bradm Posted June 14, 2002 Report Share Posted June 14, 2002 ...was all we needed...one pig, lightly killed, rotating slowly on a spit and it would be complete...the garlands had been strung around our necks, the colourful clothing displayed, the yellow blood of the pineapple injested (mixed with the essential blue essence), the spirits of the ancestors summoned and manifesting like pillow lava spewed from beneath Mauna Loa: hot, liquid, churning...only to meet the cold of the sea and congeal in time and space...Planet Luau was almost complete... But we needed a pig. Without it, it was all for show, not for go. Summoned spirits like things done by the letter, and we were coming up short in the porcine department. We'd have to make do. The head centurions took the stage, the massed onlookers shook with anticipation; like moths (or fireflies; the colours so bright they pierced the darkness) to a candle, they were drawn to the centre, only to be repelled by the heat. In a constant see-saw dance the mass swayed back and forth, as if they were stalks of grain in a field being caressed and swayed by the wind, or palm trees bent by a hurricane. How would it be? What had changed since last we saw them? It had been months since last the spirits were called up, and much had changed. Would the vibrations we had all shared be the same? Different? Would the old and new cycles reinforce each other, to amplify things to new levels, or would they cancel each other out? Or worse, clash in a thunder of dissonance, leaving shards of ourselves scattered on the floor like a madman's mosaic. They began, as they always did, when it was right; summoning spirits is not done to a fixed timetable, but when the feeling in those gathered reaches an appopriate level. The sound reached out, echoed off the structures that surrounded us, and drew us in as it returned to its origin, as if we were being propelled from behind. The lights! We, who had gathered so often with and in front of them, had never seen such a display. What we saw and what we heard turned into what we felt: senses blurred into layers of feeling, with no hard separation between them. From the start, we knew it was different. Not so different as to be unrecognizable, no; it had grown, and what we had helped sow and grow was still there, the way you can see the boy's face in the man's portrait. We were carried away? Not carried, more conveyed and directed. Our energy was pulled from us, transmogrified, then used to lay a path, a canyon trail, for us to swoop down into, like a mountain stream turned into a torrent by the coming spring. We soared, as birds of prey; we swooned, like young ones knowing the first taste of love; we tasted the sweetness of paradise, and had it contrasted with the sour tang of lemon. For Nero! (For Caesar!) Mixing gods and spirits from around the world would help; coverage is always handy. Caesar led the way, and we followed; then we strengthened, and it was as if we were leading. Back and forth (which is wrong; there was no dividing line across which there was movement, just a flow) and on and on it went; it was as if there was no time synchronized with what was happening (what was happening?) outside our combined gestalt. Then it came time to rest; the fires had been lit, the coals whitened (the moths' candle flame become a glowing brazier), now it was time to take a step back, breathe (not pant) again, replenish vital essences. So far so good; when summoning spirits, sometimes thing can get misdirected, and the wrong entities arise. Not so tonight: we had conjured up power and might, to be sure, but it would do our bidding. Cycles rose and fell, energy flowed, waxed, waned; the time came to stoke the fire, turning smoldering brazier into blazing bonfire. Before, we flowed like water into a canyon; now, we cascaded down like a rock slide made flesh (once the rocks start to slide, the pebbles do not get to vote). It was more intense after the rest; we soared higher, the energy we had expelled before making us somehow lighter. The more we gave out, the more we received; what was fed back to us was fed back and back again; energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed. And in transforming it, we transform ourselves: the spirits we summon are not of the earth or the sky, they are within us. The transformation is the manifestation of spirit in flesh, our flesh. The whoops and shouts from the mass drowned out the wall of sound from in front of us, then merged into it, becoming another instrument to be orchestrated by the spirits. This was a common experience, a shared joy, created by all present, with no barriers, no frame, no boundaries. Spirits can be summoned, but not caged; as with flesh, spirit cannot remain indefinitely. It ended; we dispersed, leaving our structure and venturing out into the night, our bright colours and high spirits lighting up the space around us like fireworks, to shoot up and explode into a million blazing dots, so that those who only stood and watched and heard (or who