impulses through your vibration that have led them into a process of change that is still ongoing. Do not underestimate your impact on others.’

Images of various encounters popped up in my mind’s eye. I remembered many customer visits that led to intimate conversations and resulted in a joyful feeling of all-encompassing love. It was almost always the case that the greeting was initially distant and the farewell was crowned with joie de vivre and moist eyes.

‘Yes, exactly! You remember,’ remarked Nicholas, who was probably following my thoughts. ‘It was precisely these moments that were supposed to tell you that you bring light to people. It expands their field of consciousness and shows them ways to recognize their true potential and realize it in their lives.’

‘And do they do it?’ I asked.

‘No, not usually. But still! It’s as if your shell has cracked a little. It usually takes more impulses at different times from different people. The repetition causes the crack to get bigger and bigger.’

‘So keep going.’ I grinned.

‘Exactly!’ Nicholas confirmed. ‘You realized that a long time ago too. I’m very pleased about that.’

Then I heard Mara say, ‘I think we should let Richard eat in peace now. We don’t want to overload his mind. Maybe it’s better if we give him time now to process all the impressions.’

Although I got the impression that Mara was once again trying not to let me know the reason for this invitation, I was grateful to her for these words and showed her with a shy smile. Was this the same woman with whom I had been meltingly bathing in honey just a few minutes ago? Now she didn’t seem erotic to me at all. Instead, she had the air of an unobtrusive but natural authority.

If until a moment ago there had been concentrated attention at the table because everyone present was listening to our conversation, now there was a relaxed murmur and I looked for the first time at the bowl that someone had handed me shortly before. It was filled with steaming porridge.

It tasted good because I was hungry. How long had it been since I’d eaten? I had lost all sense of time. I looked out of the oversized window and saw that the sun was already quite low. Could that be?

Mara spoke to me: ‘When you’re finished, Carinda will take you back to Kardamyli. It’s already later than you think. Don’t be surprised. You slept for four long hours after our time of love. You needed this sleep so that you are now stronger for the return journey. If I know Carinda, you will still need your strength.’

I saw Mara and Carinda looking at each other with a smile and didn’t understand a thing.

Nicholas and Mara gave me a warm hug goodbye. Mara held me in her embrace a little longer and whispered in my ear, ‘I like your cock ring.’ The blush rose to the roots of my hair. I had been so excited during our act that I had completely forgotten about it. She looked at me encouragingly and said, ‘I think it’s nice when men decorate themselves like that. See you next time, my friend!’

Carinda took my hand and we left the palace together.

 

* * *

 

We walked silently down the path to the harbour, past the small, pyramid-shaped houses covered in flowers. ‘Aren’t they pretty?’ Carinda asked me. ‘Yes, they are,’ I replied. ‘Do you want to know what they look like on the inside? I’d love to show you a friend’s house. She’s still out and about and I’m sure she won’t mind if we go inside.’

How could I have said no? I was far too curious.

Carinda let me into one of the houses a little off the beaten track. I was quite astonished. It seemed much bigger from the inside. It seemed to consist of a single room, into which colour-filtered sunlight streamed. Obviously, people cooked, bathed, worked and slept in this room, because all areas of the room had the appropriate furniture and there was a beautifully decorated, round bed in the middle.

‘This is what most of the houses on Libidos look like. Perhaps the concept dates back to the distant past, when people lived in round tents,’ explained Carinda. ‘This construction method has proven to be extremely practical for us. We would never think of putting up walls and creating small rooms.’

I listened to her, but I walked here and there, fascinated, marvelling at the modern kitchen area, the fashionable sofa corner that would have enhanced any furniture store and finally stopped in front of an area that looked like a painter’s studio.

‘Is your girlfriend a painter?’ I asked, looking at an unfinished erotic oil painting.

‘Yes, Richard. That’s her. Can you recognize me from her picture?’

I turned to face her. There she was. Bare as a rag!

‘Carinda!’ I gasped. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Shh! Don’t speak! Just be here now and look at me, touch me and give in to your lust.’

