The Dance of Death of the Seven Veils

That day, it was a sunny afternoon and John the Baptist had prayed to the Lord. It is known that in 26 AD, John the Baptist received the call to exercise his prophetic ministry (Luke 3:2). He had a firm message, preaching repentance of sins to the people of the villages.

At that time, traveling through the sandy stretch of the Judean desert, he noticed that his only clothing was completely torn. He approached some villagers and asked for the camel's back that they were taking off the animal. When he was favored, John the Baptist made his own clothing from camel's hair and a leather belt. And in those difficult days, already thirty years old, he began to preach on the banks of the Jordan River, talking and warning the crowds that listened to him about the evils of the times and of men, calling them to penance and baptism. Therefore, the purification consisted of the words of John, who became known to the public as John the Baptist, and remained known as John the Baptist, hurriedly pronouncing in a good tone, the following:

- My dear brothers, the Kingdom of Heaven is near. And the one who comes to save us is coming. Let us be fair to our brother, repenting of our sins. The one who comes in the name of God wants the paths wide, roads well made and potholes filled.

Walking through the desert of Judea, Samaria and Enon near Salim, John the Baptist saw some villagers and spoke to them, warning them the following:

- My brothers, repent of your sins, change your lives. Behold, the Messiah is coming, repent of your sins and come to the Jordan River to seal this adhesion.

One of them said that he was waiting for the Messiah to free them from misery, diseases and foreigners. And John warned again.

-My beloved brothers, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near and the Messiah will bless you all. Know that our God punishes sin and there will be no escape. Repent and live well with God. (Luke 3:7-9).

Many authorities ordered an investigation to see if John intended to be the Messiah, but John denied it and never gave any message about it. One of them asked:

-And aren't you Elijah?

He answered with a gesture of shouting, the following:

- I am the voice of one crying in the desert. Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight the roads, fill the potholes, remove the stones from the path, make the roads wide open so that the Lord may pass.

After completing his sermons, in a distant place in the desert, John felt hungry. He looked around and at the road of hot sand, and noticed that there were no houses or residents, and hunger was dragging his intentions away. John could no longer walk and fell on the hot sands, hungry, and simply said:

-Lord, my God, do not let me die on these hot sands, hungry and thirsty.

Without delay, there among the sands, John fell asleep in the sea of ​​sand. When John woke up, he saw several locusts and picked up several of them and ate them. As he walked through the desert sands, he saw a bush with a bark full of bees full of honey. And at that moment, he consumed all the honey and set off in search of water that flowed from a small rock. And so he continued to feed on locusts and wild honey. Not far away, as he approached the Jordan River, John saw the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judea and other places waiting for the prophet to confess their sins and be baptized in the waters of the Jordan River. Matthew 3:4-6.

It so happened that Herodias or Herodias, daughter of Berenice and Aristobulus IV, son of Herod. Married to her half-uncle Herod Philip, they had a daughter named Salome. With great anxiety, he wrote a letter to the emperor of Rome, encouraged by his wife, claiming that he was not satisfied with his duties, requesting a better position for a dignity similar to that of Herod Agrippa I. In addition, he accused Herod Antipas of a plan to kill the emperor Tiberius.

Suspecting such an affront, the emperor ordered the exile of Herod Philip to Rome, and Herod and his wife took their daughter Salome. It is true that Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea for more than 40 years, had paid a visit to Rome, since he was accountable to the emperor. And he said to the soldier on duty:

- There is no need to tell Herod Philip that I am here. Take me to the house of my sister-in-law Herodias.

The soldier, following orders, complied with Herod Antipas' request, smiling broadly when he saw Herodias. The Tetrarch of Galilee asked.

- How is Herodias? I have missed you so much. If I am not mistaken, you are more beautiful every day.

Herodias replied.

- I am more beautiful. Hmm! I hope it is true.

- Herodias, you know that Philip no longer has a future. In this way, as an exile, he will not be a man to have a woman like you. I want you to come with me. If you are separated, I will ask for my divorce and marry you. Only then will I make you an eternal queen and your daughter, Princess Salome, will live in my court.

