It has been less than a month since I returned from Italy, and I asked myself again, why did I go there? Not only, it seems, to see justice done. Not only, to get a feel for this new pope and the direction of the church. Not only, to bring change to Italy, but as I have seen over and over again, I bring change wherever I go.
Here's the reason I went: to get ready for my next step, and change in direction. I will remind every one of this: Six years ago, I went to Iran, and wrote about it here, in HAPPY NAWROOZ TO THE PEOPLE OF IRAN and I brought change there. That year I also went to the UK, and indeed, change followed me there, too, and the day I left, October 31, 2007, events were unfolding in Perugia, Italy, which led to today, this day of choice and outcome..
Even today, as more chaos descends on the world, I remind people, just how I wrote that war might take place as soon as 2008, but it would depend on the American and Iranian people. Then, in 2008, Barack Husein Obama was elected, and the Iranian people had their Green Revolution after that, so for a while, there was hope. But still, I wrote, it's up to us to change.
When I started writing this a few days ago, the full moon coincided with a lunar eclipse. Next month, there will be more turmoil, with a solar and then another lunar eclipse, with a major shift as Uranus squares Pluto in May. I warned people that there would be upheaval to come, more in their personal lives but also in their surroundings, and I am seeing that effect take place already.
As soon as I got back from Italy, I heard that two of my favorite aunts were in their final stages of cancer. One, who'd been fighting a brave battle for eight years; another, who'd just been diagnosed but it already was too late. They passed away this week, and I thought again, that some things just were meant to be, sad as that might seem, and also, not to be too attached to outcomes. A lesson that some, are learning right now.
Then the Italian president was re-appointed to the job for another seven years, a move that many argued was unconstitutional, and protesting crowds marched on parliament, and two policemen were shot in Rome. Thankfully, they weren't seriously wounded.
In the mean time, there was the Boston bombing. Why? Why is it that two countries I really care about are going through so much? The answer lies here, in my home country where I live. We Canadians are, with the election of Justin Trudeau as leader of the Liberal Party, beginning a long journey back to where we can free ourselves of the neoliberal yoke, and I am focusing on the spiritual (while maintaining my material foundations) and it seems, you will have to come to me, and ask for help. And it will be a long journey.
It seems that Italy and the United States will have to go through a great deal before they can become better places free of the spiritual miasma that affects them, and I know I will have to go there again. But be warned, I bring change. As, it seems, I did to the many people I met there. I know many things got shaken up, and that there were huge shifts. For the people I met, and those I did not meet. Many were nervous when they first met me, and I am sorry for that. I wish that what I do came with far less cost. But, I do expect faith and trust when people ask for help, otherwise it will never work, and then, I move on. And those that did ask for help, received it, not as they asked, but, according to their need.
But, for those who are not yet ready: I am who I am. Let There Be Chaos.
March 25, 2013: I'm glad I went to Italy. I'm standing here outside Italy's Supreme Court, Corte de Cassazione, in Piazza Cavour, Rome, waiting with a crowd of press and other journalists. I knew I had to be there.
It's been an interesting journey, ever since I first came across the Meredith Kercher case at HUFFINGTON POST then at PERUGIA MURDER FILE. For a while it seemed like it could go either way. Amanda Knox and Rafaelle Sollecito have been found guilty, then provisionally acquitted by Judge Claudio Hellmann, now under appeal. A strong case, vs judges wanting to get rid of the problem? In January, I decided I should try to be there, to see whether justice would prevail.. I wrote and asked for a press pass, which I received in mid February. Was in Perugia March 18-24, and Rome March 24-31.
Cassazione is in a neo-classical 19th century building at Piazza Cavour in Rome. There are two entrances, one facing the Tiber river opposite Ponte Umberto I, and the other one most people go through on the Piazza Cavour side. Three camera crews milling around outside, from NBC, CNN and RAI.
I arrive at 9:20 AM and pick up my press pass, Passi n. 342, Sezione Penalli, Corte Supremi de Cassazione March 25, 2013. The court session begins at 10:00 AM.
Find my way to the Aula Prima Penale on the second floor. Huge, wide halls, facing a large inner court yard.
Not an overly large court room. 16 seats behind the partition where the legal teams sit. I grab one of the last seats, reporters from The Telegraph, New York Times, AP, Il Giornale dell Umbria, free lancers standing around and against the walls. Visible are Kercher family lawyer Maresca, Knox lawyers Della Vedova, and Ghirga, Sollecito lawyers Maori, and Bongiorno. Raffaele's father Francesco Sollecito surrounded by large family group, but Meredith's sister Stephanie Kercher could not be there due to her mother's ill health.
10:00 AM: The 5 judges walk in. Luigi Riello, attorney general for the court, sits on the podium to the left, with Maresca on that side, the defendant's team to the right..
...There are about 40 people in the audience. Journalists, law students from La Sapienza University, Sollecito family. Note: any Italian citizen or member of the press may attend Cassazione hearings. Just show your ID.
The presiding judge discusses the order of the day. There will be other cases dealt with later, after Knox and Sollecito.
10:15 AM: Proceedings begin. Riello makes a brief statement. Judges retire behind closed doors. Speak to the law students. Some think the case is very strong, others that it hasn't been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Most seem to favour a guilty verdict.
10:35 AM: Judges return, and ask questions of Riello about the points in his appeal. Two judges then enter into a lengthy summation of the case before them, and the appeal arguments. The relatrice is a woman in her 50's, v. bright and alert. (Judge pro) Her respondent, Judge con, is probably in his 50's, with a goatee, and he starts with a lengthy summation. It appears they are arguing pro and con, a view of an inquisitorial system arguing and then arriving at a conclusion.
Question asked of Riello. He answers, then speaks very strongly about the legality of the appeal. Then he talks about a crime of passion, with a escalating crescendo of violence. The president listens intently.
Riello starts to veer off into the evidence, instead of the law, which is what Cassazione is about. The president interrupts him, saying "if I allow you to do this, then the defense will want to do the same, and we'll be here all day". Della Vedova smiles. Seems very confident at this point. More questioning of Riello, who makes a long dissertation. Judge con questions him about the interpreter Anna Donino, and how much she influenced Amanda Knox's "confession". Riello responds.
The relatrice (Judge pro) goes on at length about Le corte de Assise, (the Appeals court of Judge Hellmann) then about Rudy Guede's role in the crime, with 'the assistance of others'. Mentions the computer hard drives as argued by the defense. Then Amanda's role in falsely accusing Lumumba, the callunia. Brilliant, but rather long summation. Both she and the other judges speak past noon, with the arguments going back and forth, at length about the evidence, about Raffaele and the knife, the computer drives, biological traces, possible motive, Knox and the arrival of the postal police, Sollecito fudging the alibi, their guilty behaviour, Knox and Lumumba again. Emphasises that it was a sadistic act.
