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.
After we had returned from ancient Sumeria that Saturday night we all, everyone of us, got changed and fought the biblical weather the thankfully short distance up the hill to the local pub.
We all deserved a break, I was there, just behind the lense. The cosy warmth in the bar was matched by the warmth of these beautiful people who had been traveling along the same path with me. This was every bit as important as a learning curve as the entire workshop itself. Different but just as important.
*******
Sunday dawned bright dry and no wind. We had weathered the flood. Today way the last day of The Silent Eye Workshop.
Had the weather really been that bad that we could not climb the hill and greet the dawn. Had it lashed with rain and wind since our arrival Friday afternoon. Mm ..Yes.
I got up early and sat in the temple for a chance to meditate on where I have been for the last two days. Strangely as I thought over the story I found it difficult to comprehend I had only been here two days. It felt like eons.
After breakfast we had the Triad Ritual which I found very moving, we were asked to speak for voices that are not often heard. Everyone spoke for someone or something, I chose to speak for Mother Nature.
And so In to The Deep.
We returned to the temple to witness what was to become of the big ego, Gilgamesh on his last quest.
We, the Fates, had all the way through this journey been alluding to a huge flood, and a boat that was built. It was to me like the story of Noah and the Arc. Though the names were different the story was the same. Instead of Noah and his wife it was Utanpishtim and his wife Shiduri. They were rewarded by being allowed to live for eternity at the source of the rivers. In a place very similar to the garden of Eden.
******
Tired with travel and full of woe
Gilgamesh meets Shiduri who
Asks, where do you go.
Holding fast her brewer’s vat her fear she hides.
After many days travel Gilgamesh meets Shiduri who asks who he is and where he is going. He tells her is the king of Wall-Girt-Uruk and he is seeking Utanpishtim to gain some of the Herb of Immortality, so his people may live forever.
Shiduri asks why is he so sad, he tells her the sad story of his brother Enkidu.
Shiduri tells Gilgamesh that none but Shamash are brave enough to traverse the sky. Immediately the ego kicks in and Gilgamesh sites his triumphs, which I as a Fate see only as failure.
Gilgamesh is then told by Fate Ash that he may gain help from Urshanabi, Utanpishtim’s boatman. He is in the forest cutting wood in the company of the Stone Men who are very fearsome.
So very wearily Gilgamesh enters the forest in search of the boatman.
It is not long before the Stone Men begin to question and threaten Gilgamesh, who cannot land a blow on any of them before the next distracts him. Eventually he collapses ..
Urshanabi, tells him that the journey is not a simple ferry ride. He must out run Shamash, the sun, for nine hours through the deep of the underworld.
The ego that is Gilgamesh says he can do this… Despite warnings that Shamash is fast and will not slow for any man be he king or not.
Urshanabi leads Gilgamesh to the Deep Underworld. And so for nine hours Gilgamesh has to out run the sun.
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 labyrinthof 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 labyrinthof 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.
So here I am again dancing the fates, I hold these two brothers lives in the palm of my hand. I am not alone the other fates are here too.
********
To city elders, Gods and Goddesses they appeal.
Enkidu states his fears and his brother laughs
There is no stopping a giant ego
He is deaf to all reason, will not do things by halves.
One with heavy heart into the far beyond they go.
**********
I am witness to this unfolding drama, foreboding is filling my every fibre. Gilgamesh blustering and bullying his brother traveling deeper into disaster. Dreams and omens ignored, deeper into the Forrest they go.
********
Hu-Wa-Wa lord of the Forrest
Lord of the animals protects all
Gilgamesh ignores all the signs
Enkidu does his best
Sadly watches Gilgamesh’s fall.
*******
Photo Sue Vincent.
Hu-Wa-Wa or Hu-Ba-Ba
We fates know who you are
Yet Gilgamesh will not hear.
********
So the tale unfolds the brothers find their “Monster” they kill their monster. Why do I feel such deep dread why do I know this wrong. I am a fate, yes. Then Enkidu is dead ..and suddenly Enkidu is dead.
********
And so our Lord descends into the Deep.
