albionspeak 2: the gates of dis (16.6)
SESSION 93: 6TH NIGHT, 8/6/04
Our invocation: Ariel’s Song from The Tempest, I.2:
Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
11:03 PM
1. Q: [Guide], are you there?
A: I AM & [THE] WATERS AWAIT
2. Q: Is there an exercise?
A: [YES] SEE [THE] LADDER ARISING
3. Q: Anything different from last night, [Guide]?
A: [THE] IMAGE IS [THE] SAME
IT IS YOUR DEEP EYE THAT MUST BE ALTERED -
OPEN & SILENCE IDLE THOUGHTS
Though we have, on several occasions, been asked to visualize the same object as on a previous night, in each of these instances the image has been altered significantly (the p.o.v. changes, an important feature is added onto the first image, etc.). This marked the first time we were to see identical images. Obviously the single difference between the two nights’ visualizations (the deep eye) was being highlighted.
4. Q: We’re all three going to intend to do just that. We begin now.
A: VILANSIT §
IMAGES ARE SIMPLE [oracular mode]
ASCENDING IS ARDUOUS
Step 4: Wand
5. Q: We’re honored you’re visiting us again. We’ve followed a certain set of clues that lead to a guess about Step 4.
A: I AM LISTENING
EACH GIVE HIS SENSE OF A CLUE AS WE GO -
FIRST YOUR GUESS
Now let me try to recreate [Scribe]’s pure insight into our next word and the subsequent reasoning which both [A--] & I found convincing:
The first challenge was just finding other words beginning with W; and frankly, there aren’t many options. [Scribe] apparently came to wand, a word without precedent at our board, via a new W word, weapon, which Josef introduced the previous night with respect to [A--]'s dream daimon. I forget how or why [Scribe] went from weapon to wand, but once there, pieces seemed to line up:
1) [A--]’s tarot readings of [Scribe] & [Albion] both included the 3 of Wands, the collaboration card. It made sense to us -- as a separate datum -- that this penultimate step on the ladder necessarily must include collaboration with other minds.
2) [A--]’s symbol for himself: Ace of Wands, represented by the caduceus backed by two red, angelic wings. The caduceus, of course, can be seen as a wand along which a serpent is coiled; and for our k. serpent represents the true self. Recall further Don’s clue from our third night (prior to [A--]’s arrival): “Begin with the deep waters, and a being with wings arises.” (cf. 04:90:24)
3) After [Scribe] presented these clues, I immediately remembered my watershed dream I Dance, my first huge lucid dream, during which, for reasons unknown, I had held, indeed wielded, a magic wand.
4) I then reminded [Scribe] of a message sent to him via an unlikely source, bartender [at Scribe's favorite pub] & singer/songwriter [F.T.]. [F.T.] told [Scribe] of a dream he’d just had where he ([F.T.]) was told by an unidentified person to give a message to [Scribe]: “Art and wanderlust are one.” Consulting my dictionaries, we found, yes, wand and wander have the same etymology, meaning to wend, wind, or twist. Wand, incidentally, meant originally stick.
5) Finally, wand seemed a perfect partner to wave for three reasons: It fits poetically (one 4-letter syllable); it’s metaphysically parallel, meaning both are simple, concrete nouns, yet ones which somehow can stand for the abstract modes we are now dealing with; and finally, though slightly ironic, wand worked for us because it wasn’t a word we’d seen before. Recall Don’s words to us about “new & untried metaphors” (cf. 04:90:23). We were at that point on the ladder where we knew the next words needed to provide new modes of thought.
6. Q: A “new & untried” metaphor, as Don suggested. Step 4 is wand.
A: GOOD & IT REALLY WAS LYING IN [THE] OPEN
WAS IT NOT?
7. Q: It was literally on the table.
A: A SOUND READING CAN PROVIDE MANY CLUES
On the table meant the tarot table, my black-glass coffee table.