- It is true. Herod, will you marry me? If it is true, I will leave right now. Only then will you make my dream and that of my daughter come true.

However, Herodias separated from her husband Herod Philip to marry another half-uncle, Herod Antipas. In order to marry Herodias, he had to divorce his first wife, Phaselia, daughter of the Nabataean king Aretas IV of Arabia.

When Herod Antipas' wife learned that her husband was returning to the palace with another woman, fearing for her life and her future, she decided to flee to her father's house in the neighboring city of Nabataea. When Antipas arrived at his residence, he found that his wife had already abandoned him, leaving him the place to start living his new marriage. Thus, Herodias and Salome immediately and without any major problems settled in Antipas' palace, in the newly built capital of Galilee, Tiberias, on the western shore of Lake Galilee.

According to the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Jesus went from Nazareth in Galilee to the River Jordan to meet John and be baptized by him. But John tried to stop him, saying,

“I am the one who should be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

But Jesus answered him,

“Let it be so for now, because we must fulfill all righteousness.” And John agreed.” (Matthew 3:14-15)

After being baptized, Jesus immediately went up out of the water. Then the heavens were opened, and Jesus saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice came from heaven, saying,

-This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:16-17)

As the days went by, the story of the separation of Herodias and Herod Antipas had spread throughout all the villages of Judea and Perea. It is worth noting that after the marriage, the so-called union reached the ears of John the Baptist and the people said that the supposed couple was living an incestuous and shameful marriage. Therefore, what happened to Herod Philip after this episode is unknown. It is not known whether he remarried or had other children.

It is known that Herod Antipas liked the preaching of John the Baptist, as he was a prophet of faith and who prepared the way for Jesus, so John was not satisfied with this illicit union. Having spread everywhere, what John the Baptist said to Herod and other listeners, the following:

-It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife (Mark 6:18). This marriage is illegal and violates the law of Moses.

John the Baptist spoke with certainty that Herodias could not have the happiness of a new marriage with her half-uncle and brother-in-law Herod Antipas. He protected and defended only one truth, the word of God. And he said publicly that the adulterous couple could not be happy under the law of God, whose sin was not spared. Notably, the marriage had political rather than personally sinful purposes, since it violated Jewish laws against marrying one's brother's wife while the brother was still alive (Leviticus 18:16; 20:21).

At that time, the people transmitted all the conversations in the sermon to Herodias, who spoke to her husband in the following terms:

- I hate this worm. I want you to kill this horrible snake. I cannot live with this leech speaking our name. Herod, I want this man dead or imprisoned immediately.

As we know, Herodias was an evil and Machiavellian woman capable of silencing John the Baptist and managed to convince the Tetrarch to issue an arrest warrant. It was exactly in the sixth month of the year 26 AD that the prophet was arrested and gagged in Perea, east of the Dead Sea, and taken to the fortress of Machaerus and held for ten months until his death. Despite much insistence, Herodias asked Herod Antipas to have John the Baptist killed. However, he refused to have the prophet executed for fear of the people, since he believed that John was a prophet of God (Matthew 14:5) and did not aspire to a revolution.

The Tetrarch Herod also maintained confidence that John the Baptist was a man of justice and, although very uncomfortable with the conversations that John had, he loved to listen to his teachings, as well as letting his disciples feel at ease with the prophet.

Still insisting, Herodias put too much pressure on Herod Antipas to have John the Baptist killed, but the Tetrarch refused to grant his wife's wishes. Having no luck in her revenge, Herodias waited for the right day to put her macabre desires into practice. As the celebration of King Herod Antipas' birthday approached, she told Salome that she would dance on that day.

It is known that Herodias had enrolled Princess Salome in a dance school when she lived in Rome. Persuading her daughter, she said that she would bring her exiled boyfriend (soldier) into her daughter's arms if she danced at Herod's ball. Without a shadow of a doubt, Princess Salome was pleased and agreed to her mother's promise.

In fact, Antipas' birthday offered Herodias the perfect opportunity to achieve her goal with a taste for revenge. It is important to note that Princess Salome was dating a Roman soldier, since Herodias did not accept the cultural level, much less her daughter having an affair with a soldier, and also not being part of the Herodian family or part of a palace court.

