5b Session 39
Images & Attributions (in order of appearance)
1. Banner: Rhiannon C. 2016
a) Jewel Mandala (2): D.C. Albion 1994
b) Jewel Ouija Board (2): D.C. Albion 1994
[2]Recall, this is Blake. It's why my physical form appeared to Blake when he wanted to write about England. This is a skill that is a valued discipline in the Jewel. I connect place & figure in the existential coordinate geometry of auroras & firefishes. Each point can be plotted; and the coordinates of each determine identity (ontologically). I can't, however, address these points.
[1] Here's where a vast library of ouija material isn't helpful: I can't locate Don's reference (even using key word word-searches, for example). Suffice it to say, the "notes" here aren't necessary, except to emphasize the following: The "tiger" is part of oneself, a sleeping power that needs to be tamed, or in the lore "swallowed."
[3]Don, of course, quotes his own poem. The next line: "Nine men must die in Borneo."
The Table of Contents below is too long to display fully. If you click to the right of these Lessons,you'll see the primary source documents displayed under each. These original sessions are a world treasure.
albionspeak: a draught of language (6.3)
SESSION 39: 6TH NIGHT, 8/9/96 (New York)
On this day (I think) we went to renew [Scribe]’s driver’s license.
Undoubtedly we also walked, talked, and ate well. The transcript does not
indicate what time we began this session, but I believe it was before 11:00 PM;
and, after the previous night’s fatigue, we both got in short naps after dinner.
Our invocation this evening was the short Stevens poem “Flyer’s
Fall.”
1. Q: [Our Guide], are you there?
A: I AM HOVERING ABOVE [THE] DARK WATERS
Instructions for Travel
2. Q: Instructions?
A: PICTURE ANOTHER PART OF JANE’S WORLD -
[THE] OAK ON [THE] HILL
AS [THE] PLANCHETTE…
3. STIRS TWO FRIENDZ WILL
WELCOME US
Back at the Grotto, but returning immediately to Jane’s world again.
4. Q: Should we know more before we proceed?
A: [THE] ALBION MUST PICTURE…
5. [THE] TRANSIT
FROM STILL WATER TO SHIMMERING LEAVES
[THE] SCRIBE MUST SEE [THE] OAK ITSELF
This trip was as easy as the previous journeys and nearly as quick.
I really didn’t know how to picture a transit between two spatially
discontiguous locations; and yet instinctively I found the solution: I
pictured both images, the start & the end, and then I found myself seeing
them simultaneously. It looked like a drech music video from the 1970s,
where double-exposed film is used to wow a wasted audience. The images
could be seen through each other, until I gradually asserted enough control
to remain entirely in the shimmering leaves.
The Meeting Oak
6. A: WE ARE AT [THE] FOOT OF [THE] MEETING OAK –
DON
I noted that the “meeting oak” seemed right out of my long poetic
fragment, my “California Genesis” poem, which, if I finish it someday,
promises to be the best thing I’ve written.
7. Q: Greetings, Don. Who else is with us?
A: JANE & JOSEF
JANE 1S LISTENING IN
8. Q: Aren’t there three of you?
A: JANE IS PRESENT ON HER PORT
BUT JOSEF & I GIVE [THE] LESSON
I WILL START IF YOU ARE SO INCLINED
This makes me wonder why we were on Jane’s port at all.
Don on Tiger Swallowing
9. Q: Please do, Don.
A: WE BEGIN BY GOING BACK TO SOMETHING TOUCHED ON
ALREADY
10. TIGER SWALLOWING
Swallowing one’s potential, one’s higher power. We reviewed
the notes.[1]
11. Q: We have looked back on the earlier conversation.
A: IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO THINK ABOUT THIS IMAGE OR FABLE
[THE] MAN FACING [THE] TIGER IN [THE] FOREST –
MAKE NO MISTAKE – ONE MUST SWALLOW [THE] OTHER
12. Q: Swallow or be swallowed, apparently.
A: [THE] TIGER IS POWER AS YOU SAID
IT IS EVEN YOUR OWN POWER –
SO YOU WOULD THINK THIS FOREST MEETING WOULD BE
SAFE ENOUGH –
IT IS NOT
13. Q: It’s a matter of using the power rather than its using you.
A: ABSOLUTELY GO ON
14. Q: There’s something dangerous about your own power if it is more
powerful than you are when you receive it.
A: GOOD
IF YOU SWALLOW IT IT WILL BE AN ASSET & AN ALLY
IF NOT…
15. Q: It will be a foe.
A: AND [THE] TRULY STRANGE THING IS…
16. [THE] ENEMY WILL
SEEM TO BE A THING WHOLLY SEPARATE AND
INTENT ON ONE’S DEFEAT – A STALKER
A projection or a real being?
