Confession of a Ghost. F.M. Dostoevsky award. Playing Another Reality. Alexandra Kryuchkova

but I suggest returning to the Lions. In communication, they are straightforward, though domineering and sometimes stubborn. I despise traitors and cowards, but I tend to deify those who give me Knowledge. From the moment of incarnation, the thirst for knowledge will grow in you, as people say, by leaps and bounds, which disposes you to read, but not all that glitters is gold, look for wise books. Travels and new acquaintances contribute to the increase of knowledge and inspiration.”

      The City-on-the-Water appeared on the horizon.

      “What a beauty! How did it end up here in the desert?”

      “It’s a mirage, Rukh, though realistic enough. The City-on-the-Water exists in earthly reality, and you’ll definitely visit it. At least, because I’m its symbol,” the Lion purred, and we descended to the central square of the mirage City and wandered to the main Cathedral.

      “It’s all lions here!” I exclaimed.

      “The winged lion with an open book is a symbol not so much of Venice as of Mark the Evangelist. His relics were smuggled out of Alexandria occupied by Muslims. The body was hidden in a basket and covered with pig carcasses so that non-Christians, who considered the pig a forbidden animal, couldn’t touch the cargo. Since then, the relics have been in Venice in the main Cathedral. Mark’s mother was a preacher of Christ, believers gathered in their house. As a result, Mark became a disciple of the Apostle Peter, from whose words he wrote the Gospel. Mark founded Christian Church in Egypt, became the first bishop of Alexandria, he is considered the patron Saint of the Copts, Egyptian Christians who called Mark ‘the God-seer’. He died on the way to his execution, having been sentenced by the pagans in 68 AD.”

      “Why is his symbol a winged lion and not another animal?”

      “Many prophets, including Ezekiel in the 6^th century BC, had access to the Subtle World and saw a creature with four faces – the Tetramorph: a man, a lion, a calf and an eagle. The revelation of John the Theologian speaks of 4 separate beings – the guardians of the 4 corners of the Throne of God, the 4 parts of Paradise, later of the 4 elements and East-West-South-North directions. In the 4^th century, Saint Jerome substantiated the connection between the Evangelists and their images. Mark’s Gospel begins as ‘A Voice of One Calling in the Wilderness’, which early Christians associated with the roar of a lion. Lion is a symbol of power and omnipotence, and one of the central themes of Mark’s Gospel is the theme of the power and omnipotence of God. People argued about the correct distribution of the Tetramorph symbols among the Evangelists, but it was on Mark that there were no disagreements. Moreover, it was his Gospel that was used by Matthew and Luke when writing their own.”

      “So you are the patron of writers,” I smiled.

      “Evangelists are patrons of writers. You’ll find the icon of the Four Evangelists on Earth and remember me,” purred the Lion. “Perhaps you’ll remember me earlier, in Venice. It’s no coincidence that it attracts writers and poets, some are even buried on its island-cemetery.”

      “Are poets singers of psalms?”

      “Poets are writers who express thoughts concisely. In fact, writers are magicians. The word is a great thing, Rukh. It can be used to kill and resurrect, to change Time, events and scripts of Destiny. You can view hypothetical scenarios, having retired to the desert, and then rewrite them, turning the desired chain of events into the right direction with the Word, after which it materializes on Earth.”

      “It’s too complicated,” I sighed.

      “Lions are enterprising and resourceful, but always lack time,” said the Lion thoughtfully. “Your Sphere of the Word starts in the degree of popularity, fertility, writing talent, foresight. It’s the degree of facing the Truth, ‘a figure with the face covered with a veil, sitting on a rock, points to a brightly radiating Eye in the air directly in front,’ so a stargazer of the Silver Age described this degree. The soul, often alone, is endowed with prophetic power, it’s able to see Another Reality, eclipsed by the crowd.”

      Library of the Universe

      “Did you enjoy the trip?” the Guardian asked, taking a seat in the Reading Hall.

      “The Lion is just a big cat. I don’t know which is better, to drown at the bottom of the raging sea or to die of thirst in the desert.”

      “The desert is the inner state of your soul. What have you seen?”

      “King David and the City-on-the-Water with St. Mark’s Cathedral.”

      “Not bad. By the way, King David had a magical seal, which he inherited to his son Solomon, the sign of an eight-pointed star on a ring that has power over the spirits of the Lower Astral.”

      “I haven’t seen the ring.”

      “It’s for the best, since you are not allowed to practice magic.”

      “The Lion said I could rewrite the scripts of Destiny!”

      “You are able to read various scenarios of the Future in the Tablets, but you must not violate the Laws of Heaven by breaking the Matrix, like hackers do with IT-programs in order to change the codes within certain areas.”

      “I don’t understand. What is the Matrix? How can it be hacked?”

      “The Time Space Matrix. For now, remember that the Sun controls your Sphere No. 3 and is the most powerful planet, along with the Moon. Your strength is in the Word, Rukh! A good story is that ‘Cat’s Name’.”

      “What name?” I was surprised.

      “Alice. So they call cats in some countries. The story is written on behalf of a dog.”

      “I have never understood human nature, and probably I will never do. But why people, who, unlike dogs, have the gift of speech, are not able to understand themselves and each other just to be happy?”

      Evangelists

      Ouranoupoli

      “What a joy to be here, on earth, where St. Paisios and St. Athanasius, John the Theologian and the Virgin Mary walked once!” I thought.

      To my left, in the shade of the olives, there was a baby carriage. Parents left their daughter and went for swimming. The girl wiggled, and an old woman instantly flew up to her. She started cradling her granddaughter, then turned to me, clearly lacking for communication.

      “What would they do without us? We are from Austria. My husband and I have been coming here since 1966. At first, there were no houses in the bay, only in Ouranoupoli. We found this beach. It’s a magical place, isn’t it? When several houses were built on the rock above the bay, we came to stay in the blue and white one. Now we’ve come with our son, his wife and their daughter. Should someone take care of them? And what brings you to Athos?”

      “I’m from Moscow. I live in Nicolette’s house during my vacation.”

      “I see, vacation! If you need any help, you are welcome!” the old woman said with a mysterious wink and disappeared.

      ***

      “Alice! Well, tell us about Spyridon!” Leah called out to me.

      “I gave him slippers, found his ring, but a strange thing happened, he looked at me … looked. With his eyes. I didn’t find it strange yesterday. Now I wonder… the relics don’t have eyes, do they?”

      “Let’s see on the Internet what he looks like! By the way, when Gogol was on Corfu during the procession, Spyridon rose in the shrine and looked at him menacingly.”

      “Wow!” I said stunned as I looked at the photos. “Until now, on the inner screen, there’s a stream of light from his eye sockets! I left the icon of Spyridon at the pillow for the night. In the morning, oil flowed into my