4 DATE WITH THE GODS
have enough wisdom and understanding to see in its
pages a parallel to the Fatima incident.
Why 144,000? That was the number given to a man
who had a vision on the island of Pa tmos some 2,
years ago, thereby inspiring the book of "Revelations."
Keep in mind that 144 is the product of twelve times
twelve. Twelve is also the number of signs in the zodiac,
the disciples of Jesus the Christ, the tribes of Israel,
months in a year, and represents many other things
related to astrology and astronomy, i.e., the stars.
Contained in this book is the exact text of the Fatima
message as it was given to those three shepherd chil
dren. The reader can make his or her own deductions
and come to an independent conclusion after reading it.
This time, however, the message will not be given to a
church organization. It will go to a publishing company,
and I sincerely hope it reaches you.
Before I actually began writing this story, I had many
second thoughts. I couldn't even conceive that some
thing like this could have happened, even though I had
personally experienced the events related in this book.
How can a person doubt his own experiences? In this
case, it was probably because of my unusual religious
upbringing. I was raised with the teachings of both the
Jewish and Christian religions, and had participated in
the rites and rituals of both. My parents agreed that I
would be taught both Orthodox Kosher Jewish and
Roman Catholic belief systems. Therefore, by the time I
was nine or ten, I was a very confused child in rna tters of
religion. When I reached the age of thirteen, I had had
both a first communion and a Bar Mitzvah.
As a teenager, I became very rebellious against the
guilt that came in the wake of my religious upbringing.
By the time I finished high school, I had come to the
conclusion that rabbis and priests teach things as far-