A very strong summing up of the evidence. I fell that finally, Meredith Kercher is being considered.
Frank Sfarzo shows up. No eye contact, hmm. He doesn't know who I am, stands there texting away. (Refer to the previous blog and all references to Sfarzo~gate)
12:42 PM: The judges are still going strong, with speculation it was an impulsive crime of the moment, and the relatrice summing up of the psychological motives behind the false accusation.
1:00 PM: The presiding judge thanks her for her (long) summation.
Riello sums up at length: Strong voice, humorous asides to lawyers. Asks for the 'disability' of the ruling by the Appeals court, jokes about the internet DNA research of Conti and Vecchiotti, that the law must be respected. Makes an impassioned speech about Intenzia, Motivazione, the 'anthropological relations between Knox and Sollecito, how their reactions were not normal'. "I was there" reads as "I did it". The accusation of Lumumba. A Psychological summing up. La Ragazza (naive Amanda) visiting Italy. Of Sollecito's "I can't remember". "Insomnio, Insomnio"
Sfarzo texting away. Francesco Sollecito wondering what I'm doing there
Riello goes on at length about Lumumba. Her accusation of an innocent man was "pathological". The illogicality of the appeal ruling by Hellmann. Judge Massei, the judge of the 1st instance trial, on the other hand, had expressed his judgement logically. Knox was the brain who manipulated Guede. Normal vs abnormal behaviour. Inappropriate behaviour.
Reporters coming and going out.
Will the court send back to Florence? Multo confuzione.
President tells him to get on with it. Basta! Is he losing patience? Riello's getting a bit long winded in the argument. Asking for the proper application of the law. Repeat: asking for a ruling of the illogicality of Hellmann/Zanetti again.
Not enough people present to fill the galleries. 16 seats audience. 20-30 standees. That's it.
Riello making fun of the contaminizione. Illogical arguments of appeal to try to prove contamination. Tidies up his files; thumps the desk with both hands. Gravissimo! Guilty, with Rudy Guede. Rejecto the recorso. To allow the appeal of the Procurator Generale. Pleads to ask the calunnia (criminal defamation) conviction and sentence of Amanda Knox to stand.
Lunch break 30 minutes. Court to reconvene @ 2:35 PM.
The sign outside the court: 1st Sezione Penale Aula.
Lunch till 2:45 PM. Speak to reporters and law students in the hall and crowded but elegant cafeteria down stairs. Law students have a mixed view on the matter. On the one hand, that Italy's legal system is antiquated and needs to move more toward common law practices. Others, equally passionate about the inquisitorial system and checks and balances within it. Aware of American media interference and attacks on the integrity of their system. The majority view, that I can see. One woman says oh, I think she's innocent (but leans toward the case not being proven) and another, a student from Africa, says flat out he thinks she's guilty. No one mentions Raffaele
The reporters consensus seem to be that the tough questioning by the court (of Riello) indicates that Knox and Sollecito will go free. The relatrice and he had quite a discussion about the proposed remedies, and I was struck by the sheer intellectual capacity of the arguments, and responses.
Return from lunch, and Frank Sfarzo is there towards the back, so I stand beside him, observing. His hair's longer now, so he's abandoned the short sides and trim he had on Vashon island, and wearing a rumpled blue pin stripe suit, no tie. He's on some IM account scrolling and texting away. Doesn't look too shabby, honestly, so I guess someone's still supporting him. Doesn't make eye contact. Then suddenly he lets out a big sneeze. Oh dear, has someone got a cold?
3:20 PM: Giulia Bongiorno is going strong, almost argumentative. She's a good speaker, with a flair for the dramatic. Judges listening intently, as she argues about the errors in Riello's statement, arguing on the law, the imputing of malfeasance by the appeals court. Going on about Rudy Guede as the sole perpetrator as determined by the Corte de Appello.
3:45 PM: This is when I see, and Giulia does too, the court slipping away from her. She's also arguing the evidence, going on about the computer hard drives, orating, almost operatic, now using the cartoon vixen defense of Knox.
4:00 PM: Maresca walks out as she continues. Sadly, she sounds almost desperate. The president sits there, bemused as she berates him, and geez, but she's being going on longer than Riello.
4:35 PM: Carlo Dalla Vedova. A snappy dresser always. Arguing "see you later"? (the text from Knox to Lumumba) Sheesh. Now every one on the defense team is arguing evidence, and running on scared.
4:50 PM: Happy Birthday, Luciano Ghirga. (Knox's lawyer) Going on about Masons, fer crying out loud. (PM Mignini's apparent 'obsession') Paints Knox as naive, Little Miss Innocenti.
5:05 PM: Ghirga concludes, and the court adjourns right after. There will be an announcement @ 9:00 PM.
The reporters all chase out after the lawyers. They seem to get their cues from whoever they talked to. It went well, no, it didn't go well. Fascinating to see their demeanour reflected in the stories they write and give in later interviews. Frank Sfarzo sits with other Italian reporters in one corner of the hall, spinning what just happened, and what is going to happen. I feel he's still after Mignini, and as I found out in Perugia, watch out, Frank, Mignini's carrying a much bigger stick now
I make friends with the cops. Much more fun than the reporters, but seriously, I respect the journalist's craft. They're professionals, forced by their editors and news departments to write crap, fit a narrative. No mileage in the truth, sometimes, though of course for many, it's the truth as they see it.
I get a sandwich and eat it out in the hall. Everyone has to hand in their pass by 7:00 PM but we don't need new ones to come back in. I enjoy they're not as paranoid about security as we NorteAmericanos. Then I get called to the front security, grande problema; nessun problema
8:35 PM: Giulia Bongiorno takes a call. Something stressful. I think her source is telling her something from inside the court.
9:05 PM: Doors open.
9:07 PM: The judges will announce their decision tomorrow, March 26, @ 10:00 AM. (Raffaele Sollecito's birthday)
In all the foofaraw I miss a couple of important calls I could have taken to meet some people, but instead I head off home. As I walk across the Tiber on Ponte Umberto I, there's Frank Sfarzo at the lights, driving a newish SmartCar, and we look at each other, then he drives off, still texting away. I'm not going to chase after him to get his license plate, thanks, and somehow I doubt he could have imagined I'd be there.
Off to bed, and I dash off a couple of notes. What will tomorrow bring? I've had this feeling, but never wanted to engage with it. The day will bring what it brings.
----------- Summary:
This is why I got involved in the Meredith Kercher case, and which has brought me here to Cassazione. To one day, see justice be done, and my commitment sees me here in Rome. It's been quite a struggle to balance my other work and heavy family responsibilities, but I do care about the world that I will leave behind for my children, and am honored to have taken up Meredith's cause for the last three years. Yes, I get passionate about my causes, which has in the past been anti-apartheid, Vietnam war, anti-war, pro-Palestine. I even worked on the campaign to try elect a female president in Pakistan, back in 1964. Meredith's cause was simply an extension of this, but has come over the years to take on a spiritual dimension that transcends mere reasons of logic or law.
