Children of the Ancient Deity This story is a ‘Never-ending Story’ about a series of incarnations of one soul, striving for complete liberation from the conventions of being and full integration of itself in this being. The hero has many faces and lives life after life like a burning arrow shot into the sky, which pursues an invisible goal. This is a story about love, about an unknowable divine essence, about duty and immutable Laws of reality, about redemption by Faith and liberation from the chains of death through the acceptance of the karmic Law and the pain that it carries. The story begins in ancient times, so distant that even historians know almost nothing about them. I am a man who comes to Earth after the collapse of his civilization, which has reached perfection in controlling the spirit in the period between death and new life. On a distant planet that was once my homeland, I was an ordinary city dweller who accidentally fell into the circle of priests who bring human sacrifices, nourishing the spirit of the Ancient Deity. The priests, anxious to prepare for the Great Transition – the resettlement of their civilization to another planet, which will take place after the explosion of the Star, teach me the skill of managing energy at the moment of the Transition. I receive communion with the spirit of an ancient deity, and I am reborn on planet Earth. I understand that the Transition has happened, and my civilization has perished forever. I am born into the family of a wealthy priest who rules an ancient city in the kingdom, which later became known as Babylonian. My father recognizes in me a talent for interacting with the invisible world when I begin to connect my fingers into the shapes of ancient mudras in the cradle. He understands that I have passed on the talent that he believes is necessary for governing the New City and people from our old civilization, many of which live in the New City outside the palace walls. He also hopes that I will become the redemption for his blood sacrifices and other sins. The civilization in which I lived dozens of lives that were similar to each other was very cruel, and it was ruled by priests. Today one of these priests is my father; since he is also the ruler of his kingdom, he needs an heir. However, in the priests’ civilization, there is a terrible contempt for women, whom the priests consider unworthy of the spirit of the Ancient Deity. Priests make love to women only to have children, and if a girl is born, the woman is killed, and the child is given to the city. My mother was lucky, and she gave birth to a son, which saved her life. However, immediately after giving birth, she was expelled from the palace, and I never managed to find her. My life in the palace is calm and free; while my father is busy with state affairs and relations with his lover, another priest, the butler teaches me. But I am not interested in books and magical rituals. I am completely absorbed with the thoughts of my mother, but I am not allowed to go out into the city. I am horrified of recognizing my father as my birth parent, and I am more and more immersed in myself to find out how I got here. Once I remember the Transition, and with relief, I understand that it is not ties of kinship that connects me with my father but a mere coincidence. However, my father does not abandon me; on the contrary, he regrets that he performed bloody rituals on a distant old planet