Date with the gods [Paperback]

I found my copy of this book at a used book sale. First published in 1977, Date With the Gods alleges to be the true story of Charles Silva's experiences in Peru where he met an extraterrestrial woman with whom he had an affair. Silva was in Peru on business, working free-lance for some Hollywood business connections. He also admits to being an agent for the CIA, a fact he reserves for later in the story. The woman he met appeared in a village in the Andes riding a motorcycle which inexplicably had the seal of the LAPD. He later describes a ride in an actual space ship with this woman. UFOs, according to Silva, are commonly seen in this area of the Andes.

What is really weird is that the woman, who called herself Rama, wanted to discuss the Bible with Silva, who was not a religiously-inclined person. Silva actually steals a Bible from a village church so he can read the passages Rama suggested. Much of the Bible discussions had to do with Revelations. Rama thought various kinds of destructions were coming our way. Many of her predictions have already proved to be false.

But a lot of what Rama had to say was pretty interesting and supported the "ancient astronaut" idea that earth's original civilizations were founded by people from space ships. She also taught Charles how to have out-of-body experiences and confirmed the existence of a spirit world. She endorsed the ideas of Madame Blavatsky who founded Theosophy.

She had a lot to say about the universe, including the fact that our solar system is menaced by another solar system that has a planet which is called Wormwood in the Bible, but is also known as Hercolubus. This solar system travels parallel to ours and comes too close every 66,666 years. She said that would happen in the late 1980s and would result in the melting of the polar ice caps and worldwide destruction.

Well, we DO have a lot of wild weather and the polar ice caps do seem to be melting, but Rama got the times wrong. She recommended books by Rodolfo Benavides (in Spanish) and Raymond Drake. She herself claimed to be from Ganymede, one of the moons of Jupiter. She said her people live underground on Ganymede, which has much volcanic activity.

Rama has a lot to say about the Anti-Christ, who she was expecting to appear soon on the public scene. He would seem like a good guy at first and be popular, but later would work toward world domination. She spends a great deal of time teaching Charles about the meaning of Revelations and the role of the Anti-Christ.

This emphasis on Christian religious ideas from someone who claims to be an extra-terrestrial is puzzling. I had to wonder as I read this if it wasn't just a work of fiction, or if Charles Silva was actually a Christian believer who used the story about Rama as a way of spreading the message of Revelations. With the passage of time since this book was published, it's easy to see that much of Rama's statements about our future have not come true, and I have no idea who might be the Anti-Christ (I might cast my vote for George W. Bush, if I had to choose someone).

Rama's asking Silva to write this book and her thinking that it would make a difference also seems to have been misplaced. I'm not aware that this book made any impression thirty years ago and it seems even more improbable today. However, if Charles Silva really met this Rama person, you have to also consider that he may have been duped, given his CIA connection. Perhaps this was a creative bit of disinformation. Silva makes no secret that he had a sexual relationship with Rama and found her fascinating. She used sex to get her message across. Could Silva have been a victim who was used for some purpose?

But why the Revelations connection? The book also "reveals" the message of Fatima and informs us that the Lady of Fatima was an extra-terrestrial like Rama. We're really off in la-la land at this point. The book appears to be self-published, with the publisher listed as "Living Waters Publishing and Distributing, Inc." Could it have been a hoax designed to sell a religious theory about the meaning of the Biblical Revelations? I'd love to hear from anyone having information on Charles Silva or the content of this book. Is any of this true?
(--NOTE -- I meant to give this book 3 stars; when I edited the review somehow the stars got changed and I don't have a way to fix this. This book was interesting to read and it deserves more than one star)

It's worth checking out Shirley MacLaine's 1983 memoir, "Out On A Limb" --- Silva claimed that the character of David in that book was based on him; MacLaine agreed that she had met Silva and that David was a composite character which was, in part, based on Silva. Silva sued her to identify him as the sole source of David - and lost. Search wikipedia for Out On A Limb and Billy Meier to find out more about Silva...