Summary

A daring memoir of love, magic, adventure, and miracles, Victor Villase?or's Thirteen Senses continues the exhilarating family saga that began in the widely acclaimed bestseller Rain of Gold, delivering a stunning story of passion, family, and the forgotten mystical senses that stir within us all. Thirteen Senses begins with the fiftieth wedding anniversary of the aging former bootlegger Salvador and his elegant wife, Lupe. When asked by a young priest to repeat the sacred ceremonial phrase "to honor and obey," Lupe surprises herself and says. "No, I will not say 'obey'. How dare you! You don't talk to me like this after fifty years of marriage and I now knowing what I know!" After the hilarious shock of Lupe's rejection of the ceremony, the Villase?or family is forced to examine the love that Lupe and Salvador have shared for so many years -- a universal, gut-honest love that will eventually energize and inspire the couple into old age.

Author Biography

Victor Villasenor lives in California on the ranch where he was raised. He is the author of numerous bestselling and critically acclaimed works

Preface	p. xv
Wedding Vows August 18, 1979, Oceanside, California
Such a man and woman aren't measured from their heads to their feet, but from their heads to the sky, for these people are giants--who know the Thirteen Senses of Creation!	p. 3
Honeymoon August 18, 1929, Santa Ana, California
And so he, the nineteenth child, having come to his mother at fifty years of age, now found his second truelove, and ... they married	p. 23
And so she, the child who'd been conceived on the night that a meteorite struck the Earth, was now a married woman and she was in love!	p. 48
Moontalking End of August 1929, Carlsbad, California
And so they'd now entered into the Garden of Eden, God's first couple--a man and a woman who of their own freewill chose the way of the Almighty!	p. 71
The Devil saw their happiness, their joy of being in Holy Union with the Almighty, and so he smiled, creeping down from the Tree of Knowledge to intercept them	p. 85
Suntalking September 1929
And so their mothers had, indeed, taught them both about Love and God, but it was now Life, la Vida, that was to teach them the lessons of el Diablo!	p. 113
And so shedding their outer skins, they now came to know each other as only young lovers can who've stepped forward in the full commitment of matrimony	p. 145
La Vida Loca
And so the Gates of Heaven opened wide and a flash flood de Amor came pouring forth out over all the land--Bursting with Vitality!	p. 179
The Devil was tired, really exhausted, but still he was a long way from giving up. One way or another, he was determined to slip past that old She-Fox ... but then he heard the Singing of the Stones!	p. 201
Love was in the Air! Amor was Everywhere! The Wilds of Life, la Vida, were now leaping with the Fires of Hell and Heaven Here upon Mother Earth!	p. 238
Heaven was laughing con carcajadas! Love, love, Amor was now Creating a whole new Paraiso on Earth as it was in Heaven!	p. 269
Heaventalking
And so Humanity was now being called upon to Sing and Dance and Praise the Second Coming of the Lord!	p. 293
The Devil himself had now come Full Circle and he, too, was anxiously awaiting with Flowers in Hand for the Second Coming of the Lord!	p. 322
Earthtalking
God was Happy! Papito was Smiling! Singing "through" every Stone, Tree, Raindrop, Blade of Grass--He was So Moved!	p. 343
Lightning flashed across the land and Thunder roared through the canyons with the Holy Voice of Creation	p. 362
The Devil was Whirling, Swirling, Dancing--he was so Happy! He was still working the Earth, giving choice between Good and Evil, but Now each Night he, too, went to be with Papito Dios!	p. 389
Illumination
God was Whirling, Swirling, Dancing! His Children were finally Awaking to the Light and Loving each other as much as they Loved Him!	p. 415
And so Adam and Eva stepped forward, not blaming each other but united in Love, Respect, and a Natural Awe for One another--Reflections of the Creator	p. 437
Of their own Freewill Adam and Eva now chose to go out of the Garden, away from their familias, and into the Wilds of the World--for they had absolute Faith in God and in their Amor!	p. 445
Rebirthing
In the Wilds beyond the Garden, Adam and Eva now found themselves bringing the Light of God to friend and foe alike--Lucifer and Papito were Working as One once again!	p. 451
They'd met Death and they'd found Death to simply be another Holy Opening to the Creator's Corazon--Beat, Beat, Beating throughout the Universe!	p. 464
Adam and Eva now both Knew that it wasn't the Devil who'd ever tempted them--it was their own Mirror that Reflected their Doubts and Fears	p. 475
GOD and Lucifer were Dancing and Mary and Jesus were Clapping--all the Forces of the Heavens were at last working Together once more	p. 487
The Sixth Sun was now arising fast for an All New Day. People would no longer be able to tell where the Heavens ended and the Earth began	p. 492
All was back in Balance, All was back in Harmony and at Peace, generating Wisdom through our Thirteen Senses from Heaven to Earth--All One Song!	p. 497
Afterword	p. 501
Acknowledgments	p. 507
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Excerpts

Thirteen Senses
A Memoir

Chapter One

Such a man and woman aren't measured from their heads to their feet, but from their heads to the sky, for these people are giants -- who know the Thirteen senses of Creation!

