After the
wonderful surprise birthday party Juliana planned for me, it is time for some
mountain climbing, not technical climbing, but not trail following either. We
are going up to the top of the mountain, south of the castle. Juliana is
interested in seeing the ruins of a Keep there. We are up at 5:30 a.m., running
up and down the stairs ten times to prepare. We have breakfast with the staff
and leave out the front gate. The Keep we are going to see is a twelfth-century
Teutonic knights’ fortification.
The climb is not
very difficult. We hike a trail for about six hours to get to the sight. We
would have gotten there earlier if I had not had a misfortune. As we were
walking along a narrow path, I did the unforgivable. I walked onto a slope of
loose rocks. On the loose rock, I lost my footing and fell. I was able to stop
my slide down by catching a rock outcrop with my rock hammer. I was not in
terrible danger, the fall would be no more than 30 feet, but it would still
hurt. Juliana tells me to release my backpack. This will make it easier for me
to pull myself up to solid rock. My plan is to release my pack with one hand
while I stabilize myself with the rock pick. With my pack loose, I will then
throw it to Juliana. Have you ever tried to throw a 20-pound object very far
when you are on your belly, about to slide down a 30 feet drop? This is nothing
more than a very bad plan. I throw the
pack and it tumbles down the cliff and lands on a ledge. With Juliana’s help, I
am able to pull myself up, but I have to go down to pick up my pack. My pack
has all my food and water and my camera in it. There is no real problem getting
to it, but I am amazed at what has happened. My bottle of mineral water is not
even broke, but the neck of the bottle has punctured my camera. I lose a two-hundred
dollar camera and save a one-dollar bottle of water. Nearly falling was not my
only adventure of the climb. At one point in the climb, a very domineering goat
and his haram blocked our path. He must have had 20 female goats. We were
unable to go around them with a cliff on one side and an almost sheer drop off
on the other. The goat is not happy with our intrusion on his mountain. He
lowers his head and paws the ground. Juliana tells me to move over and she will
talk to the goat. She squats down so
that her face is directly in line with the goat. For a minute, the goat is
holding his own, but suddenly he jumps up and retreats down the slope with his
herd following. I had already witnessed some amazing things that Juliana can do
so I am not questioning what I saw. I said nothing and we continued our climb unobstructed.
Juliana asked me if I am not curious about how she was able to convince the
goat to move. I tell her that although I am truly curious, I am also afraid to
ask. She tells me that she told the goat
that I was a terrible and powerful warlock and I would turn him into a human. She
further informed him that as a human, he could have only one wife. He left.
When we reach
the Keep, we are surprised to find Dr. Schelling already there in his Land rover. He had
driven up the road that leads to the Keep. However, it was far more exciting to
almost fall off the mountain, destroy a two-hundred dollar camera, and scare
the hell out of a belligerent goat.
As we explore
the Keep, Dr. Schelling shares some of its history. The Keep is built atop a
cave, which was a retreat for a German monk. Rather than serving as a defense
outpost, the Keep emerged to keep the secret of the cave. The monk’s name was
Doric Manchedian. He was the Pope’s favorite at the time, nominated to be a
cardinal. Manchedian informed the Pope that he needed to perform a pilgrimage
before he could consider the office of Cardinal. He came to this cave, embedded
into the rock about a hundred feet, and spent a year in mediation. If you enter
the cave, you will find all sorts of religious and Nazi graffiti. Some of it is
modern, but some dates back to the time of Doric, around 920 AD.
This is the
legend: Doric, while meditating in the
cave, is visited by the angel Lodi. Lodi takes Doric to a remote part of the
cave. There he shows Doric a number of golden tablets. Lodi instructs Doric to
translate the tablets into Latin. Doric does not know the language of the
tablets, but the angel gives him the power to interpret the language of the
Lord. During the following months, Doric is amazed at how rapidly he is able to
interpret the tablets. In his translations, he learns that the true chosen
people are the Arians and that Jesus was an Arian, explaining why the Jews
wanted him dead. The Jews and the Arians had waged wars for centuries, trying
to control the earth. The Jews worked for the angel Lucifer and the Arians for
the one true God. (I think you may see why people such as Hitler and Himmler valued
this information). Doric loaded the gold tablets and his manuscript onto a cart
and made his way to his monastery. He sent word of his find to the Vatican. The
Pope immediately requested that Doric bring the tablets and his translation to the
Vatican. In the Vatican, the scholars found most of what Doric had written contradictory
to the Holy Bible. For instance, Doric’s translation suggested that God did not
cause the Flood. The Flood was actually the work of Lucifer. He attempted to
destroy the giant Arians dominating the earth soon after creation. Lucifer saved
a family of Jews using the ark. The Flood failed to destroy all Arians and they
plotted to resume their power. Jesus was the first of many leaders to revolt
from the rule of the Jews. (I hope no one thinks that any of us believed this, this
is just the myth of Doric the Monk). The Pope and the cardinals of the Vatican
saw this as an affront to Christianity. The official at the Vatican locked the
manuscript and tablets in a large granite box. The final vault took 200 years
to complete. It consisted of a vertical shaft cut into solid rock that is 2000
feet deep. A granite box set at the bottom of the hole houses the tablets and
manuscript. In time, buildings were constructed over the vault. Hitler tried to
find the vault but failed. Supposedly, there is only one person that knows the
location of the vault and threats of a horrible death encourage him to keep the
secret.
Doric did not fare
well after all of his work. In order to keep the information secret, the
cardinals decided that Doric must die. As I previously stated, Doric was a
favorite or the Pope. The Pope was the one who informed Doric of the decision
to have him killed. Doric did not appear to be too upset and evidently
understood the reasoning for his execution. The Pope, out of kindness to his
friend, informed him that he could select the means of his execution. The Pope assumed
he would select beheading, which at that time was one of the most humane
methods of execution. The Pope was horrified at Doric’s execution wishes. Doric requested crucifixion by hanging upside
down for 12 hours and immediately having his belly sliced open so that his
entrails flowed down across his face. After his death, his body was to be ground
and fed to crows. This is a German Urban Legend; however, Hitler and Himmler
believed the story. Himmler made a
pilgrimage to the cave and declared it a holy site for the SS.
The good Dr.Schelling brought us lunch, which was
considerably better than the mineral water and dried fruit in our packs. We travel
back down the mountain with Dr. Schelling and the ride down is actually scarier than
the hike up the mountain. The road is very narrow and tedious, even in a
four-wheel drive vehicle. It takes as long to drive back to the castle as it
took us to climb the south side of the mountain. This is our last night at
Neuschwanstein castle. It is good to learn that one with whom you have shared so
much may have extraordinary powers over lower animals and perhaps over me as
well.
©Michael L. Wright & Relinda Ruth
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