didn't know at all) could be shown the way (or at least a way; a lit path to the unknown is sometimes better than a dark road to the familiar). We would not be the same; like flower blossoms carressed by stinging sweetness, we had exchanged something between us, losing something and gaining something in the process. And as we move through the world (which is also transforming itself, as we transform our vision of it), we share what was shared, in expanding radii of spirit. No, we didn't have a pig, but matter can come from energy, if enough is present; tonight, there was. Aloha, Palaka Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubleB Posted June 14, 2002 Report Share Posted June 14, 2002 nice Brad...... it is difficult to articulate the energy and spirit of a nero show.... you nailed it a few times.... "What we saw and what we heard turned into what we felt: senses blurred into layers of feeling, with no hard separation between them." did you get into my tea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave-O Posted June 14, 2002 Report Share Posted June 14, 2002 Very nice Brad! I took a sip of that tea... I'm just crawling out of bed now... and my retinas hurt... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Low Roller Posted June 14, 2002 Report Share Posted June 14, 2002 Ground control to Major Palaka... you can come back now. Mission accomplished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradm Posted June 14, 2002 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2002 No, it was a tea-free spree for me. A lot of that was in my head last night, and I was going to write it last night, but there was a small problem getting what was in my head out through my fingers (brain speed >> finger speed). I decided to let it ferment overnight and try writing with the clarity of morning rather than the intensity of the moment. It sort of worked. Aloha, Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouche Posted June 14, 2002 Report Share Posted June 14, 2002 Here here! Excellent writings Palakam Here's an example of some of the darkness piercing firefly outfits. It's a little dark. I don't have any tool handy to brighten it up right now...sorry. What does the hawaiian word, 'Atari' mean in english? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcane Posted June 14, 2002 Report Share Posted June 14, 2002 Well done, Brad. Phillipino cigars, perhaps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradm Posted June 14, 2002 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2002 quote:Originally posted by bouche: What does the hawaiian word, 'Atari' mean in english?"One who looks like a male exotic dancer on the make" Aloha, Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcane Posted June 14, 2002 Report Share Posted June 14, 2002 We could use a few more of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h Posted June 14, 2002 Report Share Posted June 14, 2002 ha, that was funny. bouche, where is that secret picture directory with all the pics from last night? I KNOW you have one.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Low Roller Posted June 14, 2002 Report Share Posted June 14, 2002 HAHAHAHAHAHA! That is an awesome picture. Man, you'd think the guys in that picture were high AND drunk... wait... Atari rhymes with Hawaii (sorta), it's the only correlation between the two as far as I can tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradm Posted June 15, 2002 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2002 quote:Originally posted by arcane: Well done, Brad. Phillipino cigars, perhaps?Damn. I completely missed working smoke (in all the forms that were out and about last night) into the writing, and it's such an obvious metaphorical vehicle. I also wanted to work in a few more references to song titles (I think I got two; if anybody spots more, let me know, 'cause they were unintentional). Ah, well. I got most of it (and when I told you that I was thinking of writing something, that's what I was thinking of writing). Aloha, Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booche Posted June 15, 2002 Report Share Posted June 15, 2002 "Yeah, and I'm sticky too." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcane Posted June 17, 2002 Report Share Posted June 17, 2002 quote: Originally posted by bradm: Damn. I completely missed working smoke (in all the forms that were out and about last night) into the writing, and it's such an obvious metaphorical vehicle. The cigars were Tabacalaras, IIRC. quote: I also wanted to work in a few more references to song titles (I think I got two; if anybody spots more, let me know, 'cause they were unintentional). Smoke got in your eyes? quote: Ah, well. I got most of it (and when I told you that I was thinking of writing something, that's what I was thinking of writing). I clued in when I saw it. Mind you, that's not always a safe bet with me, as you know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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