Three Forms of the Tiger
17. Q: The power takes form?
A: IT MIGHT TAKE SEVERAL -
THREE ARE COMMON
11:03 PM
18. Q: Tell us the first.
A: AS A SHAPE IN DREAMS A PERSISTENT THREAT
A CATASTROPHE OR A MONSTER
[Scribe] has consoled me over my own persistent disaster
dreams, dreams we both feel to be a dead-end in my dream development.
Unlike most people’s disaster dreams, where one is typically reduced
to immobility & helplessness, I rise to every occasion. I act in
exactly the prescribed, most responsible course one ought to take
in a real-life crisis. The problem is, of course, my responsible self
is just an obstacle to lucidity. Part of me feeds off of the intensity
of the moment and draws energy from the part which needs to wake
up within the dream.
I think it worthy to point out at this juncture that which
[Scribe] might consider the greatest single advance in these sessions
over those previous: that is, [Scribe] and I start sounding intelligent.
Our responses lead; they don’t just grunt or wait for scraps from
the table.
19. Q ([Albion]): This does not sound like my persistent disaster dreams.
A: I AGREE
BUT IT MAY MAKE YOU MORE LIKELY TO HAVE SUCH DREAMS
20. Q: Tell us the second form.
A: AS A PERSON -
ONE COVERS AN ORDINARY MAN’S FACE WITH [THE] ENEMY’S
21. Q: So-and-so is out to get me.
A: EXACTLY THOUGH IT NEED NOT BE AS CRUDE AS THAT -
EXAMPLE?
22. SO & SO IS HINDERING ME OR MAKING LIFE IMPOSSIBLE
FOR ME
A projection.
23. Q: And third?
A: AS ONESELF OR A PICTURE OF ONESELF IN [THE] PAST
OR FUTURE - ONE SAYS
THAT IS WHAT I MUST NO LONGER BE / MUST NOT BECOME
24. Q: Is “fearing the sun” an example of this third form?
A: I THINK IT IS RATHER A QUESTION OF FEARING [THE]
SHADOW HERE
25. Q: For instance: I appear to myself in the past or future as a failure.
A: IS IT NOT STRANGE FOR POWER TO TAKE [THE] SHAPE OF
POWERLESSNESS?
Fearing the sun, if I read this correctly, is not a form the tiger
takes, since this kind of fear comes from being over-awed by one’s
potential power; it does not come from self-contempt or rejection.
I thought about this tiger taking on an independent form. In
a discussion from the previous year we had learned of the Tyger,
one who cleaves himself into two selves, one of whom is bound for
the abyss.
26. Q: Does this other form take on independent purposive power?
A: THAT WOULD MAKE AN EXCELLENT FICTION I THINK
Says Don, who would know.
27. Q: Speaking hypothetically: as such power becomes increasingly
independent, could the act of separation cause a tear in the kite?
A: IN A FICTION? OF COURSE
IN FACT CLOVENNESS IS [NO]T SOMETHING I HAVE SEEN
28. Q: Please describe what someone who has been swallowed by a tiger is like.
A: HAUNTED & RESENTFUL
We all know of such people.
Struggle
29. Q: Is swallowing or being swallowed the act of an instant or a prolonged
process?
A: BEING SWALLOWED ALWAYS TAKES SOME TIME - YEARS
30. Q: And swallowing -
A: DEPENDS ON [THE] INDIVIDUAL
SOME ARE FAST SOME SLOW
31. Q: Could both acts happen at the same time?
A: OF COURSE & [THE] RESULT IS A LIFE & DEATH STRUGGLE
Timing
32. Q: When does one meet the tiger?
A: AFTER ONE HAS BEGUN TO WORK WITH INTENT IN A
SERIOUS WAY - EACH…
33. …APPRENTICE EVENTUALLY
FINDS HIMSELF ALONE IN [THE] FOREST
34. Q: Might one choose the timing of this encounter?
A: THAT WOULD BE HALF [THE] BATTLE, [NO]?
STALKING ESSENTIALLY INVOLVES TIMING
35. Q: How does one choose?
A: INTENT AGAIN COMBINED WITH [THE] KNOWLEDGE THAT
[THE] TIGER IS THERE AT ALL
36. Q: How does one recognize the proper moment?
A: I MAY NOT HELP YOU ON THIS POINT -
I HAVE ONLY A SMALL CLUE PERHAPS OF [NO] VALUE
37. [THE] LEOPARD IN YOUR DREAMS MAY GIVE YOU A HINT
AS TO HOW TO REACT -
IF YOU HAVE NOT INTENDED TO DREAM OF HIM [THE]N
YOU ARE [NO]T YET AT [THE] FOREST
This last comment was clearly addressed to me and not
[Scribe]. We learn later that [Scribe]’s success with his own dream
curriculum already places him in the forest. (But this confuses two
metaphors and anticipates the next night’s confusion.)
38. Q: We note that one can choose the timing of the encounter, but not the
place (forest).
