albionspeak 2: the gates of dis (17.3)
SESSION 97: 3RD NIGHT, 7/29/05
I awoke late to heat and greeted [A--] at [his apartment] while [Scribe] slept. [A--] walked me through his [town], the residential neighborhood beyond the college mansions, his old high school, and the [greenbelt]. I say “old” as I approach my own 30th reunion, though for [A--] all is recent memory [as he is in his early twenties]. It was our first time at length alone together, just the two of us without agenda; and yet it didn’t feel at all like a get-to-know-you talk. Without [Scribe] the conversation drifted into different realms: long discussions of lacrosse & soccer & contact lust (for example, injuries).
On the way home [A--] abruptly decided to cut through some woods. I forget what prompted this, especially since these were scrubby, brambly, and not very pretty woods, though I was game. Suddenly he stopped, struck by the energy of a power tree in the distance. That is, thick within woods, he picked out a tree from perhaps 20 yards, a tree that radiated so much I, too, was soon thinking I could see the spatial warp, the mirage effect of light & bark, even though this was a hot, sunny day. More significant perhaps, the tree was a conifer, which we know from Don is doubly rare. To me this detour & sudden tree simply confirmed as a sign the event of our walk, the plane of our exchange. However, I will add that virtually all my walks (especially at [P. Park in my town] with [my friend R--] or [my wife] or [my friend M--]) are marked by signs & profundity. (I am a walker.) As the transcripts show, however, this conifer was & is important: one day it will become known – even as part of a pilgrimage – to others among us.
We met [Scribe] at [his neighborhood bar] and wandered over to [a nice restaurant] for dinner. [Scribe] had picked out two dinner wines & one dessert wine (his tolerance vastly exceeding my own); and one-time A candidate & friend [E--] was our waiter (who did an exemplary job, although he pronounced “anise” as “anus.”) A fantastic dinner! Thanks, [Scribe].
Tarot card: Knave of Wands: bearer, focus on wandmode, to each his own.
11:05 PM
[again, during dry run, no prompt]
0. A: I AM [Guide 2]
11:17 PM (note the time, as we still needed to ready ourselves)
Measures of [Guide 2]
1. Q: Greetings, [Guide 2]. How shall we begin?
A: ONLY START WITH [THE] MASTER’S QUESTIONS & WE WILL MAKE
PROGRESS
Josef’s parting words the previous night: “First ask about the measure of the daimon [Guide 2] himself.”
2. Q: Josef asked us to ask about: the measures of [Guide 2] himself.
A: I HAVE ARRIVED AT [THE] TRESHOLD OF DREAMS -- WHAT
MEASURES?
We took this to mean that [Guide 2] is asking for himself (not that he really needs to) and not, as could be construed, that he is speaking for one of us. Adding to the confusion, though, are the words “arrive” and “threshold,” since daimones, as multi-present minds are always there, on both sides of the threshold at once.
Because [Guide 2] is [A--]’s daimon, not [Scribe]’s or mine specifically, [A--] naturally took charge in this line of questions.
3. Q ([A--]): Do your measures begin with my summoning?
A: [YES] ONLY THUS AM I ALLOWD TO SHOW [THE] FAR[THE]R
REALM
[YES] I AWAIT [THE] NEXT LEVEL
That is, he doesn’t wander in our human village uninvited (a little like vampires entering a house, at least in some versions). We know, of course, he must wander freely in his own realms; but that leaves vast stretches of forest unaccounted for, neither human nor daimonic.
4. Q ([A--]): Do your measures follow my own?
A: [YES] I LEARRN & METAMORPHOSE AS [THE] DREAMER DOES
I TOO AM A TRANSFORMOER [sic (2)]
The guide must follow…
5. Q ([A--]): Do you transform as I transform?
A: [NO]…
6. [NO] I DO NOT WORK AS YOU DO & MAY [NO]T GO BEYOND MY
ROLE
YET EACH STEP OF YOURS ALLOWS…
7. ANO[THE]R STEP BY [THE]
DAIMON -- OUR AGREEMENT DEMANDZ
8. Q ([A--]): Will you, [Guide 2], always be with me in dreaming?
A: [NO] ONLY FOR A BRIEF STAGE
AND NOW HEAR [THE] MEASURES
Again, one clear feature linking our lore to that of Castaneda’s, so closely aligned in this domain, is that we follow our daimon-guides (vs. “ally-scouts”) only to learn how to fly on our own. Because pre-Toltec sorcerers developed these relationships to the level of symbiosis & addiction, Don Juan cautioned Carlos to distrust such bonds.
