Etruscan Evenings, the sequel to Cairo Diary, follows the life of Justine Jenner after she is expelled from Egypt in the wake of discovering the controversial diary of the Virgin Mary. In Italy, the anthropologist confronts 
Cairo Diary: An Egyptian Fable is a tale of two women 2000 years apart: the Virgin Mary, living with her family in Old Cairo; and Dr. Justine Jenner, an anthropologist. During a violent earthquake, Justine becomes trapped in the crypt under St. Sergius Church, the cave that served as the Egyptian home to the Holy Family. When the shaking stops, the diary of the Virgin Mary lies at her feet. When Linda visited this ancient crypt, she was inspired to write Cairo Diary: An Egyptian Fable, her first historical novel.
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Emergence and…
Emergence has many definitions but can be considered as complex patterns of life that arise from less complicated parts or elements. Whether in biology, psychology, or philosophy, emergence explains how complex systems grow from dynamic interactions among basic cells or ideas, beliefs or feelings. Perhaps the older biological metaphor is “primordial soup.”
The Indians of the Taos Pueblo here—Tewa Red Willow people—believe that they emerged from the darkness underneath the Blue Lake on Sacred Mountain into summer and winter people. This morning I was listening to a Jewish Kabala story send to us by friend Daniel Callahan of emergence from the dark into the light. And, Morgan and I are watching a DVD on complexity theory in conjunction with our friend, Sharon Albert, from the Sea Ranch. Emergence seems to be everywhere.
In Who Will Save Our Schools (1997) I wrote of emergence as it relates to teachers emerging into leadership roles and how they can tap into talents and intentions they didn’t know they had. Within the next week, I’ll write about the emergent properties of leadership capacity.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about “synchronicities.” Well, they continue to happen with such frequency that they are almost commonplace in the shadow of the Sacred Mountain.
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