albionspeak 2: the gates of dis (16.3)
SESSION 90: 3RD NIGHT, 8/3/04
During the day [Scribe] & I walked [near my house], where we discussed his guess at Step 1. I quote from his notes at the time, now included in the originals:
“Your minds travel through your minds/
Ponder this measure deeply.”
[Josef’s words provide [Scribe] w/ a key or map]
a) deep down in waters, you find
b) Auroras: illumined, but quasi-chaotic, unfocused (you can’t see [the] first
step while on it)
c) A: beginning
d) Aurora = dawn (beginning of day)
e) Auroras = young of the firefish, beginners
Auroras
Though [Scribe] deserves full credit for solving this first riddle -- and alone among us was responsible for solving each of the three riddles we answered -- it is also true that I was immersed enough in the process to confirm his guesses. That is, we three worked on our ladder guesses seriously during the day, and [Scribe] got all the answers himself; but no sooner did he mention the word than I would confirm -- on a gut level -- that his guess was correct. His reasons really did not have much sway, for they simply helped point to something I knew was right anyway. (Note: I did not feel this way on Step 5.)
Our invocation: second half of Borges’ “Poem of the 4th Element”.
11:11 PM
1. Q: [Guide], are you there?
A: I AM
LOOK DEEP INTO WATERS & MY FORM ARISES
2. Q: Is this an exercise?
A: I WILL ARISE AS WE FOCUS ON [THE] LADDER
TAKE A MOMENT
Step 1: Auroras
3. Q: We’re simply going to focus on the ladder for a moment, as an exercise.
A: WATERS
WHERE IS [THE] LOWEST STEP?
DON § [oracular mode]
4. Q: Greetings, Don. We both felt strongly that the lowest step is in the water (your “fourth” element).
A: DO…
5. WATER OUR EARLIEST MEDIUM
A IS FOR ??
6. Q: Anand pointed us toward auroras.
A: ILLUMINATION WITHOUT FORM OR…
7. Q: Please continue, Don. But wait -- we guess coherence ([Scribe]) or identity ([Albion]).
A: BOTH CORRECT BUT POSSESSING A PURPOSE IF NOT INTENT
[Scribe], who alone transcribes, thought Don’s signal had been interrupted or broken, as sometimes happens. I, however, felt strongly that Don deliberately trailed off, leaving us to fill in the blanks, as he sometimes does with us. I knew, by touch alone, that Don was coming through well and that his message was complete.
8. Q: Don, other puns and clues are documented on an earlier page. But the most profound clue may be that this is a step (stage) you cannot see while you’re on it.
A: TO SEE [THE] STEP REQUIRES AWARENESS OF IDENTITY
THE YOUNG OF [THE] FIREFISH LACK THIS
WHAT [THE]Y HAVE IS ENERGY UNDIRECTED BUT VITAL
9. Q: Is “awareness of identity” what we call self-awareness?
A: [YES] SEE YOURSELF AS A SELF AMONG O[THE]RS
10. Q: It’s hard among auroras to see discrete anythings.
A: EXACTLY & THIS SUGGESTS [THE] PROBLEMS OF LEARNING ONES MEDIUM
An inability to discern anything individual is similar to have too many individuals before one’s attention, like a predator trying to pick out its prey from a swirling mass of individuals. Is this then akin to many-mindedness?
11. Q: We’re reminded of “many-mindedness” -- not the same thing, but…
A: AN ISSUE OF CROWDS & CLOUDEDNESS
12. Q: In space-time, crowds are a matter of proximity. Outside of space-time?
A: A FUNCTION OF ATTENTION
13. Q ([Scribe]): I hypothesize: Step 1 = auroral attention.
Step 0 = minimal attention.
A: ZERO IS [THE] DARK SEA [THE] DARK MIND IN WHICH [THE] AURORAL MIND MOVES
14. Q: We feel the auroral mind must itself be permeable both to “travellers” & “aid from above”.
A: IT IS EASILY PERMEABLE YET CANNOT BE SHAPED IN ANY LASTING WAY FROM WITHOUT
Ignorance is safe. If the auroral mind can’t be shaped from without, it must be shaped from within.
