albionspeak 2: the gates of dis (14.11)
SESSION 81: 7TH NIGHT, 11/7/02
An amazing evening! At the suggestion of new friend [A.O.], [Scribe] agreed to improvise a reading to [A.O.]’s trumpet at [a local pub]. [Scribe], [my wife], [my friend R.], [A.O.], & I all met there, where [another friend, S.T.,] had coincidentally been enjoying herself prior to our arrival. Quickly we realized the acoustics wouldn’t work, so we transported ourselves back to my house, where, by further coincidence, the house was clean, the living room set for a small gathering, and macaroni was ready for everyone. Deirdre and Rhiannon joined us, and my best wine was enjoyed by all.
Nothing I can write here can describe the actual event. [Scribe] and [A.O.] seemed to have an instant communication: read & response. Both are masters of their art; and [A.O.] proved himself a great listener, too, since his responses accounted for birds, traffic noises, mood & tempo changes. I felt that much of my life’s work was somehow coming to fruition, that my 20-year bond had just come due. This event marked some aspect of Albion’s role I can’t quite fathom. At the very least I acted to unify two great talents. Clues and coincidences abounded. My favorite occurred when [A.O.] played a little Sketches of Spain by Miles Davis, a piece [Scribe] & I have discussed at some length and which undoubtedly serves as our best trumpet touchstone. Apparently [Scribe] had been listening to the Rodrigo version just that morning! All ended bathed in afterglow; and despite three bottles of wine, neither [Scribe] nor I were adversely affected for our session.
After an evening of poetry (Andante with Variations twice; Late Trio) [Scribe] saw no need for a formal invocation.
Vilansit
1. Q: [Guide], are you there?
A: I AM
I OFFER YOU [THE] LAKE WATERS
2. Q: Thank you. Have you an exercise for us?
A: [YES] A SIMPLE ASYMMETRY
BEHIND YOU SENSE [FLOWER] & BUTTERFLY
U E
◊
[FLOWER]
3. Q: Further instructions?
A: BE SILENT & ALERT
YOUR TEACHER WILL SPEAK
4. Q: We begin now.
A: EACH DROP HAS ITS RAINBOW
EACH LETTER ITS HUE
5. Q: We greet you again, Vilansit. (On our board, the vowels do not have hues.)
A: OR RA[THE]R HAVE HUES THAT STILL MUST BE ASSIGNED?
6. Q: We hope that E & U have already chosen our hues (vermilion & solar yellow respectively). We can’t speak for the others.
A: [YES] [THE]IRS MUST EMERGE
7. Q: Even I?
A: HE MUST HAVE HAD A COLOUR ONCE
8. Q: Vilansit, have you any comment on the evening that’s just passed? (We like to talk about our day with you.)
A: I SENSE FIBERS FORMING
RECALL [THE] SUNLIT SPIDER WEBS?
IMAGINE [THE]SE AS CONNECTIONS
I READ SOME…
9. OF [THE]SE STILL TREMBLING
Last year’s second S/Div. experience included a profound viewing of a spider’s web, along with a discussion (at the time, just between [Scribe] & me) of how such a web is an image of the Net. That night at the board Vilansit did not particularly highlight the experience -- especially compared with other highlights -- so I was a little surprised by her allusion.
10. Q (Duncan): Once, Vilansit, the board referred to my home, I believe, as a “fountain.” I called it a “gathering place.” Tonight I felt as though such a function had been served.
A: [YES] ARE YOU NOW READY TO OFFER O[THE]RS WATER FROM THIS FOUNTAIN?
IF SO THERE IS NO NEED TO DENY YOURSELF…
11. OR OTHERS THIS SOURCE OF RESTORATION
[Scribe] quotes our invocation from the other night: “He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul.”
12. Q ([Scribe]): We’ve spoken of connections. I felt you must be the presider (the giver of an E-gift) for this present sequence because it has to do with (re)establishing connections with others.
A: [YES] IT IS SOMETHING YOU & I MUST WORK ON TOGETHER
INTEND WITHOUT EXPECTING
13. Q ([Scribe]): Will “intent without expectation” help me to discover A?
A: IT IS NECESSARY FOR DISCOVERING A
The previous night [Scribe] had a dream, An Experiment in Dreaming, which he reported to me as having no particular significance. I, however, had a different interpretation.
14. Q ([Scribe]): May I regard (as Duncan suggests) last night’s l-dream as a clue? (The friend accompanying me to the pub/café.)
A: [YES] A CLUE NOT AN ANSWER [CUP]
[CUP], you will recall, means “cannot say,” and here I feel we certainly received the censor.