We go through the motions bow and leave the temple. I want to cry I want to tug at Gilgamesh’s robe and shout at him to open his eyes. I don’t, I follow procedure.
********
Again it’s like waking from a dream back in the present, being told we had done so well.
It’s time for lunch, outside the rain is still falling, as my eldest son would say it’s Biblical.
After the second Drama on the Saturday morning of the Silent Eye Workshop we had a break, then a presentation from Lorraine Munn on The Natural World and Man. Lorraine is a Druid and she is a mentor with O B O D and an ordained minister with the One Spirit Interfaith Foundation.
Lorraine spoke to us about how there is so much in Nature that is spiritual and it’s relationship to man.
Lorraine is a warm and knowledgeable woman who made us all stop and think. She suggested that we can learn a lot from plants and trees. Lorraine is very wise about trees she can commune with them.
I shall not attempt to repeat her presentation because I do not want to misquote or misrepresent her in any way.
I love nature and I have always loved trees. I often find myself drawn to them and can spend hours in their company.
Bend with the wind,go with the flow
So wise, with knowledge we will never know.
Bare in the winter
Silent in snow
Covered in blossom in spring
Birds nest in your branches and sing
Summer brings green leaves
And you give us shade
Autumn’s hues are a sight to behold
Covering the ground in carpets of red and gold.
Trees know so much, they see so much. We use them to build, for warmth, for furniture. We give little back. We, humans as a race are users. Vast forests and jungles are cleared in the name of progress.
Hopefully with the splinters and ashes and discarded furniture the trees go back into mother Earth so new ones may grow.
Trees and vegetation were here before us, they will be here when we are gone.
Yes Lorraine is right we can learn a lot from nature. Trees and plants have been here so much longer than we have. Animals too can teach us so much. Have you ever been privileged enough to have a close encounter with, a fox, deer or even domestic animals. The knowledge in their eyes is beautiful.
Ruby (sitting) and her friend Quala. They are both Guide Dogs, though Ruby is now retired and lives with us.
Yes Lorraine confirmed my feelings on our relationship with Nature and gave me a lot to think about.
Our Acer we have only had it a year but we hope it will grace us with it presence for a long time to come.
It was after the second ritual and before Jan’s exploration that I ran into our technician.He was half way up the corridor between the temple and the dining room. To be honest he was as surprised as I was that he had got so far… Mind you he is a very strong willed young man.
He asked if I had seen his mum , I hadn’t, could I help, yup a glass of water would be great.
So I got us both one, he sat down at a convenient chair and table and I asked where his wheelchair was, back in the temple! I told him to stay put and I would get it. He started protesting about me not being strong enough..
For once I was at an advantage and said I’d manage and scooted off before he could say more.
He was right the wheelchair was much too heavy for me but as luck would have it two of the companions where around. One being a gentleman carried it up the two short flights of stairs for me.
When I got back our tech was ready and refreshed and Briony and I pushed him down to the temple.
After that it just so happened that we shared our meals at the same table . Just talking to our tech taught me a great deal. His attitude to life, sense of humour. He was so open letting me see that though no a bed of roses life is good.
Talking about everyday things and his extraordinary travels and experiences just reinforced what a great guy he is. A huge credit to his Mum Sue. Even if he was not quite at home with the dance of the seven veils.
After breakfast we met in the the temple to first to discuss and then to perform Ritual Drama Two. A second self.
“Aruru moistened her hands She pinched off clay She kneaded it… She shaped her idea into it Then she threw it into the wilderness…”
Does that remind you of anything, it does me. Yes it truly reminds me of how “God” made Adam. ..
Steve read the above verse to us before we entered the temple. It was only the second time I had entered the temple as Limma but somehow I didn’t need the script I was guided in. First in line with Fate Ia to my left with the other four fates behind us, we followed Gilgamesh in, bowing to the temple guardian on entering. We walk towards the throne bow, to the king of Urk and the East and peel off to our spheres.
We are seated Anu and Aruru carry out the Cencing of the temple. The Guardian seals the temple.
As Anu and Aruru sit Enkidu stands and faced East. I as Limma rise also to face the East. I hold the mask of the voice destiny infront of me. I introduce Enkidu. I explained who he is and what he is. I tell how he is one with the animals of the wilderness.
