The Celestine Prophecy: An Adventure
Copyright © 1993 by James Redfield
Author’s Note copyright © 2006 by James Redfield
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Grand Central Publishing
Hachette Book Group, USA
237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Visit our Web site at
www.HachetteBookGroupUSA.com
.
First eBook Edition: November 1997
ISBN: 978-0-446-54555-6
Cover design by Vic Donatic/Oz ideas
Contents
THEY READ IT AND THEY FELT ITS TRUTH. NOW IT’S YOUR TURN TO EXPERIENCE
THE CELESTINE PROPHECY
“THE MANUAL FOR THE NEXT MILLENNIUM.”*
“An astonishing parable.…[A] complex book, one which sheds light even for the skeptic.”
—San Gabriel Valley Newspapers
“Rich in moral and spiritual issues.”
—
Morning News
(Tacoma, WA)
“Fast-paced from the onset…a timely message.”
—
Lexington Herald-Leader
(KY)
“A compelling spiritual parable describing the growth of human consciousness…[that] pinpoints feelings and experiences that we all share.”
—
Movingwords
“A how-to manual on understanding the meaning of life.…There is much to praise in this work.”
—
*Calgary Herald
“Penetrating, stimulating, spiritually constructive.”
—The Phoenix
“Reveals insights which provoke reflection and discussion.”
—
Aquarius
“The message is powerful, just as all lasting fables and parables are powerful. It taps our need to establish meaning for our lives.”
—Toledo Blade
“Philosophically ground-shaking.…My strongest recommendation is that you obtain a copy as quickly as possible.”
—Dr. Avram Leiv,
New Frontier Magazine
“It has made and continues to make a profound shift in my consciousness and life.”
—Terry Cole Whittaker, author of
Love and Power in a World Without Limits
“I can recommend THE CELESTINE PROPHECY wholeheartedly.”
—Fred Alan Wolf, author of
Taking the Quantum Leap
“The most entertaining map to spiritual growth I’ve ever read.”
—Ken Keyes, Jr., author of
Handbook to Higher Consciousness
“Simple, direct, and eloquently to the point.”
—David Applebaum,
Parabola
magazine
“A delight.”
—Karen Sherman, Ph.D.,
The New Times
“A gripping adventure story filled with intrigue, suspense, and spiritual revelations.”
—
Commonwealth Journal
(KY)
For
Sarah Virginia Redfield
And those who have insight will
shine brightly like the brightness of
the expanse of Heaven, and those who
lead the many to righteousness, like the
stars forever and ever.
But for you, Daniel, conceal these
words and seal up the book until the end
of time. Many will go back and forth,
and knowledge will increase.
DANIEL 12:3-4
So many people influenced this book that it would be impossible to mention them all. But I must say special thanks to Alan Shields, Jim Gamble, Mark Lafountain, Marc and Debra McElhaney, Dan Questenberry, BJ Jones, Bobby Hudson, Joy and Bob Kwapien, Michael Ryce, author of the tape series “Why is this happening to me again,” and most of all, to my wife, Salle.
If you find yourself reading this book, then you may be sensing something stirring out there in human culture: a tweaking of the senses, an opening to life’s mystery. Many commentators have called it an emerging new world view or a period of uncertainty and searching in human affairs. But I believe what we’re intuiting goes much deeper than any of these labels.
It goes to the heart of how we think about the history of the cosmos and of who we are as human beings. It is nothing less than the discovery of another way of pursuing life that is decidedly spiritual, but yet is not antiscience or antievolution, or dependent on any one religious tradition for that matter. It entails a shift in our direct, everyday experience of the transcendent, as experience, quite apart from whatever tradition we come from.
What is occurring now is more of an awakening, a natural filling out of our innate potential, the unused parts of our brain, the rest of our DNA that’s been waiting to fire off. All happening quite spontaneously as a natural consequence of every discovery in human searching that has taken place in the eons that have come before us.
Our “ah ha” today falls in the same line of discovery that began with the jolting observation, long ago, that our tribal mates were actually dying, which meant we were going to die as well, which first lifted us out of our primeval sleep. Our ability to stay awake expanded even more when we unleashed our reflective power on the sides of caves, initiating the first artistic reflection on our world. And this awareness began to be instituted fully with the sense of courageous objectivity we achieved when we finally invented science. All these steps perked us up a bit more to the real human condition that we most want to repress: the fact that we find ourselves here in life with no real certainty as to why.
It’s this more awakened state that fuels the current exploration of spiritual consciousness. We are asking the same age-old questions. Why are we here? Where are we going? How are my actions part of all this? The only difference is that now there are more of us asking. And the answers are finally arriving.
Greatest of all is that because of all the searching before us, these answers are less abstract, more connected to our real lives. We can prove them to ourselves. We’re here to experience and become part of what I think of as a mystical “evolutionary flow” that will finish the whole evolution of the cosmos, of life, and of human culture in a way that was always inevitable. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Better to stop … and leave the details to the reading of book.
