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albionspeak: a draught of language (7.4)
SESSION 42: 9TH NIGHT, 8/12/96 (New York)
Our final night, and because of our early departure the next morning—I had a noonish flight from La Guardia—we knew this session would be very short, largely a long good-bye. We expected we’d for once see all our friends together, and we did have a small agenda, a potpourri of questions which had thus far not been answered. These were prioritized, and each of them was indeed answered.
For our invocation we chose two very short poems, “Ah! Sun-flower” by Blake and “Of Mere Being” by Stevens, selected by [Scribe] & me respectively. Each poem represents for us the quick & the sublime, and we had used them separately in our preparatory rituals for writing. Despite knowing the Stevens well by heart, I was unable to remember at that moment. Did I choke? Or was I already entering an altered state where this kind of memory is more difficult?
9:25 PM
1. Question: [Guide], are you there?
Answer: ON [THE] LAKE WITH OUR FRIENDS
As we’d guessed: everyone present.
We jumped right to a prepared question (a single question, rather than a
topic): I had planned on arriving in New York armed with the first three of my
Letters [to Jane, Vilansit, & Josef, my first three tasks of 81], but, as has already
been stated, I got bogged down; then I started revising. On the other hand, I was
still eager to show [Scribe] something; and yet [Scribe] himself has established
elaborate yet fundamentally sound rules for showing and not showing his work
[i.e., not until it’s finished]. There’s no question that [Scribe]’s word would have a
great impact on my product, so the product had better be pretty finished. How
finished is finished?
2. Q ([Albion]): How long should I wait before showing [Scribe] my Letters?
A: LET EACH OF [THE] NINE MEN SPEAK TO YOU FIRST
THEN YOU MAY DO AS YOU THINK BEST
Perhaps six months, perhaps two years. Oh well. I hope it’s worth the wait.
3. Q: Have you a topic for us?
A: WE HAVE ALL GIVEN YOU OUR LESSONS
ASK WHAT YOU WILL
Wide open. We decided to go to our topic of highest priority, [Scribe]’s
repeated exercises with an Olmec mask (on display at [his local university]
museum). [Scribe] found that when he tried to see the mask in the same fashion as
his seeing the aliah of a tree, the mask had a definite, even sinister power, which on
two occasions led [Scribe] visually into a subterranean stone chamber.
The Olmec Mask
4. Q ([Scribe]): I saw an Olmec mask this winter that had a strange power over me.
Will someone comment?
A: DON §
IT WAS A SORCERER’S ARTIFACT AS YOU GUESSED
5. Q: What is the use of such artifacts?
A: [THE]Y ARE AN AID TO RECEPTION BUT [THE]Y ALSO SEND
OUT [THE]IR OWN SIGNATURES
6. Q ([Scribe]): I sensed the “signature”.
A: IT LINKS YOU MOMENTARILY TO [THE] MAKER’S WORLD
7. Q ([Scribe]): Would any receptive person see the stone room as I did?
A: SOME WOULD SIMPLY FEEL A PRESSURE OR A PRESENCE
SOME WOULD SEE VASTLY MORE ON [THE] ALEPH PRINCIPLE
“The aleph principle.” I like it.
8. Q: Tell us about the square aperture in the center of the mask’s forehead.
A: A REPRESENTATION OF [THE] HIDDEN EYE –
OF COURSE YOU KNEW THAT
Indeed, everything Don said simply confirmed our assumptions—we were
long past conjecture here.
9. Q: It did seem likely, based on what you’ve told us.
A: [THE] POINT OF SUCH GEAR IS TO AID METAMORPHOSIS OR
SHIFTING IF YOU PREFER
I FIND [THE] IDEA INTERESTING BUT [THE] ACTUAL THINGS
RATHER SAD & LIFELESS
10. Q: Are we better off without such props?
A: THE BOARD IS A PROPERTY & NEEDED FOR YOU NOW
BUT YOUR HIDDEN EYE MUST OPEN ON ITS OWN
Of course.
11. Q: Will it help us to think of the hidden eye as physically located in the mid-
forehead?
A: IF YOU THINK OF IT AS AN EYE IT WILL HELP
YET IT IS ALSO AN EAR OR EVEN A HAND, RECALL?
