Al Perry has spent
the past seventeen years in the healing arts working
with the modalities of qigong and bodywork. Al continues
his private healing practice in San Jose, California. He
also assumes the role as a storyteller using parables to
illustrate qigong treatments for his clients’ various
symptoms. Al expends any free moments in nature, and
taking pleasure in quality time with his life partner,
Erin, and their two cats, Nameste and Littlest.
The reason as to why I
wrote The Lost Scroll:
 The
terrorist attacks of September 11th emphasized the
devastating methods that humankind has created to kill one
another. America’s equally violent response spoke loudly to
me that there must be a different manner for which to solve
conflict.
During that time, I immersed myself in the study of Qigong,
the energetic branch of Chinese Medicine. Because its
practice provided my clientele and me such wonderful
benefits, I looked to this source for answers. I knew we
humans were out of balance and that Chinese Medicine, with
Qigong and Taoism at its core, is all about attaining
balance. Therefore, I examined humankind and its home, the
Earth, approximating the approach one would take to evaluate
a single patient.
The symptoms pointed to a diagnosis of a condition called
Yin deficiency. The indicators include overheating, anger,
defensiveness, the lack of a nurturing nature, as well as a
crumbling infrastructure, such as the human skeleton. I
looked at the world and its creatures in my mind's eye. I
saw our natural resources diminishing, many people relying
on violence to solve conflict, a fear-based mentality at the
forefront, and an increasingly warmer planet. We all know
this. Yet, what is at the heart of the problem and how can
we, as individuals, do anything? How did we get here? I
asked these questions in my meditations.
For some time I had an interest in the Kabbalah, the
mystical view of Judaic lessons. Within this study, the
concept of Shekinah came to light. The literal meaning of
Shekinah is, “The presence of God.” However, the noun is of
the feminine gender. I realized that Shekinah is similar to
Mother Earth, and Mother Earth is analogous to Yin. I made
the connection. Observing my wife, Erin, helped.
My insight showed me that humankind is Yin deficient because
we, as a people, did not recognize the Earth Mother, Yin, or
the Divine Feminine is our spiritual practices. She is
inevitably present, but not remembered. She is here, but not
recognized.
I wanted to remind the world, but who would listen? Thus, I
began to write a non-fiction treatise. Fifteen pages into
the dissertation, I knew few would read it or care because
it sounded too preachy. Therefore, I decided that a fiction,
or parable, would be the best genre to tell the story of our
missing Shekinah, the forgotten Divine Feminine.
In closing, I ask that you consider reading The Lost Scroll,
and perhaps ponder the importance of recognizing the Divine
Feminine within your own personal existence. If you have
trouble, please feel free to email me, and perhaps I can be
of assistance. Until then, I hope you and those you love
flourish while living an abundant life, nurtured by the
Divine Feminine and protected by the Divine Masculine. There
is Yin and Yang in all things. And so it is.
Nameste,
Al Perry
The Lost Scroll
excerpt:
Observe the way he regards the old parchment. Can you sense
his underlying desire to know what draws him toward it as he
passes? Do you understand why his thoughts always return to
ponder what meaning lies within its strange markings? I know
the answer, for I was there when the scribe scripted its
words. It was so long ago, in your measurement of time, yet
distant even for me. I feared the scroll forgotten or
destroyed.
Please understand that we wanted to bequeath something to
our daughters. We yearned to entrust to them a foundational
treatise upon which hope could build and thrive. We were
dependent on them to convey the message to their children,
so the way of the world might someday change. It mattered
not what its fate would be; it was our responsibility to put
forth the effort. When the truth looked us in the eye and
held its gaze, we knew the importance of communicating that
truth to all who were important in our lives. We did all we
could.
Now, this man, countless generations since our lifetime,
looks at the old artifact and ruminates. Thus, my spirit
heeds the call to surface and observe. I watch him as he
looks into my eyes. Do you see the image of the young,
dark-haired woman with the telling eyes, painted at the top
of the scroll? It is I, Miriam, so very long ago. My cousin,
Amelia, depicted my sister, Rebecca, and me in the frame of
the message that she scripted, copying it carefully from the
old broken pottery that first held the message. Rebecca’s
image rests at the bottom of the scroll. Look how her eyes
betray her fear. She came on that journey reluctantly.
However, I felt my pride bursting forth to have a role in
this veiled truth. My grandmother, Sophia, taught me its
wisdom. When I understood the importance, I ached for the
whole world to hear and grasp the consequential meaning of
this message.
My mother, Martha, and Amelia warned us to be careful. They
told us we could surely die for what we knew. Therefore,
Amelia disguised the missive in the language of Axum, her
home, and scripted the cabalism upon the goatskin parchment.
However, as the past will once again resurface, allow me to
renew this theme later. For now, we will begin with the
present, your time.
Take a moment; look intently at this man, and observe how
the scroll draws him. Why, do you suppose, would the scroll
choose him? Indeed, why would she choose a man at all? To
what within him does the scroll speak?
I will leave you now with these questions, so you will be
able to observe the story from the perspective of this man.
He will not speak to you, yet you will hear his
conversations. He cannot perceive you, nor can any of those
who cross his path during this journey. Yet, you will come
to know them by their speech as well as their behavior. I
will return in a while, remaining in spirit form, to take
you on a journey to my time in the past. We will visit other
meaningful moments in the history (or should I call it
her-story) of this precious scroll as well. Until then, my
hope is that you may be illuminated.
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