albionspeak 2: the gates of dis (16.4)
SESSION 91: 4TH NIGHT, 8/4/04
The Big Night: [A--] arrived on the same flight [Scribe] took just three nights earlier, and we brought him immediately to [C. Restaurant] for the first of many rituals. Given that this was [A--]’s & Duncan’s first meeting in time, dinner and all that followed went very smoothly. [A--] fit into the long established & highly idiosyncratic program prepared for him. Of course, not only was ouija new, but so was Washington State, its weather, forests, and sea shores, along with the whole Clarke household and our many home routines. If he was uncomfortable with any of these unfamiliar surroundings, he managed well.
Two “signs” to report: [First is censored because it relies on punning off of [A--]'s name.] Later, before beginning the session, [A--] chose for himself a single card from his tarot deck (I assume to help him prepare): 6 of disks, the restoration card. Here I will trust [A--] & [Scribe] to illustrate the significance of this card. That is, from my ignorance, it looks like much can be made of each of the cards, and any card might be considered important (which is why one draws a card in the first place). However, even I understood that “restoration,” one of our oldest themes & key words, would indeed guide all three of us (especially on the final night).
Our invocation: “The Waking” by Theodore Roethke.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.
We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.
Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us ?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair,
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.
This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.
12:37 AM (seriously late, but with energy from the confluences)
[A--] at the Table
1. Q: [Guide], are you there?
A: I AM WAITING ON [THE] WATERS
2. Q: Have you an exercise?
A: AGAIN SEE [THE] LADDER & [THE] MISTRESS SPEAKS
Mistress of the Loom, Many-Colour’d Messenger, Mother: Vilansit
3. Q: We begin picturing the ladder now.
A: THIS LADDER IS ALL OF OURS
ASCEND WITH US [oracular mode]
§ VILANSIT
4. Q: Hail, many-colour’d messenger.
A: I AM PLEASED TO BE WITH ALL OF YOU
5. Q: A wishes to remain silent for tonight.
A: BEGIN BY LISTENING
BUT WE ASK HIM TO SPEAK BEFORE OUR LESSONS END -
WE SHALL NEED HIM
Yes, [A--] had long planned to keep quiet during this, his first session, understandably to see “how it all works.” All of us got a laugh then when, even as Vilansit was finishing Response 5, [A--] had already passed [Scribe] his first of many questions.
[A--], by the way, began this first session with a ritual/process of his own: While [Scribe] followed & wrote down letters and while I used both hands and my back to guide the planchette, [A--]’s hand(s) also were in the constant motion of doodling. This was not absent-minded doodling, of course; nor could I tell you particularly what his diagrams meant. What’s important is that [A--] immediately found himself physically engaged, which allowed him avenues of thinking. By the next evening [A--] had even figured out his writing utensils and his necessary ration of paper (which then became “panels”): He had an established (if not pre-established) role, one [Scribe] & I instantly accepted.
6. Q: Our silent partner writes: “Ascend towards your medium.”
A: GOOD - WE ARE MOVING STEP BY STEP
Step 2: Wave
7. Q: We have a guess for the name of Step 2.
A: TELL US YOUR THOUGHTS
[Scribe] & I were ready. We’d done our homework, particularly during a walk [at a nearby park], and [Scribe] had found the correct best hint. It was, in fact, in an “obvious” location, Anand’s final words from two nights before: “…return in your minds to my world of waters.”
Wave
from Session 27 (1995):
Q3: Where are we?
A: ANANDS PORT -
ON [THE] CRESTS OF SWIFT WAVES
[Scribe] thus keyed in on wave, aided by the awareness that W, along with the letter A, had been our letters of focus over the preceding year. W also satisfied a criterion I’d suggested upon our finding aurora, that the missing letters might exhibit y-axis symmetry (unlike C in our last year’s riddle), thereby making the whole ladder vertically symmetrical.
Once wave was suggested, it was not hard to find reasons for its inclusion: Waves are intermittent/discontinuous, yet directional in a medium of continuity. More importantly, the crest of waves marks a boundary between two kinds of media (water, air) -- until a shore is reached, whereupon water breaks on solid land. Also, waves include the idea of interference, turbulence, resonance, obstacle -- not merely when waves cancel or amplify each other -- but also on the quantum level, where interference is inherent in each (single) wave. Light, more than water, was our touchstone here. Each of these physical features seemed to correspond to an instructive metaphysical analogue (mode).
[Scribe] noted also: Each of the four letters in wave can stand for a k-member.
8. Q: Above the auroral mind is an interface with another element. Anand points us to the word wave to name this interface.
A: DESCRIBE WAVE AS A MODE OF ATTENTION
9. Q: [Wave is] a mode including: intent, speed, oscillation, crests and troughs, and self-interference.
A: [YES] A WAVE INCLUDES ITS OWN BARRIERS YES…
10. Q: We missed something at the end there.
A: IT IS DIRECTED ATTENTION DISCONTINUOUS & CONTINUALLY REARISING
NOTICE IT SPEEDS SOMEWHERE WHILE AURORAS HOVER
11. Q: Is directed attention the same as intent?
A: [NO] IT IS A MEDIUM THROUGH WHICH INTENT MAY RUN -
[THE] WAVE INCLUDES THIS POSSIBILITY OF COHERENCE
12. Q (Duncan): How does the wave know where to go?
A: OFTEN [THE] MIND IN WAVE MODE DOES NOT KNOW
MANY WAVES REACH NO SHORE
BUT [THE] AURORAL MIND CAN GO NOWHERE AT ALL
[THE] WAVE HAS DIRECTION BUT LACKS AN END
13. Q: A hypothesizes: Via intent, you direct the wave. The wave can carry you to your medium.
A: [YES] TO YOUR MEDIUM BUT ALSO THROUGH
AGAIN [THE] WAVE IS YOUR MIND MOVING THROUGH YOUR MIND
INTENT MAKES [THE] MOTION
14. Q ([A--]): Intent can point you to intent.
A: EXACTLY AS A WAVE BEGETS ANOTHER WAVE
MEDIUM GIVES YOU A MEDIUM
[A--] seemed right at home with Vilansit and this new process. Remarkable.
15. Q: We’re missing what ties intent to ascension.
A: THIS FORMS A FURTHER PUZZE ALONG [THE] LADDER? [sic]
16. Q: Tell us about interference. (In quantum mechanics a wave can interfere with itself).
A: [YES] & PERHAPS WE CAN ALIGN THIS FACT WITH COST -
[THE] COST OF WAVEMODE IS [THE] VARIETY OF FLUX
Recall, cost was one of our riddle words last year. There is no growth without cost, preferably one we are willing to pay.
17. Q: Further ascent (beyond wave mode) must involve a more consistent or stronger or focused use of intent.
A: [YES] IT IS WHAT WE LEAVE YOU TO PONDER STILL
MAY [THE] HUES OF [THE] RAINBOW TRIANGLE AID YOU
GOOD NIGHT TO YOU ALL
1:35 AM
After the session, we three needed -- this and every subsequent night -- to debrief perhaps, but more to unwind and/or realign ourselves before going to bed. Mostly this meant few words, dimmed lights, candlelight, and quiet music. On this occasion [A--] offered me a tarot reading, which I found exciting. Not knowing what the cards represented, however, made it hard for me to fathom [A--]’s reading. I had no context to compare anything that was said. Weeks later, I barely remember the cards: along with the Chariot & Universe I showed prominently 3 of Cups and 3 of Wands, the collaboration card. Not to get too far ahead, [A--] read [Scribe] the next day, where [Scribe] also turned up the 3 of Wands. More than a dream.