albionspeak 2: the gates of dis (12.2)
SESSION 68: 2ND NIGHT, 7/30/01
My 42nd birthday; indeed a special day, for among other things [Scribe] and I took a walk aided by the power plant Salvia divinorum, a.k.a. S/Div. [Scribe] had only recently heard of this drug via The New York Times; and based on its description—where people may “merge with inanimate objects,” he knew it was for him. Further research found it to be remarkably free of side-effects, and one ounce was quickly ordered over the internet. Aside from its reputed properties, S/Div has the distinct advantage over other power plants in that it is (still) perfectly legal.
We forestalled breakfast other than coffee and mixed in perhaps a quarter ounce of S/Div (which somewhat resembles marijuana) with a blueberry/lemon yogurt smoothie. Drinking each one-half of this mixture (and brushing our teeth of the many specks left behind), we immediately departed for [the college campus] three miles away. It seemed we were already coming on as I parked the car on the hill above [the old boathouse], where we together smoked two large bowls to accelerate the process. We were successful.
It took no time to realize we were in a new world, one that momentarily threatened to overwhelm me until I realized I retained my lucid thought process. As we descended to the beach, I was struck by intense visual detail and the awareness of deep color, particularly the forest greens. It was as if I was hallucinating, except everything I saw was confirmably there, just far more intense. We reached the beach and walked its full length to the opposite college boundary. Here, too, the visuals amazed me; this time it was the almost diagrammatic line, shadow, and color variations in the many waves on the inlet. I felt I could grasp the whole picture as a mathematical formula which I could then reproduce in paint. Much looked like the native art of the Northwest Coast Indian tribes, where within a bird or mammal lies another, followed by yet another, and so on. I did not see animals that weren’t there, but I could subdivide the light and shadow that did exist in precisely such a manner. Although [Scribe] and I spoke only rarely, his observations seemed to confirm my own.
At the south end of the beach we headed into the forest and soon found ourselves vertically ascending the hill to escape the path and achieve better smoking privacy. Upon reaching the top, however, we found a bluff, complete with trail and dead campfire, which despite my hundreds of runs through these very woods I had never visited. There we did smoke and deeply enjoyed the trees, the shade, the beautiful sun over blue water, and—most unusual for me—the near-total lack of internal dialogue. We spent some time, not much, and then walked in the direction of the main trail [to the beach]. Reaching the main trail, we followed it to the creek bridge and stopped to take in the trickle, whereupon we encountered our only other human. A typical-looking [college hippie], he appeared from nowhere brandishing a blue bottle. Holding it up, he almost admonished us: “Don’t litter!” were his only emphatic words. “We won’t,” I assured him, and it seemed most strange even to hear myself say the words. [He was a complete lunatic.] We walked on and turned left at the secondary trail branch just above the long walkway. This is a darker forest of fewer ferns. We, of course, found ourselves several times off on side-trails and deer paths which later reconnected with the larger one. On one such trail/path I abruptly retraced my steps, struck, as it were, by a bright, almost solar yellow. Thinking it to be a slime mold, I examined it and discovered it to be sadly a crushed yellow plastic ball, marble-sized. Next to it, in fact, was a complete plastic ball, this one of orange, followed by another one of red. Soon, following the trail, we located several more orange balls, scattered, it seemed, deliberately like crumbs in Hänsel und Gretel.
It wasn’t long before I realized the potential significance. “If this were a lucid dream,” I told [Scribe], “these colors, our exact colours on the board, would be important clues.” This seemed especially weighty since these objects appeared to be intentional litter only moments after our only human voice told us not to litter. [Scribe] agreed; it seemed too strange. The balls—whatever they were—were [Scribe]’s, Jane’s, and my respective colours and laid out precisely like “objects on the path to the shrine.” [Only years later, once the “sport” became more popular did I learn these balls were, in fact, paint balls.]
We enjoyed the forest for perhaps another 45 minutes before driving home. It is important to document here that the whole experience didn’t last much beyond three hours, which includes eating and smoking three times. Beyond that, by the time we reached my house (again, three miles distant), we were pretty nearly sober with—surprisingly—little of the normal heavy/weariness that accompanies coming off all other drugs, alcohol and nicotine included. We seemed “down,” but we were in no way “burnt.” An amazing drug, really quite profound in a way largely new to us (and a very nice birthday gift).
Our invocation: Shakespeare’s sonnet #27, “Weary with toil…”
1. Q: [Guide], are you there?
A: I AM HOVERING
2. Q: Is there an exercise?
A: A FOCUSING-IN ON [THE] ANTENNAE
Last night the quincunx; tonight the feelers, though still a butterfly.