12. Q: Was the power native to the stone of the mask, or was it instilled there by
a sorcerer?
A: INTENT CAN BE TRANSMITTED TO OBJECTS BY AN ACT OF
MAKING & SUCH IS [THE] CASE IN POINT
BUT [THE] UNSHAPED THINGS OF [THE] EARTH HAVE [THE]IR
OWN POWER AS YOU KNOW
Again, we did know. Undoubtedly, in fact, our board, with the 300+ hours I
put into it, now radiated something attractive.
13. Q ([Scribe]): It is somewhat painful to think of the power of that mask as aliah.
A: ALIAH IS CONNECTEDNESS
INTENT CAN BEAR [THE] TRACES OF [THE] MAKER’S KNOTS
14. Q: Is there any potential danger in viewing such a mask?
A: [THE]RE IS ALWAYS A RISK — ALWAYS
ON [THE] WHOLE WE REGARD KNOWLEDGE AS A GOOD THING
DEEP STUDY INTO [THE] ART OF KNOTS IS SOMETHING ELSE
ENTIRELY
I thought of an image out of Castaneda: ancient sorcerers lying in a half-
death under a great stone rock in the desert; the rock placed in such a way so as to
attract passers-by to sit down. Soon these visitors would feel tired, low on energy,
and might fall asleep. If so, they are doomed, for the sorcerers underneath, like
trap-door spiders, drain the life’s energy right out of the unsuspecting victims. A
horrific image; and yet what’s the point?
15. Q: What is the art of knots?
A: IT IS SIMPLY A NAME FOR MAGIC IN [THE] BAD SENSE –
ART OF KNOTTING MIGHT BE CLEARER
Aliah is the name for magic in the good sense.
16. Q: Is there more?
A: YOU KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT [THE] SORCERERS FOR NOW I
THINK
17. Q: But like them, we also need to learn to shift.
A: ABSOLUTELY
[THE] ONLY QUESTION IS SHIFTING IN [THE] NAME OF WHAT
DREAMING IN [THE] NAME OF WHAT –
IT MATTERS
18. Q: “Love the end, not the talent.”? [Cf. 96: 37.53]
A: IF [THE] END IS LOVABLE [YES]
Nothing surprising here; and yet this whole phenomenon opens vast worlds
I sense we are not quite ready for.
We turned to our only other major topic: the daimon of “no.”
The Daimon of No/The Daimon of Yes
19. Q ([Scribe]): Another topic. I often hear a “no” that seems to come from a
Socratic daimon. Comment?
A: VILANSIT §
[Socrates experienced in his own life a guiding voice that never told him
what to do, but only what not to do. Likewise Scribe in his earlier life received such
guidance, but only in a visual form, a single pebble, which told him to stop
whatever he was doing immediately and move on, often for no apparent reason and
during trivial tasks (eg., brushing his teeth). Recently, this had moved to an acoustic
perception, one that also said simply “No.”]
20. Q: Please go on, Vilansit.
A: THIS IS [THE] EYE EXPERIENCED AS AN EAR
YOU SENSE WITH IT THE WAY YOU SHOULD [NO]T TAKE
21. Q: Does this sensing involve the higher Scribe?
A: IT DOES, AS DO ALL YOUR BEST ACTS
I don’t seem to possess such a conscience; and yet I do have a deep sense
when something tells me “yes.” Undoubtedly, [Scribe] does as well. Although we
decided to pursue this reciprocal daimon, I would distinguish sharply between our
separate experiences of the daimon. My own experience thus far is certainly
inferior to [Scribe]’s, because [Scribe]’s not only is much more frequent, even daily,
it chimes in for the most inexplicable and arbitrary reasons. [Scribe]’s daimon is
much more a part of his life.
22. Q: Is there, in the same sense, a daimon of yes?
A: IT DEPENDS ON [THE] AGREEMENT YOU MADE WITH YOURSELF
OR SELVES
23. Q: How may we know our agreements?
A: YOU ALREADY KNOW THEIR EFFECTS BASED ON WHAT YOU
HEAR
REASON BACKWARD
Vilansit is always so practical.
