W10

Water Temple

Wednesday 5th July 1995 (9:50pm)

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Barry: The face of the Green Man looks down, water pours from his mouth. We are faced by the stone wall.

Rob: Mist is forming on the water. The toad has crawled onto the altar. He regards us balefully.

Barry: I can hear flute sounds, and can see a thick tunnel of fog in the distance.

Rob: I step onto the bridge. The toad shuffles near, he wants to come with us. I pick him up; I have a pouch for him where he sits happily.

Barry: Our hair and clothes are damp from the dense fog. Our feet sound muffled, I can only hear the flute clearly.

Rob: I see glimpses of images in the fog. A large bird, with its wings outstretched, on a pedestal in a garden. A geometric square fountain and four others that pour into it.

Barry: Romanesque figures are watching the water dripping into the centre square.

Rob: I can see the causeway ahead.

Barry: Church bells chime under the lake.

Rob: The causeway seems drier and the land beyond seems greener, dark and wet, than before. I think that we should cross to the island this time. Two figures rise up from the ground on the path. They are covered in a thin brown material. They have black staffs with three red metal bands around them. They don�t seem to want us to pass. There is still more to do beneath the surface before we may enter. They want us to go into the water again.

Barry: The figure on the right hands me a small silver horn. Blowing it makes no noise. Two white stallions rise from the water and stand impatiently on the edge of the water.

Rob: They are very large animals.

Barry: They gallop to the water. There is a very bright light as they hit the water, then it�s dark. I can see the buildings below. They are made of bright white limestone.

Rob: There are a lot of figures on horseback down there. They are not moving, and encrusted with limestone. Two of the figures are in peculiar clothes that have flashing electric shocks running through them. We take the reins of the horses and lead them through a doorway into a courtyard.

Barry: There is a fountain in the middle of the square surrounded by the buildings.

Rob: It seems quite high up. We are looking down.

Barry: Ahead is a large domed building with huge silver doors. Above us it is approached by marble steps. There are figures outside.

Rob: They seem alien in form.

Barry: Stepping inside, as far as the eye can see is a circular maze composed of corridors and walls. In the centre a light shines.

Rob: Two of the creatures hold a large scroll. They unwrap it in front of us. It is a map of the maze as seen from above.

Barry: Despite the complexity of the maze, the routes to the centre are straightforward. There are many ways to it, and many dead ends.

The creatures give each of us a blindfold of purplish cloth. We put them on and all is dark.

Rob: I hear running water.

Barry: I smell running water, and I feel a moist breeze on my face.

Rob: We move inward through the maze until we come to a larger area with a well in the middle. A man sits in contemplation of the well and seems hardly aware of us.

From the well rises a pillar of water, a swirling mass. At the top it splays out a bit, but the water does not fall far. The man is chanting or mumbling. The water sound is louder and louder, I can almost hear words in it. The water tower leans towards us.

The toad croaks to draw attention to himself. The column swirls and bows low by us. It touches the earth in front of us, and then washes over us. It is like being beaten by many small cloths, very strange, it�s like being in a carwash. Chips of me are being scattered by this churning water.

Barry: I have the feeling of being washed up. I see fog rolling into a beach. I am surrounded by twelve female figures. All of them are transparent. They surround a statue of a Goddess with water pouring from its hands. At the feet of the statue is an enormous chest. It is very dense and made of rock and metal, bound by iron straps. It looks almost bursting. There is a pentagram carved in silver on the box, which is almost round rather than square.

Rob: The column of water becomes clear and lifts back over the well. I can see Barry. Within I can see myself changing to water and merging with the tower of water.

Barry: The straps of the chest are pulling apart. The metal straps thin with a wrenching and tearing. The box explodes and showers metal ands rock everywhere. The pieces all pass through me.

Rob: I have been within part of the water. This swirling scours one. It cleans and invigorates.

Two creatures stand before me. In the air between them strange symbols undulate. I don�t understand them. The symbols continue, some are zodiac signs, I see the water sign. This is a stream of consciousness.

Barry: The circle of figures have joined hands. Each contains a sphere, a mass of bright purple. Each figure is going through absolute emotion. On laughs hysterically, one rages with anger, another cries. They have parted hands and moved to surround me with this purple.

Rob: I am going to return to the fog bridge now.

Barry: They are revolving at tremendous speed bathed in this purple fog. It is becoming solid and full of energy. I am back on the causeway.

Rob: The two original figures are still there. On one of the staffs the bands that were painted red are now blue. We must go there three times before we go beyond.

Barry: The tide is rising. We hurry back.

Rob: The toad is still with me.

Barry: I�m back on the sand of the temple.

Rob: I place the toad back on the altar.

Barry: I take a cup and drink from the spring.

Rob: And me.

Barry: The cold water lifts the daze.