9. Q ([A--]): [Guide 2], what are the measures?
A: FIRST SUMMON ME AS YOU HAVE & YOU MAY SIMPLY SAY [Guide 2]
BUT MY BODY SHALL DIFFER & [THE]RE ARE TWO FORMS
10. Q ([A--]): The first form, I hypothesize, is a metaphor for my intent.
A: IT IS [THE] SHAPE OF [THE] WEAPON ITSELF
EDGE HANDLE & POINT
11. Q ([A--]): This is the shape of my minds.
A: IT IS [THE] EASIEST WAY FOR ONE TO SEE [THE] MINDS
YET A FUR[THE]R MEASURE IS EMBEDDED IN [THE] SWORD
12. Q ([A--]): Is the octahedron the shape of the deep eye?
A: IT IS OUR E[YES] IN COLLABORATION & TOGE[THE]R PERMITTING
TRAVEL
A pun? In the originals [Scribe] first wrote “It is our E [YES],” where E could mean exercise or even Earth, though probably not E = [Scribe].
Here it is necessary to see [A--]’s rendition of the sword he found in his recent landmark dream. Note, of course, the sword itself, along with its blood-letting barbs; but note further the octahedron (that is, 3-D, but shown as the 2-D parallelogram) within the sword’s blade. This shape, within the dream, displayed the aliah of the daimon (i.e., it glowed). Finally, note that this same configuration, according to [A--], shows how our two circles’ Y’s link (2-D?). (I confess I must take some of what [A--] says here on faith; but faith in him I have.) (And isn’t a glowing octahedron of a certain size & mass but a mathematical description for what otherwise might be called a “jewel”?)
13. Q ([A--]): The sword is also a wand, in that it embodies my power as a diviner.
A: [YES] & [NO] AS A TRANSFORMER RA[THE]R
& NOW I GIVE TWO TEACHINGS THAT MUST BE KEPT CLOSE AT
HAND
Recall, [A--] alone among the three of us transforms his dreaming body.
14. Q ([A--]): I am ready to receive the first teaching.
A: IF YOU CALL ON [Guide 2] AND [THE] WEAPON ITSELF APPEARS
YOU CAN PROCEED TO [THE] FOREST & MAY WIELD [THE] EDGE
YET IF I APPEAR…
15. IN MY ALIAH ONLY YOU CAN TRAVEL & TRANSFORM BUT WILL LACK [THE] EDGE
YOU CANNOT DO BOTH AT ONCE
HEED ME [THE] TEACHI…
16. TEACHINGS ARE VITAL HERE
WILL YOU COMMIT [THE]M TO MEMORY?
[Guide 2] & [Guide]
[A--] may correct, but I take this to mean that while both forms allow travel, the sword alone can be wielded (I assume as a wand, perhaps even defensively), and the “naked” aliah form alone can be used in self-transformation. Apparently the distinction is vital.
[Scribe] notes philologically in the transcript that edge (ecg) and point (bri) are the ordinary way to refer to a weapon in Angle-Saxon and Medieval Irish, respectively.
Kteresh’s Challenge
17. Q ([A--]): I will commit these teachings to heart. What is next?
A: I JOSEF SPEAK & HELP YOU…
18. TO REMEMBER ANO[THE]R MEMBER OF CIRKLE SWORD
A new member?
19. Q ([A--]): Please help us to remember.
A: I AM KTERESH [THE] MASTER OF TRE[e] LORE & I AM IN YOUR CIRCLES
[THE] TREES ARE CLOSER TO A AS HE MUST LEARN TO PR…
20. PERSIST IN A TEACHING ALMOST INVISIBLE AT [THE] MOMENT
HE HAS [THE] GIFT OF KNOWING [THE] NAVEL [THE] AGE & PATTERN OF [THE] ALIAH
I AM HIS TEACHER IN [THE] READING [sic]
Our young master of trees. Priest of a tree cult before the start of history, Kteresh (which really names the tree he heard) was not born a flyer, though he came to flight early, probably in his teens. Others in his tribe, for reasons unclear, eventually “mutilated” him so that he no longer could hear the tree; and he died young & in despair. Kteresh spoke to us once before in 1995 (cf. 30:27) to urge us to attempt tree-seeing on our own. Again, nothing in vain. Our young master has been with us all along.
[Scribe] adds in the transcripts, “curious to think of the ‘age’ of aliah – but some power-trees are waxing, some waning,” in formation discovered by [A--] last year [when he visited my town].
21. Q ([A--]): Have you a lesson, Kteresh?
A: [THE] TREES IN YOUR PROXIMITY ARE IN A PATTERN
FIND [THE] PATTERN [THE] GIFT & CHALLENGE TO YOU
ALL WILL BENEFIT
At this point the letters were spelling themselves so rapidly at the board that [Scribe] was just barely able to follow, and was entirely unable to glance away to look at his writing. Thus, the 2005 transcripts are among our “messiest,” simply because much of [Scribe]’s beautiful writing lies one line on top of the next. No one else could have managed, and [Scribe] found this much harder work than in years past. (He credits/blames the added energy of A.)
