LOST Energies | Caridad Pineiro® Romance Author

Continuing with our discussion of all things magical and mystical, today’s entry is a sacred relic about which there has been much talk and controversy: The Shroud of Turin.

The Shroud is a piece of linen bearing the likeness of a man who has suffered physical injuries that bear likeness to those which would occur from a crucifixion.

Over the years tests have been performed on small bits of the Shroud for purposes of carbon-dating it and analyzing the various blood stains, pollen, textiles, etc. which made up the shroud.

In 1988, tests to date the Shroud indicated that it likely came from the Middle Ages, possibly from around 1260 and 1390. Additional tests show the presence of iron commonly used in pigments, and yet pigments do not form the image. Although there is blood, DNA testing was not possible and so no one knows if the blood belongs to the man covered by the Shroud or to someone handling the Shroud. Images of flowers pressed onto the Shroud as well as the pollens suggests that the shroud does come from Jerusalem and/or the Middle East. Analysis of the man confirm injuries consistent with crucifixion, but some question the proportions of the forehead, arms and legs as being out-of-sync.

But here’s the thing about the Shroud. No one, and I mean no one, can explain how the image got there.

The image has 3-D qualities that cannot be explained by saying that somehow someone in the Middle Ages was able to create a photograph on the linen. Tests have shown that the image does not contain any pigments and so it cannot be attributed to a painting. Various scientists have tried to recreate the image on similar textiles, but have not been able to do so and match the known physical properties of the image.

Many surmise that it took a great deal of energy, a source which is too high to reproduce in a laboratory, to create the image.

Energy. It’s all around us and in us. Is it possible that the person in the shroud possessed incredible energy that was released at death or as some Christians believe, at the moment of resurrection?

What’s your take on this? Have you been to Turin to see the Shroud?

By now you know that I’ve got two releases coming up, THE FIFTH KINGDOM a romantic suspense, and THE LOST, a paranormal romance.

Now I don’t want to give too much away about either of them, but after considering it for some time, it occurred to me that they have something in common that has really grabbed my attention: Magical and mystical energies.

In THE FIFTH KINGDOM, the energy comes from an ancient relic discovered in what could be Montezuma’s tomb. The relic is a copy of the Aztec Sun Stone sitting the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. The original sun stone is about 12 feet in diameter and weighs about 24 metric tons. You can read more about the original here.

The relic in the book is similar in terms of its look, but it is small enough to hold in your hands and made of obsidian and silver on stone. It is very different in one important way: It has mystical powers which are released once it comes in contact with something very sacred.

What can be so sacred? What about blood?

Now I won’t spill about whose blood awakens the energy in the relic or what it is because I don’t want to spoil the story for you.

Those energies, whether in relics, nature or in people, are all around us I think. As I said, that’s what inspired me for the two stories.

For THE LOST it was my visits down to the shore and the power I’d feel in nature, but also in the people gathered on Sunday mornings for Pavilion Praise in Ocean Grove. The gathering of that many people focused on one thing creates almost palpable energy to me.

It made me remember that I had felt something similar on a Palm Sunday many years back when my family and I went to Rome for Holy Week. Walking into St. Peter’s Square when it was filled with thousands of people joined together was seriously an amazing experience.

Those energies in us and around us is what inspired the SIN HUNTERS, a race of people capable of harnessing and using those energies for all kinds of cool things.

In the next few weeks, I’d like to explore with you those LOST energies. Find out if you believe or not in whether such powers can exist in nature, people or things.

For today, I’ll leave you with the Aztec Sun Stone and it’s supposed abilities to predict the end of THE FIFTH KINGDOM and also, the video premiere for the novel.

I’d love to hear from you as to whether you believe in THE LOST energies as we explore some other relics, people who see auras and sense energies, and all other kinds of cool things!

Don’t forget that on Thursday I’ll be having a live video event with Jeaniene Frost where we’ll be chatting about sexy urban fantasy and its heroes and heroines. If you can’t see the widget below, you can go to this link: http://t.wbx.me/fbam1 for the live video event.

Photo Credit for Aztec Sun Stone in Blog: [email protected]

Current Releases