PAUL MAGDALENE
Ten years ago starting in Saudi Arabia, Craig and Suzzan began an incredible journey that changed their lives. Their travels took them to Cyprus, Israel, and Jordan before settling in the United States. The recounting of that journey is candidly told in their first book My Lost Love. Once in America, Suzzan with Craig’s assistance embarked on a guided investigation into religion, philosophy, mythology, history and science.
Craig and Suzzan learned that God’s message had become distorted by humanity’s dogma, doctrine and intellectualism. Suzzan’s goal was to gather pieces of a metaphorical jigsaw puzzle from all the disciplines to lead her to a picture of the Truth. The results of her investigation are reported in their second book, Love the Common Denominator: My Journey to the Truth.
This, the ‘third in the trilogy, picks up where My Lost Love left off. It follows Craig and Suzzan’s struggle to come to terms with their mission, which continued in 2000 with visits to Mexico, Peru and Bolivia. The focus of the book is the amazing events between 1999 through 2002. In addition, the book openly relates the couple’s experiences involving a life threatening condition and the taking on of a spiritual center. Their journey to Rennes-Ie-Château in the south of France resulted in Craig and Suzzan discovering the deeper implications of their mission. The multiple signs and coincidences revealed to them the identity of the force for change, the true philosophers’ stone.
Before their calling ten years ago, Craig and Suzzan Babcock had believed they were the epitome of ordinary people. Craig, born in Cumberland, Wisconsin, grew up as a carefree boy. Like most young men of his generation, the Vietnam War cut his further education short when he enlisted in the Navy. Still, he did learn a trade in electronics and after finishing his tour of duty; Craig joined the Raytheon Corporation, where he advanced to the position of Senior Field Engineer. This level took him to remote parts of the world, including a spell as civilian advisor to the military during the Gulf War, where he received two medals for his service. After leaving Raytheon, Craig accepted an opening in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia with Intergraph. It was there that he met Suzzan and began the journey that would forever change his life.
Suzzan born in London, England had also grownup without any idea of the spiritual challenges in store for her. After leaving school, she began an apprenticeship with a local hairdressers’. She married her first husband within six months of meeting him when she was barely eighteen years old. The birth of their son followed a little under a year later. Due to Suzzan being a qualified hairdresser, she was able to work anywhere she chose. This served her well when she joined her husband of ten years in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. However, it wasn’t until she had opened a large beauty salon, in 1991 in partnership with a Saudi national, that she began to feel that she was destined for other things. Two years later she met Craig.
Craig and Suzzan wrote under the pseudonym Paul Magdalene for two reasons. The first was that they both felt their lives and therefore their story was divinely guided. The second was that both the first and the third in the trilogy are written in the third person. Like an objective reporter, their story is told like an impartial observer. This enables the highly personal experiences to be related with an honesty and candor that would have been impossible if written in the first person.
At ground level Palenque is very impressive, but from above the city it is truly spectacular. Looking out over the groomed lawns, he could see that the palace literally took center stage. To its left there was what looked like an arena of some kind. The building they had climbed was to the right of the palace and was one of the lesser temples.
On the same side, they were on, was the famous Temple of the Inscriptions, the temple where the tomb of the Mayan king Pacal Votan was buried. Unfortunately, they were excavating the site and consequently, had closed it to visitors. East of the palace is the massive Temple of the Cross of Palenque, and to its left is the Temple of the Foliated Cross. Bloomgarden’s states of the former, “This is the highest temple…There are two panels flanking the doors…One side shows a youth dressed in a sacred Quetzal Bird headdress and a snakeskin garment while facing him and also standing is an old man dressed in a Jaguar skin and smoking a pipe.”3 Interestingly, one of the central panels, that has been removed to the Mexico City Museum, has the symbol of a cross rather than a symbol of the Sun, which would have been more in keeping with the adjacent Temple of the Sun. There were numerous other temples situated on the site, with some temples still hidden in the thick forests that surrounded the area. This fact only added to the impression of a park.
Crossing over a bridge, which led to the Temples of the Crosses and Sun, they went into the forest behind the temples. A little way along a very rough path, they found another temple in ruins.
Leaving the forest, the trio explored several other temples/pyramids. While they walked, Suzzan tried to see anything that resembled her vision, but so far nothing struck a chord with her. Feeling drawn back into the forest, they followed a path behind the Temple of the Foliated Cross. In no time, they came across a large temple almost intact. According to Bloomgarden this temple has been identified with the Roman numerals XVIII. Evidently “three graves were uncovered directly under the front entrance” 4 to the temple. It was so hot and humid in the forest that it was oppressive. Surprisingly, although the open parkland below them was more exposed to the sun, it had been cooler there because in the open, there was a cool breeze. Hermione was strongly drawn to this temple and said, “This is where I need to be. There is a dungeon or vault of some kind inside. I think I have to go in there either literally or astrally.” Acknowledging her need, Craig and Suzzan told her that they were going to continue to explore the area. Leaving Hermione sitting on a large stone slab in front of the temple, the couple headed deeper into the forest.
Not more than 100 yards from where they left Hermione, Craig and Suzzan found what looked like the ruins of two stone pillars that were on either side of some kind of entrance. Between the pillars was a small walkway with a curious hole in the middle. Bloomgarden designates the ruins by the Roman numerals XXI, and says of it “This ruined structure lies to south of the Temple of the Sun…This is the only temple at Palenque without the central sanctuary…The building is divided by pillars instead of walls as in all other cases. There is one single door at the front and rear, not three as in the others. There is an opening in the floor in the center with four steps leading down into a simple gravesite. Except for a remnant of a stucco slab covered with hieroglyphics it was empty. There is no way of determining why it is so different, or its date at this time.” 5
Walking around the hole in the floor to the other side, both Craig and Suzzan felt a very strong impression that they had passed through some invisible barrier. The only way they can describe it is it was like a shift in energy. “Did you feel that?” Suzzan inquired of Craig.
“Yes. I think we just passed through some sort of vortex.” Replied Craig. Just the other side was a steep set of steps leading down to a path. Then, Suzzan saw it! The pathway was paved in yellow stones, which formed a perfect Y, with one path leading back to the Temple of the Sun and the other one leading back into the forest.
Turning to Craig, Suzzan said, “This is the spot in my vision.” Silently nodding his assent, he took her hand and helped her down the steps to the path. They headed back in the direction they had left Hermione.
Carefully picking their way over huge tree roots, Craig and Suzzan realized it was the strangest tree they had ever seen. The base was divided equally into four, with each “arm” pointing to the four compass points. It didn’t become a single trunk to about eight feet up, and then it soared into the sky, forming a part of the thick canopy that prevented the sunlight from reaching the forest floor.
Finding Hermione still in a semi-trance, Craig and Suzzan told her of their discovery. Eagerly, she came to see for herself. At the site, Hermione walked over it examining it meticulously. She did not comment audibly, instead she affirmed with a simple smile that this was where they were to perform a ceremony. With their water supply depleted, they decided to go and get something to eat; so making their way across the parkland they left the site.
Outside, they noticed that apart from the street vendors there were several small shops, and a pleasant looking café. Going inside they ordered a light lunch of soup, bread and fruit salad, washing it down with fruit juice. Deciding to explore the town before going back to the compound, they caught the next bus.
Spending several hours souvenir hunting among the many small shops, the trio soon became hungry. Finding a local restaurant/bar they sampled some genuine guacamole. It was without doubt the best guacamole Suzzan had ever tasted.
