E04

Earth Temple

Monday 2nd May 1994 (approx 9:20pm)

Earth Temple Air Temple Water Temple Fire Temple

Rob: It is dark. There is a slight chill to the air. The stars are just coming out.

Barry: We are standing knee deep in a field of bluebells. Close to the North stone is a large metal pot. We see that the pot is full of aromatic wood.

Rob: It exudes a resin.

Barry: A breeze blows through the trees, which are oak. I can clearly see the Green Man, carved into the stone of the cave. He has deep black glistening eyes. We turn and see that the topmost mask on the pole is that of the Green Man. Others hang below, the wolf, kestrel, a skull, planets mask, the sun/moon mask and a stone mask. I can see that on one side of the pole the Green Man mask is an oak mask, and on the opposite side, it is the same mask, but in holly.

Rob: The oak leaves are brown and shrivelled, with a hint of new growth behind them.

Barry: I feel that we can contact the guardian of the stones by donning the Green Man mask.

Rob: There are two sets of drums for raising power hanging from the pole. They are not for use tonight. How will you reach the mask? Ah!

Barry: I can see the snake coiled at the bottom. I feel that I can walk up the snake to reach the mask.

The oak mask is heavy, new life seems to be pumping through it.

Rob: A crescent moon is rising.

Barry: I take the mask over to the iron pot and sit. The wood in the pot is smouldering, giving off faint wisps of scented wood. I don the mask. The wood is now alive with the sounds and smells of the night. I can hear plants growing. I'm aware of worms pushing through the soil. Gazing through the smoke, I can see the carved Green Man above the cave.

Rob: I stand behind you with a large staff. I am wearing a robe.

Barry: The dark eyes of the Green Man fill my vision.

I can see a dark figure deep within the wood. He is surrounded by leaves that are blowing around him like a whirlwind. Its focal point are his eyes. He is surrounded by wood and stone, and appears small but very dense.

Rob: Small bushes are growing fast and surrounding you in a horseshoe pointing North.
This is not threatening.

Barry: He tells me the smoke is his breath, the cave his heart, the stones his fingers and the trees his bones. He says that the cave should only be used when all the power of the totem animals are known and understood.

We can only use the cave before this to study runes, which is how he can talk to us. The masks act as his eyes, his true nature lies in the cave.

Rob: The bushes have formed a tent over you. There is another mask on the pole, a bark mask, used to perceive the sentience of trees and plants. These too we must understand.

Barry: The guardian shows me that different wood in the forest can be used in different ways and has sentience. Totems moving through the forest should be understood and used practically. We need to integrate animals into us and understand the nature of earth. Its strength is slow and sure, and forever changing.

Rob: Not the endless change of chaos, but that of cycles being renewed.

Barry: Cycles should be welcomed and understood in each of us.

Rob: Spring for new activities, Summer to mature, Autumn to take stock and harvest and Winter to recoup, draw in and ingest.

Barry: The Green Man sinks down into the earth, leaving the smell of cut grass and wet leaves. I take off the mask and now I'm back facing the cave. The carving seems more defined. I re-hang the mask on the pole. The maypole has buds.

I think one of the lessons may be to look for cycles within what we do, in our activities. As well as constructing the totem circle to be broken, we should construct a staff with a marking down its length representing each of the ten totems. It should be topped with oak, holly and ivy.

Rob: What should the staff be made of?

Barry: The staff should be found in the wood, and not to be processed by man except ourselves.

Rob: Any particular wood?

Barry: I only feel that it should be as old a species as possible.

Rob: Should it be cut from a living tree?

Barry: No. It will be given.

Rob: How high should it be?

Barry: My waist - see figures burnt in.

Rob: For what purpose should we make the staff?

Barry: It represents all that is Earth: totems; a phallus; of element guarding; the climb up the tree. It should be carved from the bottom up. It should be used in any elemental earth rite that we do, to represent the spirit of our intent. I can see now that the maypole flute has ten holes, one for each totem animal.