A reporter asks me: "why're you so involved?" And I reply with a question I asked a while back: what drew you to this case? It is this question, I think, that will better help us understand ourselves, but also, why Meredith was so important to us. It was about justice, but also, about our deeper spiritual selves, and our need for peace. Another reporter (they got to know me quite well in court) asked whether I was Meredith's uncle! seeing as I come from the same city as Arline Kercher. No, but I'm sure that there was an affinity based on that. Never mind. It's a good question. Why am I here? And where do I go from here?
It's been a good two weeks in Italy. I arrived on the 18th and was delayed at the train station, getting a phone; I arrive late in Perugia and miss my appointment with PM Mignini. The sun was finally out yet as I get on the train, it's pouring rain. I feel those are cleansing tears, and feel hopeful that justice will finally be done. But I'm also glad I am here, to witness it.
Perugia is an ancient city built on an Etruscan foundation; its walls contain many remnants of the older civilization. Its inhabitants have always been fiercely independent of Rome, and could care less that the sophisticated Romans think of them as er, slightly provincial, and maybe, superstitious. Me, I love every thing about it, from the chocolate to the culture and the warm, friendly people. And there is another thing that drew me to it: the Etruscan culture was very concerned with the after life and the hidden dimensions. It seems to me that while there's this huge disconnect in Western civilization between rationalism and spirituality, here in Perugia it's all a whole lot closer to the surface. I met occultists who I'm now pleased to call friends, and sense the many bright, shining spirits that hang there. Meredith had a much deeper connection to Perugia than most can imagine, so I have kept my views on this mostly out of this site, even when I felt it precluded a deeper understanding of this case or the culture of Perugia. If people wanted to call it a simple murder case, then why does it haunt those of us drawn here? I tried, in my own way, to help bridge that and create a deeper understanding.
I should also point out that PM Mignini was unfairly targeted for even hinting there were deeper, darker forces at play here in the MOF and Meredith Kercher cases. North American media played on those very same anti-supernatural tendencies by painting him as a satanism obsessed prosecutor, and in so doing, allowed some serious criminals to walk free. Even when some native commentators on TJMK and PMF discussed the deep hold masonry has on the Italian polis I felt those references went over the head of most people or were politely ignored. That's sad, really. I do not speak for him or claim to know what his views on the supernatural are, but failure to understand the underlying Perugian culture seriously impedes our understanding of this and the related MOF case, and gives his enemies a free rein to continue attacking him. And us from defending him. IMHO. Me, I can always walk away from it, but I am here for a reason.
The train from Perugia arrives in Rome the afternoon of the 24th, and it's gloriously sunny. Yet, that night in my hotel room, I'm woken by a heavy storm and lightning that once again, feels like cleansing tears.
It's sunny but cold the morning of the 25th, so I make my way to Cassazione and am there till after 9:00 PM, when the announcement is made that the court will render its decision the next day, 10:00 AM, March 26, 2013. Regardless of what many are now saying it was clear the appeal would be won, the fact is the consensus among the reporters in court that night was that Knox and Sollecito would win. But I saw Bongiorno's face fall when she received that call at 8:35 PM, and believe that is when she found out which way the decision would go (Which is why Papa Sollecito and Frank Sfarzo weren't in court the next day)
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9:30 AM, March 26, 2013: I'm there early. It's a bright sunny day, and I am hopeful. New shirt and tie, and the briefcase of course:) Some reporters are lost, but I've been in and out so many times I lead them through the many halls, elevator from the cafeteria, right then left, left.
10:00 AM: The doors open, and we go in. Standing room only. The judges enter at 10:05 AM, and at 10:07 AM, bang! a complete victory for the appeal, and the decision read in less than 60 seconds by the presiding judge. Complete, shocked silence in court. Maresca dashes over to hand some papers to the bench, and the lawyers huddle together. Outside, the defense put on a brave face, but they look shell shocked, the defeat is complete.
I shake Maresca's hand, and head out. He says to the waiting reporters, at least now they know they will get a fair hearing in Florence, but really, this is his style. He won't gloat about what was the end of a long and shameful episode in the treatment of this case.
But first, I go to public relations to get a copy of the dispositivo (they had to call the court clerk's office to have it sent down to them and it appears I got the first copy, no one else had asked by 10:30 AM) and I pass it on to the other reporters so they head off to the clerk's office to get their copies. I also find out how to get a copy of the reasoning report when it is released in the future.
Then I go out and watch the reporters file their stories with the waiting TV cameras. Watching the reports on the news later, I ask: Are these the same people that complained to me about how the story was 'worth nothing as compared to real problems' they'd rather be reporting, like war and the economy? That 'it doesn't matter at all except to the families'? I replied that well, justice is always important but they said the only reason they were there was because their head offices wanted to push the story. (Funny, but when I returned to Piazza Cavour two days later there was an NBC crew from London complaining about how they should have been on their way home but were still there for reasons undetermined
I spend the rest of the day meeting reporters and once again, the rain starts to fall. Let it pour. I find it cleansing, healing.
Tomorrow, I'm going to start enjoying my vacation. But tonight, I will find Pesci Fritti, a small trattoria off piazza dei Satiri, and, enjoying my dinner, raise a glass to the Kerchers and to Meredith. RIP, Meredith Kercher.
Why did I go to Italy? Whatever I do, there always is a reason, or many, that compelled me. The many spirits of Perugia. Past lives in ancient Etruria (the homeland of the Etruscans, corresponding to Tuscany and Umbria and Rome itself. Papal politics, which I have been following since the assassination of Pope John Paul I and the Banco Ambrosiano scandal. Italy, that has drawn me since I was young; the assassination of PM Aldo Moro and the masonic lodge Propaganda P2, Italy's role in facilitating the Iraq and Libyan wars. Much karma here, and the earthquake was a message. But never mind that. I will do my healing work here, much as I did in Tehran 2007, then return home.
But there always is the personal: people who have been haunted by the case, in Italy and also at home. What can I do but try to help? I draw the Tarot card, "Justice". Yes, I bring justice, and I bring karma. Wherever I go, there is change, and I don't even try to change things, just be.
Why am I here? Well, the people I met through the case. So many people in need of help, from the woman who was a healer yet afraid to express that side of herself, to the man still grieving over the death by suicide of his parents, to the woman whose thesis was going no where. Each of these, and many more, I helped. The people in Perugia I have met before, the streets of Rome where every step brings back memories...the people I ask: where do you go from here? This is what I do. Where do I go from here? I don't know. The future will bring what it brings. But in the end, this is the memory I take back home to Toronto:
Me, waiting here outside Cassazione the evening of March 25, waiting for the judges to come back. Waiting, for justice.