Was it love?
Had it ever really been love?
For fifty years they'd been husband and wife. For fifty years the Father Sun had come and gone. For fifty years the Mother Moon had risen and disappeared. For fifty years they'd loved, fought, and lived together, and now, here they were standing before the priest once again, ready to renew their wedding vows.
Juan Salvador Villasenor, the nineteenth child of his family, was seventy-five years old. Maria Guadalupe Gomez, the eighth child of her family, was sixty-eight years old. Salvador now turned and took the hand of the woman standing beside him. Lupe turned and looked into Salvador's eyes.
The priest began his words, and Salvador and Lupe's children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren looked on with love, respect, and gusto. It was a small wedding this time with just family and a few friends, being done in the living room of the great house that Salvador and Lupe had designed and built nearly thirty-five years before.
Sunlight streamed in through the large windows behind Salvador and Lupe as the priest continued his words. People's eyes filled with tears. This was a magic moment, where everyone in the room just knew that God's blessing was with them.
The groom was dressed in his favorite dark maroon suit with a striped tie of silver and gold. The bride was wearing a beautiful three-quarterlength white dress with intricate lace and interwoven ribbon of yellow gold. Salvador's hair was white and full and still curly. Lupe's hair was mostly gray, too, yet sprinkled with beautiful long strands of black.
The priest continued, and the small gathering of family and friends listened to every word. This time, different from last time, the priest was much younger than the couple getting married. "Juan Salvador Villasenor," the young priest was now saying, "do you take Maria Guadalupe Gomez to be your wife? Do you promise to be true to her in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love and honor all the days of your life?"
Lupe turned and stared at Salvador's lion mane of hair and the huge, long, white moustache on his upper lip. It moved like a fat worm as he spoke. "Yes, I do," he said.
Hearing this, she realized how different these words now felt compared to last time. When she'd heard these words fifty years before, she'd been so young and naive that she'd taken his "Yes, I do" to mean so much more than she did this time. Last time, she'd thought these words meant that she would have someone with her through good times, bad times, sickness, health, and there would always be love and honor. What a fool she'd been! If the truth were known, sometimes she would've been better off without him.
Then, she realized that the young priest was speaking to her. "And you, Maria Guadalupe Gomez," said the young man of God, "do you take Juan Salvador Villasenor to be your husband? Do you promise to be true to him in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love him and honor him all the days of your life?"
At first Lupe didn't answer. My God, this was exactly what she'd done for all these years. But had he? Had Salvador been true to her and honored her? Or, had he ever really even loved her?
Then she suddenly remembered how these words "in bad times" had almost stopped her last time. Even back then, when she'd been eighteen years old, she'd wondered if it was wise for any woman to agree to this statement.
"Say, 'yes, I do,'" said the young priest, leaning in close to Lupe.
Lupe almost laughed. This was exactly what the priest had done last time. Only then the priest had been old, and he'd looked so full of authority that she'd been intimidated. But she wasn't intimidated in the least this time, and so she just looked at this young priest and smiled.
Juan Salvador saw her smile, that little smile of hers that was so full of mischief. He grinned, squeezing her hand.
Feeling her hand being squeezed, Lupe turned and looked at this gray-haired, old man standing beside her, and she saw his grin. She grinned, too.
"Okay," she said, squeezing his hand in return. "Yes, I do."
Everyone in the room looked greatly relieved, except Salvador. He'd never had any doubt.
Then it was Lupe's turn to repeat the words of holy acceptance, but when she came to the passage, "To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part," tears came to her eyes. After fifty years of marriage, she could now see that these were the very words that had given her the power to endure all the hardships of the years.
Why, these words "until death do us part" were the very foundation of every marriage. And she could also see that yes, even back then, fifty years ago, she'd had the wisdom to see that these were the words that had given her beloved mother, Dona Guadalupe, the strength to rise up like a mighty star and bring her familia back from the dead, time and again during that awful Mexican Revolution!
She could now see so clearly that these words "until death do us part" were the words that gave each and every woman the power, the vision to accept the Grace of God and gain the absolute conviction of mind...

Excerpted from Thirteen Senses by Victor Villaseñor
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