A Day with the Spirits
Last night I woke up from a strange dream. I had visited the remains of Gustav Meyrink's old house 'Home to the Last Lantern'. Next to what was left of it I found an old estate. Upon entering I started to speak to the waiters who knew nothing about the spiritual heritage of their home. All they did was correcting me about the date the house had been established; it was 1914 instead of 1924.
Finally, I discovered a threefold metal plate inserted into the back of the large tile stove. I realised this was the only remain of the time of Meyrink; a message he had left for his descendants. Each plate had part of a latin sentence engraved on it and strange sigils below. Unfortunately when I awoke I remembered looking at the plates and how important their message seemed - yet I couldn't recall the latin words.
So I went back into the dream later that morning. I approached the old estate again, walked through the large sitting room, into the hallway and sat down in front of the back of the tile stove. I still couldn't read what was on the metal plates. So I used my hands to touch them and decipher the words with my fingers... Finally it worked.
After a bit of research in an online Latin-English dictionary I had figured what Meyrink needed me not to forget. Here is what the plates said:
"To overshoot the mark is a temptation every time."
I wrote the words in Latin and English into my notebook and wondered about their meaning. As I had found them in a dream the context of course was important: they were moulded into metal plates on an oven. An oven is a place for fire, to control heat, to process food. A lightbulb went on: So what this was, was a message to tame my desire to control the fire, to tame my male dominant powers, my desire to accelerate or control natural processes. It was a message to allow things to mature in their own time - not according to mine.
Later that day I sat down in my backyard, went into the Void and searched for the Land being that had moved into this place. As so often, I stood in awe in front of the huge organic machinery it had built in my backyard. Since I had last visited it had changed again. Now power was rushing downwards from below the clouds through a huge funnel and disappearing into the ground.
Suddenly the Land being came running - and told me off in no uncertain terms. My presence in this place was absolutely not desired at this time. Just being in this place during this phase would run risk of ruining the entire process, it said. What process that was, of course I had no idea. So I left the place immediately and returned through the Void.
In the afternoon I went into the magical woods, about 20miles from where I live. This place would often call me - and as my presence wasn't desired in my own backyard it seemed fair to follow this call. The dog and I strolled through the woods off the trodden paths and climbed the steep, damp hills.
While walking through the woods I built small shrines for the local Land beings. I built them from what I found close by and lit some of the natural incense sticks I had brought with me. Setting up these small places at scattered spots in the woods was a wonderful undertaking - playful and effortless - yet seemingly exactly what the local spirits wanted me to do... Below are some of the pictures I took that day with permission from the beings. They didn't really care about me taking photos - they were too busy moving into these tiny spaces and utilising them in ways they can only do with man-made stuff.
On the drive home I pondered over the dream sentence again: "To overshoot the mark is a temptation every time." It appeared to me that the sentence had guided me through the entire day without me being conscious of it at all... I had not had any plans, allowed to flow with the tides and ended up in some of the most amazing natural places I have seen in my local area.
What a beautiful day this was - out with the spirits.