The hills of Perugia are alive with spirits. I arrive after a long flight from Toronto at Rome's Fiumicino airport in the morning of March 18, am delayed on the motorway, and as I wait at Termini railway station, a pouring rain begins to fall. It is very healing, and I know, the spirit of Meredith Kercher, is finally, at peace.
The train to Perugia is a direct one, yay. I'm still late arriving there, and by the time I get my phone's SIM card changed, too late to make my appointment. But I am here in Perugia, a city that has fascinated me for so many years. For a case that haunts so many people.
Why am I here? I ask myself. Yes, it's a murder that touches on psychology and spirituality, but to come all the way to Italy for that? Sometimes, I just follow my feelings, and then later, know the whys of it. I'm here for justice, but, also, for Italy, and because, I have been here before. Yes, just thirty miles away, is Lake Trasimeno, a famous battle of the second Punic War in 217 B.C. and I wrote about that, and I wrote about my time in Rome, "The Man of War" in my novel Man From Atlan. But first, I go to the cottage at Via della Pergola 7, where the murder took place, and yes, there are spirits there. Meredith Kercher, the victim, Antonio Curatolo, the homeless man whose unshakable testimony helped provide a better understanding of the case, the many Carthaginian and Roman soldiers who died in the surrounding hills. I pray for them all, to be at peace.
The murder: The facts, as determined by the Micheli and Massei Courts (the Hellmann acquittal is now revoked) On November 01, 2007, British student Meredith Kercher was murdered by her roommate Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito (Amanda's boyfriend) Rudy Guede, an Ivorian resident of Perugia, has been found guilty as well by a separate trial process. Guede had fled to Germany, where he was found and returned to Italy. His fingerprint and DNA proved his presence in the cottage. His final trial in Rome, at Cassazione (the Giordano Report) establishes he did not act alone, and names Knox and Sollecito as accused co-conspirators.
Evidence: Numerous lies about the presence and whereabouts of the accused, alibis that fall apart under questioning, DNA of Raffaele Sollecito on Meredith's bra clasp, Meredith and Amanda's DNA found on a knife in Raffaele's flat (Meredith had never been there) Raffaele's footprint outlined in blood on a bathmat in the cottage, Meredith's blood mixed with Amanda's in the bathroom and another room, signs of a break in and Meredith is missing and not answering her phones, blood in the bathroom, Knox expresses concern but the police are not called for 40 minutes while she talks to her mother and room mate, and he calls his sister in the carabinieri, all of whom tell them to call the police!, signs of a clean up, signs that the break in was staged and the body was staged so as to suggest a robbery and sexual assault, and, as Sollecito breaks down and says that Amanda went away for a while and convinced him to lie for her, she turns around and accuses her boss Patrick Lumumba of having committed the murder while she was in the other room, covering her ears to block the sound of Meredith's screams. Yet, in the days after the murder, while every one else is in shock, she acts as if her 'friend' had not been killed, and her behavior caught on camera shows signs of psycho-sexual erotic release.
Supernatural coincidences: 1) Around 10:00 PM the night of November 01, a prank caller calls Elisabetta Lana on a country road outside the city walls and tells her not to use her toilet. It has been rigged to explode. She calls the police, who come by and find nothing. The next day, her son finds the first of two phones belonging to Meredith Kercher on her property...
He hands them in to the Postal Police, who, turning up at Meredith's cottage that day, surprise Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox, with a mop and bucket she says was being taken over to Raffaele's apartment, even though he has a cleaning lady. They say there has been a break in, and have called the police. (Phone records show they did that after the time the postal police say they arrived) Raffaele keeps directing the police that 'nothing has been stolen', and Amanda, away from Meredith's locked door, that 'she always locks the door when she goes away'. The roommate denies this, and cause the door to be broken down, so that Meredith's slashed body is discovered.
2) Sometime during the night of November 01, two witnesses, Nara Capezzali and Maria Ilaria Dramis, who live in apartments overlooking the parking lot across from the cottage, 70-100 meters distance, hear a horrifying scream, and the sound of footsteps running away up an iron staircase. The courts determine this must have been from Meredith as she was being killed, and set a time of death based on an approximation of when the scream may have been heard. But I see, from my vantage point on the parking lot directly under their windows, that Meredith's window is facing away from them, and traffic noise, the thickness of their walls, and closed windows (it is chilly that day) make it unlikely they could physically have heard Meredith. Yet somehow, I believe they must have heard this psychic scream, so intense it transcended time and space, a quantum moment.
3) A car breaks down directly across from the cottage just before but is gone by 11:00 PM. No one can exit or enter without being observed.
The witnesses: 1) Antonio Curatolo, a homeless man, watches Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito have an intense conversation while peering over the fence of a basketball court towards the cottage. This is around 9:30 PM, then again at 11:00 PM.
2) Hekuran Kokomani, an Albanian cocaine dealer, sees Knox and Sollecito hiding among garbage bags at the entrance to the cottage. Knox threatens him with a knife,but Rudy Guede, whom he knows, comes along and offers him 300 euros to rent his car. (This is the amount of rent money stolen from Meredith, along with her credit cards and phones) He refuses and drives off, as they chase after him. He mentions seeing the broken down car, earlier, which places him at the scene. He flees to Albania afterwards, saying he's been threatened by associates of the Sollecitos.
3) Mario Quintavalle, a small store owner on Raffaele's street, says Amanda Knox came in early the next morning and wandered around the store close to the cleaning supplies. He cannot confirm she bought anything.
The families:The Kerchers impress all observers with their quite dignity. Struggling to make the stretched out court dates, they miss several important events due to the parents ill health and financial circumstances. Meanwhile, Knox's family has their expenses paid for by the networks hoping to land exclusive interviews.
The Knoxes/Mellas family (her parents have remarried) try to keep their daughter on track. She comes close to confessing she falsely accused Lumumba, till her father hushes her up. Her stepfather Chris Mellas sends abusive, threatening messages to female reporters whose reporting he disapproves of.
The Sollecitos: Daughter Vanessa loses her job due to her involvement in the case. Caught on wiretap discussing with her wealthy father how to use their political connections to change the judges. (This gets done when the Chief Justice of Umbria causes an experienced criminal judge to quit)
The PR campaign: Amanda's father Curt Knox hires Seattle PR agency Gogerty Marriott to feed pro-Knox info to the media. Media access is confined only to friendly reporters, so North American media takes on a pro-Knox hue. The British Kerchers never get interviewed on this side of the ocean for their views, and complain about how their daughter has been forgotten.