Therefore, Herodias was a vengeful, ambitious woman, insatiable for power, who sought to marry her daughter Salome to a man from the same family or as influential as possible, watching her family rise in the social scale. It turns out that, without Herod Antipas or his daughter knowing, she secretly ordered the head of the Praetorian Guard to send her daughter's boyfriend into exile without him knowing about the decision. And after six days of service, poison was to be placed in his meal. Since he was a Roman soldier, the departure of the soldier would not cause any problems for the kingdom. In this way, she removed the soldier, ordering his death.

With great grief and anger, Aretas IV, the father of Herod's ex-wife, ordered his army to attack Herod's army, all of whom died, in revenge for the separation from his daughter Selphedia. The king did not speak of the matter any further.

It is known that Antipas celebrated a birthday party that was one of the most expensive in the country, and invited the most notable personalities of the court, military commanders and the main personalities of Galilee, people for the most part wealthy but provincial and with the refinements of the class.

But the Baptist did not abandon his faith in Christ. The memory of the voice from Heaven and the dove that had descended, of the immaculate purity of Jesus, of the power of the Holy Spirit that had rested upon him when he found himself in the presence of the Savior, and of the testimony of the prophetic scriptures - all testified that Jesus of Nazareth was the Promised One.

John did not want to discuss his doubts and anxieties with his companions. He decided to send messengers to inquire after Jesus. This he entrusted to two of his disciples, hoping that an interview with the Saviour would confirm their faith and bring assurance to their brethren. John longed for a word from Christ, spoken directly to him. The disciples came to Jesus, bearing their message: “Art thou he that should come, or look we for another?” Matt. 11:3. How little time had elapsed since the Baptist had pointed to Jesus and proclaimed: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world: this was he of whom I said, He that cometh after me is preferred before me” John 1:29, 27. And now he asks, Art thou he that should come? This, of course, was deeply cruel and disappointing to human nature. If John, the faithful forerunner, failed to discern the mission of Christ, what could be expected of the self-seeking multitude? The Saviour did not immediately answer the disciples’ question. While they stood there, amazed at His silence, the sick and afflicted came to Him to be healed.

Logically, the Baptist did not abandon his faith in Christ Jesus, nor did he stray from Christianity. The work of the voice from Heaven and the dove that had descended, the immaculate purity of Jesus, the power of the Holy Spirit that rested upon him when he discovered the presence of the Savior, and the testimony of the prophetic scriptures—all testified that Jesus of Nazareth was the Promised One. John did not want to discuss his misunderstandings and anxieties with his companions. He decided to send messengers to inquire about Jesus. He entrusted this to two of his disciples, hoping that an interview with the Savior would confirm their faith and bring assurance to his brothers. John longed for a word from Christ, spoken directly to him. The disciples came to Jesus, bearing their message, saying the following: “Are You He who should come, or do we look for another?” Matt. 11:3. Jesus Christ did not answer the disciples’ question promptly. While they stood there, amazed at his silence, the sick and afflicted, the poor and the crippled came to him to be healed.

Thus the day passed, with John's disciples seeing and hearing everything. Finally Jesus called them to him and asked them to come and tell John what they had witnessed, adding:

-Blessed is he who is not scandalized by me.

The proof of his divinity was shown in his adaptation to the needs of suffering humanity. His glory was revealed in the complacency he had towards our low condition.

As is known, Herodias prepared Princess Salome, who in high Roman society had learned attractive dances, of which those rude people had no idea, to offer an original belly dancing show. There, the girl led a life full of luxury and comfort, worthy of a true princess, living with members of the aristocratic families of Palestinian society.

And in the middle of the feast, when the guests were overcome by wine and satiety from the banquet, little Salome, almost unaware of what was happening, entered the banquet hall with her mother to perform. Moments before, her mother had asked her to drink what was in the cup and dance freely, pleasing Herod and the guests.