One day he is seen by a trapper who is terrified by what he sees. He runs off to the great city to tell the king of this man beast.
To the music of the planet moon.
I with the other fates move around the Hexaflow we pass the mask of the voice of destiny to eachother and exchange spheres.
Fate Min takes up the story of the trapper who saw Enkidu at the watering – hole.
She tells how the trapper is in fear of Gilgamesh and how Gilgamesh enjoys the poor man’s fear. Almost ridiculing him, then finally threatening him that there will be consequences if he is not telling the truth.
Gilgamesh (seated on throne, is deep in thought, recalling his dream and the prophecy of his mother. He says, ( quietly…)My twin, eh? Uncivilised, is it?(Then decisively…) Very well, let us see what civilising influence can be brought to bear upon him. Go to the temple of Ishtar. Instruct the Priestess Shamhat, by my command, to accompany you. Take her into the wilderness. When the wild-man approaches the watering-hole let her employ all the arts of love to seduce him. When he succumbs, the animals will leave him forever. He will no longer be a part of the herd. Go now and do as you have been instructed.Gilgamesh stands and points towards the West over the Trapper’s head.
And so the trapper leaves to do as he was bid.
To the music of Mars
I and the other fates move around the Hexaflow exchanging places and the mask of the voice of destiny.
Fate Issu takes up the tale. She tells us how the Trapper has arrived at the temple and goes straight to speak with the high priestess Shamhat.
The trapper tells Shamhat about the wild-man and Gilgamesh’s demands.
The priestesses is not best pleased, saying that the king has no right to command her ..no one but her Divine Council may do that.
The trapper points out he is only the messenger.
Shamhat consults with the Devine Council. Anu informs her she must do the king’s bidding.
To the music of the planet Mercury. I join the other Fates and we walk the Hexaflow exchanging places and the mask of the voice of destiny.
Fate Ia (faces the East, holds the Voice of Destiny mask before her face and she tells us. Then Shamhat called upon the Divine Council. She summoned the Priesthood of the Seven to aid her in what must be done. The Divine Council come forward from the East, with their veils plainly visible, draped at the waist from their cordeliers. They stand in an arc before and around Shamhat, with right to left, Nanna, Gugalanna, Enki, Enlil, Inanna, Ninurta, and Utu. Shamhat rises to stand before them and bows her head. During the following interchanges Ninsun acts as an intermediary between the Divine Council and Shamhat. Ninsun walks around the back of the arc of the Divine Council from the left, to stand in front of each of them in turn.Priestess of Nanna opens the vesica around Ninsun, and ‘passes’ the white veil…Ninsun My service is to he who sends the dreams of Men to sail the moonlit night. He gives you greeting. (Bows to Shamhat) You must follow the Trapper into the wilderness in search of Enkidu. On the first night, give him this gift. (Takes white veil) Drawn from the very substance of the lunar seas, this veil will give Enkidu the vision of the tides of life. He will see how they ebb and flow, ever seeking a point of rest,
Ninsun My service is to he who guides the hand of Man to strike or withhold. He gives you greeting. (Bows to Shamhat) Of his substance, my god offers this gift. On the second night, you must give it to Enkidu. (Takes red veil) In war and in peace, Man must know when to act and when to be still. No more must the wild man react from instinct; this veil will bring him the gift of discrimination, the freedom to choose his own path. Priestess of Gugalanna closes the vesica around Ninsun… Ninsun Steps forward to attach veil to Shamhat’s cloak. Bows and moves to the next position along the arc of the Divine Council, in front of Enki. Priestess of Enki opens the vesica around Ninsun, and ‘passes’ the grey veil… Ninsun My service is to he who bears the Word twixt the earth and the heavens. He gives you greeting. (Bows to Shamhat) The Word of the gods is echoed in the speech of Man. On the third night, you must give this gift to Enkidu.
So Ninsun, brings greetings and instructions for Shamhat from each of the Devine Council.
The devine Council through Ninsun has given Shamhat a different coloured veils to give to Enkidu.
So Shamhat takes her cloak and the veils and leaves with the trapper to find the wild man.
