Outremer I
Who Controls The Past Controls The Future
An epic love story must overcome religious divide and a plot to eradicate two blood lines, as the Crusades and the search for the ancient mysteries of the Holy Grail gather momentum.
Raised by his father in La Rochelle, France, Paul Plantavalu is known for his artistic nature, inquisitive mind and Christian faith. He also has an unshakable love for his Muslim childhood friend, Alisha al Komaty. Courageous and outspoken, she returns Paul’s love. But their path is paved with obstacles; religion, war, political chaos and a mysterious enemy determined to destroy their family lines.
Sometime between 1110 AD and 1120 AD in the aftermath of the first crusade, a small band of nine knights — the founding knights Templar — recover ancient precious artefacts left by a former, advanced civilisation, beneath the City of Jerusalem. Ruthlessly guarded, the secrets revealed by this discovery are highly prized by powerful and dangerous forces far and wide; the repercussions of their capture are inextricably linked to Paul and Alisha. As Paul starts to experience dark and vivid dreams and the fragile balance of peace starts to crumble, it will fall to an enigmatic man known as Kratos and his female warrior protégée Abi Shadana, to safeguard Paul and Alisha.
Paul and Alisha’s love story weaves between the threads of our reality and other realms — from the Druids to the Sufi mystics, the Magi of the East, the secret political arm of the Knights Templar and the Isma’ilis, the Assassins. Knights and pilgrims alike will witness some of the darkest battles ever fought. The discovery of a unique sword’s lethal power and whispered connections to King Arthur and the Holy Grail lead Paul and Alisha to question if their lives ever be the same again.
The first of a four-part series, Outremer is an historical epic, which sweeps across England, Scotland and France, to Syria, Jerusalem and Egypt. Discover the truth — and crack the ancient code — behind the great mysteries of the High Middle Ages for yourself.
Location Spotlight for Outremer.
One important place that appears within Outremer is Glen Lyon in Scotland. Its name derives from Gleann Lìomhann, essentially meaning Lugh's Glen...it was once the stronghold of the ancient Picts...the original centre of their kingdom, not that of Scone as some believe. The Glen itself is uniquely devoid of megalithic monuments for it is reputed to be the site of the Creator Goddess and the solar deity, Lugh, and is sacred by its own nature. I believe that truly sacred sites are left untouched by human hands. Having visited it many times over the last thirty years, it is a place I hold as deeply significant and blessed. A Glen steeped in history, myth and a very real tangible spiritual presence, it is some 25 miles in length and practically forgotten and off the usual tourist trails.
It is the only place in Europe, and possibly the whole world, that has no megalithic monuments, standing stones or circles, the exception being a natural standing stone that has split and are known as the ‘Standing stones of Mary’, or ‘Praying Hands of Mary’. They sit aside the conical hill of Creag nan Eildeag. Two huge stones rise sideways, with a narrow split between them as if they were two hands, held together without the fingertips touching. Like all conical hills, they are symbolic of the ‘primordial hill’, the first hill created on Earth, the navel of the Earth, its shape mimicking the belly of a pregnant woman. In Egypt, the conical hill was identified as a ‘primordial hill’, on which the solar deity created the world. In Celtic countries, a very similar event occurs, though it is more correct to say that the solar deity Lugh impregnated the Cailleach, which means ‘old woman’ or ‘hag’ a name derived from the old Irish caillech, or ‘the veiled one.’ It is a widespread form of Celtic hag Goddess tied to the land and the weather, hence the conical shaped hill expressing her pregnancy.
Many legends claim Glen Lyon is the navel of the world strongly connected to sacred feminine principles and is a naturally balanced, harmonious Glen not requiring its energies to be tapped or controlled. Just as you are about to enter, there is a tiny village named Fortingall where there is an ancient male Yew tree. Claimed, and proved, to be at least 3,000 years old...though modern dating techniques have recently pushed that figure back even further to at least 5,000 years. It is acknowledged as the world’s most ancient living thing upon the planet. One legend claims that during the last days of the age of Pisces, as our planet enters the ring of light, now confirmed as the photon belt, which our entire solar system entered back in early 2003, as we transit into the age of Aquarius, the so-called spiritual age, that due to the presence and energies of the sacred feminine, it would change to a female tree and grow berries. In the spring of 2016, the Yew tree did indeed bud three berries for the first time ever recorded as it became female.
Our forefathers believed that all ancient dolmens and stones sit across natural faults in the earth. They strengthen and increase the energy to keep the lands fertile, including all that lives. All are aligned to a great web of lines that interconnect to maintain balance and stop illness and decay...and all converge on the other navel of the world...in Giza! Some people call these natural lines of energy, Ley Lines. It is believed by some, that Glen Lyon is where those lines originate from!
In modern science, it is becoming increasingly clear that geopathic stresses build up and create energy, sometimes being released as sound familiar to trumpets. Geopathic Stress are Earth vibrations which rise up and are distorted by weak electromagnetic fields created by subterranean running water, certain mineral concentrations, fault lines and underground cavities. If those vibrations are badly distorted or abnormally high, they become harmful to living organisms. All areas have different heights in waves of energy, but they can be tuned using stone, like the strings on a lyre, (ever wondered why Druids and Bards are depicted with a lyre or harp?) to balance the energy by cutting various sized cup marks in them, from one to eight, and sometimes nine. You will find many such cup marks and spirals upon dolmens and ancient stones. It would appear our forefathers knew of these energies and used stone to manipulate and balance them...yet Glen Lyon has none, so maybe the legends are true of it being the navel of our world. All I know is that there is something fundamentally spiritual about the Glen. You can see and sense its age, even the trees look almost other worldly covered in their mosses.
After strange and vivid experiences whilst living in Cyprus as a child, author D N Carter has been fascinated by the history, myths and legends of the Middle Ages and mankind’s past. As he got older travels to Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, the Languedoc region of France and the deserts of Arabia fuelled his enthusiasm. While not decoding maps and mathematical codes D N Carter enjoys adventure sports from parachuting to microlight flying. Today he divides his time between East Anglia in the UK and the south of France with his family.
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