Inner Space - "The Final Frontier"

 A submission to a 30 day writing challenge I am currently participating in the guideline premise suggestion was an "hourly log" tracking exploration of another planet....... this is where I took it


Ominous clouds formed the back drop of our meeting it was as though the elements, the titans and the gods themselves were to be our witness. The intermittent din of thunder and heavenly electrical pyro-technics added an air of awe and mystique to the gathering.
I sat at the fire with my “guide” and listened as he outlined how I was to proceed if I chose to follow through now that this rendezvous of ours had come to be. I knew very little about this man, he is I’m told, a descendant from a lineage of medicine men, his ancestors have made their home in the Andean mountains of Peru. Beyond that I was told for my purposes I wouldn’t require any further information.

As we sat at the fire I watched as he ground various plants and herbs before adding them to a pot he was steeping over the fire. “What is that you are preparing?” I inquired.
This “tea” once it has reached the desired potency, is to provide the vehicle (if you will) which will enable you to embark on the journey you wish to experience."
“How is that even possible, how can tea take me anywhere?” I probed.
“I doubt very much if the answer would be satisfactory to you, all is not as it appears especially to you have been steeped in the western world with it’s proclivity to worship the mind (logic, rational thought and the world as it is experienced through the 5 basic senses). The properties of these plants when blended in the right proportions is very powerful medicine. It can open portals within time and space, as well as within the individual that uses them which in turn makes possible among other things astral travel.”

“You’re right – even having had it explained, I don’t have a clear understanding to say the least.”
“It is not necessary that you understand the mechanism, what is more important is that you are clear about whether you want to do this or not?” “Ambiguity can lead to some rather undesirable outcomes, there is no dishonour in opting out but once you begin there is no turning back!”

“I’m clear, let’s do this thing!” “How will I know where I am going?”
“Your request was to experience another world – beyond that the process is out of your control, their is an innate intelligence in the medicine which invokes powers that will ascertain exactly where you need to travel.”

“Alright then, I can’t say that leaves me feeling overwhelmingly assured but I’m ready………”

With that the medicine man handed me a cup and instructed me to drink the entire contents as quickly as I could. It was the most vile tasting concoction I had ever ingested (and I have been party to some particularly unique home brew beverages) still none even came close to rancid, earthy, putrid liquid that my wretching body threatened to expel as quickly as I was swallowing it.

As i finished the last of this jungle swill my a vortex twisting from inside myself soon spun any sense of perceptual separation into a maelstrom of colour, temperature and sensation. The fire became the rainfall, the lightning didn’t just cast light, it sent surges of energy through my whole being until I entirely lost awareness of that which previously represented my conscious experience of my surroundings.

To say when I awoke would not be accurate as to the best of my knowledge I wasn’t asleep. However once the intensity subsided the next thing I “saw” certainly left me no doubt I was no longer sitting by the fire (even if I was there was nothing familiar with the landscape that was coming into view now.

Hour 1: All that I can see around me is the hue of red ochre like the dirt on Prince Edward Island. Upon the horizon there are dozens of spires consisting of every imaginable geometric shape similar to those in Bryce Canyon. As I begin to walk around I notice the overall temperature to be warm without being oppressive.

Hour 2: I encounter bubbling pools of what looks somewhat like a entire weekend’s donation to the red cross brought to a slow boil. As I am breathing unhindered I presume the atmosphere to be life sustaining.

Hour 3: After continuous walking it is no longer clear if I have traversed any appreciable distance or I’m back where I started from. Some of the surroundings seem familiar however there is unquestionably new territory as well. Closer observation yields the realization that the pathways around this region are labyrinthine in nature.

Hour 4: I ask to myself (obviously not expecting an answer) “I wonder where it is that I am?” much to my surprise I receive an answer. “You will benefit much more from continual exploration – without the your specific location being revealed.” “Suffice to say – though visually you are being given a particular presentation, in truth this is entirely for your benefit.” " The “terrain” is being projected in a fashion that you are able to relate to."

Hour 5: Though the “landscape” is stunning I puzzle over the purpose of my being in this particular location. “How then am I to experience this journey to reap the full benefit of my being here?” “And by the way who am I speaking with?”
“It is good that you asked – we are pleased you are allowing your natural inquisitiveness to be expressed.” “You will do best to feel your way through this journey.” "As for who you’re speaking to – well… let’s just say that all that exists here has an innate consciousness unto itself and you are able to connect directly and experience what you describe as “conversation.”

Hour 6: Feel my way around…. hmm well now, where ever I am, it will be much like trying to converse piece meal with the locals using a phrase book. But wait…… what’s this then? This region “feels” inexplicably joyful – huh, imagine feeling spontaneous joy this is indeed an extraordinary place!

Hour 7: Is it an extraordinary place or are you allowing an extraordinary experience?" pipes up my anonymous roving narrator. Still I could swear of seen this before sometime.