It was time to pick up last night’s topic, the lore of feeling. Clearly we were to proceed by analogy to our last year’s curriculum, the lore of colours. To review, the lore of colours consists of four steps: 1) Beholding a colour (as if one were struck by it); 2) Embodying, to store it bodily in one of one’s ports; 3) Becoming still, which is the volitional act of directing the colour’s energy toward a specified task; and 4) Bringing forth, the purpose (morally derived) of utilizing this energy.
The Lore of Feeling: 2. Storing Midports
15. Q: We move now to the lore Jane spoke of last night. Step 1 = sensing. We guess that Step 2 (by analogy with colours) involves embodying.
A: [YES] BUT WITH THIS IMPORTANT CAUTION
16. Q: What is the caution?
A: IT IS NOT IMMEDIATELY IMPORTANT WHERE A COLOUR IS STORED BUT…
17. WITH A SENSING [THE] ISSUE OF WHICH PORT IS QUITE CRITICAL
18. Q: How so?
A: A SENSING CONTINUES TO CHANGE & GROW WITHIN YOU
IT IS [NO]T INERT BUT ACTIVE AND AFFECTS [THE] PORT IT INHABITS
19. Q: Help us to understand this instruction.
A: IF YOU PLACE A SENSING IN A LOW PORT IT CAN CAUSE BODILY SYMPTOMS UNEXPLAINED PAINS AND SO ON
IF YOU PLACE IT IN A HIGH PORT IT CAN…
20. MUTATE INTO…
21. IDEAS & WORDS THAT DISPERSE ITS ENERGY USELESSLY
22. Q: Therefore, beginners should store sensings in middle ports (4, 5, 6)?
A: [YES] THIS IS OUR TEACHING ON STORAGE
I DO NOT SAY THAT NO CHANGES OCCUR IN MIDPORTS BUT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO FEEL [THE]M MORE SAFELY & WITH LESS LOSS OF ENERGIES
23. Q: Step 1 is called sensing. What shall we call Step 2?
A: STORING
Not wishing to break up the lesson with this trivium, I note here that the originals lack response #22. Thus we are here off (behind) by one.
3. Espera
24. Q: In the lore of colours, Step 3 is “Becoming Still” (retrieval) -- does the analogy hold here?
A: [NO] BECAUSE ONE MAY [NO]T RETRIEVE AT WILL
ONE SIMPLY WAITS AS FOR RIPENESS
IF YOU ATTEMPT TO PLUCK TOO SOON YOU LOSE ALL
25. Q: Is it the sensing that ripens or the one who senses?
A: [THE] FORMER
26. Q: As with wine once laid down, one can spoil its maturation, but one cannot hasten it.
A: EXACTLY & I READ [THE] WORD ESPERA IN YOUR MINDS
LET US CALL THIS STEP THUS
4. Shining
27. Q: Once it is the time of ripening, does the energy simply emerge (or irrupt)?
A: NOT EXACTLY IT IS MORE A QUESTION OF ACCOMPANYING SOME O[THE]R ACTIVITY
28. Q: How to insure that the energy accompanies an appropriate task?
A: HERE YOU MUST DO TWO THINGS AT ONCE
YOU MUST BOTH HEED [THE] PROMPTINGS OF [THE] STORED E[nergy] & YOU MUST INTEND A FITTING TASK
29. Q: We read the word “fitting” in two senses.
A: IT TAKES SOME WISDOM TO FIT CORRECTLY
ALAS THERE IS NO EASY TEACHING TO AID YOU HERE
YOU MUST LISTEN TO YOUR COUNSELLOR
30. Q: You refer to Albion & the Scribe?
A: [YES] YOU MUST KNOW HOW TO HEAR [THE]IR COUNSEL
31. Q: Where does “feeling the aliah of others” enter this lore?
A: AT [THE] FINAL STEP [THE] STORED ENERGY CAN BE USED TO ENABLE COMPASSION
A COLOUR ALONE CANNOT BE SO USED
32. Q: Compassion is also a task.
A: OF COURSE IT IS
ALL TASKS REQUIRE A FITTING ENERGY
33. Q: Compassion implies giving some gift back.
A: THAT IS A FITTING WAY TO PHRASE IT
[THE] GIFTS FROM ETERNITY GIVEN BACK IN TIME
[CUP] RECALL?
[Scribe] & I have drunk from the cup (Grail) and so are able to pass it on to others.
I feel it would be remiss not to connect Vilansit’s language here with that of another favorite Kate Bush song, Moments of Pleasure: “These moments given are a gift of time.”
34. Q: We do recall the earlier teaching on the cup. What do you call this final step?
A: IT IS CALLED SHINING
ALIAH HAIL
VILANSIT
12:40 AM