July 28th - Local Experience

[haleywilde]

Cammie was gifted a necklace prior to her adventure into the void last night. She said that she would share the details about it on the forum when she returned, but it seems we won't be hearing from her for a while. While we wait, I have a few thoughts:

It appears that Cammie's necklace is a raven skull-

Raven skulls in mythology, "can symbolize transformation, change, and the link between life and death." Which is an interesting thought for the door. Is the door a link between life and death possibly? Was this gift a symbol of the journey that they all were about to embark on?

Additionally, Odin had ravens that were seen as a part of him; he needed them to go out to explore the world and return to him to tell him what was going on. Cammie has been used as a messenger of sorts, so that also checks out.

Unrelated to above, but I also find it interesting that WIB had a black bird (maybe a raven?) tattooed on her arm, and now Cammie has a bird skull around her neck... Have we heard from WIB in a while?

[blondie]

This is all super interesting haley! But especially this bit:

Unrelated to above, but I also find it interesting that WIB had a black bird (maybe a raven?) tattooed on her arm, and now Cammie has a bird skull around her neck... Have we heard from WIB in a while?

This feeds into my red string theory to do with initiation:

This ‘confusion technique’ was carried out until the student reached the stage where he was prepared to swear a vow of blind allegiance to one or other of his teachers.

This oath, together with certain secret signs, was administered in due course, and the candidate awarded the first degree of initiation.”

I have leaned into the idea that Campbell swore a vow to Lamia and this could be a token to recognise that…

[haleywilde]

Hugin and Munin
Fly every day
Over all the world;
I worry for Hugin
That he might not return,
But I worry more for Munin.

- Eddic Poem, Grímnismál, Said by Odin

"In Norse Mythology, Odin is the most powerful and
the leader of all the Viking gods. He is the god of
knowledge, war, and victory. Odin rules from Asgard
in a silver tower and has two ravens that fly all over
the world. They are called Hugin and Munin and
they sit on Odin’s shoulders and tell him all that they
saw. Hugin represents ‘memory’ and Munin
represents ‘thought’.

The ravens were seen as a part of Odin; he needed
them to go out to explore the world and return to
him to tell him what was going on. Odin feared that
someday something might happen to the ravens and
they would not return.

Hugin and Munin were given special powers by Odin
so that they could fly all over the world very quickly,
and could understand and even speak people’s
language. They were also very observant and would
go into battle with Odin to spy on his enemies so he
would know how to fight them."


Cammie... have you been a spy?

[lazysmartperson]

Another interesting raven/crow story is that of Cain and Abel.

After the murder, Allah sent a crow searching in the ground to show Cain how to hide the disgrace of his brother.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cain_and_Abel_in_Islam

Any notable disgraces lately? They might reside in an oddly shaped hole now.

[blondie]

Cammie was gifted a necklace prior to her adventure into the void last night. She said that she would share the details about it on the forum when she returned, but it seems we won't be hearing from her for a while.

While we wait, here’s a pic of the “gift” in question:

[haleywilde]

Definitely looks like an eyeball in it's mouth to me- which only furthers the Odin reference

[someguyinKC]

Excuse the silence and mystery. You know the rules.

Video recap is here https://youtu.be/L27CKjE15PU. Key takeaways bulleted below:

- Dan has come around and is working with them
- Salty pentagram
- Woman with stick mask
- She expected more from me
- I’m selfish
- Opulens is a single person… [redacted]
- He likes me, they like me, they want me to do well, but I’m too nice and don’t ask the right questions
- I’ve missed 6 opportunities to go deeper so far
- When a door opens, it doesn’t always stay open

[Brianamatopoeia]

Looking forward to hearing what Cammie has to tell us about her gift. It's quite lovely.

[haleywilde]

Damn! Listening to your video is the first time I've reeeeeally felt the fomo. So excited you all got to experience that! (and obviously real jealous that you got to meet opie)

Do you recall what kind of animal skulls were on the table?

[someguyinKC]

Do you recall what kind of animal skulls were on the table?

I do not. Large ones. Deer of some sort? Though I don't recall them having antlers.

[kassidy.exe]

Hello! Long time no see. opulens wanted us (me and clara) back on the forum so here I am! I will really go over anything noteworthy or different from Matt’s experience in his YouTube video.

