Lunar Serpentessence
or
"¡Al Infinito y Más Allá!"

Eric, 18 March 2003

And so it would come to this: months of ego-checking, wrapped in weeks of unshoulderable shouldered culpability, smashed, all of it, by the cold hand of realization of the reality that is, cherry-topped by one last cloud-drawn pre-dawn harangue.

Ahhh, but life is only so cruel when one fails to pierce through the reality of what is into the truth that animates it. And lest we end our tale with this pathetic pair of sentences, this story, like all of its kindred, must be penetrated, for that is our every-breathing-moment imperative: to penetrate the what is, such that we drink deeply of the genius of its construction, the perfection of its animation.

The black cat crossed their paths as they made one final midnight stroll to the concrete embankment overlooking the Pacific. The soft yellow moon hung high and bright in the west, spreading upon the black waves a golden narrow shimmer which stretched from the sands below into the horizon. The black Pacific undulated also into the infinite horizon, somehow alive, and the golden way of moonbeam undulated with it. The endless aqua void transformed into white foam as it crashed onto the rocks and sand below.

They gazed into this dream as they had done so many times before. But this night something gazed back at them. An omnipresence. An omnipotent. They felt its pull and were helpless against it. The terror of its presence reached into their souls, but still they could not see what was directly in front of them, what this vicious stalking creature was that lusted for their souls.

But they were not without ally. The moon illuminated the slithering beast that would soon strike at the very heart of them. Or the sun illuminated the beast via the moon. Or the cosmos illuminated the beast via the sun via the moon. Where the light actually originated is irrelevant to this story. Or perhaps it is the most relevant aspect.

There on the random surface undulations of the black deep, illuminated by a light source originating somewhere and being reflected by the moon, the hideous terrifying beast began to reveal itself. Or they began to reveal the beast for themselves. Or their eyes began to open. Or their true eye began to open. Or they began to open. Who actually began to reveal the presence of the beast is not relevant to this story. Or perhaps it is the most relevant aspect. But revelation of the beast began, for you see, the random surface undulations of the black deep were not so random as they first seemed. An endless massive “S” stretching into the horizon of perfectly ordered energy emerged into their field of vision. Or it was there all along and they merged into the field of the “S” energy. No matter, there was a meeting in one field or the other. Or there was a meeting in some other field heretofore unspoken of. And because so many things are best left unsaid, so shall we leave this thing unspoken. And besides, it is not relevant to the story. Or perhaps it is terribly relevant.

And still the damn machine gave friction. For the very reason that we deny ourselves the basic birthrights of perpetual motion and infinite energy, the machine would not heel. Conditioned as it had been, and conditioned well, it insisted upon interpreting the coherent perfection of the “S” energy as currents of air or currents of sea. After all, what else could this living “S” be? The machine had downloaded junk retail programming for most of its existence and was thus bound by the smallness of their languages. Only recently had the machine turned upon itself, to explore its own nature, to discard useless programs and self-generate useful ones. But that process is a practice that must be cultivated with time and so the machine was not perfect and still misperceived so much of its surroundings as something less than what they truly are. But not on this night.

The “S” force was too ordered and cohesive to be a conglomeration of random air and ocean currents. This realization nullified all available programs causing the machine to stop. And then it happened. The “S” energy emerged in full, revealed itself in full, as lunar serpent essence, as a force at once hideous and beautiful, breathtaking and breathgiving, evil and saintly, terrifying and loving. An ocean energy serpent of cosmic proportion, endowed with animation by light originating in some place; by currents with no beginning and no end; by the force that rotates the heavens; by the force that doubles the helices; by the force that gives birth to words like pure, raw, sexual, primal, electric, immense, unbreakable, and inseparable; by the force that is the all of the every and the nothing of the none. The undulating Serpent writhed on the ocean and the All writhed with it, even those aspects unaware of their own writhing, especially those aspects unaware of their own writhing.

Its mesmerizing gaze locked them in rapture, such that they could not turn away, not this time. The Serpent writhed in the black ocean strikingly visible in its field, ominously invisible without, stretching “¡al infinito y más allá!”. It was a living breathing orgasm, throbbing and vibrating, and they began to resonate with it and its energy began to flow through them.

Transfixed and suffocating, the Serpent struck at his chest, sank in its fangs, slithered into his being, coiled about his mind, and commanded to him:

“You have hunted me for ages and I have eluded you. You have glimpsed me in your dreams. I have stalked you in oblique forms. You have spoken with my brethren. You have witnessed me move mountains. And yet you have failed to look upon me fully without turning away. Look at me now!! Laugh as you learn that I have been stalking you all this time and could have taken you whenever I desired! Look upon me now and tremble at the realization that the hunter has become the hunted! Fear me for you cannot destroy me! Curse me if you will, but cognize your fallacy, for it is better to curse yourself for faulty practice. See me with your heart and weep for forsaking me! Feel me with your true eye! Burn within by the flame of my essence as I coil now through your own! Wail and scream as my scales and fangs and claws rip through your being lacerating and shredding all that you think you are, for this is the most exquisite pain in the universe, and it is I that give it to you! Though not unconditionally. Convulse as I overtake you now if you dare embrace such weakness, but know that you have been locked in my obliterating gaze, and should you ever attempt to turn away from me it will destroy you! I stalk you eternally, for I am you and you are I. So fear me if that be your venom. Fear me and I will rule you! Love me and I will rule you still! These are your options and you cannot escape this decision because it is an eternal choice. Best that you choose wisely. Either way, you will come to accept me because I am the most perfect beautiful manifestation you have ever experienced. Now I devour you from the inside out, leaving you empty and full for what is to come.”

With that, the unfeeling Serpent devoured our protagonist, and quite possibly our other protagonist as well, but that is another story and has no relevance to this one. Or perhaps it is terribly relevant.

Fear not, for our protagonist was happy to be devoured by this lunar serpent essence. He was enraptured, delighted, thrilled, taken, endowed. Bear in mind that our protagonist is a few sandwiches short of a picnic. But look here blessed you, these are the omens of our times, the oracles of our lives, the glimpses into what is, and the penetration into the truth that animates it. This story is a cautionary tale, so be wary you, wherever you come upon earth, air, wind, fire, or ether, because in those most sacred of places does the wicked Serpent lurk and stalk all who pass. Encounters with this cosmic pestilent snake are without mercy. Tread you lightly through the elements each day lest you invoke its writhing wrath and venomous vengeance.

After a time, our Serpent sank into the black deep and our protagonists returned to get some sleep. They were required to wake early the next morning for one final uninvited harangue, which they would mostly ignore and laugh about later.

And so, perhaps we have penetrated the what is of our story’s light upon the undulating surface of a black ocean into its perfect animation, a mythical tale of cosmology and serpentry and good vibration. Or it was not a mythical tale, but a literal account. But that is irrelevant…or perhaps...

In any event, our story is told, we wish it were sold, because soon it grows cold, and we have spent all our gold. Until we meet again you, beloved reader, savor life and be bold.

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