Hour 8: The heaviness. the shear exhaustion. the mood eclipses everything. The darkness all consuming. I cannot possibly bare this alone. If only there was some way to lighten this load. “You could ask….” – “just saying”
“Alright ….. help?”
“It is so ….. let it be done!”
“Oh my God what a relief… I don’t think I could have lasted much longer”
“Oh chances are you could…. it’s been done, some for a life time!”

Hour 9: “It’s that easy?”
“What you mean getting help?”
“Yes” I’ve been convinced that I must struggle on & on & on……."
“well you could….. it’s your choice, however solutions are yours for the asking.”
“But I have…. I’m sure of it……”
“No you don’t ask…… you adhere to your way, as though there is no other possibility.” “You then may declare it’s impossible” “I give up” “I never wanted it anyway” – “none of which is I NEED HELP!”

Hour 10: I discover a series of caves – with the most intriguing reverberation qualities. The deeper I go into the blackness the more cacophonous the sound and I realize the feelings are a mixture all across the emotional spectrum. Impressions form in my mind as phrases are given to correspond with some of the feelings. “I want this more than anything I’ve ever wanted….” “How could they… I trusted with my entire being” “Of course I can do this… failure is not an option” What will I ever do without…….. I never conceived there would be time when they were not….. " “Why did you leave me?” “I am so alone….” “no one cares and no one would understand!”

Hour 11: Having run from the cave I sat catching my breath as a fog descended over me – it was warm and wonderful and it induced in me a feeling that everything was perfectly ok, anything and everything was possible.
“Just so you know what you are experiencing now one might say is the predominant “environmental conditions” of this entire region, however it is subject to what can best be described as “interference.”"

Hour 12: "Transmissions, reception, innovation, guidance ………. so much you rely and revere your technology to communicate and as the source of “information” and yet there exists a vast network so complex that it will never be duplicated by your scientists and you ignore it – though you are now being given the opportunity to see it first hand"

Hour 13: I am shaken from…. wait a minute can you awake from awake? What was all that about advanced communication?

Hour 14: This “place” is endless one pinnacle gives way to valleys so vast they bridge the horizons on to resume at the base of the next summit.
“Forgive me for interrupting your contemplation but do you want the answer to your question regarding communication?”

Hour 15: Strangely there is no fatigue, I have been going for hours? and feel as energized as when I started. “onward, to the next pinnacle” While I’m at it yes, do tell about these communication advancements"
“What you are experiencing as a phenomena – consistently feeling your way as you go is the way of this world and many advanced civilizations throughout the universe.”

Hour 16: As I sit and watch large bodies of crimson lake front pulsing and rhythmically creating geyser-like fountains tossed toward the heavens I feel a consuming sadness while considering this “feeling form of communication.”

Hour 17: The “natural laws” don’t apparently apply here so I can actually walk across the “lake” as I walk (or would that be wade) I ponder: “how is it that the best human kind has been able to muster is so primitive in scope?”

“Ahem….. rhetorical question or …….?”
“No please go ahead …. I really had no imagining that a place such as this could exist, I must admit I am quite shaken with the discovery.”
“To be expected…… when the very fabric you create your reality from is shown to be shall we say, rather porous you can expect to experience “instability.” “You and your kind have not been excluded from what you are realizing is a widely practiced way of being…… it is just that so far you chose not to develop the potentials within each of you.”

Hour 18: No that couldn’t be…… after all if that were true it would be an entirely different world we live in?" "That which is touted as conventions of “human nature” simply are not." "They are well worn paths to be sure….. popularly espoused and in many cases fervently upheld…. even enforced?

Hour 19: “Surely not…. that would mean…… no it can’t be!!” I’m high…. that tea….. has got me trippin’ ….. that’s what it is

Hour 20: Strangely comfortable this place ….. despite the hallucinations cum revelations, for a completely alien environment I feel strangely at home.

Hour 21: "How easily you reduce the experience you are having here to mere “hallucination” now perhaps you might begin to understand how ways of being remain entrenched in your world. It has nothing to do with what is possible, it is what you collectively decide to uphold as “truth.” “You will fight and die to uphold your stories rather than consider the seeds of your potential”

Hour 22: Twenty-two hours since I “arrived” here and I discover I didn’t need to climb the mountains – laws of gravity don’t apply here. “Better late than never?”

Hour 23: "Am I ever to know where I am? It’s nearly time to leave!
“You might consider more important than “where you are” to “who you are” (including who you have been, who you want to be and what you want to realize, while you can of the seeds of your potential.")

Hour 24: The ground beneath my feet turn from solid to a consistency much like day old oatmeal. The surroundings once again swirl and blend like cosmic almond roca. I am absorbed into the vortex all that has been presented to me becomes a quantum martini, when at last I am once again able to focus I am sitting back at the fire. There where I left him was the elder smoking his pipe.

“Now can I finally know what planet, in what galaxy, was it that I traveled to?”
The old man sat back laughing uproariously, blowing smoke rings before he answered. “You really believe you are ready to explore the far reaches of outer space?” “Before you and many like you concern yourself with journeying to other worlds – you might consider exploring a world much closer to home.” "You my friend were a “pioneer” of your own heart" Now there is a world that humanity could explore and discover newly for quite some time to come!"