It takes them three days to reach the watering-hole, then they have to wait for two days more until the wild man arrives .
The trapper tells Shamhat to catch the wild man’s eye and he will succumb to her charms.
The two hold eachother’s gaze.
The to music of Jupiter I join the fates as before.
Then we all speak in turn.
Fate Imin (turns to face the east) and says For six days… and seven nights… the dance was joined.
Fate Ia The glories above were un-named…
Fate Limma The word for that world beneath, unuttered…
Fate Ash Source and time, unfettered, merged…
Fate Ussu From the mingling waves-of-water came mud and slime…
Fate Min Enshar and Kishar, twin global halves, shone out of them.
Shamhat dances the dance of seven veils, Fate Ia explains what each coloured veil represents.
Enkidu falls deeper under Shamhat’s spell.
Again I join the other fates to walk the Hexaflow.
After a while Shamhat and Enkidu sleep.
The Divine Council in the East, led by Anu and Ninsun, perform the Communion,serving Gilgamesh first. After finally serving themselves Anu and Ninsun take the Platter and Chalice to Sphere 9/0. The Divine Council and other characters in the East are seated simultaneously. All the Fates rise from their seats to stand, simultaneously Anu sounds Chime… and Enkidu and Shamhat ‘awake’ and turn to face each other… Enkidu (who can now speak) A strange vision have I beheld whilst we slept. Shamhat (laughing) A dream, my love? Enkidu (leaps to his feet and begins to pace the Enneagram space) A dream, it was, of High and Noble Forms moving in well-ordered sequence, and sharing… a meal? Shamhat (rising to her feet also and moving towards the Sphere 9/0) It is a final act of civilisation, my love. How we share the means and manner of our existence here, together. I shall show you. Shamhat adds her blessing to the bread and wine and passes the platter to Enkidu. Together Shamhat and Enkidu share the host with, the Guardian, the Fates and all remaining characters who have not yet received it. Finally, they serve themselves. They return the Platter and Chalice to the table in the East and are seated .
To the music of the Sun I with the other fates move around the Hexaflow we pass the mask of the voice of destiny to eachother and exchange spheres. When we are finished I am left standing facing East and holding the mask of the voice of destiny.
I tell of how Shamhat and Enkidu stayed out in the wilderness for days. Enkidu was puzzled when he could no longer join the animals, they ran from him and his speed was gone.
Shamhat explains that now he has united with a woman he is no longer a beast he is now a man. God like.
Shamhat decides that they will go and live with the shepherds outside Wall -Girt Uruk. Before they enter there. So they do.
Then one day Enkidu meets the trapper all dressed in his finest clothes. Curious, Enkidu asks him why is he dressed so. The trapper explains he is on his way to a wedding to celebrate.
He tells Enkidu that after the priest has blessed the couple, and the guests have rejoice it is the custom that the groom stands aside because Gilgamesh is first to mate with every new bride. This the trapper adds is what the Gods have decreed.
This angers Enkidu his own first taste of love fresh in his mind. He vows to stop Gilgamesh. He sets off for the city.
I then put down the mask of the voice of destiny and walk to the centre of the Enneagram and read from a scroll I was given earlier.
Listen, I will tell you a mystery… A secret of the Gods… King of Shuruppak, quickly, quickly You must tear down your house and build a great vessel… Leave your possessions, save your life. The vessel must be round so that its length equals its width. Build a roof over it just as the Great Deep is covered by the earth. I understood the words of Ea. My Lord, I will obey your command as you have spoken it. But what shall I say when the people ask why I am building such a vessel. “Tell them that you can no longer live in their city, that it is your fate to go down into the Great Deep, tell them that an abundance of rain is coming…”
(And all the time back in Huxlow 2019 the rain is pouring, unknown to us )
When I have finished I return to my sphere, meanwhile the Temple Guardian unsealesq the temple.
Following my lead all the fates turn to the East then I lead them out, bowing to the Guardian as we leave. Then everyone else leaves.
***********
Well, there I was in the hallway with all the others, again Sue Stuart and Steve were telling us all how well we had done.
I could not grasp the time shift we had all made. Time and space laws defied.