Gogerty Marriott, with their expertise in promoting defense giant Boeing and convincing Seattle taxpayers to fund new sports stadiums, plays the media for all it's worth, convincing Washington Senator Maria Cantwell and Donald Trump to make jingoistic threats against Italy, and specifically, prosecutor Giuliano Mignini, calling for him to be investigated.
Internet front organizations are set up to spam social media and give the impression of massive public support, even though most Americans are interested in the Casey Anthony and Jodi Arias trials. Run on the cheap by people with no expertise in forensic pathology or knowledge of Italian, they thrive on personal attacks and Google 'research' that gives the semblance of doubt, on specific items of evidence, and ignoring the vast sum of evidence, that, seen on the whole, are indicative of guilt.
This is where Perugian blogger Frank Sfarzo, aka Francesco Sforza, comes in. A seemingly endless source of case documents, he ingratiates himself with the press. At first, he is sympathetic to the Kerchers, but, seeing that most of the money is on the American side, switched to becoming one of the most prominent Knox supporters. He does this by conducting very public attacks on the prosecutor, Giuliano Mignini, criticizing his handling of the case. Imputing abuse of office by a public official (without proof) is a very serious crime in Italy, and when his blog is shut down, he claims instant victim hood. Few realize at the time that he is a vicious con man.
This is compounded by Prosecutor Mignini's dogged pursuing of a decades old case called Il Mostro di Firenze, the Monster of Florence (MOF) murders, where many couples were killed in ritualistic fashion and their sexual organs mutilated in a series of murders in the hills around Florence. There is high level interference of his investigation, even though his theory of masonic groups have already been echoed by many experienced prosecutors and investigators. He is found guilty of conducting an illegal wiretap, even though he had received permission. He appeals that, and also appeals directly to the Supreme Court, Cassazione, to allow him to continue his MOF investigation unimpeded.
The Acquittal: On October 03, 2011, the inexperienced Perugian Judge Hellmann, unprepared for this high profile criminal trial, acquits Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito. Knox flies back to Seattle, and, flush with the publicity, she and Sollecito soon land million $ book contracts, even though their acquittal has not been confirmed by Cassazione, as required by Italian law.
The Friends Of Amanda Knox: cock a hoop over their 'victory', crow about how there will be 'waves of lawsuits' directed at all of us on PERUGIA MURDER FILE where I have been contributing for the last two years as 'Ergon', my not-anonymous pseudonym. Combing through my internet postings, they compile a profile and start to pick on my spiritual beliefs. Fair enough, but the thing about it is, I investigate them too.
This is how I find they had hired a professor, Saul Kassin, to write a defense brief for the Italian courts how Amanda Knox had been 'coerced' to falsely accuse Patrick Lumumba. Yet when he publishes his 'findings' on the American Journal for Psychiatry he fails to disclose this. Oh, oh. I come up with other scoops about the infighting among the Friends Of Amanda and the secret meeting they all have on Vashon Island with their secret source, Frank Sfarzo, and retrieve from their secret forum's photos of the gathering. Then:
Sfarzo~gate: Francesco Sforza, on the run from Italy as authorities pursue him for a domestic violence case, attacking a police woman, and defaming a public official, issues several pleading letters for funds because he is being 'persecuted'. Many supporters of Amanda Knox are duped into sending him thousands of dollars to help him carry out the fight, but little did they know he already has been receiving a stipend from an American judge, Micheal Heavey, who has already been censured for writing letters to the Italian authorities. He comes to America where he is feted at a large gathering of Amanda supporters, many of them flipping a finger at PM Mignini to celebrate the 'victory' a photo that soon finds its way to me and now one of the most viewed on matters pertaining to this case. Hidden within the secret party, called by Amanda's family to coordinate the PR campaign, are Chris and Edda Mellas. They do not want any one to know of their connection with Frank, but already cracks are appearing in the facade.
He claims to have copies of Amanda's interrogation tapes, and to be able to 'blow the case wide open'. He asks for more money, but when none is forthcoming, becomes more bitter. His behaviour at the Mellases, causes him to be thrown out after two months staying there. Desperate because he's overstayed his visa, he tries to convince women to marry him so he can get a green card. Then he makes a trip to Hawaii to meet a female supporter. Things don't work out, he is abusive, and gets arrested. He gives a false name, Francesco Sforca, and is released when the supporter fails to press charges. She just wants him off the island. When she's attacked by the Group for telling about her experience, she contacts me. Writing about this opens the floodgates, and several sources approach me, and I get information about the tens of thousands of dollars he has collected in secret support from 'the Americans', about his legal troubles, and how he's been thrown out of Canada and charged in Seattle on further abuse charges. He even tried to sleep with Amanda Knox, as confirmed by her step father!
Then, I am told he's left behind crime scene documents in several places because of general forgetfulness and having to leave locations in a hurry. It appears, from perusing them, to contain files that came from a secret police source and insiders that did not come from official sources, but slipped to him before they were officially released. Hence, his ability to come up with the scoops that gave him an in with the media. I pass this on to the authorities, and follow up with several letters and gain a meeting with PM Mignini. And I start writing about these revelations. Much bleating about how they've been 'stolen'. Nope, they've been 'lost', and he can collect his 'property' from the authorities, maybe after appearing in court for the many charges he's evaded. I think that's it with him, then run into him in Rome, at Cassazione. He doesn't know who I am, but it seems, the story is not quite ended.
Perugian dreams: To get a feel for a place, you have to walk its streets, talk to its people. To understand a case, you visit the sites. To Elisabetta Lana's, Nara Capezalli, Maria Dramis, the cottage, the basketball court where Antonio sat.. The kebab place that gave Rudy Guede a 'bad stomache', I eat at five times. No problems there, and the many Arab hustlers and drug dealers and I get along just fine.
I have a short meeting with PM Mignini. Directed to his new office, I meet him coming down the escalators to meet me; in a few minutes I'd have missed him. We discuss the MOF case, and I wish him all the best at Cassazione. The next day, he has won a stunning victory, completely vindicated, and he is now on a fast track to becoming the chief prosecutor of the province of Umbria. Interesting, he shares the same interest in Gnosticism as me. We will keep in touch. I tell him I'll be in Rome myself the next week to witness what will come of the prosecution's appeal of the Knox-Sollecito acquittals. I have met him before; a friend from previous lives, and I have made many friends here, many friends going back to Etruscan times.
Perugia is indeed suffused with masonry, and its symbols abound. Today, here in Toronto, I am shown a picture of an ice sculpture of a Griffin, Perugia's emblem. Today, a new patient has the same birthday as Amanda Knox. Today, I am reminded about how Perugia haunts us still. But, there in Perugia, as I prepare to get ready for Rome, I see a flyer for a concert of choral music in the Marianum Auditorium.
And as the glorious soprano voice soars through the church, I think, I will come here again.