8. Q: The more profound puzzle is: What mode of attention corresponds to wand?
A: HERE IS WHERE EACH’S EXPERIENCE BECOMES VITAL
TELL ME IN TURN - I AWAIT
What follows marks yet another demonstration of Vilansit’s brilliance as a pedagogue. She takes each of us on in turn, rotating our separate lessons among us; yet somehow, woven into her interrogative process she spins a wheel that unifies our experience. I went first, a quick decision by [Scribe].
Albion’s Dance ([Albion])
9. Q ([Albion]): For me personally, Vilansit, a wand is something I held in my important l-dream I Dance. Beyond this, [Scribe]’s dream message from someone outside our group (“Art and wanderlust are one.”) strikes me as confirming.
A: GOOD - NOW CONSIDER FOR A MOMENT ALBIONS CLUE TO YOU VIA [THE] POWERS OF [THE] WAND IN [THE] DREAM -
RETURN TO THIS
The Wings and the Serpent ([A--])
10. Q ([A--]): A wand is a tool to aid in focusing my efforts in divination, through my “reading” of [Albion] & [Scribe] “wand” was uncovered, as well as being used through the [tarot] cards. [sic]
A: CONSIDER [THE] ENTWINED SERPENT & [THE] WINGS
WE WILL RETURN TO THIS
The Collaboration Card ([Scribe])
11. Q ([Scribe]): My deep sense was that the timing of these lessons provided the chief clue. A visit by A yields two readings featuring the Collaboration Card (i.e. 3 of Wands); from this the rest follows.
A: THIS IS [THE] USE OF A SILKEN FIBRE OUTSIDE OF TIME TO INTRODUCE A MESSAGE INTO TIME FOR YOURSELVES
SO PONDER COLLABORATION
Despite Vilansit’s multi-tasking, there was no hint of many-mindedness in her answers. Was she merely giving us time to think? Or did she alter the standard “grid” of our lessons to heighten our attentions? (Of course prior to [A--]’s arrival such “rotation” was not possible.)
My turn again. I needed that time. Even up until the moment I wrote/spoke I had no idea what to say. What follows very much surprised me when I wrote it. It came completely from out-of-the-blue.
Transformation
12. Q ([Albion]): Vilansit, since I have no conscious experience of a wand outside I Dance, I’m guessing this step represents the site of a gap or breakdown in my ladder of ascent.
A: [YES] & THAT IS WHY YOU ARE AT [THE] APEX TONIGHT -
TO STRENGTHEN A MESSAGE TO YOURSELF
YOUR WAND…
13. TRANSFORMS ITS MATERIAL
WAND ATTENTION TRANSFORMS ITS MEDIUM
14. Q: [We quote] [Albion]’s earlier maxim: “For energy to be transformative, it must be transformable.”
A: IF [THE] PROCESS OF TRANSFORMATION IS HALTED AT A GIVEN STAGE, [THE]N??
I began to speculate on the many places wand energy might wander. Quickly I listed too many places to form any coherent generalization of energy, so I answered Vilansit’s question with my own.
15. Q ([Albion]): Certainly there is no ascent. What happens to the energy?
A: THAT DEPENDS ON [THE] MIND IN QUESTION
IS [THE] ENERGY STORED?
IS [THE] OBJECT OF ATTENTION MISLAID?
IS [THE] MESSAGE FORGOTTEN?
IS [THE] DREAMING BODY LOST OR SIMPLY UNABLE TO MOVE?
Wonderfully multi-layered. Are these four separate fates of wandmode energy, or are they five ways to describe a single event? (Both.)
16. Q ([Albion]): Wand mode addresses & corrects each of these conditions.
A: MEASURE PREPARES [THE] MIND OR [THE] DREAMING BODY TO WIELD [THE] WAND -
OR TO PICK IT UP FROM WHERE IT HAS FALLEN
17. Q ([Scribe]): The wand wielded properly transforms the virtual world. At none of the earlier steps is such power possible.