Apparently it was time for a break, we were to meet in the library in fifteen minutes for a talk from Jan Malique entitled The offspring of silence.
Then Lunch… Goodness was it still the morning on the first full day of The Silent Eye Workshop, surely I had been in the wilderness outside Uruk for weeks?
I am confused. I have tried to give you a taste of the story and how we lived it. I have used different music to show that the story is timeless. The music in the temple was so beautiful too. Thank you to everyone involved.
The morning of the first full day of The Silent Eye Workshop had not yet dawned. I had slept well, “If I had dreamt I did not recall” words I would hear more than once that day.
I rose quickly, really looking forward to going into the hills to greet the dawn. We had done this in Cumbria and I had really loved it.
I went downstairs early enough to have a coffee before leaving. After a while the others arrived. Stuart was in the conservatory and announced it was too wet and windy to go up to the hills. I have to admit I was disappointed but Stuart asked us to keep our outdoor clothing on and so recreate being outside. Another lesson in mind over matter.
Listening to Stuart describe what we were about to do helped. Then I closed my eyes as he took us through the scene and walked to were we would of been if not for the weather. I still had a niggling thought that the ancients would not of been put off by weather.
Then the magic and solemnity of the moment took over. We had each taken a token and Katie had had picked the one that made her the pole bearer. She stood in the library next door to the conservatory under the light and awaited us to bring her the seven radiances for each pole.
I could explain this but my words would be clumsy, I hope to learn better, so I am inserting a couple passages from Sue’s post A Radiant Dawn
The idea was a simple one… to bring the Seven Radiances that symbolise the essential nature of the Sumerian gods into the temple. For our purposes, we had chosen to work with seven of the most prominent deities, each one associated with one of the then-known planets, referring to them as Planetary Beings, a term that recognises both the life and inherent sacredness of our own planet and those with which we share the solar system.
The symbol of eternity, traced by many feet as the Radiances of the gods were added to the staff, was not an empty act. At the moment when the sun rose over the ancient hillfort, it was a Veil the colour of Love that was added to the staff, and Love was carried into the temple.
The staffs were laid to form a single line above the circle of the enneagram, forming a Sumerian symbol of sovereignty… the rod and circle, the ‘measure and containment’ of that which gives form to the formless; on earth, a symbol of kingship, in the heavens, a symbol of the gods.
We then had a guided meditation similar to ones I had experienced with the group before. Once again I was lifted out of my body to fly up into the beyond on a beam of light I could see many other lights all around and our planet small and glowing below.
When the poles had, had all the radiances attached we followed them to temple where we had more meditation.
I am not sure if I have any of this in the right order, though burned into my memory it seems strangely muddled.
After meditation we went for breakfast and I ate a full English..my body felt as if it had been out in the gales and rain on the hills. I was still finding this bouncing back and forth through space and time strange.
Still there was no time to worry about that then, as after breakfast there was a rehearsal for act two,time to change into our robes to enact Ritual Drama 2: A Second Self and all before lunch?
Below is a photo of Stuart and Sue As Anu and Aruru holding the two poles bearing the radiances.
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.
We had rehearsed, we had got readyin our robes. I was in deepest, wettest Derbyshire and yet….
As we all stood outside the double doors listening to a man in a skirt reading us the introduction text.
“To empty the wells,
To empty the wells of the land,
To empty the shallow wells of the land,
To empty the deep wells furnished with hoisting ropes”
********
I began to question where and when I was. Was I willow or Limma.
Gilgamesh knocked upon the the double doors of the Peach Room for the last time. From then on they would be the temple doors.
The Guardian of the temple opened the doors. Gilgamesh strode in, inclining his head towards the Guardian. Then as one the six fates I lined up behind him.
We enter in order
Fate Ia Fate Limma
Fate Imin Fate Min
Fate Ussu Fate Ash
Then everyone else,
Anu and Aruru are to bring up the rear of these procession.
******
Then the music begins
Suddenly I am Limma, and I am back in the ancient land of Sumer. I feel the sun warm me and the sand hot between my toes.
I see the temple and outside I see The Eternal City of Uruk.
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