Lord of the Deep, Into the Deep part 2

Urshanabi leads Gilgamesh to the Deep Underworld. And so for nine hours Gilgamesh has to out run the sun.
And he does out run the sun, though how I do not know.

Continued

After nine exhausting hours with the sun hot on his heels Gilgamesh emerges from the underworld into the garden of the Gods.

The garden is a place that even, the mighty King of Uruk has never seen the like of. He was dazzled by trees and plants that have flowers and blossom of precious and semi precious stones and gems. It was quite amazing.

Then Gilgamesh is confronted by an ordinary man, Utanpishtim. The king of Uruk is surprised he was expecting a God that he would have to fight.

Weaponless Gilgamesh has to talk to Utanpishtim who asks him why he looks so tired and wan. Gilgamesh tells him how he has spent his last nine hours outrunning the sun. He also tells of the loss of his dear brother Enkidu and how he King of Girt – Walled – Uruk wants Immortality for himself and his people .

Utanpishtim says he has wasted his time venturing to these shores and all he has done is bring himself one day closer to death.

You can run but you cannot hide

Death reachs across the divide.

Immortals and men do not mix

All men die it’s written in stone, fixed.

Now Enlil had gathered the Gods together after the Flood and granted Utanpishtim and his wife Shiduri immortality. The question now arose who would grant this to Gilgamesh, what deeds would he do to gain his goal.

Utanpishtim set Gilgamesh the task that he must stay awake for seven days and nights with no sleep. The big ego that is Gilgamesh agreed to this blindly.

The task is set

Gilgamesh accepts and yet

In seconds he is asleep

Unable to his boastful words to keep.

He will lie says Utanpishtim

He is man as duplicitous as all his kin.

Shiduri will bake for everyday he sleeps a loaf.

He will lie, for all his mighty ways he’s just an oaf.

Shiduri bakes a loaf each day for the seven day and lays them infront of the sleeping Gilgamesh when the seventh day arrives Utanpishtim wakes Gilgamesh.

Of course he lies and tells Utanpishtim and Shiduri that he had not slept a wink.

He does not fool the wise couple who knew the outcome would always be a fail compounded by a lie. Shiduri shows Gilgamesh the seven loaves and gets him to feel the rock hard first and the soft warm last one.

Death around Gilgamesh creeps

Fear and failure into his soul seeps.

Lies from his mouth have made him fail

The useless the efforts of his travail

Will he be banished empty handed.

As a hopeless fool branded.

To be continued….

The story of Gilgamesh is one older than time and one that is repeated in all ancient and modern religious books and stories ..though the names and places change the stories do not.

Here is a clip from one of a trilogy of films called The Chronicles of Riddick. The characters in the clip have to outrun the sun, which waits for no man.

As I am nearing the end of my account of my feelings and experiences at The Silent Eye Spring Workshop I find I want to linger with the memories and stop time.

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS June 8/19

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “open book, point, write.” Pick up the closest book to you when you sit down to write your post. Close your eyes, open the book, and place your finger on the page. Whatever word or phrase your finger lands on, write about it. Enjoy.

And so the Elders conferred. They spent the night in a huddle and discussed what to do with the child.

Wild and noisy as she was everyone of them loved her. In fact everyone in the village loved her. She was three now and the only child to have been born for thirty years.

Since the illness arrived that had made all the women infertile the human race had been slowly dying out.

Three years ago when she was born the entire village decided to keep her a secret and they had. Every villager played their part in raising her. Sadly her mother had died giving birth.

So the night passed deep in conference the Elders came to a decision. They would keep her safe until she was past puberty and then they would have to tell the bigger world out there that they had a , hopefully disease free female. Perhaps somewhere else other babies had been born and kept safe.

They announced their decision to the villagers at dawn. They all join hands to pray that his was the start of a new race.

This is part of LindaGHill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday, #SoCs. The opening line was taken from the workbook that accompanied The Silent Eye‘s 2019 workshop Lord of the Deep. My story has nothing what so ever to do with the workshop apart from it being the closest book to hand when I wrote this.

Photo prompt June 4 to June 10, 2019:

Photo prompt June 4 to June 10, 2019:

Miss

Kitty

Sits pretty

Smile on her face

Tom paws on his hips

Wild blue eyes and tight lips

Toto hanging by his claws

He knows Miss Kitty has her flaws

He would fight mighty Tom to the death

He’ll love Miss Kitty to his dying breath.