The sight of her was ravishing. This morning I had thought how privileged the man must be to see her unclothed. And now she was standing naked in front of me. With shapely breasts that held my gaze firmly and roundly. I will only hint at what happened next. Like Mara, Carinda shone with an irresistible grace and yet everything was different, because I felt an animal desire. I couldn’t get rid of my clothes fast enough and before I knew it, I was lying in her demanding arms. No honey this time, but animalistic sex, completely taboo-free and liberating.

An hour later, we broke free from our embrace and got dressed.

She looked at me with delight. ‘That was wonderful, my dear! Thank you!’

‘Thank you too, Carinda. After all, you seduced me,’ I said admiringly. ‘But I don’t understand all this. Mara said that you don’t let lust dominate you. But we were like animals just now.’

‘What Mara said only refers to the time of love. That’s always at lunchtime. You might call it worship. But after all, we’re just normal people with animalistic instincts, like other living creatures. Do you think we wouldn’t want to live that out?’

‘Yes, yes! Now that you’ve explained it, it makes sense to me. And what about contraception? And anyway! Don’t you have a boyfriend?’

Carinda laughed. ‘A friend? I have at least six hundred boyfriends! We don’t get married here on Libidos. We all love each other and when we feel like it, the next one is the best. It’s as simple as that. Oh yes, and we don’t think about contraception because it’s not necessary.’

I was amazed. Why can’t I live on Libidos? It’s like a fairy tale!

‘Why is contraception not necessary?’

‘Because we women can consciously decide if and when we want to get pregnant. This is also a natural ability of women that has been lost in your society. Shall we get going?’

‘I don’t want to. I could lie here and talk to you forever.’ Mara was already standing and pulling on her summer dress. ‘Aren’t you wearing any underwear?’

‘No! Do you mind?’

As if she wanted to call her bluff, she bent over to tie her shoes.

‘Your dress is too long.’ She immediately pulled it up higher and turned her head towards me.

‘Is that right?’

I stood up and patted her bare bottom lovingly. ‘We really need to do this again, Carinda!’

She hugged me and breathed, ‘I’d love to.’

Then I got into my jeans and pulled on my shirt.

We left the house and after a few metres we were at the harbour, where the small boat was already waiting for us.

As it set off, I asked, ‘I’ve just noticed that we’re alone on the boat. Just like on the outward journey. Are you steering the boat all by yourself?’

‘Of course! Mind power, my dear.’

‘Could I do that too?’

‘If you practise, you can do it too.’

‘Will you let me?’

Instantly, the boat slowed down and sank deeper. Now it rocked directionless on the waves.

I gave the inner impulse for it to get going. Nothing. I imagined that free energy would build up and activate the drive. Nothing happened. Carinda grinned.

‘Don’t worry about it,’ she comforted me, ‘it just takes practice. Shall we continue?’

I nodded in frustration. The boat started moving again. Land was already in sight in the distance.

‘I can’t understand why your island is so close to Kardamyli. It has to be noticed somehow.’

‘No, you’re wrong,’ Carinda explained. ‘Our island is actually in the middle of the Mediterranean. It’s just as far from us to Sicily as it is to Greece or Africa. That’s why we only need ten minutes on this boat, because we’re cheating time. Surely you know that time is an illusion.’

‘I keep hearing that, but I haven’t experienced it yet.’

‘Yes, Richard, you have! How can you say you haven’t experienced it yet? We’ve bent time twice today.’

‘I meant before I knew Libidos.’

When we arrived in Kardamyli, we hugged each other goodbye. She resolutely reached into my pants and grabbed my cock ring. She said in a warm voice, ‘Your cock ring isn’t just beautiful. It made me pretty hot earlier. I’m already looking forward to your next visit.’ Completely distraught, I watched as she got back into the boat and rushed off. What a woman!

 

* * *

 

Dreamy and deep in thought, I made my way to my car. Now I was beginning to realize why this island is called Libidos. Everything here revolved around just one topic: sexuality.

