March 5, 1999
City of Billings, Montana
Department of Public Safety
Among the effects of the alleged Forensic Laboratory bomber, George E. Brunin Jr. was found the following document:
To Those Who Might Understand and Take Benefit:
Tomorrow the judges of the Inquisition expect to burn me at the stake, and when I escape this death and rise with the crowned man to become the One, some explanation may be necessary for those of you who are left behind. Consequently, I leave this testament as a witness to the incredible memory system that has comprised my life's work. For these past eight years, I have been held a prisoner by the Holy Mother Church. I have even been brought so low as to recant the truths that I have discovered, but the time of timidity is now past. The power is in me, and the power will free me--even from the soldiers' hard steel blades, even from the burning grasp of the fire.
I have come a long way from my humble birth at the foot of Vesuvius over fifty years ago. When I entered the Dominican Order as a boy of fifteen, I had no idea to what heights my path would lead. Even as a young man, my profound observations at the convent were misunderstood as heresy, and I was forced to depart from Naples and wander homeless throughout Europe. When I finally came to Paris, the king himself acknowledged my brilliance.
The books that I wrote in Paris are proof enough that my time was not wasted in frivolity. This is where I first delineated my magical memory system and explained how I had learned to reflect the whole universe and all its component parts in my mind. By the age of thirty-four, I had achieved universal wisdom and domination and had risen above the multitude of appearances to the reality of the One. With this vast fund of knowledge, the French king himself sent me to England as personal envoy to the royal ambassador.
Unfortunately, England was not entirely sympathetic. Certainly, the so-called doctors at Oxford were unequal to my profundity. I recognized at once that they were tedious, foolish pedants, but I tried to demonstrate my complex perceptions to them in the simplest possible terms. Using the example of Copernicus's limited concept of a sun-centered universe, I had every hope of showing them a glimpse of the truth. But even I could not dislodge them from their pedestrian and circumscribed grasp of natural truths.
Of course, Copernican theory is fine as far as it goes, but mere scientific deduction cannot compare with the dazzling awareness that I was prepared to grant the Oxford doctors. While Copernicus wallowed in mathematical proof, I had the vision. Unfortunately, the vision held more enchantment than these simple, literal-minded men could comprehend.
Undoubtedly, as a result of their obtuseness, the Oxford dons then resorted to insult. One of them had the unbridled nerve to go to his study, bring out a copy of Ficino, and say that I had actually plagiarized my ideas from De vita coelitus comparanda. This is so absurd that it hardly bears comment. But it gives an idea of the depths of idiocy these men had reached. There was nothing more to say to the benighted followers of Erasmus, and I left the donkeys in their darkness.
Surprisingly, it was while I was in this stifling environment that I came to one of my most penetrating cognitions. In a blinding instant, I realized that the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians constitute the only true religion. Undoubtedly, the world was thrust into chaos when the Christian Church destroyed this system and over-threw the statues of the only genuine gods. On the Egyptian thrones of truth, the Christians set up the adoration of the dead, and with their silly rituals and nasty moral behavior, they have waged recurrent and unnecessary war on the innocent. Puerile attempts to approach the ancient reality through Christian compromise are a fatuous abomination.
Just knowing this fact guided me through all of the Gnostic spheres and made me the principle prophet and the obvious leader of the great religious revival that is to come. I have seen the planets moving through the vast, populated universe--each traveling under its own volition and with its own mind. By rejecting utterly the foolish spiritual construction that supposedly protects the Magus, I welcomed the demons into my mind. When I had conditioned my memory to receive their influence, the ultimate experience came to me: I incorporated the divine, pulled the powers to me, and held them within myself. I became the Messiah, waiting for my fated call.
Meanwhile, I was fairly comfortable in England, if not appreciated. Do not assume (as did so many others) that the love poems that I published there were about the romance of mere women. The love I praised was the greatest demon of them all, that force which joins the soul to the divine power. I worked hard on my studies in the French ambassador's household and kept my inspiration inviolate. Then the legation was recalled, and we all returned to Paris.
Fate granted me an unhappy journey; the ship was robbed by pirates. When I finally arrived in Paris, I found that the king had withdrawn into his own faith, withholding any financial support for my studies. I was forced to reside with friends at my own expense. At one point, I did try to assist Fabrizio Mordente by publishing the invention of his new compass in Latin. This Mordente showed himself a small-minded man like Copernicus, and he could not understand that my radiant vision must overshadow the triviality of his literal reality. He churlishly thought my presentation was self-serving and denounced me to the warlike Guise political faction. I dismissed him from my mind.
At one point, I considered returning with my profound wisdom to Mother Church, but the papal nuncio could not accept the new turn that religion was about to take. Still, I probably would have stayed in Paris, except for the unfortunate outcome of the debate on my one hundred twenty articles on the nature of the world. At least, I had the forethought to place my chair near the garden door should a hasty exit become necessary, and when the king's envoy began to declaim against me, I realized that it was time to gracefully withdraw. Although the participants managed to chase me down, I didn't see fit to linger in Paris for a second round of such foolish behavior.
