Mystical Realms Newsletter for March 2015
Jef Murray
Greetings!
And welcome to my newsletter for March, 2015! Please feel free to forward this to anyone whom you believe might be interested in keeping up with me! To receive these newsletters regularly, drop me an email or subscribe online from my website ( http://www.JefMurray.com ) or at: http://groups.google.com/group/Mystical_Realms .
Pitchers ===============
· For followers of the ongoing series, The Framerunners, images from the ongoing tales can be seen, and prints obtained, by going to www.TheFramerunners.com and clicking on “The Gallery”. Or, you can just go direction to: http://jefmurray.com/framerunners/the-gallery/
· “Seer: A Wizard’s Journal” 2nd Edition is now available! This second edition collection of stories, poetry, essays, and illustrations features two new tales, plus many illustrations now in full colour. You can order yours here: http://olorisbookshop.com/collections/books/products/seer-2nd-edition
Prospects ===================
· The Finnish Tolkien Society is putting the finishing touches on a new short film about Tolkien and Christianity that will be featuring my work. Stay tuned for more info!
· EWTN’s Tolkien special on the Catholicity of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” is now out on DVD! You can find it here: http://www.ewtnreligiouscatalogue.com/shop.axd/ProductDetails?edp_no=28883
Ponderings ==============
The child had been sitting quietly in a corner of the room for most of the evening. Jill had seen him, but in the bustle of friends and family at the St. Patrick's Day potluck, she had not had time to learn who he was.
"He's Jason's brother," her cousin Kate had told her at one point in the evening. "His name's Gabriel."
"What's he doing?" Jill asked.
"I don't know. But Jason says he lives in his own world. He's always in his head. You wouldn't believe the stories he comes up with."
"But what is he, like, three years old?"
"Yeah, maybe. Anyway, the whole family's a bit odd."
Jill had laughed. "And ours isn't?! My dad disappeared over a year ago, and you have to put up with Rusty and his antics all the time! I don't know...seems to me like every family I know of has weird things they have to deal with...."
Kate had smiled and shrugged. "Yeah, you're probably right. But at least we have families to come home to. So...maybe strange isn't such a bad thing."
From that point forward Jill had kept an eye on Gabriel. And when she managed to get away from some of her friends, she wandered over into the corner where the little boy, barefoot, was sprawled out on the floor. Sheets of paper surrounded him like barrier islands: each with a scrawled image of a person, or a tree, or mountains, or clouds.
"Hey there, Gabriel!" Jill said.
"You belong there..." said Gabriel. He pointed to a sketch of a room filled with what looked like paintings and books.
"Uh...OK. I just wanted to say hi...."
Gabriel continued to work on another sketch. Jill couldn't tell what it was.
"Is that a doorway, Gabriel?"
There was no answer. Gabriel kept sketching. Jill was about to walk away when suddenly the little boy reached up and tugged at her skirt.
"You'll need this," he said. He looked up at her and handed her the sketch. It was of a doorway with strange markings on it. They reminded Jill of hieroglyphics.
"It's the Door to Eternity. You need to remember the password. Otherwise, you'll never get back."
"What password?"
"The one that the genie gives you. Don't forget it." Gabriel pulled a fresh sheet of paper from a stack beside him and began work on yet another sketch.
Jill, perplexed, watched Gabriel for another minute, and then left him. She looked at the sketch he had handed her. It was of a doorway like those her father had told her about: false doors were carved by the ancient Egyptians into tombs and pyramids. Then she remembered; those doors were supposed to lead into the spirit world....