A debut novel from bestselling author Barbara Hand Clow

• An intricately layered erotic thriller that reveals esoteric teachings on prophecy, power, ritual, and divination

• Includes dramatic insights into the suppressed discoveries of the first Christian heretics and secret power rituals at work in the Vatican

• From the author of The Pleiadian Agenda and The Mayan Code

In her debut as a novelist, bestselling author and acclaimed spiritual teacher Barbara Hand Clow weaves an erotically charged story of romance, deep earth forces, psychic powers, aristocracy, and Vatican world control centered on an ancient ruby that inspires mystical visions.

Set in Rome in 2012, the story follows Sarah Adamson, a beautiful young Catholic graduate student from Boston studying at the Vatican Library for her thesis on the first Christian heretic, Marcion of Pontus. She is being courted by two utterly different men: Simon Appel, a descendent of the kabbalist Isaac Luria who covers Vatican affairs for the New York Times, and Armando Pierleoni, the heir to an ancient Italian aristocratic family with strong ties to the Vatican. After a terrible encounter with the dark side at a castle in Tuscany, Sarah is given a ring set with a ruby crystal, a powerful stone that was once the third eye of an ancient Buddha statue in Nepal.

With the mystic ring on her finger, Sarah’s visionary abilities are ignited. She remembers her past life as the Sibyl of Cumae, a Roman oracle whose powers are now being channeled by the Vatican to maintain world control. As Sarah’s research and visions reveal the cause of evil in the Church and Simon’s reporting exposes the depth of the sexual abuse scandals surrounding the Vatican, the two form an alliance with an ex-lover of both Simon and Armando, Claudia, who describes secret priestly power rituals going on in Vatican City.

As the heightened energies of the winter solstice of 2012 arrive and 2013 dawns, will Simon and Sarah be able to harness their divine powers for transformation? Will the Vatican seek new direction as it elects a new pope? Revealing the very nature of how evil gets into the world, this novel of romance, mystery, heresy, and spirituality uncovers the esoteric foundations for the emergence of a golden new age.

Barbara Hand Clow is an internationally acclaimed teacher, author, and Mayan Calendar researcher. Her numerous books include The Pleiadian Agenda, Alchemy of Nine Dimensions, Awakening the Planetary Mind, and The Mayan Code. She has taught at sacred sites throughout the world and maintains an astrological web site, www.HandClow2012.com.

Part One

The Sibyl of Cumae

1    Rome

2    Reviving the Sibyl

3    Borghese Gardens

4    The Vatican Museum

5    A Visitor in Rome

6    Dinner at Alfredo’s

7    A Dinner in Tuscany

8    The Golden World

9    Ossuaries and Etruscan Tombs

10    The Limestone Grotto

11    What about Marriage?

12    Shelter Island

13    Simon Magus

14    Summer Giulia

15    Sister Hildegard

16    A Home in Rome

17    The Lady of Villa Giulia

18    The Ruby Crystal

Part Two

Armando’s Redemption

19    The Parents’ Dinner

20    A Stormy Night

21    St. Peter’s Bones

22    Caves under the Vatican

23    Old Friends

24   Thanksgiving 2012

25    The Wedding

26    Sarah Meets Claudia

27    December 2012

28    Lake Avernus and Baia

29    Between the Sheets in Roma

30    The Shadow of Moloch

31    The Pierleoni Garden

32    Armando’s Analysis

33    Orvieto Cathedral

34    Two Fathers

Part Three

The End of the Mayan Calendar

35    The Pope Resigns!

36    Claudia and Armando

37    Via Lombardia

38    The First Quartet

39    The Conclave

40    The Painter and the Photographer

41    The Fonte Gaia

42    La Sagrada Familia