albionspeak 2: the gates of dis (16.1)
SESSION 88: 1ST NIGHT, 8/1/04
Same as last year: [Scribe]’s flight got in at dinnertime, and following a favorite ritual, we ate and shed the day’s itinerary at [C. Restaurant] before arriving home, late [Scribe]’s time. Then, again, we went right to work, knowing the session would be introductory and short. [Note: [A--] does not arrive until the 4th night.]
Our invocation: “On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer” by Keats.
Much have I travell’d in the realms of gold,
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;
Round many western islands have I been
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
That deep-brow’d Homer ruled as his demesne:
Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold.
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
He stared at the Pacific-- and all his men
Look’d at each other with a wild surmise-
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.
11:40 PM (late, but feeling strong)
1. Q: [Guide], are you there?
A: [YES] I AM AMIDST [THE] WATERS
Of the Grotto, of course, our gathering port, as well as our port of departure.
2. Q: Has anything changed there (in the Grotto) since we left?
A: ONLY [THE] ARRANGEMENT OF SOME OF [THE] STARS OR METEORS - NEW PATTERNS VISIBLE
Constellations have long guided us through our sessions. “New patterns" unquestionably included [A--]'s joining us at the board.
The Riddle of the Ladder
3. Q: We guess that there are at least three stars coming into (a new) conjunction.
A: [YES] IT IS AGAIN A COMPASSS FIGURE LIKE A LETTER A A
A familiar constellation. (cf. 95:24:56, etc.)
When [Scribe] & I considered the Compass, we understood its three vertices represented ourselves, plus [A--]. Our next question then concerned the apex, or fulcrum of the Compass, since its role clearly had to be different from that of the two endpoints.
4. Q: Is one of our ([Scribe, Albion]) stars at the apex?
A: EACH WILL TAKE HIS TURN AT [THE] APEX IN NIGHTS TO COME -
IT IS A ROLE
Apparently a rotating role. [Scribe] continued exploring the graphical A.
5. Q: How does the A’s “crossbar” figure in?
A: IT IS TWO THINGS
BOTH A STRUCTURAL STABILITY & A LINK A LIVING FIBER
Two readings possible here:
1) both [a structural stability & a link], {a living fiber}
2) both [a structural stability] & {a link, a living fiber}
6. Q: Like the brace of a step ladder, say?
A: WITHOUT IT A CANNOT STAND STURDILY ON ITS LEGS?
[Guide] alludes to the second Yes-&-No Game.
7. Q: In the Yes-&-No game, we were told that it was significant that the symbol A seemed to be standing on its own two legs (cf. 02:78:18).
A: WE WILL BEGIN EXPLORING [THE] DEPTH IN THIS SIMPLE IMAGE U LEFT FOR YOURSELVES
This singled me out -- or at least Albion -- in a bit of unsolicited information, which therefore must be regarded as a dropped hint or clue. Note also, Scribe had long been identified as the principle creator of the letter board, while Albion’s main contribution was colour.
8. Q: Well, whatever else an A suggests it does suggest a beginning.
A: ONE THAT HAS TAKEN AWHILE IN COMING?
DON §
Sixteen years; eighty-seven sessions.
9. Q: Greetings, Don! Did we skip our usual exercise?
A: OUR EXERCISE IS TO INVOLVE A SMALL M… [illegible], [meditation?]
10. ONLY A PUZZLE OR G…
11. OR K GAME
I found the word “puzzle” to be significant in that it was not strictly synonymous with “riddle,” our challenging lesson last year. Among other things “puzzle” had already been a topic of conversation for [Scribe] & me earlier that evening in the form of “crossword puzzle.” [Scribe], who only recently showed any interest in crosswords, within a few months could comfortably manage the toughest of the New York Times.
Of course we knew our own puzzle would extend far beyond language.
12. Q: We’re fond of meditating on these puzzles (mostly away from the board).
A: [YES] AND TAKE YOUR TIME WITH THIS
IT HAS STEPS A LADDER?
In Question #6 it was [Scribe] who suggested a ladder, the year’s primary image. While our puzzle would involve discovering words that describe the steps of ascent, we also had to solve, albeit unknowingly, for the missing image to guide our puzzle. What if [Scribe] hadn’t asked Q#6?
Few lessons are clearer to us than “the journey of x distance begins with the first step.” That’s the point of “steps”: they follow sequentially.
13. Q: Do we start by learning step 1?
A: [NO] BY REMEMBERING STEP THREE OUT OF FIVE
[Scribe] & I immediately knew Don referred to last year’s Riddle of the Fifth Element:
The Riddle: Find the missing word below.
Absence Cost ? Cricket Aliah
The Solution: A C Measure C A
I realize some explanation of measure may seem warranted here. Sadly, it is impossible for me to give more details on last year’s riddle without much too long an essay (many pages). I can only refer the Reader to the entirety of Sessions 83 - 87 (2003). More, however, on measure comes later in these 2004 sessions, and I don’t believe complete understanding is required at this time.
14. Q: Was that measure?
A: [YES] NOW IMAGINE ROTATING YOUR FIVE PART LINE SO IT BECOMES VERTICAL
In crossword speak: Rotate the puzzle so that the across words now become down words. (Wild: Could our puzzle + last year’s riddle possibly comprise an intended, actual crossword? Would it then be [Scribe]&[Albion]&[A--]’s job to come up with/supply the puzzle clues?)
15. Q: We’ve pictured doing so.
A: NOW KEEP ONLY [THE] MIDDLE ELEMENT
ALL [THE] OUTER TERMS ARE MISSING & MUST BE SUPPLIED IN [THE] NEW AXIS
__?__
__?__
Measure
__?__
__?__
16. Q: So we have four out of five items to supply.
A: YES MEASURE IS AMIDMOST AS BEFORE
[THE] LETTERS MAKE A DIFFERENCE
AND IT MUST WORK AS A LAD[der]…
17. Q: We take it there will be hints.
A: WHAT ELSE HAVE WE EVER DONE BUT SUPPLY HINTS?
How true, and how Don.
18. Q: We hypothesize: our “linear” 5-step ladder is a rotated stepladder (the crossbar & other leg disappear from our p.o.v.).
A: [YES] BUT BEAR [THE]M IN MIND AS YOU GO
19. Q: Does the hidden leg mirror, in structure, the one we face?
A: [YES] IN STRUCTURE
BUT ITS STEPS ARE NOT NAMED
AT LEAST NOT YET
Symmetries: we leave them everywhere for ourselves to find.
20. Q: The steps [Scribe] & [Albion] are facing are meant (we hypothesize) for ascent, specifically.
A: [YES] ASCENT IS OUR THEME IN [THE] NIGHTS TO COME
This wording is a verbatim refrain, which not only highlights the sessions’ theme, but also signals the close of our first evening. Our next question -- at least from my viewpoint at the time -- was therefore not asking after a full explanation of ascent tonight, but rather requested parting words that might serve as a meditation or guide.
21. Q: Help us think about ascent, Don.
A: [THE] OLD MAXIM APPLIES -
START FROM WHERE YOU ARE
AID WILL COME FROM ABOVE
ALL FOR NOW
DON & [Guide]
Maxims are for those who need aid, who must rely on faith when flight is not available. This maxim, of course, is significant because it implies that the learner need not single-handedly attain arrival. Rather he must make himself ready to receive aid, which will come if & when one is ready (intent).
12:40 AM