3. Q: Tell us more.
A: OUR CONSTELLATION -
THIS TIME FOCUS ON [THE] TWO FAINTER STARZ
4. Q: Last night, we all but ignored them. (And [Albion] saw nothing whatever.)
A: YOU DID NOT YET KNOW [THE] ANTENNAE WERE YOURZ -
NOW BEGIN
5. Q: We begin.
A: [THE] BUTTERFLY MUST BEGIN…
6. BEGIN SENSING [THE] WORLD
[very slowly, a looping cursive]
7. Q: It feels as if we’ve a new voice or hand at work. Who is with us?
A: I VILANSIT AM VISITING
8. Q: “Hail, many-colour’d messenger.”
A: IT IS COLOURS I WISH TO DISCUSS - BUT FIRST
“Tell me about your day”
9. Q: Yes?
A: TELL ME ABOUT YOUR DAY
We laughed. Yes, many times our sessions have dipped, as dreams
often do, into the previous day’s events, pulled out some rabbit or other, and
used it to illustrate an important lesson. Vilansit’s response here, however,
took such ordinary magic to a new level, for clearly she referred to a longer
span of time, the three-plus multifarious hours of S/Div: a worthy
discussion with the perfect interlocutor.
10. Q: Very briefly:
1. some music by a synæsthete [Scriabin]
2. a walk, with intense visual concentration, aided by S/Div
A: I FEEL YOUR MINDS ARE FULL OF…
11. HUES -
TELL ME YOUR FI…
12. FIRST THOUGHT ON ENHANCED SEEING -
[Albion]?
13. Q ([Albion]): Greater depth, detail, awareness of light & shadow: especially on
waves (related to painting work).
A: THIS IS A KIND OF IMAGE OF [THE] ENHANCED SEEING IN
MOMENTS OF FLIGHT -
[THE] THREAD THAT LEADZ TO THAT DEEPER DETAILED WORLD
I wondered aloud if this “image” of seeing was but a metaphor or if
it might be indeed what flight “looks like.”
14. Q ([Scribe]): A kind of “test flight” or “flight simulation”? (We spoke of the
Wright Bros. today.)
A: EXACTLY - BUT I DO NOT MEAN TO DISREGARD IT ON
ACCOUNT OF S/DIV -
IT IS A REAL BEGINNING IN CHRYSALIS
No doubt this was all good news, but we’ve had many beginnings
before.
Here the numbering, due to a scratched question, is off by one from
the original transcripts.
15. Q ([Albion]): Is this different from other beginnings—and if so, how?
A: [YES] I SPOKE OF [THE] LORE OF COLOURS
& ONLY A YEAR AGO THIS MEANT NOTHING TO YOU -
JUST AZ [THE] IDEA OF SEEING [THE] STONE MEANT NOTHING
ONLY A FEW YEARS BEFORE THAT
[THE] VERY EXPERIENCE I READ…
16. OF TODAY WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE TO…
17. YOU - [Albion] -
ONLY YOUR FORGETFULNESS INTERVENES
& SO NOTHING SEEMS NEW BECAUSE YOU CAN NO LONGER
RECALL YOUR PAST MIND
18. Q ([Albion]): Painting has given me a new visual sense. ([Scribe] adds: an
abstract sense of overview on the knoll/bluff.)
A: YOU CAN ONLY HAVE SUCH EXPERIENCES BY PREPARING —
OVERVIEW WAS FORMERLY JUST A WORD
NOW AN EXPER…
19. IENCE
I was not going to ask about my abstract overview insights, for
while they did inspire, they were not as moving to me as the visual
experience. It’s harder, I suppose, to draw lines between normal and
profound thoughts than between normal and profound sensory experiences
(touch vs. pain, for instance). From the lengthy discussions [Scribe] & I
shared that day, [Scribe] gleaned a pearl I was ready to lay aside.
The Contrivance of Will
20. Q ([Scribe]): Even if one saw the (literal) overview of today, without preparation &
teaching it could not mean or exemplify overview (in our sense).
A: [YES] & YET SUCH A MEANING MUST AR…
21. ARISE NATURALLY OUT
OF [THE] DARK LAKE -
IT CANNOT BE WILLED
22. Q ([Scribe]): Intent is not will. ([Albion]’s experience of playing soccer, [Scribe]’s
of composing poetry.)
A: WILL IS ACTUALLY YOUR FOE IN K MATTERZ
JUST AZ IT WAS FOR ME
This made sense: we highlighted our own clearest experiences in
the question. Still it was an important topic of discussion, so we turned to
a historical comparison: Last year we learned our karass’s membership
did not include certain roles or occupations, ones which impose their will
upon others.
23. Q: We hypothesize: Warriors, builders, oracles may need the contrivance of
will, but it is actually harmful to our circle.
A: IT IS -
JOSEF’S GIFT WAS NOT ORACULAR BUT PREPAREDNESS
IN INTENT
24. Q: Did he know in advance that there would be seven lean years after seven
fat years?
A: RATHER A SENSE OF [THE] SACRED RIVER’S CYCLES &. . .
