Narkael's Angel Oracle

The spirit of Pompeius was the first Roman I encountered. It was he who made contact with me to redeem himself. Sulla was then the first Roman I chose to contact, followed by many more. I only knew of Sulla from reading the first half of Tom Holland's "Rubicon", and expected the man to talk like pages out of Holland's book on military and politics. Instead I encountered misogyny, sexual offense, and violence in Sulla, and many of the others. Let's examine this pervasive element.

The sexual content is not my fault

The first thing that comes to mind to a reader, especially to those that think that the book is either authored by me freely or the result of my active imagination, is that the sexuality is representative of me as a person, if not perhaps deliberately chosen by me to spice up my books. This is not the case.

I respectfully contacted the Ancient Roman spirits to talk with them about the topics that were in Holland's book, to learn more about their politics and military history, something which fascinated me after reading about it. I expected them to be persons representative of the pages of that book and to talk endless streams about military strategies and political speeches. So the sexuality was not expected.

Also, their views on me and on women does not at all match with my views. As a modern day Swedish woman I enjoy status and identity as one of the world's most empowered women perhaps of all time, in a country that finds it odd even to mention gender, Sweden is gradually replacing a new word in our language for "person" which is neither "he" nor "she" specified. I felt quite out of place in the Roman world which I had stepped into.

You can also clearly see me trying to change the topic from "whores" and "sluts" into politics. I did nothing to entice the Roman men, other than me being a woman who approaches them to talk to them.

Still, we had to ask ourselves whether I was responsible for that running theme, even if undeliberately. Fortunately that suspicion is removed when I talk to the spirits of Adolf Hitler and Michael Jackson, conversations in which I was by no means a "temple whore" or involved in any sexual interest whatsoever towards me, so we find that it was the Romans. It was not me.

Don't judge them all

It is easy to be overwhelmed with the sexual content in these books and for it to leave a lasting impression which defines your experience with the books. But do pay close attention. Although all Roman men without exception assumed that since I, a woman, was talking with them I must have been sent to them (by a man) for sexual favors, not all of the men were interested in having it.

Pompeius asked me what my price was, since clearly I was a whore or slave (even though it was he who contacted me), but the conversations with Pompeius were divinely respectful and sweet and not misogynous. And note how Nero keeps dismissing me and letting me know that he was in love with Hortensia and not interested in having me. Vettius Valens of course didn't want to be bothered by a woman and more keen on tending to his work with astrology and wondering why someone would have sent a whore woman to him. And Julius Caesar, well, you can see in the first book "The Romans Channeled" what use he might have intended for me.

And then we meet the delightful Emperor Trajan in the second book, he treats me warmly and fatherly, not at all intent on me serving him. So while the assumption is pervasive that since a woman talks to them she must be a "harbor slut", it was by no means what all of them wanted. Julius Caesar was trying to figure out what use could he ever make of me, and even Sulla is, if you read it properly, dismissive of the proposal of using me.

Roman Culture

From speaking with these Romans I assumed to learn a great deal about their culture in relations to women. In 21st century Sweden I walk around freely where I please, I can look men in the eye and talk to men who are strangers. I can educate myself and take jobs. There are no men in my family and I rule myself. My identity, status, economy, and future have got nothing to do with who my father was. I have my own name and my own reputation. I go to work and earn my own money and buy my own things. If I marry a man I choose him all entirely on my own, and without regard as to what his family's status might imply for my own. And I could have sex with anyone I choose, we have contraceptives and planned parenthood, would I so choose. As a Swedish woman of our time I expect perfect equality and esteem with the men around me. So meeting with the Romans, as you can see, proved to be quite a culture shock, for both of us.

From the conversations and exchange I now assume that Roman women lived very sheltered lives, that they did not leave their house unless they were sent to go somewhere by their father, or if they had no father then it was her brothers who ruled. I have the impression that the lower class of Rome was freer, as we see in both Pompeius and Alexander The Great who had humble backgrounds that their view on women was very gender equal. The higher the social class, the more reserved they were with their women.

We also assumed after speaking with the Romans, that if a woman were to approach a Roman man and start to talk with him, then it was perceived as the equivalent of today if a woman were to run into a stranger's arms and begin to kiss and grope him to rape him right there in the street. That is how extreme my approach of them seems to be perceived by them. It is a sexual invitation and offer implying that I am theirs with no restrictions and that he is already approved by my father or my slave trader.

You would think that for a woman this kind of attention might seem flattering or enticing, and I must admit that in a normal situation it might have been flattering if a handsome man showed some interest in me, and I do admit that these Roman men were very handsome. But I felt very uncomfortable in these situations, at times even offended and enraged. I try to remain respectful and kind and considerate of their culture and their views, but you find a few rare occasions where I lose my temper with them, most notably with Julius Caesar.

Because of me being a woman and of lower class (they assume), we find that I struggle in getting them to talk about politics, military, and their personal family life. Were I a man I assume we could have had deeper conversations about their life and their work. It would be fascinating to see how they interact with a man who were to approach them in the same way as I had, through the wind gods.

What I thought about these men

In case you are wondering, what then did I think of these men, romantically speaking? Sulla was so tremendously intimidating I was not at all flattered. I could never have been cozy with him. I found Julius Caesar to be incredibly handsome and suave, he was also fatherly, gentle, wonderful, but he was not interested in me, nor I in him. I do admit that I did fall for Aulus Vitellius, this remarkable dignified man. I would have married Vitellius, how rare it is to meet a man like that.

Gaius Marius was by far the most fun, I was not appalled or scared when he assumed I was a prostitute sent to him right there in the alley outside of his private home. But, I did try to change the subject.

Overall I found Ancient Rome to be a very scary place for a woman to be. At the same time I feel that their women were protected more than we are today. Had I lived in Rome I might have had a father who really cared for me and protected me, and there is something nurturing about that.

I am respectful of the Romans and try to understand their culture. I am the trespasser on their culture, we could not ask them to change or to educate them on the 21st century Swedish woman. It all makes the Roman conversations cumbersome, if not interesting and entertaining, if you are into that sort of thing.

Homosexuality in Rome

When I was reading about Sulla in Tom Holland's book "Rubicon" I expected to run into this great war hero, this manly man and probably womanizer. In the conversations Sulla admitted to having homosexual preferences, and so did Julius Caesar. I did not know at the time, that these and many other Great Roman Men were known for this.

I learned from the Romans that boys and young men were regarded as women. Every Roman male youth I have encountered was very soft and feminine as a person, more so than women of today. Homosexuality is a common theme in these conversations, and if you like that sort of thing well then prepare to be shocked in the second book on Romans when we talk to the Greek scholar. Yep.

Let us be respectful

I have set an age limit of 18 years to read my books. These conversations with Roman spirits are not suitable for children. In a perfect world, everyone who reads these pages would be an educated scholar on Ancient Rome and much respectful of their culture and of these personalities who (maybe) speak in them.

Like I end up saying in the chapter about Gaius Marius, remember that he was somebody's father, he could have been your own father, so treat him with respect. I did not make these books to entertain or ridicule. Even if I too often crack into laughing when I reread our channeled pages, because we cannot help ourselves, the culture clash is too hilarious, please remember that these were real men, and the conversations reach through into their homes and private thoughts. From the deepest bottoms of my heart, please be respectful when you read these pages.

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