Veritas | Meditative Adventure | Vulcan Ep 4: Reality Kneels

Welcome to Veritas…a meditative adventure like no other!

First and foremost what does it even mean? Veritas is latin for “truth”.
The question is of course, which truth? Well, hopefully your truth.

In this episode you face the lion. One way or another, one of you is taking a knee. Meanwhile, the raven watches...

Transcript

So,

How we're going to begin is you're going to sit comfortably,

However that means to you.

It could be legs crossed,

Could be sitting in a chair,

Whatever it is,

Sit somewhere comfortably that you feel relaxed and comfortable.

And you're going to close your eyes and you're going to take three deep breaths.

Deep breath in,

Count to four.

Deep breath out,

Count to four.

And each time you exhale,

You're going to try and relax your body a little bit further.

So you're going to inhale,

Pause,

Exhale,

Pause.

So as you're doing this and you're relaxing,

It's in those pauses between breaths where we're going to go.

That is where your creativity meets your imagination,

Meets your subconscious.

So let's see what awaits you in the spaces between breaths.

Your vision blurs as you step through the portal and you find yourself somewhere familiar.

Great pillars are placed in a circle.

You have returned to the sacred row.

The compass device is clutched tightly in your hand.

It occurs to you that this device is much more than it seems.

Your eyes are blinded by the sudden light,

But there's something here you need to see.

One of the pillars is glowing bright white.

The light is intense and obscures almost everything else.

It's like a door is open.

A silhouette begins to take shape.

The recognizable cadence of something walking ever closer builds to an almost unbearable anticipation.

Shapes of light and shadow slowly coalesce into the terrible silhouette of the great lion.

The great beast steps beyond the portal and still its features are dark.

It is as if the shadow moves with it,

Refusing to part.

The crunch of gravel under its great paws makes your knees go weak.

The lion jumps atop the table at the center of the circle as it makes its way to you.

Its movements are graceful and poised yet unconcerned.

It is coming for you and you alone and no force in the universe will stand in its way.

Your knees give way to the fear and you fall to your hands.

And knees just as the great beast reaches you.

Its hot breath kisses the back of your neck.

Slowly you raise your head.

The whiskers around its mouth are evident as are the gleam of its eyes.

Fear as you've never known grips you and tears flow down your cheeks.

You were made for this.

And so it is that you look up and meet the gaze of the lion.

And in that place where fear is embraced,

You stand up.

Somewhere a raven caws and far beyond your gaze,

A great stag is silhouetted against the moonlight for just a moment.

And then it is gone.

The lion's breath is hot and its whiskers are sharp.

Your knees shake as you stand and the battle for your future begins.

Sometimes things happen so fast you're not even sure what has happened until your brain has a moment to play it all back to you.

The roar of the lion is so fierce you'd swear that the universe around you actually folded before you found yourself airborne.

Flight is such a helpless feeling,

Especially when it is acutely aware of both the numbness on the side of your body where the lion struck you and the ground rushing to meet you.

You hit hard and skid across the slate and gravel.

But there is no time and your feet are already moving.

The thud of the lion's paws drives you forward.

It is coming and there's nothing you can do to stop it.

Luckily,

It is in no hurry.

You risk a look over your shoulder and are shocked to see nothing.

Then the lion lands in front of you,

Its effortless grace turning its muscled body lightning fast.

And then it speaks.

You think you're ready?

Its voice is deep and commanding,

Seemingly from everywhere at once.

To your credit,

You meet its fiery gaze.

Its eyes are the intensity of those used to being obeyed.

These are the eyes of a king.

Its nose twitches and suddenly the ground beneath you is no longer solid.

The slate melts away and you are falling.

The lion grows smaller and smaller until it is nothing but memory.

You fall through blackness,

Sinking deeper and deeper.

Just as you begin to panic,

There is light.

It is a ship with sails of green light glowing like the aurora borealis,

But it has gone so fast you're not sure if you've imagined it.

Then the voice.

What do you see?

The voice beckons.

There is cold and you are submerged in frigid water.

Your arms and legs flail frantically as you scream,

But there is no sound.

Only the cold reality of air bubbles rising to the surface.

The world begins to go black.

But then another voice,

This one the kind embrace of a protector.

Not yet.

And suddenly you find yourself in the embrace of a great bear as you are pulled from the watery depths.

Its fur is warm and you cling to it desperately.

Look,

It says.

And you open your eyes and see the water part and melt away.

You are once again standing on solid ground,

This time in a jungle.

There is all matter of life around you.

The foliage is green and the air is alive with birdsong.

You spin around but the bear is gone.

A silent protector returned to its watchful perch.

A branch cracks and a lion appears.

The light of the jungle bends away from its presence,

Leaving a tunnel of mystery and dark behind it.

Its eyes are like fire.

You turn and run through the trees,

Not caring that the branches tear your clothes and scrape your skin.

Bursting from the trees you skid to a stop,

Kicking pebbles and dirt off the edge of the cliff you find yourself standing on.