I
drove up to the restaurant and parked, then leaned back in my seat to think for a moment. Charlene, I knew, would already be inside, waiting to talk with me. But why? I hadn’t heard a word from her in six years. Why would she have shown up now, just when I had sequestered myself in the woods for a week?
I stepped out of the truck and walked toward the restaurant. Behind me, the last glow of a sunset sank in the west and cast highlights of golden amber across the wet parking lot. Everything had been drenched an hour earlier by a brief thunderstorm, and now the summer evening felt cool and renewed, and because of the fading light, almost surreal. A half moon hung overhead.
As I walked, old images of Charlene filled my mind. Was she still beautiful, intense? How would time have changed her? And what was I to think of this manuscript she had mentioned—this ancient artifact found in South America that she couldn’t wait to tell me about?
“I have a two-hour layover at the airport,” she had said on the telephone. “Can you meet me for dinner? You’re going to love what this manuscript says—it’s just your kind of mystery.”
My kind of mystery? What did she mean by that?
Inside, the restaurant was crowded. Several couples waited for tables. When I found the hostess, she told me Charlene had already been seated and directed me toward a terraced area above the main dining room.
I walked up the steps and became aware of a crowd of people surrounding one of the tables. The crowd included two policemen. Suddenly, the policemen turned and rushed past me and down the steps. As the rest of the people dispersed, I could see past them to the person who seemed to have been the center of attention—a woman, still seated at the table … Charlene!
I quickly walked up to her. “Charlene, what’s going on? Is anything wrong?”
She tossed her head back in mock exasperation and stood up, flashing her famous smile. I noticed that her hair was perhaps different, but her face was exactly as I remembered: small delicate features, wide mouth, huge blue eyes.
“You wouldn’t believe it,” she said, pulling me into a friendly hug. “I went to the rest room a few minutes ago and while I was gone, someone stole my briefcase.”
“What was in it?”
“Nothing of importance, just some books and magazines I was taking along for the trip. It’s crazy. The people at the other tables told me someone just walked-in, picked it up, and walked out. They gave the police a description and the officers said they would search the area.”
“Maybe I should help them look?”
“No, no. Let’s forget about it. I don’t have much time and I want to talk with you.”
I nodded and Charlene suggested we sit down. A waiter approached so we looked over the menu and gave him our order. Afterward, we spent ten or fifteen minutes chatting in general. I tried to underplay my self-imposed isolation but Charlene picked up on my vagueness. She leaned over and gave me that smile again.
“So what’s
really
going on with you?” she asked.
I looked at her eyes, at the intense way she was looking at me. “You want the whole story immediately, don’t you?”
“Always,” she said.
“Well, the truth is, I’m taking some time for myself right now and staying at the lake. I’ve been working hard and I’m thinking about changing directions in my life.”
“I remember you talking about that lake. I thought you and your sister had to sell it.”
“Not yet, but the problem is property taxes. Because the land is so close to the city, the taxes keep increasing.”
She nodded. “So what are you going to do next?”
“I don’t know yet. Something different.”
She gave me an intriguing look. “Sounds as if you’re as restless as everyone else.”
“I suppose,” I said. “Why do you ask?”
“It’s in the Manuscript.”
There was silence as I returned her gaze.
“Tell me about this Manuscript,” I said.
She leaned back in her chair as if to gather her thoughts, then looked me in the eye again. “I mentioned on the phone, I think, that I left the newspaper several years ago and joined a research firm that investigates cultural and demographic changes for the U.N. My last assignment was in Peru.
“While I was there, completing some research at the University of Lima, I kept hearing rumors about an old manuscript that had been discovered—only no one could give me any of the details, not even at the departments of archeology or anthropology. And when I contacted the government about it, they denied any knowledge whatsoever.
“One person told me that the government was actually working to suppress this document for some reason. Although, again, he had no direct knowledge.
“You know me,” she continued. “I’m curious. When my assignment was over, I decided to stay around for a couple of days to see what I could find out. At first, every lead I pursued turned out to be another dead end, but then while I was eating lunch in a cafe outside of Lima, I noticed a priest watching me. After a few minutes, he walked over and admitted that he had heard me inquiring about the Manuscript earlier in the day. He wouldn’t reveal his name but he agreed to answer all my questions.”
She hesitated for a moment, still looking at me intensely. “He said the Manuscript dates back to about 600 B.C. It predicts a massive transformation in human society.”
“Beginning when?” I asked.
“In the last decades of the twentieth century.”
“Now?!”
“Yes, now.”
“What kind of transformation is it supposed to be?” I asked.
She looked embarrassed for a moment, then with force said, “The priest told me it’s a kind of renaissance in consciousness, occurring very slowly. It’s not religious in nature, but it is spiritual. We’re discovering something new about human life on this planet, about what our existence means, and according to the priest, this knowledge will alter human culture dramatically.”
She paused again, then added, “The priest told me the Manuscript is divided into segments, or chapters, each devoted to a particular insight into life. The Manuscript predicts that in this time period human beings will begin to grasp these insights sequentially, one insight then another, as we move from where we are now to a completely spiritual culture on Earth.”