A: EXACTLY BUT AS YOU KNOW POWER HAS NEED OF POWER
18. Q ([A--]): Thus the wand.
A: LET US TURN TO YOUR IMAGE AS A CLUE -
YOUR THOUGHTS?
19. Q ([A--]): As I ascend, so must the serpent of intent -- I carry the wand of divination.
A: [THE] SERPENT & [THE] DREAMING BODY ARE IN THIS MODE INTERCHANGEABLE
A TRANSFORMATION PRACTISED ON [THE] SELF
THIS IS PART OF [THE] LORE OF YOUR DREAMING CIRCLE
20. Q: In [Albion]’s dream, the wand enacts a synæsthetic change. EAR becomes EYE (music becomes color)
A: SO A TRANSFORMATION OF [THE] DREAMING SENSORIUM
THIS IS A KINDRED SKILL
21. Q: By the same token, the wand can transform the (dreamed or perceived) environment.
A: AND THIS IN A FALLEN FORM IS A COMMON TALE ABOUT SORCERERS, IS IT NOT?
“Fallen” sorcerers refers to those (pre-Toltecs?) who abused their powers, engorging themselves at the expense of others. Powerful, they nevertheless fell once they’d lost sight of their eternal centers from which their power emanates and to which it must return. Their fate, albeit a just moral consequence, represents an automatic correction; no god needed mete out their punishment. I probably met a similar end.
The True Meaning of Divination
22. Q: Yes, indeed. But divination does not seem to be the same as any of these powers.
A: AS A MODE [THE] WAND PERMITS [THE] TRANSFORMATION OF ORDINARY OBJECTS INTO EXTENSIONS OF [THE] DEEP EYE -
AND THIS IS [THE] TRUE MEANING OF DIVINATION
[THE] READING OF OBJECTS AS ENERGIES BY [THE] DEEP EYE
23. Q: So divination not only reads its objects, it actually transforms them.
A: ONCE YOU CONSIDER THIS CAREFULLY YOU WILL REALIZE THIS MUST BE SO
THEREFORE SEE [THE] ART OF DIVINATION WITH A NEW SENSE OF ITS PERILS
We understood just how mind-boggling, even eventful, this was: Logically, signs, like the 3 of Wands, for example, can only inform us if they are somehow placed there; they cannot represent random events. Still, that a tarot deck can arrange or shuffle itself to the will of the divining agent seems, well, magical, miraculous -- because, well, it is. Our curriculum’s slippery slope, leading from spiritual insights to occult contacts to dream transformations, had finally & inevitably led us across a threshold I know I could not have accepted any earlier, real-world sorcery.
24. Q ([A--]): A reading can transform the reader. Although perilous, it is necessary to further, is it not?
A: FOR YOU AND ME [YES]
Again our teachers employ a kind of negative teaching: [A--] already knew he was a diviner, while Vilansit’s personal history as a diviner is well documented. Her response then is more a signal to [Scribe] and me not to bother.
25. Q ([A--]): What counsel can you give me to further this skill?
A: I DO NOT THINK YOU HAVE YET FOUND [THE] PROPER MEDIUM FOR [THE] ART
ALAS I CANNOT RECOMMEND [THE] NEXT WITHOUT IMPERILLING YOUR MEASURE
SO I CAN ONLY GIVE YOU MY TRUST
WE ARE NOT ORACLES BUT WE ARE DIVINERS & TRANSFORMERS
Recall, oracles make use of the daimon to see into the future. This practice, while common to other karasses, rather defeats the telos & ontology of the Jewel. The Jewel needs to remain a point of energy and should not be extended through time. The Jewel net thus includes no oracles. Diviners, on the other hand, as [A--] has long known, do not see into the future as such. Rather they see the hidden alignments & energies of the present and may extrapolate possible paths one might choose.
26. Q ([A--]): To clarify an earlier statement, the wings are interchangeable with the serpent?
A: RATHER BOTH ARE TRANSFORMATIONS OF [THE] DREAMING BODY
ASCENT IS [THE]…
27. [THE] CLUE WRITTEN INTO [THE]SE TRANSFORMATIONS
& [THE] CORE OF [THE] SYMBOL
28. Q ([Scribe]): We have spoken of transformation & divination. You asked me to consider collaboration. How shall I start?