24. Q: Sometimes it is very difficult to hear what the higher self is saying to the
knotted self.
A: I MADE CERTAIN THAT I HAD A STILL MOMENT EVERY DAY FOR
THIS PURPOSE — AS MY AUNT TAUGHT ME
FOR ME IT WAS A MOMENT I SPENT DAILY AT [THE] RIVER —
WHERE IS YOUR RIVER?
11:05 PM
25. Q ([Albion]): Vilansit, my living room & study are my river when I’m alone, but
it’s hard to be alone and also not be fatigued.
A: I WAS ALMOST NEVER ALONE
BUT I WAS TAUGHT THAT [THE] STILL MOMENT IS SOMETHING
WE MAKE IN A DEEPER PRIVACY
Life in India undoubtedly works this way.
Another question, this one based on an experience of pure clarity I had
some months earlier. The sensation arrived spontaneously as I was reading about
the Greek ideal of justice, specifically Hesiod’s appeal for justice within the context
of his brother’s lawsuit. I felt strongly the moment was inspired not by any one of
us, but by the Jewel itself.
26. Q ([Albion]): Last January, I saw [justice as a] form of ma’at which I associate
with the Jewel. Comment?
A: [THE] JEWEL HAS MANY FACETS OR FACES
MA’AT IS ONE THAT YOU MAY EXCEL AT /
SEEING ITS ALIAH TAKES MANY FORMS IS ANOTHER WAY OF
SAYING THIS
27. Q: The Jewel has many faces = the Jewel’s aliah takes many forms. Confirm?
A: EXACTLY
One last question, just a quicky:
28. Q ([Albion]): Anand, you told me I’ve felt the onset of seeing the aliah of trees. I
just want to make sure I’m not doing something wrong.
A: WHAT YOU FEEL IS [THE] BEGINNING —
SIMPLY CONTINUE & YOU ARRIVE
Thanks.
Sadly it was now time to end another year’s work. Part of me wanted to
continue at the expense of rest, but clearly the entire adventure had passed its
climax and was winding up anyway. Aside from the lack of substantive issues, I
will attest that I felt the end, much as I feel when I come to the end of a writing
session. Any more is pointless. We decided to say good-bye to each of our friends
in turn following Vilansit’s trick with slips of paper (Cf.95: 32.48).
12:39 AM
Farewell
29. Q: We would like to say good-bye to each of you in turn. Please give us your
parting words. First you, Don.
A: DON —
I ENJOY WORKING WITH YOU BOTH —
IT IS A MATTER OF STEPS FOR ALL THREE OF US
INTEND WELL MY FRIENDS
30. Q: Thank you, Don. And now you, Jane.
A: I DEPEND ON [THE] SUN FOR LIGHT
& [THE] EARTH FOR MY PATH
LOVE TO YOU,
JANE
31. Q: Love to you, Jane. Vilansit?
A: I WILL BE CLOSE TO YOU IN [THE] SEASON TO COME
ALIAH HAIL
32. Q: We anticipate it with great pleasure. Josef, farewell. We know you are
always with us in dreams.
A: I JOSEF SPEAK
I AM PLEASED WITH YOU BOTH —
EXPECT ME NIGHTLY DEAR SONS & BE STRONG
33. Q: Thank you, Josef. Anand, we have seen you in a new light.
A: ALBION WE ARE WORKING TOGETHER
I AM A SPRING AMONG YOUR FOOTHILLS
FAREWELL
34. Q: Thank you, Anand. [Dear Guide], our oldest friend and our daimon. Thank
you for working with these two difficult humans.
A: I AM GLAD TO GUIDE YOU I[n] ANYTHING YOU ALLOW ME TO
I WILL STAY ABOVE [THE]SE WATERS AND [THE] DEEP STARS
[Guide]
A rare missing letter in the final response—I think it deliberate since without
the “n” another meaning can be gleaned.
We packed up with speed, returning all furniture and accouterments to their
proper places and got to bed for a curtailed sleep. On the road back to New York
City the next morning—a dreary rainy morning—[Scribe] told me of his
remarkable dream that night, Through the Walls of Dreams.