Meredith Kercher, a 21 year old British student, was sexually assaulted and murdered in Perugia, Italy, on November 01, 2007. Coincidentally, I had just left the U.K. after a month long trip teaching new healers in The Way Of Atlan. Over the next many years I found myself being drawn more and more to the case, as first Ivorian immigrant Rudy Guede, then, her roommate Amanda Knox and Amanda's boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were found guilty of sexual assault, murder, and theft, in 2009, with Knox also being found guilty of the crime of callunnia,for falsely accusing her boss, Patrice Lumumba of the crime. Guede, choosing a fast track trial, got 16 years imprisonment as a consequence, and Knox and Sollecito got 26 and 25 years respectively.
A subsequent appeal for Knox and Sollecito got them freed by a controversial decision of the Perugian Court of Appeals, which allowed Knox to return to America. An appeal of that decision was filed by the Perugian attorney general, and consequently, on March 26, 2013, the Criminal Division of the Italian Supreme Court, Corte De Cassazione, allowed all fourteen points of his appeal and, repudiating the entire decision of the Appeals Court, ordered that Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito would have to face a new Appeal trial in Florence. It was a stunning victory for the prosecution, and I was there in court that day.
As you know, I've written extensively about the case, here on this blog but also as administrator of a website called PERUGIA MURDER FILE dedicated to helping find justice for Meredith Kercher. Much of the information published here is due to the investigative reporting of the many volunteers of Perugia Murder File and several sources who contacted us, but all opinions expressed here, are strictly my own. .
During the hearings, I met many reporters from CNN, NYT, AP and The Telegraph, all of whom asked what my interest in the case was. Why was I there, indeed? The following is a lengthy account of the five years of my journey to Rome.
2011 was an interesting year for me. I had to shift directions, just as the world was about to go through intense turmoil. It was a time for prophecy, all of which was unfolding before me:
RECAP 2011 (March 09, 2012) gives the bigger picture, but, this was why I got involved:
WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN: (June 26, 2011) Was my first blog here where I drew attention to the astrological signs in this case, and what they signified about the means and motives for the murder. They showed quite clearly, the circumstances of the night in question, but also, the long hold it would take on the public consciousness and the political interference in this trial. This was when I first felt that Knox would be acquitted in the appeal, though I decided not to publish that last snippet. There was a long road ahead, I knew, so best to wait till I could get more information. Still, my reasons for getting involved: I knew I would be using the Internet as a way of getting in touch with people, and for more than 10 years, I did, through my websites and writing on chat forums like Huffington Post. (Where I first started discussing this case extensively) But eventually I got tired of going on about politics and social justice. People were powerless and didn't want to think about anything that required difficult solutions. I would focus on spiritual things only. Then, I came across the Meredith Kercher murder. There were many things in it, the power of coincidence, the psychology, the astrological component, but it was above all the underlying spirituality that drew me in.
Yes, four lives, wasted. Yes, the victim was forgotten even as the accused murderers, Amanda Knox, Raffaele Sollecito, and Rudy Guede were convicted. Knox and Sollecito even attracted some sort of perverse publicity and book deals that made it all about them.
As Marcus Aurelius once said, "justice is the basis of all things". Yes, that was important, but you see, it was a symbol. You know I claim to see things. I knew the future of Italy would be important. I knew the Vatican would be going through change, and as stories of papal assassination plots and corruption come out, sure. Yes, it would come down to a battle between two Italys, and that drew me in. Maybe it was also the unquiet spirit of Meredith Kercher that I could hear, calling for justice, and I knew that justice would be hard come by, in this case.
But, spirituality calls for balance. If we cannot try to right a wrong to one person, then how can we right that which is out of balance on the planet? So, I devoted myself to the case.
There were times when I thought I needed to move away from it. Yes, the case consumed some people, and I wondered why. Perhaps they had some deep psychological need, but I could step away from it? Yes, there was the personal element. I have daughters and Meredith reminded me of them. Arline Kercher comes from the same city in Pakistan I come from. The spiritual coincidences that occurred over time were compelling, but there had to be a deeper reason.
In the end, I stayed. Out of loyalty to people I cared about, because they needed my help. The spirit of Meredith and people that needed healing. It was important that I be there. I knew my presence would make a difference somehow, so in the end, I stayed.
This er, energetic activity drew the attention of Knox loyalists who made it their business to investigate me and my background. Since I never hid it, sure they came across my main website and blog, and the personal attacks followed. The funny thing is, I have investigated the case extensively, on both sides. I also read the trial transcripts (translated from the Italian) and would have felt as strongly, if not more, were I convinced Knox and Sollecito were innocent; defending the wrongfully accused is very important to me. In the end, it wasn't my spiritual beliefs that convinced me, or the psychological or astrological observations of someone I never met, but, hard facts presented at trial. As things stand now, Knox and Sollecito have been found guilty, though under Italian law that has not been finalized. There still is an appeals process and final confirmation at Cassazione that must be confirmed.
The Media lies:
There have been a lot of lies, factual errors, and distortions in reporting about the case in North American media, with ABC and CNN as the main culprits in this. White woman (Homus Americanus) in peril from foreigners always appeals to the xenophobic and weak minded elements of our society, and the networks and other media plays to it, for ratings reasons. An internet campaign set up by the Friends Of Amanda Knox fed the defense point of view to the public; even the Wikipedia account of the case was manipulated by teams of anonymous volunteers to reflect what turned out, in the end, to be a PR exercise to influence public opinion and invite political interference in the legal affairs of an independent country.
Political interference:
Donald Trump threatened to boycott Italy, and Knox's Senator Maria Cantwell (Dem-WA) issued the following statements:
WASHINGTON, DC –Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) issued the following statement on Amanda Knox’s guilty verdict decided today by an Italian court in Perugia, Italy. Knox, a 22-year-old Seattle native, was accused of murdering her British school roommate Meredith Kercher in November 2007. Knox stood trial with co-defendant and former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito.
Senator Cantwell’s statement:
“I am saddened by the verdict and I have serious questions about the Italian justice system and whether anti-Americanism tainted this trial. The prosecution did not present enough evidence for an impartial jury to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Ms. Knox was guilty. Italian jurors were not sequestered and were allowed to view highly negative news coverage about Ms. Knox. Other flaws in the Italian justice system on display in this case included the harsh treatment of Ms. Knox following her arrest; negligent handling of evidence by investigators; and pending charges of misconduct against one of the prosecutors stemming from another murder trial.
I am in contact with the U.S. Ambassador to Italy and have been since the time of Ms. Knox’s arrest. I will be conveying my concerns to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. I have also been in touch with the Embassy of Italy in Washington, DC.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) issued the following statement on Amanda Knox’s appeal verdict decided today by an Italian court in Perugia, Italy.