The beautiful princess Salome, the star of the first magnitude, began to dance the Dance of the Seven Veils to her stepfather King Herod Antipas and the guests in an agitated dance, showing off her bust, and without delay, she approached the Tetrarch, showing off her thick legs and throwing her navy blue veil to the floor. As if she had vast experience, the beautiful princess let the second veil fall before the eyes of the guests. And Salome's acrobatic dance takes another turn, twisting upside down, with her hands on the ground and her legs raised in front of the Tetrarch, making him lose his mind, watching the princess's rhythmic steps in the dance. As soon as the girl finished dancing, the king said to the young woman:

-Ask me for anything you want, and I will give it to you.

And he promised her under oath:

-Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you, up to half of my kingdom.

Salome went out slowly and went to her mother, and asked:

-What shall I ask for?

She answered:

-The head of John the Baptist. Do this as we agreed and I will give you your Roman boyfriend.

The young woman immediately hurried to appear before the king with her request, requesting:

-I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a silver platter.

King Herod Antipas was tormented and cold by Princess Salome's request. Even though he was full of wine, the request hurt the king's head. However, because of his oath and the guests present who watched everything, he did not want to deny the young woman's request. Herod was sad and distressed for having been placed in this dilemma, but because of his vow and the guests who watched everything, he would not go back on his words. Without delay, Herod immediately sent an executioner soldier with orders to bring John's head on a silver platter. When the soldier arrived at the prison, he looked at John the Baptist and he said the following with tears in his eyes: - Do not kill me for the mercy of God, our lord. The soldier, with a sad look, replied: - I follow orders, that's all. John spoke his last words: - My life is in the hands of God! John the Baptist's words were uttered through tears, painful because of the sentence desired by Herodias, whose beheading had hurt all the wounds spread among the people. After the news spread throughout Judea and other places, John the Baptist's disciples went to collect his body to give it a decent burial. Given that the disciples were accompanied by several archers and bowmen from the desert, ready for a brutal war in defense of John the Baptist.

One afternoon, Joanna, wife of Chuza, the man in charge of Herod's residence, who had been cured by Jesus Christ, was one of the women who helped with the money for the master's travels. In addition to being a witness to the resurrection, she was stroking Princess Salome's hair and talking to her about Jesus.

- Joanna, I should disappear from this life. My mother deceived me, saying she would bring my boyfriend.

Joana pleaded:

- Don't cry, pretty girl. Don't cry.

- She ordered my boyfriend to be killed. I found out everything. She deceived me. First of all, she had taken revenge by ordering me to ask for the prophet's head. After I had done everything for her. My mother did not give me my boyfriend. He has been dead for fifteen days. Joana, if I had known before, I would not have asked Uncle Herod for John the Baptist's head. I was too weak to do that. Not asking for anything, nothing for myself. Today, I suffer because of all this.

-Don't cry anymore, Princess. Ask Jesus for forgiveness for your sins. Shall we talk to him? Today I am happy and healed by Jesus Christ.

-No. I cannot talk to anyone. I will never forgive my mother for this. Today I feel sick because of these acts committed by me. I have never killed anyone.

On that cursed night, the voice of the man of the desert, the man of the Jordan River who baptized and shouted to open the way for the Messiah, the man who baptized Jesus, fell silent forever. In fact, Herod, Herodias and Princess Salome were duly blamed for the beheading of Jesus' greatest disciple. It is worth noting that after this evil event, Princess Salome's personal life was no longer the same at just 12 years of age.

It turns out that Princess Salome never saw Jesus, just as she never attended his sermons. It is worth noting that Herod Antipas, after celebrating his birthday, fell in love with Salome, and maintained a rape with her for almost four years in the utmost secrecy of the palace. Herod Antipas was considered a corrupt and frivolous king, who did not respect the law, but only his own interests in satisfying himself.

Suffering from an itching in his genitals, he did not seek medical treatment. All of this occurred during sexual acts with his niece and daughter, since the Tetrarch never washed himself after sexual acts, resulting in an unusual infection in the penis called Fournier's gangrene, in addition to a mysterious infection in the kidneys.

With the exile of Herod and Herodias, Princess Salome married a king and went to live with him until his death. Having become a widow, she did not look for another.