Beneath the moon Miss Kitty thinks she’ll swoon

If Mighty Tom discovers Toto

They’ll fight and one will be laid low

Suddenly the gutter cracks

Toto looses his grip

Soon he starts to slip

He drops to ground

Miss Kitty

Softly

Sigh.

Twittering Tales #138 – 28 May 2019

Photo by Moritz 320 at Pixabay.com

Negatives.

It’s not as glamorous as it used to be. Not anymore. Time was we were sought after with our Pentax and Olympus. We stay up all hours , red light cigarette in mouth, blow the chemicals. We got the shots, developed them made the image, iconic.
We’re not needed now, it’s all digital.
(280 Characters)

This is part of Kat Myrman’s Twittering Tales.

One Word Inspiration #OneWordInspiration #OWI

Ritu set us a Twitter challenge. She said.

And thought those of you on Twitter, or even those not, might like to take part!

It’s a one word challenge.

One word to inspire a tweet-length (240 characters) story!

Oblivion is the word.

Willow Willers (@WillowWillers) Tweeted:

@RituBhathal Walking home, unaware that she was being followed. He shadowed her just of sight just out of earshot.
Oblivious to his presence she sauntered on slightly tipsy. As she got her key out he made his move and lunged at her ankles. Oh!Tinker! #OWI

*****

Why not join in too.

Image from Pixabay

Lord of the Deep . The Bull of Heaven.

Broken

Unwashed, unkingly

The mighty ego returns

To the city and temple

Unrecognised.

Ritual Four

Again I process into the temple, again it’s a huge leap through time and space.

Gilgamesh distraught at losing his brother finds himself outside the Temple of Ishtar.

Shamhat is there and full of vengeance she mocks him. Calling to him to take her and make her his own.

Gilgamesh is afronted. Why he wonders does she mock him so. The answer is blaring clear to all but the mighty ego.

He has let his brother, her lover, Enkidu, perish in the forest. She despises him. It lifts her to see him so broken. So she hits him where it hurts.

Revenge

So sweet but short lived

Shamhat taunts Gilgamesh

No more than he deserves.

Shamhat jubilant in her triumph turns and runs into the temple. She shimmers and glows Goddesses like. Gilgamesh truly riled follows her blindly into the labyrinth of tunnels under the temple.

Woman

Or Goddess

A blur a movement

Entices the fool

Soon he is hopelessly lost.

Driven by anger and pride Gilgamesh follows what he believes to be Shamhat. Totally fooled he does not realize he is in fact chasing the Goddess Ishtar. Deeper and deeper he descends , he knows he must be almost at the centre of the labyrinth of the temple.

Deeper

Into the womb

Of the temple

Of a sudden the way is blocked.

We dance

We are the fates

We twist and turn

And carry the mask

As Destiny demands.
As a fate I look upon Gilgamesh, I have seen him at his best with his brother,yet mostly I have seen him at his worst, selfish, self obsessed, huge of ego.

Dressed

For pureness

Of heart and soul

With white mask

Bull of Heaven.

Gilgamesh faces the Bull of Heaven. The Bull accucuses Gilgamesh of killing Hu-Wa-Wa, Watchman of the Cedar Forrest.

Gilgamesh does not take kindly to this he raises his weapon and rushes at the Bull of Heaven. As he brings his mighty weapon down to kill the beast he realises that it is Enidiku’s axe he is using.

Chopped

Severed to shoulder

Blood spurts

No raging Bull

Masked ripped from the face

What face

No! It is ENKIDU’S face.

With the other fates I look and hope that Gilgamesh will learn . We know he will not..

Gilgamesh stands to the left side of a portal. Enkidu rises from the dead and stands to the right of the Portal. We fates are lead one by one through this portal of inner learning and receive a blessing from Anu and Aruru.

Everyone in the Temple passes through the portal and receives a blessing except Gilgamesh and the dead, again Enkidu.

Three Days

Three endless days

Gilgamesh runs the tunnels

Of the temple.

Stumbling he falls

Into the holy of holies.

The Devine council

Give him audience.

The Devine Council point out Gilgamesh’s short fallings. I as a fate am amazed he accepts their words … I, for one do not believe him.

Gilgamesh

Humble King

He with Ego

The size of the moon

Returns to Uruk

He has determined

To travel to paradise

To bring back the herb

The herb of immortality.

And so Gilgamesh returns to the city and washed, and then meet his mother Ninsun.

He tells her that the Forrest monster is dead.

She asks where is Enkidu, her heart is saddened by the news that he is dead.