25. [THE] CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE OF PHARAOH'S UNCONCERN
26. Q: Whereas, say, Delphi planned or willed to control the Greek states?
A: [YES] BUT ONLY OUT OF [THE]IR TERROR OF CHAOS
This seemed to surprise [Scribe]. We had been informed, of course,
that Delphi was the “secret ruler of the Greek city states,” where power was
exercised through the careful interpretations of the oracle’s hexameters. It
seems [Scribe] attached to these manipulations motives I did not. I think he
was relieved to hear that Delphi was not entirely self-serving.
27. Q ([Scribe]): [Scribe]’s day: Sense that even before enhanced seeing as such,
the internal slowing-down & stillness permit clarity & lucidity.
A: YOUR SENSE OF STILLNESS IS OFTEN WANTING IN EVERYDAY
LIFE?
I forget [Scribe]’s oral rendering and am today slightly mystified by
his written question. The response seems clear nonetheless.
28. Q ([Scribe]): Absolutely. And I miss it badly.
A: YOUR TASK TO RECOVER IT
I had no idea [Scribe] had lost anything of the kind.
29. Q ([Scribe]): It’s almost a relief to hear there is a task.
A: I LEAVE IT TO YOUR TEACHER TO ADDRESS
Red, Orange, Yellow Balls
30. Q: Will you comment on the red, orange, and yellow balls in the path today?
A: OBJECTS ALONG [THE] PATH TO [THE] SHRINE?
This fable, one of our touchstones, should be familiar to the reader:
A seeker journeys to a mountain top. On the path he encounters
many “dropped” objects, some of which he stoops to retrieve. Eventually
enough objects are gathered so that from them he builds a shrine, one which
then serves as the chrysalis wherefrom as a flyer he later emerges. Having
reached his goal (which is not the top itself), the flyer then traces each object
to the k-member who left it in the first place—except there is always at least
one object that can’t be traced, presumably left by the flyer to himself.
31. Q: Initially, [the objects] mean nothing; they are even litter. But they can
become part of the shrine.
A: EXACTLY ALL EXPERIENCE IS POTENTIALLY EITHER LITTER
OR SACRED -
[THE] PATH MAKES…
32. ONE SENSE [THE] DIFFERENCE & [THE]
DIFFICULTY
“Don’t litter!”
33. Q: This literal litter has already become part of our shrine.
A: [YES] & DON’T LITTER MEANS DON’T MAKE MORE LITTER…
34. FOR YOURSELVES ALONG [THE] PATH
Recall, our crazy hippie admonished us with these exact words.
35. Q: We note that you noted our sole human encounter today. Shall we turn to
the Lore of Colours?
A: COLOURS IS FOR US TO TALK ABOUT NEXT NIGHT
We thought we’d exhausted the day’s material and were ready to
move on, but Vilansit, in precluding the next agenda item, politely steered
us back to what we’d missed.
36. Q ([Scribe]): I forgot to add, about today, that stillness took the form of immersion:
immersion in the hyper-clear or lucid world.
A: [THE] SCRIBE’S ESSENTIAL MODE -
NOTE THAT [THE] WAKING & DREAMING WORLDS JOIN
I do not know if the merging of waking & dreaming is more suited to
the immersion mode than, for example, the overview mode.
Stillness, Breeze, Spider Webs
37. Q ([Albion]): Would you comment on the absence of sound (and voices) in my
experience?
A: YOU HAVE CLAIMED YOU HARDLY MAKE PROGRESS & YET
[THE] ABSENCE IS A REAL ADVANCE
[THE] VOICES ARE [NO]T IN ALL CASES ALLIES
STILLNESS…
38. IS AN ESSENTIAL ABSENCE…
39. FOR [Albion]
BECAUSE WITHOUT IT HE CANNOT DISTINGUISH ALBION’S
FROM MANY O[THE]R FRIENDS & FOES
40. Q: The breeze was important today. It seemed to carry off all the (internal)
“surface dialogue”.
A: BELIEVE THAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY RECREATE [THE] BREEZE
BY INTENDING IT
MANY DAYS I NEEDED [THE] BREEZE
41. Q: We hypothesize: Stillness is sharp ([Albion]), or precise ([Scribe]), Our
non-lucid lives are many-voiced or unfocused.
A: [YES] PAIR INTENT WITH STILLNESS AND MANY-MINDEDNESS
WITH NOISE
LUCIDITY LIES NESTED IN [THE] FIRST PAIR
In retrospect, what Vilansit steered us back to—namely, the subject
of stillness—I think was the day’s most important lesson. I believe now
stillness is S/Div’s greatest boon as well.
42. Q: The sunlit spiderwebs today seemed images of precision, delicacy: control
of the fiber.
A: A SILK FIBER THAT RESPONDS TO [THE] BREEZE ALONG…
43. WHICH
TRAVEL IS POSSIBLE
[THE] ABILITY TO TRAVEL IN STILLNESS
— ALIAH
44. Q: “Aliah” seems a good word to end with tonight, Vilansit. We look forward
to your teaching to come.
A: TODAY WAS [THE] BEGINNING AGAIN
HAIL ALIAH - VILANSIT
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