I decided to pay a visit to my favourite bistro, Aquarella, and enjoy the evening atmosphere. With a glass of red wine in the front row, it was easy to be lulled into a state of deep meditation by the relentlessly rolling waves. Staring into the waves, I saw myself in bed with Mara and then it was Carinda, only to switch back to Mara. I felt as if both images were struggling for dominance. Neither of them succeeded, because as intense as the animalistic version was, the spiritual version remained unforgettable in my memory. That irritated me. I was able to report from my own experience that each of the two experiences was a real treat. While in the second case the physical level became an end in itself and ended for both of us with a shared mega-orgasm, in the first case it was only the playing field for the spiritual level. The mental orgasm here was a delight for our hearts and souls because they were allowed to be one.

I had never experienced the emotional version in this intensity. I would never have dreamed that two people who had only just met were capable of this.

If, on reading this, you think that I would prefer the spiritual to the animalistic variant …

How? You haven’t thought about it? I find it hard to believe you. Well, I did think about it and it took a second glass of red wine to clarify things.

This was my verdict: for me, both are completely equal. I realized this the moment the yin-yang symbol popped into my head. I’m sure you know it. Then you also know that the black area of yin also contains yang as a white dot. And the same applies to the other half of the symbol. The white yang contains the black yin as a dot.

In terms of the two sexual varieties, I imagine that the black field corresponds to the body and the white dot to the spirit, while in the spiritual version it is the other way around: the large white area represents the spirit, while the black centre symbolizes the physical.

And now comes the most important thing: in my understanding, the whole, the circle, is always love. Therefore, both versions are equally important. I even conclude that you should practice both versions in a balanced way in order to live in a good balance. Libidos seems to have recognized this.

Another insight emerged from my reflections: where yin is lived without a trace of yang, there is no love. Without love, the animalistic version takes on destructive elements. It makes you unhappy and empty. And is there a spiritual version without love? Yes, of course! These are the magical rituals and ceremonies of various sects and lodges.

What a realization! I paused. Despite the two glasses of wine, it occurred to me that I had once again received help from Nicholas or other good spirits from Libidos.

Lost in thought, I drove home.

What a day! Nobody will believe me. Of course not, because there’s no sign of Libidos anywhere in our world. They would lock me up. So I decided to keep this experience to myself. Why should I tell anyone about it? To make myself interesting? I was past that phase of my life. I was no longer the least bit interested in what other people thought of me.

When I got home, I poured myself a third glass of red wine and thought about Libidos.

If I hadn’t dreamed all this, then my experience was sensational.

Of course I hadn’t been dreaming. After all, Carinda had physically come into my life and the trip across the sea wasn’t a fantasy either. The island, on the other hand, seemed unrealistic and rather magical. Who knows where Carinda had taken me.

Then I remembered everything Mara knew about me. Had they really interfered in my life? Was it even conceivable? I used my common sense and tried to find an explanation for the fact that at the age of fifty-eight I had made the decision to found the company Swiss Harmony and to run it according to my ethical principles and for the good of the whole. Could it really be that this decision was played into my head?

Of course I knew that the technique of mind manipulation is used militarily. I have no idea how it works, but it must have something to do with scalar waves. That much was clear. Well, and on Libidos, over the course of many thousands of years, they had certainly developed completely different abilities that went far beyond what we were familiar with. I decided that something like this might be possible.

At the same time, I had to accept that all my other thoughts and decisions, which I thought were my own, were perhaps influenced by Libidos. I also thought it was possible that Libidos was smuggling certain people and objects into my life to provide the necessary impulses.

For example Hella, who also caught my eye in the Council of Elders. My Hella was a colleague and yoga teacher who had introduced me to the spiritual world. It was thanks to her that I became interested in the relevant books and came across Carlos Castaneda. I found his book Another Reality at the top of a junk table. It immediately caught my eye. After volume one, I read all of Castaneda’s books. They were like an initiation for me.

I now saw many events in my life with completely different eyes. I also felt subsequently confirmed in my feeling that Swiss Harmony has its own development dynamic, almost something like its own purpose. I had always felt that I was just an executive ‘governor’. Did I recognize Libidos’ intention here?

I resolved to ask Carinda the next time I saw her.

Wait a minute! Then I remembered that we hadn’t discussed anything. How was I supposed to see her again if I didn’t know how to get there?