A: [NO] [THE] FOREST IS [THE] NECESSARY PLACE -
TELL ME WHY?
39. Q: We suggest: figure & the place are one & the same.[2]
A: A TIGER HAS TO DIE IN SUMATRA - [3]
DON
Somehow Don is so regularly able to complete every circle.
12:35 AM
Josef on Parasites
40. Q: Thank you, Don. We turn to you now, Josef.
A: IT IS MY PLACE TO TAKE UP [THE] THEME OF PREDATORS
Dream predators, that is. We had heard of them through Carlos
Castaneda’s The Art of Dreaming and had their existence confirmed last
year. However, beyond simple confirmation we had received little
information. Since then, of course, much had transpired for [Scribe]
in his dream curriculum. We felt rather certain we’d return to this
subject this time in earnest.
41. Q: It does seem to be time.
A: AS YOU NOW SUSPECT THERE ARE MANY KINDS OF
MEETINGS THAT CAN…
42. …TAKE PLACE IN DREAMING
I AM TO TELL YOU OF [THE] KINDS IN YOUR IMMEDIATE
CONCERN
Two Kinds of Lures
43. Q: Tell us of them.
A: LURES ARE OF TWO KINDS
We had briefly been told of lures or obstacles which create
flux in dreams.
44. Q: What is the first kind?
A: [THE] KIND YOU CREATE WITH MIXED OR IMPURE INTENT
45. Q: This is the kind of which you spoke before?
A: [YES] IT IS [THE] BEGINNER’S MOST COMMON
Moths and Lice
46. Q: What is the second kind of lure?
A: ONE ARISING FROM OUTSIDE
47. THIS KIND PRODUCES RESULTS MUCH LIKE [THE] FIRST –
INTENT IS LOST OR MISDIRECTED
BUT [THE] CAUSE IS DIFFERENT
48. Q: What is the cause?
A: BEINGS THAT DO NOT ARISE IN OUR WORLD BUT CAN
TRAVEL HITHER
49. Q: Are they dangerous?
A: [NO]T [THE] KIND OF WHICH I NOW SPEAK -
MORE A PEST AN ANNOYANCE
50. Q: Tell us more.
A: LONG AGO OUR FOREBEARS NAMED THEM…
51. …AFTER [THE]
PLAGUES THEY KNEW - MOTHS…
52. MOTHS AND LICE
MOTHS APPEAR AS ALLURING DETAILS IN DREAMS -
THEY ASK YOU TO FOCUS ON THEM & POUR ATTENTION
INTO THEIR…
53. …SHOWINGS
THEY MAY APPEAL TO OUR SENSE OF HUMOR OR CURIOSITY
54. LICE APPEAR AS CLINGING MOTIFS THAT OBSESS US
THEY ARE SAID TO SUCK INTENT OUT OF [THE] DREAM
I felt some sense of vindication, accompanied with renewed
strength, on hearing this. Yes, I have persistent disaster dreams; this
motif seems so far to have me licked. Now I learn it is possible that
I may not be entirely to blame for this trap. There might even be an
enemy, a parasite. Somehow this knowledge seems to inspire my intent.
55. Q: What can we do to avoid these pests?
A: ALL ONE CAN DO IS TO LEARN TO RECOGNIZE THEM
FOR WHAT THEY ARE
ALL LURES ARE TO BE TR…
56. TREATED IN THIS MANNER OF COURSE
57. Q: We guess: Lice & moths make use of the weaknesses one is already
prone to.
A: [YES] WHERE ONE KNOT FORMS MORE WILL GATHER
Josef quotes Vilansit (Cf. 94: 22.25).
58. Q: Please tell us of another kind of predator.
A: LICE & MOTHS MAY BE PARASITES
BUT [THE] NAME PREDATOR WE RESERVE FOR ANOTHER
SPECIES
59. THEY ARE NOT A THREAT AT YOUR LEVELS BECAUSE
YOUR INTENT IS NOT YET MASSIVE ENOUGH TO
ATTRACT THEM -
NONE[THE]LESS…
60. …IT IS OUR POLICY TO REVEAL [THE]
EXISTENCE BOTH OF PREDATORS & OF ANOTHER
BEING WHOM…
61. …SOME DREAMERS MEET EARLY ON
AS I TOLD YOU THIS OTHER KIND OF BEING IS CALLED
A TRAVELLER
62. TRAVELLERS AND PREDATORS ARE OUR THEME TO COME -
SLEEP WELL MY SONS
I JOSEF & THESE GATHERED HERE LEAVE YOU
1:30 AM
Not the first time Josef breaks off a session at its climax.
More the next night. We could wait.
“Traveller” by the way is nowhere to be found in our transcripts.
The word’s only antecedent comes by way of [Scribe]’s dream
The Woman at the Bank. In it [Scribe] meets a woman, identifies her
as a “traveller;” and she later becomes our touchstone for persons
within dreams who are clearly more than just props.