“I am glad that the appeals court gave Amanda the fair hearing that she deserves. All countries must live up to their international commitments to provide a fair trial by an impartial tribunal to those accused of crimes.
“Amanda’s parents, family and friends have been through an incredible ordeal. We are all thankful that she will be free to return to Seattle as soon as possible.”
Judicial misconduct:
Another American official, Knox family friend King County Superior Court Judge Michael Heavey, sent letters using his judicial stationery, also attacking the Italian police and Public Prosecutor PM Mignini, for which he was officially reprimanded by the Washington State Commission of Judicial Conduct:
He promised not to use his office to speak out on Amanda Knox's behalf, then continued to do so. He boasted that their lobbying influenced the Italian judiciary. He, and many of Amanda Knox's family and supporters, also funneled tens of thousands of dollars to one of the main sources of attacks on the Perugian police investigators and prosecutor Mignini; an Italian blogger and reporter named Francesco Sforza, also known as Frank Sfarzo, whose scurrilous attacks caused his website to be shut down by the Italian authorities.
It was this Frank Sfarzo, on the run from Italy for assaulting policemen after a domestic dispute, who ended up in America being hosted by Amanda Knox's parents and Judge Heavey. Frank Sfarzo, and my interaction with him in this case, deserves a separate subsection in this blog, which I will get to, but here's a capsule of his arrests in the United States and being thrown out of Canada. Frank Sfarzo Arrests: which was written about far more extensively on our website.
Friends Of Amanda:
Unique to this case was the footprint of a PR agency led internet advocacy group which spammed hundreds of forums, social and news web sites, and Wikipedia, to create the feel of widespread public support for Amanda Knox. They appropriated the image of Meredith Kercher to say that her family had been misled by the Italians, which caused even more anguish to the Kerchers. They had lost their daughter, and now the friends of the accused were using her picture to pretend concern for 'the truth'. And, as their surrogates started to investigate me online, I investigated them :) Their activities had been under the radar for a long time, but it is in my nature to uncover secrets, and I came across the evidence of their judicial, political, psychological, and media activities which I wrote about on Perugia Murder Files. (dot Net; there is another site called dot Org, but I wrote for dot Net)
Raffaele Sollecito:
The other accused, Amanda's boy friend, is the son of a wealthy doctor and well connected political family (with credible sources saying also, mafia connected). He was a heavy drug experimenter, knife fetishist, and lover of violent Japanese manga, and some of the scenes found in comics at his flat mirrored the crime scene. It was his withdrawal of Amanda Knox's alibi that caused her to become a suspect and led to her arrest but their suspicious behaviour had already caused them to come under the radar. His sister Vanessa was forced to leave the carabinieri, the Italian state police, for her interference in the case, and she was caught on wiretap telling her father to use their political connections to have a sympathetic judge appointed. Raffaele's family was also accused of leaking a shocking police video of Meredith's body to a TV station in their home town . His lawyer, Giulia Bongiorno, was also the head of the parliamentary judiciary committee, a conflict of interest that may have influenced the actions of many senior judges of the Appeals court, which led to an experienced criminal judge being removed and replaced with an inexperienced financial crimes judge, Hellmann, whose acquittal of Knox and Sollecito was so bizarre the Supreme Court completely nullified his rulings this March 26. His lawyer was also accused of attempting to bribe two prison stoolies to give false testimonies to the court. Lastly, his family is also accused of using their connections to have the third accused, Rudy Guede, beaten up twice in prison to get him to shut up, yet he did speak up and accuse them directly in court, just as I predicted the day previously in my What Might Have Been article cited above.
Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox received lucrative book contracts (hers came to $4 million) shortly after their release. I felt very strongly they should not profit from their stories until they were declared innocent under Italian law, so wrote to the producers of various TV shows. Who knows if our lobbying had an effect, but his book tour and sales flopped miserably. With the recent Cassazione ruling, I wonder how well Knox's book (coming out April 30) will do, but, far for me to suggest to anyone not to buy a book, if the first 22 pages of her book posted by her German publisher are any indication, maybe you might want to read it through your public library? ;)
Sollecito and Knox's fate are entwined karmically for all time. He cannot blame Knox for instigating the murder, nor can she accuse him. I sat in the same row as his father during the Supreme Court hearing. No matter his actions in subverting justice, I felt waves of compassion for him, as he sat there watching control of the case slip away from him. But in the end, he still has his son, while the Kerchers have lost their daughter.
Amanda Knox:
There is much speculation about the mind of Amanda Knox. A Times magazine blog article speculated she might have a form of autism, which piqued my interest, but, not having met her or having access to her records, I won't go there. Whatever inferences I drew about her psychology, drug use and sexuality, using the tools of astrology and Chinese medicine (ahem) were corroborated by many who knew her personally and reported by the media, but yes, I do have an interest in the case because of the possible implications of a drug induced psychosis. However, the following article is not a diagnosis of Amanda Knox, it reflects my own interest in the nature of increased mental illness in Western Society.
Introduction:
"IThe question of criminality has been much in the news lately, as wild gangs of youth rampaged through British cities, and wild gangs of feral financial speculators rampaged through the world's economies.
As a scientist I wonder about the pathologies involved, and as a spiritual person I wonder about root causes.
So this is about where we are going as a society. Are we descending into criminality, and is the problem getting worse? I also wonder about the connection between criminality and mental illness."
notable for a respectful dialogue between two sides on this issue. One writer asked,
"To be truthful, I am one of those people who wants to be only rational, but is drawn to this type of analysis. So I cannot fully call it "quackery" - although logic says it must be so. I suppose Jung was both rational and drawn to things such as psycho-astrology. In your opinion, what were the "indicators" of the acquittals, and moreover, why were acquittals fated? thanks smk"
My answer was:
"Hi, SMK.
I started to develop very strong feelings about the acquittal in June 2011. So when I checked that against the astrological chart I saw a Grand Cross pattern with Sun and Venus at stressful 90 degree angles to Saturn, Uranus and Pluto, it all pointed to sudden, unexpected events. Since they impacted AK's chart so strongly I felt she would be acquitted.
The Sept 27 New Moon prior to the decision was favorable to her chart, and the factit was due on Oct. 3, the day OJ Simpson was acquitted, convinced me. (That she would be released - my belief in guilt or innocence are based on the evidence which has been adequately argued else where and the courts that found them guilty, a verdict that stands as of now. OJ Simpson, also shares the same birthday as AK, July 9, as does Jodi Arias, a coincidence I am sure)
Jupiter in the 12th points to powerful allies, and that she was fated to be released.
We know that human beings have strong connections to the unknown. IMO astrology just barely touches the surface in trying to understand it.