A: WHAT IN WAND MODE IS COLLABORATIVE?
YOUR THOUGHTS?
Signature Vilansit: Does the last sentence prompt [Scribe] to answer, or is Vilansit suggesting her own answer?
29. Q: Your remarks on divination are a clue. Transformation works both ways -- & for the first time, on this step, other minds are involved.
A: MINDS IN TIME OR WITHOUT?
30. Q: Both.
A: IT SELDOM LOOKS LIKE COLLABORATION FROM THE OUTSIDE
BUT YOU KNOW THAT
31. Q: The case is like our “disappearing” crossbar on step ladder A. From one p.o.v. it is unseen, but of course it is vital for unifying the whole structure.
A: EXACTLY [THE] ACT OF COLLABORATION SEEMS HIDDEN BUT REVEALS ITSELF TO [THE] DEEP EYE
32. Q ([Scribe]): Our 3-of-wands collaboration at the table is a kind of seeable version of the more complex reality.
A: IT IS AN ENACTMENT IN TIME OF A CONFIGURATION WITH TIES & CROSSES OUTSIDE OF TIME
33. Q: The mind in wandmode, because it is transformative, can’t help but collaborate.
A: [YES] NOTE [THE] PERIL
WITH WHOM ARE YOU COLLABORATING?
I HAD AN ANSWER FOR THIS THAT SUITED I
WHAT IS YOUR ANSWER?
34. Q: We’ve been discussing the perils of desire, manipulation, domination. Also good intentions that go awry.
A: NOW WE ARE GOING TO ASK [A--] TO TAKE A VOW
PLEASE EXPLAIN [THE] SMALL CEREMONY TO HIM -
I WAIT
[Scribe] & I were ready. As soon as [A--] proved himself a natural at seeing the aliah of trees, we knew the danger of his seeing people. We weren’t expecting [A--] to have to take a formal vow as we once did (cf. 95:29:32); but I found myself somehow relieved that such formality had been employed. Vows can have very positive effects.
We got out the Session 29 transcript and read it aloud as we snacked in the kitchen. [A--] seemed perhaps a bit reluctant. Did he find the formality distasteful? Did he not like being treated like “a child”? Did he resent the sacrifice, the prohibition of a power he’d never tested? Of course I may have misread [A--] entirely, projecting my own thought processes onto him. The 1995 record shows that I obeyed my teachers, but I also had some resistance to the apparent arbitrariness of the whole show. And it was not enough for [Scribe] & me to explain and even insist on this ritual. [A--] still needed Vilansit’s direct words.
[A--]’s Vow/Vilansit’s Charge
35. Q ([A--]): Vilansit, thank you for your trust. Please clarify what you want me to vow.
A: OUR DISCIPLINE IN [THE] JEWEL NET FORBIDS US FROM TRYING TO SEE [THE] ALIAH OF O[THE]R PERSONS
I TOO TOOK THIS VOW AS SOON AS MY CAPACITY…
36. WAS RECOGNIZED
YOU CAN & WILL SEE & CHANGE O[THE]R ENERGIES
ALIAH ALONE IS PROSCRIBED UNLESS FREELY OFFERD BY ANO[THE]R PERSON
We had not heard that Vilansit herself had taken the vow (some 1000 years ago).
37 Q ([A--]): I, [A--'s full name] (A), vow on the wings of my being & the deep of my eye never to see or manipulate another’s aliah both by way of day and night.
A: UNTIL YOU DISCOVER [THE] O[THE]RS IN YOUR CIRCLE I WISH TO TAKE YOU SPECIALLY AS MY CHARGE & STUDENT -
WE ALONE HERE ARE DIVINERS
GOOD NIGHT TO ALL
VILANSIT
Another huge night for all of us, but particularly for [A--].
1:58 AM