by Unknown
“Stay here. I will send for you”
Others waited above; three men and two women. One approached the edge and bowed to Chatto. With a clanking of plates the giant turned away pushing a bow wave of sand. The Elves gazed as the worm breasted the dune to disappear in the desert
Norma
She was sick on Monday. She rang back on Wednesday to say that she was ok if he wanted to call over. There was a Thai noodle place on Montrose. He brought a bottle of Chilean wine and a book of the poems of William Carlos Williams.
She opened the door with her broken hands, shadows beneath her eyes... Norma Jean Rayburn had a Masters in American Folklore from the University of Colorado. She was a year into a doctorate in Philosophy . Some days she could not touch the keyboard.
He met Norma at the library where she worked part time. They talked about books and discovered a shared passion for American Literature. As they parted Cyril grasped her hand. Her face went deathly pale. She lived in a duplex backing onto Mission Park. They talked as he laid out the food. Books they had read films they had seen. …
She had a walking cane topped with an ivory carving of some exotic creature.... Norma was a good listener. She never gave advice; just sat there listening, swollen hands resting on her walking stick. The one she got from her friend in Mexico.
Dinner over she made green tea. Norma was sitting deep in her chair, eyes closed, a soft smile on her face.“ What?” He asked finally.
“There is great power in this room. It’s not me. Has anything strange happened? She gazed at Cyril. In the years of their friendship he felt at times that she knew him better than he did himself.
“I’ve been having odd dreams”
“Have you been keeping your journal?”
“I‘ve missed a few ... “
Taking a writing pad from the mantelpiece she started to make notes. When he finished she asked questions. Were there marks, scars, tattoos? What about colours? Could he remember sounds? Did anyone or anything speak?
They were quiet for more than ten minutes. At one point she appeared to be sleeping. Finally his curiosity got the better of him.
“I didn’t write a word but I remember most of it. Why is that?”
“Usually I let you work it out. But change is coming for both of us so I will try to summarize. Some dreams are Numinous. They are life dreams. This could be one... The Tower is a phallic symbol. In the dream it is more than that. You ascend through a circular movement…Combined symbols are more powerful than either when separate….The circle of the Mandala combined with the symbol of Ascension…Yeat’s Perne in a Gyre…
The figures on the stairs were guides. They were there to help .Instead you turned your back on them. The outcome was that when you reached the top you had lost the chance to gain your heart’s desire. You found yourself looking at the back of your own head.” Norma shook her head.” So elegant…”
“What is it about?”
“The dream is about competition. You don’t play competitive sports but you are a competitor. You compete against yourself. It is a positive trait but not in relation to what is seeking to make itself known through your dreams. There you must be humble and you must listen. Neither of these are qualities men are known for.”
They sat quiet for several minutes. “The women, what can you remember about them?”
“They were almost identical. Except the one that stayed by me had an amulet of some kind. With a stone inlay, maybe turquoise... I have thought about it... At first I thought it was a sex dream. Three beautiful women, practically naked. ..I don’t think so now. They were, sorrowful. As if they were grieving ...?”
Norma placed her cup on a side table“…Ancient cultures speak of the Water Master. He is a fish herder and lies up in the depths. He has three daughters. They like to sit in trees singing and drown careless men who come too close Yet they came out of their domain to reach you. Two sat in the trees, one kissed you but not, as you say in a sexual way .Three is a powerful number. When three women come together they can be for good or they can bring catastrophe. I have no means of knowing what it will be for you.
The fish moves between the surface world and the abyss. Sometimes it returns with treasure. A fish was thrown at your feet. Literally offered to you. You spurned the gift. A second was offered. If you had refused the third offer, there would not have been a fourth.
There is a legend of Finn McCool, the Irish hero. He was walking by a river when he met an old man roasting a salmon on a spit. The old man asked him to watch the fish while he went for timber .He warned Finn not to eat any of the fish until he returned. Time passed and Finn waited. The spit broke and fell in to the fire. Finn went to catch it. He sucked his fingers to ease the burn. When the old man returned he was angry. He accused Finn of going against his orders and eating the salmon. The fish was the Salmon of Knowledge .The one who first tasted its flesh would know all the secrets of the world above and below. They would speak with gods and spirits. From that day Finn came into possession of great magical power.
Dreams are all about balance. Marie Louise Von Franz wrote about the eternal boy, the one who refuses to grow up. It describes many American men. It has little to do with age. Some men achieve balance at eighteen; others are looking for it in their seventies.
You are a nice boy but you are naïve. You want a quiet life but you are not going to get it. You have been given a gift. Gifts are not given lightly. You will be expected to show a return on the investment. Whose investment, God… Fate…Evolution, I don’t know. The important thing is to give up your naivety. The dream about the Tower is a warning. It says, the world is not a safe place. Pay attention.
The dream of the frozen land starts by taking a direction then switching to another. Very common in dreams. You are alone on a winter landscape . The frozen ground represents the ground of your being It is a warning from your Spirit; your life is frozen, your feelings, your capacity for relationship with yourself or others is numb. Dreams are all about balance. Something within us is aware of an essential wrongness in our being. It seeks to redress the balance by speaking through our dreams. We are our own best therapists/The first part of the dream has a flow to it, the second… It is like you are looking into someone else’s dream. The woman on the street who talks to you… Someone speaking directly to you in a dream is important. I don’t know. I could offer my opinions but I have done too much of that already. You need to get back to keeping your dream journal.”
“What about the woman at the river?”
“Spider Woman is a powerful figure among the tribes of the American Southwest . She is important in the lore of the Navaho the Hopi and the Keresan. She is a protective spirit, a giver of gifts to those she favours. To her people she gave the gifts of Agriculture, Weaving and Pottery. Before starting work weavers would rub their hands in spider webs to invoke her magic. She teaches survival skills to human warriors. In the creation story of the Navajo she helped the warrior brothers, Monster Slayer and Child of Water to find their father.
Tawa, the Sun God created beings to be placed in the first World. He was unhappy with them so he sent Spider Woman to lead them to the Second and then to the Third. But sorcerers brought evil to the Third World so Spider Woman told the people to leave and find the Fourth; this world.”
“I’m not Navajo”
“Cyril.You slept by a river that flows through land walked and hunted over by Navaho. Hopi, Zuni and other tribes. A time of change is coming for you. You have to put away childish things. You could try to keep your head down and let it all blow over but I have a feeling it’s too late for that”
They talked with the door open, Norma wrapped in a shawl.” The things that go on in this town… Not many are aware and most of those who suspect would rather not think about any of it. If anything happens talk to the Sherriff. I am going to ask him to keep an eye on you.”
When he left Norma poured coffee into a flask and took it out on to the balcony. Her apartment was ten
feet above the park with a stone wall between. The fingers of her left hand were starting to ache. As she waited the burning moved to her legs. Shortly her left knee was on fire. For some reason the Arthritis had never affected that knee. Every joint but not that knee. A white mist flowed around the trees
The pains eased leaving her to doze until the sound of tinkling harness woke her. A caravan with horses following rolled up the side path A rangy looking man dressed in buckskins handled the reins. A young girl was seated next to him. They passed to be hidden in the gathering mist.