But Jung certainly used Astrology to form the basis of his Psychological theory"
And so, when asked about the Cassazzione hearing on Perugia Murder File, I said the prosecution would win, provided there was no judicial corruption. Which, IMO, was what happened in the Hellmann acquittal. I strongly suspected attempts would be made, and it was important for me to be in Rome. Not to influence anything, just to be there to witness. My influence extends on a far more esoteric plane :)
There was indeed much happening in Italy. I wrote here, in QUO VADIS? which was about the horoscope of Italy and its future:
"This is the sadness of being able to see the future. On the one hand you see signs of what lies ahead. On the other hand you know it might be too late. You try to warn friends and the people you love, but what happens then depends on the choices they make.
The answer, for the people of Italy and the world is that political and economic change will not be enough. All we ever get is the semblance of change, without anything real.
Unless there is real spiritual change, things will get much worse, sorry."
Another article, SATAN~ISM (December 17, 2011) begins with the trial of a refugee boat captain and his crew in Italy; they had killed many refugees by throwing them overboard in a voodoo ceremony at sea. I focused more and more on Italy, a riff on satanism, masonry, and my experience with these phenomena. Interesting that prosecutor Mignini is unfairly criticized for being 'obsessed' with it, when the truth is there were such elements in a related case, Il Mostro de Firenze (The Monster of Florence) speculated about by many prosecutors before he became involved. There certainly are elements of demonic possession around the MOF case, if not Knox, Sollecito and Guede, but never mind. I focus on the psychology.
I wrote about my experience with the Process Church, a group that influenced Charles Manson and David "Son of Sam" Berkowitz, and the fascination with Satanism in contemporary society, and how it is used as a means of psychological mind control through ritualistic acts. And I have walked around Perugia, Italy, and there definitely is a strong whiff of that there in the Etruscan ruins, with its focus on death and the spirit. This article was also what led me to eventually meet "Bettina".
"Just look at the coincidences. Over the last year I've been focused on Italy, for its political and financial difficulties, for a murder case that had a unique spiritual component, and because so much of it is a reflection of what's happening world wide.
So I see my task as being to warn people, and sometimes, sadly, the Universe has to send reminders. Now I don't expect to convince the rationally inclined, so, just look at the coincidences."
"So, Why Italy? True, I was drawn to it by a particular case. I knew there were going to be spectacular changes in Europe which showed the breakdown of the old order
but ultimately, I was drawn to a point in the future I saw coming.
I hold at least four meditations a year. They all have a specific focus on trends that are coming into play, but, they also are earth healing exercises. And the sad thing is, as I said so many years ago, that if earth changes and disasters are needed to wake people up, then let it happen. They are messages for people, and if they do not listen, so be it. The floods in England, the earthquake in Haiti, the Fukushima disaster, were all preceded by my meditations, and written about here.
They're not even punishments. Why blame poor people in Haiti or Iraq for the disasters that befall them? No, the message is for all of us, on this planet. If something happens to the least of us, then it is up to every one on this planet to learn from it, and prevent future disasters. The earth is not in balance, and it is up to us to bring it back into balance.
And if your rational mind only tells you there's nothing we can do, then so be it. Just please don't say "I prayed to move a mountain, but it didn't move". That's an untrue argument. We are all healers and magicians, but someone has to show you how.
We had very little snow this year, only rain, which isn't good for the crops in the summer. There's a lot of imbalance there. But shortly after my December 16 meditation, we had a lovely snowfall. Then just before my next meditation in January, the one billion dollar mega cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground off an island in Italy. The captain of the ship was careless, though it appears the cruise line, Carnival, is equally culpable. Still, here's the thing:
It could have been much worse. Even though 32 died, 4200 were saved.
It happened on my birthday.
I had written about "Two Italys" in Quo Vadis and said that people would have to make choices between what type of country they wanted for themselves. This was pooh poohed by sceptics, but after the disaster Italian newspapers started writing about Two Italys."
Which refers not only to Meredith Kercher, but the many affected by this case, and all of us. So, we are surrounded by spirits. But we also have the unquiet spirit within.
I heal the unquiet spirit.
Then, finally, by the time of my Christmas Meditation, the focus of which was
WHY ROME? (December 19, 2012) I knew the pope would be gone soon, and there would be a decisive shift in the case. I should go to Rome in the new year, because my spiritual journey required it.
It's been a while since the cardinals of the church elected a new pope, the very first Francesco, after St. Francis of Assisi, but I have been gathering my thoughts and couldn't write about this earlier.
Much is made among students of Catholicism about the prophecies of St. Malachi, the 12th century Irish saint. It is said that his accurate portrayal of the last four popes (he uses symbolic language so I do not know) proves that his characterization of this pope as "Peter the Roman", who will shelter the remaining followers of the church in the times of tribulation. Therefore, he will be the last pope, it is said, during the rule of the Antichrist.
I've known for the last two years that Pope Benedict would not be long for the papacy. When asked, I said "the next one would be Italian" and it turned out to be so, as the former Jorge Mario Bergolio was born to Italian parents in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1936. And that yes, instead of appointing a liberal pope, it would be a conservative. The church could have shown it was ready to accept its faults of the past. Instead, it appointed a pope who worked with the dictators of Argentina and enabled the kidnapping and torture of two priests http://americasouthandnorth.wordpress.com/2013/03/13/on-the-selection-of-jorge-mario-bergoglio-as-pope-francisco/ This is denied by his biographer, and now by one of the priests, FWIW. The fact remain that while the Brazilian bishopric made social issues their priority, the Argentinian church was er, unusually timid.
So I did go to Rome over Easter, to be there, for many reasons. And I walk to St. Peter's Square in the Vatican to see what I can see. There's a mural of Jesus handing gold keys to St. Peter, the keys to the kingdom, and there's the problem I have with the church. St. Peter was jealous of Mary Magdalen, Jesus's wife, and therefore the direction of the church was set on a different path than what Jesus envisioned. Every element, from the Gnostics to the Cathars, was ruthlessly excised, and its treatment of Muslims and Jews during the Crusades wasn't exemplary.
It is an institution that can and has done good over the years, but all such institutions must evolve, or perish. In the church's case, I see only corruption and irrelevancy, no matter how many photo ops and small gestures are made by the new pope.
The Antichrist exists as an energy and not a person, that inhabits all of us in one way or the other, but also, within the institutions of organized religion, politics, and high finance. So until we balance the rift between the male and female energies that are reflected in us, the Catholic Church and all such religions and institutions are merely vehicles for this corruption. There must be social and economic justice, there has to be an end to the suppression of the sacred feminine and respect for Mother Earth, and until this is done, there will be no peace. And so I just do not see the church changing, sorry. In this, the new pope is truly "Peter the Roman".
The real struggle will happen outside of organized religion, as people of spirituality gather together and form new models. There is a struggle, only just begun. And the Christ, and God, exists in all of us. We can bring great change.