Gilgamesh tell her he is going to find the herb that will bestow immortal life on his people.

A mother

Torn with grief

A mother loves her son

Even when that son is not worthy.

Ninsun, mother, Goddess.

Sends Gilgamesh off with her blessing.

So Gilgamesh leaves on his new quest with his mother’s blessing. He professes to be changed,he says he is sorry. He says he is doing this deed selflessly. I do not believe my ears as I hear him say.

Who is the handsomest

Of men

The bravest of heroes

Who killed the Bull of Heaven

Obliterated the Forrest Demon

Who will find Utanpishtim

And bring back his herb of

Immortality for my people

Who?

As I listened, my heart sank. I was so tired as I left the temple.

Back

Through time

I stepped

Time and space

From the city of Uruk

To Buxton wet, windy and cold.

The photo of the Bull of Heaven is by Sue Vincent.

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS May 18/19

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “adverb.” Start your post with any adverb and just run with it. Have fun!

Absentmindedly she sat in the café pushing the food around her plate. She had been sat there for over an hour.

Sighing deeply she was bored, but as she politely ordered another coffee she saw the mark arrive.

The adrenaline began violently coursing through her body. Feeling sexually aroused she bit her lip.

Quietly she approached the mark, as she passed him she clumsily fell into him. No one took any notice if the insignificant woman, who unseen by anyone injected the man on his mobile.

Elatedly she left Oh! That felt good, she loved the naughty rush of the kill… The handsome paycheck helped too.

Back at the café the mark finished his coffee and contemplated the rest of his day not knowing he had only minutes to live.

He got up to leave and collapsed loudly.

This little tale came to you care of LindaGHill’s #SoCs.

Image from Pixabay

Twittering Tales #136 – 14 May 2019

Photo by NRD at Unsplash

Too Damn Hot.

Every evening Julia would find the fridge open! It was so annoying such a waste of energy.
With a sharp intake of breath she slammed it shut, checked on the evening meal and left the kitchen.
Julia never heard the frustrated scream of the Fridge. “Why put me next to the oven?”
(276 Characters)

This is part of Kat Myrman’s Twittering Tales.

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS May 4/19.

Hello it’s Saturday morning and time for LindaGHill’s Saturday Stream of Consciousness. Our Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “fall from the sky.” Write about anything that falls from the sky–real, imagined, or idiomatic. Have fun!

They fell from the sky. At the beginning just a few. No one really noticed at first, because they were not affected.

It was noticed finally, this strange phenomenon, after a week or two. The feathers were everywhere. Covering lakes and rivers and finally the seas.

Machinery ground to a halt, planes , cars and trains crashed. The world fell silent. Governments panicked and brought out Draconian laws to keep the peace.

We thought it could get no worse, no transport of any sort, everything was effected. Nothing could function, people began to starve. Not just the poor those with money and power suffered too.

Then when we thought it could get no worse the angels fell from the sky.

SoCS badge by Pamela

#SoCs

Lord of the Deep: Three.

The music stops and we are seated, I look at The Enneagram and wonder how I will cope with walking it and the Hexaflow. Suddenly I am snapped back to Sumer something is happening.

Anu and Aruru rise simultaneously (carrying chimes) and make their way from their seats at
withdrawn 3 and 6 respectively on to spheres 3 and 6 of the Enneagram. Once there they bow to each other and then turn east and move simultaneously along the triangle lines to withdrawn 0/9 respectively (having crossed).
Once there they turn to face each other, bow to each other, and then each strike their chime. As the chimes fade they turn to face the west and then proceed around the Enneagram from their respective sides.
I learn that this is called censing the Temple. I feel, relaxed and blessed to be here among these beautiful people who all seemed to know what is happening.

Then the story begins. Gilgamesh is demanding that Shamhat the High priestess of the Temple show him her favours. Shamhat points out very forcefully that she is a woman who is ruled by no man.

Sue describes so much better than I can, the story of what happens next, the whys and how’s of the Gods deciding to have Gilgamesh a balancing twin made. How Aruru makes Enkidu out of clay and her and her spit. Please read here.

Now as I think back I hear this song in my head as I see Shamhat and Gilgamesh arguing , Anu calling for Aruru sounding like a siren. Aruru making Enkidu out of clay and spittle.
Gilgamesh dreaming strange dreams that his mother explains.

In-between I walk the Hexaflow carrying the mask of destiny, each time growing in confidence, each time instinctively growing.

My dreams are now populated with strange and ancient people and sights.