by bosco
By 2008, alt.religion.shamanism had largely been overtaken by flamewars and spam, but bosco (Ben) continued to post quietly on his shamanic practice. "Flight" is his most fully realized later journey account — a passage through a camera-aperture portal into a cave system walled with golden plates, a hidden gap near the ceiling, an underground village in perpetual dusk, and a meeting with the village elder who delivers an answer without ever quite stating it. The thread also prompted bosco to describe his method of preparing questions before a journey — one of the few times he spoke directly about his practice. Both the journey and the method are preserved here.
The Journey
I crawled into a small portal on a wall. It looked like the aperture of a camera lens that was not quite closed.
Inside was a cave covered with what looked like golden plates about the size and shape of steel drum tops from Caribbean band steel drums.
At one side was a downward sloping cave covered with the same golden plates. They were highly polished, and one area looked pretty much the same as any other.
As I walked on I eventually came to a circular room. I walked around it looking for a way to continue. Close to the ceiling I noticed that one part of what I thought was the roof area had a gap of about a foot. It was so cleverly done, that if I had not been actively looking I would have missed it.
I climbed up and over the wall, and I was at the edge of a small village. It was in a cavern with a low ceiling, and the gold was all gone. Here it looked like it was perpetual dusk, and the ceiling was low to the roofs of the homes.
By the time I took in what there was to look at, someone showed up and asked what I was going there? I told them what I was looking for, and they told me to stay where I was, someone important who knew the answer would be along to talk to me.
A person, who was the leader of the village walked to where I was from the center of town. He asked what I was doing there. I explained what I was looking for, and he told me it came from his village. He said what the intention of the village was, and how the people above (Humans) were ruining what they took so long to modify to be good for humans.
I had my answer, so I thanked him and left.
I learned the answer to the question I traveled for, even though he never came out and told me what I wanted to know in so many words.
On Preparing the Question
When asked later how he knew to ask the right question in the right way, bosco replied:
What I do:
- Think about my question a day or so before I go, hoping to find the answer somewhere more mundane.
- I use a number of entrances. I usually choose the one that feels most correct. If none of them do, I try to find a completely new entrance.
I don't always know the answer immediately after I return. Sometimes I have to think about what I was told and how it applies to my question.
Colophon
"Flight" posted to alt.religion.shamanism by bosco on February 7, 2008. Message-ID: 2008020715270750073-boscopelone@yahoocom. The methodological note is from his reply of February 19, 2008. Message-ID: 2008021922211011272-boscopelone@yahoocom.
Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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