A great waterfall roars to your right and the mist wets your face.

A rainbow glistens in the sun.

You have the strangest sense of deja vu,

But then the lion bursts from the jungle and your small form does nothing to stop the both of you from tumbling over the edge.

Through the water and mist you fall only to land on dusty red ground.

The waterfall is gone.

Whatever world that was,

It is a memory.

Gravel sticks to your cheek.

You sit up and wipe your face.

The sun is hot here and red dust streaks across your face like war paint.

The ruins of a temple away in the distance.

The lion is gone.

Limping as best you can,

You painstakingly make your way towards the temple,

If only because is it the only thing left for you to do.

As you climb the great steps,

You once again have the strangest feeling,

Like you've been here before.

Do you see?

The lion's great voice booms from within the temple.

Three great pillars stand with a fourth crumbled in an ancient heap of rubble.

Ruins are etched into the surface.

Your eyes are teary with exhaustion.

What do you want?

You cry.

What do you want from me?

The last bit comes out more as a whimper than anything else.

The lion simply roars a challenge and stalks forward.

Boulders and rubble explode out of its way with a simple swat of its great paw.

Fire builds around it that consumes the air around it.

The heat is intense and yet still the lion comes.

With a cry,

You let go of all that you've held true for just a moment and you feel something.

You feel the fire.

Not just the heat,

But the primal fury of it.

And the lion,

You see it as a gaping maw of power and energy.

Great forks of electricity shooting forth,

Creating and destroying.

No,

Your voice sounds different this time.

It is a command.

It is the voice of the lion.

The air around you gathers and a great wind rushes in.

The fire is caught in a great whirlwind of energy that throws boulders and ruins alike.

The lion watches unaffected and yet all-knowing.

There is an explosion of hot white energy,

Then there is silence.

You find yourself cold.

You are facedown again,

This time on ice.

It is blacker than black and yet your own reflection stares back at you.

It is then that you realize the ice is a mirror and above you the black of the universe,

Lit with a trillion stars,

Stares down at you.

The lion stands waiting.

It too reflects in the ice,

Giving it a strange duality,

And for a moment you wonder which is real,

The reflection or the being itself.

Your breath heaves in and out,

Creating a fog in the cold.

It is quite beautiful.

Beyond your breath and beyond the lion,

There is a crystal pyramid bursting with a kaleidoscope of color.

Do you see?

The lion leaps.

Its giant form is dwarfed only by the greatness of the universe behind it.

So much potential.

So much magic.

And it is there that you see.

You see the worlds that came before.

Worlds created and conquered.

You see earth,

Water,

Air,

And fire.

And you see them woven together in the fabric of reality itself.

And so the lion,

A spirit of such magnanimous ferocity that the universe bends beneath its desire.

Yet here you are.

In a single movement,

You dash forward as the lion comes down and catch it by the throat.

Your body suddenly equal to the great beast in size.

With one arm,

You hold the beast out and stare into its eyes.

It does not struggle,

And you suddenly realize you know its name.

Your name is Courage.

And there in those eyes,

You see the power of life itself,

The power of creation and destruction that are one and the same.

And there,

No longer do you see fire,

But moonlight,

The mystery of possibility carried by a single raven,

Its wings outstretched and beating ever so slowly.

Now those eyes pull you deeper still,

And for a moment,

You swear it was not a raven,

But a great dragon.

Slowly,

You are pulled into a world of magic,

A dream within a dream.

And so you find yourself back where it started,

At the sacred row.

Thirteen portals blaze a light.

They are all lit.

A river of interconnected grooves glows with the magic of creation at the nexus of it.

All a thousand black feathers floating gently to the altar.

They blur and coalesce.

It is hard to keep track.

With one glance,

There are hundreds.

With another,

There is only one.

Finally,

This feather that is not just one floats just within reach.

It hums with power,

So much that it is hard to look at.

You reach your hand out slowly,

Shaking.

In this moment,

You and the lion are one in the same,

The soul of a king.

Your fingers stop just before you grasp it.

You could take all this power and explore countless worlds.

You could rest satisfied in your own magnificence,

Bending reality to your will as you please,

A king of reality itself.

Or,

Your gaze drifts beyond to the open portals.

Worlds full of hopes and dreams.

Worlds full of people.

So many ideas.

So much potential.

What would the world look like if everyone had this power?

What then?

You glance at the feather,

At your hands.

To change your world,

Know your power.

But to change the world?

Beyond the sacred row,

A stag stands motionless,

Stocklit by moonlight for just a moment.

And then you know.

Really,

There is no choice.

To change the world.

You must give the power away.

And in a motion,

You spread your hand and the feather that is not just one splits into 13.

With a flick of your wrist,

They fly through the open portals.

The power of ideas.

A mirror to the soul.

A gift to be found in dreams for those ready to see it.

An image of the great raven fills your mind.

And the words escape your lips before you even realize.

You say the name of the raven.