22. Q ([A--]): Kteresh, I accept this challenge, and thank you for the gift of it. Is there a
specific time-frame?
A: I MAY NOT SHOW ALL AT ONCE
GROW SEASON BY SEASON AS [THE] POWER TREES DO
AND LISTEN DAY BY DAY
“A gem,” writes [Scribe]. [A--] seemed to be thinking that he might take on the challenge that very evening after the session. [Scribe] & I felt a longer task was being assigned.
23. Q ([A--]): Is the tree I saw today {on the walk, conifer, “ugly”} involved in
challenge you refer to?
A: IT IS & [THE] PATTERN IS A JOURNEY /
A PILGRIMAGE FOR FUTURE MEMBERS AS WELL AS COMRADES/
[THE]RE ARE EXACTLY…
24. EIGHT TREES IN [THE] JOURNEY
& I SHALL AID YOU MY PUPIL & FRIEND
KTERESH HAS SPOKEN
Fascinating. Not only was [A--] being given a task but clearly this task was important for future members. [Scribe and A--'s town], already home to two k-members, would additionally become a destination for others, including “comrades” presumably from other karasses.
I in Circle Sword
25. Q: Josef, what else should we know?
A: I WISH TO TELL YOU OF A FALLEN MEMBER /
CONSIDER BLAKE AS A SCRIBE IN A PATTERN ADJACENT TO SWORD /
ONE THAT WE CALL CIRCLE WAND
26. BLAKE IS LINKD TO A FIGURE WHO PARALLELZ…
27. YOUR OWN ALBION
28. NOT IDENTICAL IN ROLES BUT ALSO A BALANCER A METER OUT OF WEIGHTS & SORCERER IN [THE] MOST ANCIENT SENSE –
A ROLE WAS ESTABLISHED FOR HIM IN [THE] SWORD
AND THEN…
29. BEGINS A STORY WELL KNOWN TO YOU THREE /
THE ALBION FIGURE RISES & REVOLTS AT [THE] FINAL STEP…
30. AND HIS FACE IS TURND AWAY FROM [THE] JEWEL ALWAYS /
YET I SAY TO OUR A THAT I REMAINS ONE OF YOUR CIRKLES MEMBERS EVEN IF LOST /
31. SURELY YOU HAVE SENSED HIM?
BOTH IN HIS POWER & OVERWEENING PPRIDE? [sic]
IN FACT HE MAY BE WHISPERING TO YOU EVEN NOW /
YET WHAT I DID [NO]T SAY BEFORE…
32. I SHALL TELL YOU [NO]W
AS YOU DESERVE IT /
[THE] WHISPERS ARE WORDS AS WELL
33. AND YOU CAN HEAR [THE]M AS [Albion] & [Scribe] CANNOT /
I DARE [NO]T HIDE FROM YOU [THE] PROXIMITY OF A FALLEN MEMBER
IT IS PERILOUS TO LISTEN
34. BUT IT IS [NO]NE[THE]LESS YOUR RIGHT
I SHALL BE WITH YOU BUT I CAN[NO]T RULE YOU /
TO ALL SONS DREAM WELL & THRIVE
I JOSEF SPEAK
[CUP] & SWORD
Somehow this news (of both I’s proximity & the existence of Circle Wand) surprised me less than other news flashes received over the years, even the sad & scary headlines. Did I already know, as [A--] seemed to, how close I really was? Had we just been so thoroughly prepared for this information? Or did I just feel safely distant from I, now that I could place him definitively elsewhere.
[A--] & I would discuss this at length on our walk the next day. Both of us had felt his thoughts, undoubtedly [A--] more acutely with both his proximity & his superior hearing. And [A--] acknowledged the temptations, the taste of power. I, on the other hand, as the remaining Albion among our two circles, feel with certainty that some of what pushed I affected me as well. And yet both [A--] & I felt that these pushes & pulls in I’s direction were issues of our past. [A--] was strong enough now to resist, while I finally & fully understood that I was never really inclined toward I. I feared for a long time that I might become an I, but my fears were baseless. Look at my life, at who I am: I’m not like that at all. (What is my role then? Josef offers new shades on old clues, none of which yet hits home with me.)
I wonder how the functioning of our circles must account for I’s loss. Undoubtedly there is slack to pick up, where each of us shares a greater burden as a result. And personally, I feel charged with a double-Albion task and that my own protracted trials and delay counterweight I’s speed & fall. Additionally, however, I feel strongly that as our circles join, as the Y’s converge – sword from above, cup from below – where each member somehow pairs off with another from the adjacent circle, that I am not paired with I: Someone else is ([Scribe]? Jane? or another who in time has already overcome this trial?). Given the vital nature of such pairings, this can’t be good. But I am convinced we can work with this. We can make this work.
2:05 AM