Wittenburg, Germany was much more congenial to one of my temperament (as the Lutherans seemed more civilized than either the Catholics, Calvinists or Puritans), and I stayed there for a few years and granted the university the benefit of my thought. Of course, when the Calvinists took over the town, it was time to move on to Prague. When Rudolf II did not see fit to grant me a position, I eventually made my way to Frankfort, spending some little time in Switzerland with other alchemists.
During these years, I was always writing and studying and perfecting my powers. By this time, my system had incorporated all one hundred fifty of the magic talismanic images, including the Egyptian decan demons and all the archetypal forms of plants, both classical and brutish. When I had completed the system, I knew with certainty that I was the Messiah. It was only a matter of time until I was acknowledged (in spite of my humble sweetness of nature) and called back to Italy to rule.
I thought the hour was finally at hand when I received a message from my friend Giovanni Ciotto, a bookseller in Venice. He told me that Mocenigo, a wealthy man of his acquaintance, desired to learn my magic memory system. It seemed that fate was calling me back to Italy, to the modern center of spiritual thought and religious teaching. Fate implied that the Church must be ready to hear and accept the truth, and in good faith, I dedicated my last book to Pope Clement VIII.
Apparently, it was part of the eternal plan that I be forced to enter a time of suffering before my final triumph. Mocenigo proved to be an unappreciative student, and perhaps I may have been a bit abrupt and impatient at his slowness. It was obviously not working out, so I prepared to leave. On the eve of my withdrawal to Frankfort, I was made a prisoner in Mocenigo’s house and taken by the Inquisition. For eight long years I have languished in the keeping of the Holy Office. I allowed myself to become so discouraged that I renounced my vision, and I threw myself on the mercy of the court.
A short while ago, they brought me here to Rome, where an arrogant Jesuit went through my books (without poetry or imagination in his heart) and drew up a list of eight points that I was to abjure. For a while, I was willing to concede; it seemed that my vision had deserted me. Then I had a powerful dream that showed me where I had fallen into error. I saw a beautiful, young archer slay a wolf, while a crow flew above his head, and I knew that I was truly the chosen prophet of the old religion. It was apparent that my time of ascendancy had come upon me unawares.
With this new insight, I tried once more to convince the Inquisition’s judges that they had merely misunderstood my views and that I, of all people, had never written anything heretical. But they stubbornly refused to recognize the one true Egyptian faith and my central place within it. Consequently, they foolishly think that I will die at the stake tomorrow.
Even now, however, here with me in my cell, the crowned man is waiting. He is of venerable and gentle aspect, and he is dressed in a robe which incorporates the colors of all the flowers that ever grew. When he moves, the light radiates from him in a dazzling fashion, and he sits upon a camel.
Tomorrow, he and I will overwhelm the doubters. Tomorrow I will be proclaimed spiritual emperor and will then be absorbed bodily into the eternal music of the One. For those of you who are left behind, take heart. Your time will also come, if you follow me. Lay down your foolish Christian notions and follow me.
Giordano Bruno
February 16, 1600
The aforementioned document and the remains of Dr. Brunin, noted historical scientist and antiquarian, were found yesterday in the ruins of his secluded Montana workshop. It has been charged that Dr. Brunin was instrumental in placing the explosive that resulted in the death of William Marshal, State Laboratory security guard on March 3, 1999. Mr. Marshal, a State employee of 33 years, leaves behind a wife and several children; funeral services will be held tomorrow afternoon at the capital building.
While the reason for Dr. Brunin’s alleged attack remains unknown, police psychologists speculate that his studies into Renaissance alchemy may have upset the balance of his mind. Brunin had become increasingly eccentric at the time of his retirement from the University in 1984, and numerous complaints concerning his historical experiments have been brought to the attention of the authorities. Neighbors assert that explosions, as well as unidentified lights and noises, have regularly issued from Dr. Brunin’s establishment. While police officials had identified him as a growing public nuisance, they had no direct evidence that he was homicidal or a threat to public safety.
Before authorities could discover the nature of Brunin’s involvement in the laboratory bombing, the doctor’s domicile was destroyed by a explosive device similar to the one used against the State Laboratory. Evidence shows that Brunin was killed in this blast. First responders to the scene reported an unidentified, costumed male (possibly leading a horse or other animal) leaving the scene of the detonation. The uniidentified male is wanted by the police for questioning. Anyone with information concerning this matter is urged to call the Department of Public Safety.
The document quoted above appears to be of some historical interest, although its relevance to the case of the Forensic Bomber remains undetermined. The "Lost Letter of Giordano Bruno" will be removed for further study and safe keeping to the Museum of Natural History at the State University.
Linda Kohut has worked at a highway garage, a community college, a security guard training school, a battered women's shelter, and a media research company, and is now in the process of finishing the classwork for a Master of Arts in Modern Humanities. She and her husband live in rural Western Maryland.
E-mail: lkohut@mail.gcnet.net
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