The dream

I do not believe in luck or chance. Everything that happens in our lives happens for a reason. Besides, it is absolutely true that when you intensely wish for something to happen, the whole universe conspires for the realization of this wish. I call it synchronicity. I remember back in 1989, when I scaled the acropolis of ancient Amathus for the first time in order to visit the Temple of Aphrodite. On looking for the first-ever time upon pieces of marble from the Temple scattered on the ground next to the Temple’s very foundations, I immediately recalled a strange dream I’d had at the age of 15 and which had remained indelibly etched in my memory since. I had seen myself scaling a large, steep rockface. It was nighttime, the air thick with mist, and a full moon in the sky. On reaching the top, I found myself face to face with a magnificent temple, gleaming in the pale light of the moon. Suddenly,the area was struck by a terrible earthquake. The ground shook, and the temple started to collapse. Scared, I ran to scale back down the rockface, but this was now impossible. I found myself standing on the edge of a sheer vertical cliff, and there was no way down. It was then that a beautiful young woman dressed in an archaic-looking white gown, appeared behind me. In the darkness, she shone brightly and, smiling at me, reached out to me with her hand and said, in a calm voice, “Do not be afraid…”