I realized that I had bitten the bullet and that my little self wanted to assert itself now. I wanted to go back and was already looking forward to the time of love. Even though I was very dismissive at first, I now had to admit that I already liked some things about the matriarchy. I wanted more of it. But how would I ever get back there?

I came to my senses and brought myself back to trusting and surrendering to life. If there was to be another meeting, it would happen somehow. And as if to confirm this, I remembered Carinda’s words when we said goodbye: ‘I’m already looking forward to your next visit.’ There you go! No need to panic.

I poured myself another drink and felt my tension slowly ease.

Suddenly I had the feeling that I was being watched. How long had this been the case? In fact, I had always lived with the awareness that a whole host of loving, spiritual helpers surrounded me and helped me to master my life and stay in my confidence. I am convinced that I would never have arrived where I am today without them. But were they in reality possibly from Libidos? That would raise some questions. For example, all the so-called spiritual leaders who claim to be from other galaxies, or from some spiritual level of the divine order. Are they perhaps in truth the higher evolved humans on Libidos who had made it their heart’s desire to bring the lost and misguided people of earth back on course?

Well, that was perhaps too far-fetched and possibly only due to my fourth glass of wine. But it was definitely worth thinking about. Don’t you think?

A heretical thought formed: what if every kind of intuition is a subtle kind of help from real beings that we merely dress up with religious content because they do not reveal themselves to us, for whatever reason? Some people hear voices, some have visions or a clear, sudden knowledge. Where do these impulses come from and who gives them out? These are legitimate questions. Aren’t we far too quick to explain what we can’t understand with religious content?

But could it be that the few inhabitants of this small island of Libido have so much influence on all our lives?

‘What makes you think there are only Libidos?’ a question formed in my head.

Aha, I thought. That must have been a question sent directly from Libidos. I listened carefully and said quietly, ‘I thought so at first, but now that you’ve asked, I realize that it was a little too simple-minded. Are there other peoples like yours elsewhere?’

‘Have you ever heard of Shangri-La and Atlantis?’

‘Shangri-La is the mysterious land in the mountains of the Himalayas that can only be found by people who have reached a certain state of consciousness and risk their lives to get there. Isn’t that right?’

‘Yes, that’s where our brothers and sisters live, who operate just like us.’

‘Very interesting and understandable for me. But Atlantis? You must be mistaken, because this continent disappeared many millennia ago.’

‘Yes, in the snow. Today it lies buried deep under eternal ice and snow, but it still exists.’

‘What do you mean? Where is it supposed to be?’

‘Well, think about it, where can you find a large continent covered in snow and eternal ice?’

‘You don’t mean Antarctica, do you?’

‘But that’s exactly where I mean. They were hit by the last pole shift. There is a very large population there who have built entire cities in huge ice caves. Far below the surface. Undetectable for normal humans with their meagre technologies.’

‘But that explains a lot,’ I replied. ‘There are countless rumours and inexplicable phenomena about Antarctica. Is it true that the Nazis retreated there?’

‘That’s only partly or indirectly true. You have a completely wrong idea of the background to the Second World War. We can discuss that in more detail later.’

That was fitting. I had always suspected that the small and inconspicuous painter was not the driving force behind the dynamics that had triggered the Second World War. In my opinion, he was just a puppet.

‘Are there any more of you?’

‘Of course! What do you think?’

‘Yes, and where exactly now?’

‘Surely you’ve heard of the Hollow Earth?’

‘I don’t believe that now! They really exist?’

I had heard about it, of course, from Amundsen’s and Admiral Byrd’s reports. Somehow it all made sense to me, but I found the thesis a little steep and forgot about it over time.

‘Yes, it exists and it is intoxicatingly beautiful. There are also other species living here that are completely unknown to you. There, our brothers and sisters are part of a great, peaceful alliance.’

‘Who are you?’ I asked the voice from off-screen.

‘My name is Stratus. You will get to know me personally. Now I suggest you get on with something else. I’m sure that’s enough information for now. Good night!’

‘Good night, Stratus! And thank you!’

After four glasses of wine, I was no longer good for anything.

I went into the bathroom and undressed.