15. Q: It must be shaped organically; it must develop from within.
A: [YES] AND IN SO DOING TAKES ON A DIFFERENT MODE OF ATTENTION
Note (12/27/04): By November I had independently concluded that outside influences can indeed move auroras -- not directly & not if the auroral individuals don’t allow it -- but by indirect means: herding, persuasion, scare tactics. Auroras must be connected to their context and, therefore, must be “affectable.” Furthermore, this discussion leads to key moral issues about how one may teach beginners. That is, while the Prime Directive is sacrosanct to us, we do nonetheless accept the necessary role teachers play, even if it be fraught with peril (see Vilansit’s Discourse, Session 86, 2003).
16. Q: Is this different mode of attention to be associated with Step 2?
A: [YES] KEEP IN MIND [THE] IDEA OF A MODE [NO]T [THE] ACTUAL BODIES OF [THE] FIREFISH
THIS IS A CLUE
I don’t think we would ever have considered “the actual bodies of the firefish,” but clearly Don was asking us to think more abstractly. Both “mode” and “idea” are abstract, of course; but “the idea of a mode” requires much more energy to grasp.
17. Q: Because we use symmetry as a mnemonic aid, we guess Step 5 goes by a word beginning in A.
A: [YES] & [THE] EVEN NUMBERED STEPS USE [THE] SAME BEGINNING LETTER AS WELL
A
__?__
Measure
__?__
Aurora
On A and the Timing of these Lessons (Discourse)
18. Q: We still haven’t talked about ascent (except via negatives: not flight, not enlightenment).
A: EARLIER THIS VITAL NOTION WOULD HAVE BEEN TOO CONFUSING
NOW WE SPEAK OF [THE] ASCENT OF [THE] MIND THROUGH [THE] MIND & HENCE [THE] PRACTICE OF LEARNING ONES MEDIUM
DO YOU FOLLOW?
At this point [Scribe] asked me if I was up for a possible “discourse” from Don, meaning not only that Don appeared to have something lengthy to say, but that we would “do it” all in one, semi-continuous series of responses, interjecting as little from our end as possible. I don’t think that any special measures are actually needed from us to receive such a discourse. Really the key is stylistic: By agreement I choose -- even if we take a break -- not to look at the results until all is done. [Scribe] and I both find these discourses exciting; and having a slightly altered process probably aides us with our anticipatory set & intent.
19. Q: Please go on.
A: SOME EASY MISTAKES?
TO MISTAKE THIS ASCENT FOR A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
A METAPHYSICAL SYSTEM OR INDEED
A MANY STEPPED MAYAN PYRAMID TO [THE] SUN
IT IS NONE OF [THE]SE
20. INSTEAD IT IS A PRACTICAL IF ABSTRACT TEACHING IN WHICH ANY ADVANCED STUDENT - FLYER OR NO - MAY PARTICIPATE
21. [THE] GAMES & PUZZLES WERE AGREED ON BY [Albion] & [Scribe] & A – [YES] A - OUTSIDE OF TIME AS [THE] BEST WAY TO ALLOW YOU TO PONDER YOUR OWN MEDIUM
[THE] BARGAIN WAS…
22. THAT WE SHOULD BEGIN THIS ELEMENT OF [THE] TEACHING AS SOON AS A ANNOUNCED HIMSELF & THAT A SHOULD PARTICIPATE EI[THE]R AT [THE] BOARD OR AWAY AS CHANCE ALLOWED
23. FUR[THE]R THOUGHT WAS GIVEN TO [THE] USE OF CERTAIN METAPHORS -
IT WAS AGREED THAT SOME SHOULD BE OLD & FAMILIAR & SOME NEW & UNTRIED
24. Q: May we take a break, Don?
A: [YES] I AWAIT [YES]
Ouija has very real physical limits.
25. [THE] REASON FOR [THE] TIMING OF [THE] LESSONS ON ASCENT HAS TO DO WITH A’S ROLE
26. IT IS TOO SOON TO NAME IT & IN ANY CASE MUST BE ANNOUNCED BY [THE] MEMBER HIMSELF
BUT ALL THREE OF YOU ASKD ME TO SAY WHAT FOLLOWS
27. A’S STRENGTH OR IF YOU LIKE HIS GIFTS LIE ALONG [THE] AXIS OF ASCENT
BEGIN WITH [THE] DEEP WATERS & A BEING WITH WINGS ARISES
28. § DON -
YOU ASKED ME TO SAY NO MORE THAN THIS
SO I BID YOU BOTH GOOD NIGHT & A FAIR ASCENT
Don presents us with a parting clue, though interestingly, the clue he offers comes originally from ourselves. We note, of course, [A--] is clearly identified not only as a younger living member, but as an outside-of-time collaborator central to the process.
12:55 AM