Anyway, my experience. A lot of it played the same as Matt and Cammie’s. I was the first one yoinked back by opulens and was told to stand at the wall. I got my Polaroid taken (clara has not and i havent heard anyone else mention this yet?) and when I asked if I could move now, opulens yelled for me to shut the fuck up so I went right back to the wall- lots of dragging around, hair pulling, etc. He told me to be a good girl and stand at the wall so stand at the wall I did. A couple of points I haven’t heard discussed yet, he asked me why I think they do what they do. I asked why, and he responded with something along the lines of “to live on the edge.” And when I brought up how I never experienced anything like this before, he agreed and said “welcome to the edge.” Which, that sentiment really lines up with why I was there.

Went upstairs when it was my turn. Talked to the woman who asked why i was here, and what my note said. Both answers were the same: “to experience, feeling alive.” (Again, lines up with the whole “living on the edge” sentiment) And she gave me the bucket options. I picked to send it to the Universe. She seemed pleased with this response, as she said “You know how this works. You know how this fucking thing works!” And I was sent back downstairs.

Side note: I care less about the what and why, and more about the bigger picture, thats why I didn’t bother asking any questions, and let them feed me information they wanted to give. (my brain went blank during most of this experience anyway, I think I pissed off opulens when I stuttered so hard I couldn’t answer him) but I will take an active foot forward. what you give is what you get, after all. Otherwise, i am happy to just go on the crazy joyride that is this experience.

There is so much I could get into about how this experience was for me personally, but this forum isn’t meant to be a diary. I know yall just want the scoop on what happened lol. Maybe the more personal story is something saved between me and the universe.

[campbellstruts]

aint got my prize yet. will keep all posted

no, the necklace is not the prize.

[opulens]

aint got my prize yet. will keep all posted

No need. They'll know.

Blessings.

[haleywilde]

There is so much I could get into about how this experience was for me personally, but this forum isn’t meant to be a diary. I know yall just want the scoop on what happened lol. Maybe the more personal story is something saved between me and the universe.

Strongly disagree- make your own topic and share away! We want all the deep thoughts!

[opulens]

Strongly disagree- make your own topic and share away! We want all the deep thoughts!

The honorable Ms Haley Wilde is extremely correct.

[opulens]

Excuse the silence and mystery. You know the rules.

Video recap is here https://youtu.be/L27CKjE15PU. Key takeaways bulleted below:

A wonderful recollection as we expected.

Blessings.

[Phantomess16]

Thread will be coming later tonight! I have a lot to recall

[opulens]

Maybe the more personal story is something saved between me and the universe.

It was wonderful to witness your next steps, Kassidy.

Blessings.

[someguyinKC]

For those of you that are living vicariously, figured I'd try to get you some detail.

Night has fully set. It's a humid 85 degrees out. You pull into a parking lot just off the frontage road of the major interstate. It's a small lot, no more than 15 spots total. You take the middle parking spot on the right hand side, directly below the only light in the lot. On the other end of the parking lot is a surprisingly busy drive through ATM, situated so that the cars shine their headlights directly at you, blinding you from seeing any identities. You arrived just early enough to think you've been waiting forever when Dan arrives.

He parks 3 spots away from you, quickly ushers 2 passengers on their way, and briskly walks towards you with a look somewhere between disbelief and disgust. He nonchalantly gathers your belongings and walks back towards the car expecting you to follow him. You do. You approach the passenger side of the old, gold, sedan, open the back door for your friend, and slide in next to her. You're given a proper hood. Thick velvet exterior with a coarse, uncomfortable interior. You place it on your own head. The hood is completely dark and thick enough to capture your breath, making it even more humid. You ride for 3 minutes, mostly in silence, except for the occasional scoff from Dan.

You notice that you're at a destination instead of a stoplight by the way the car is thrown into park followed by the sound of seatbelts coming undone and the driver's door opening. He opens the driver's side back door and you slide over to exit after your friend. First you are guided separately up an 8" curb, across a 2' section of grass, and then up another 2" step. You're told to put your hands on your friend's shoulders in front of you and you do your best to sync your footsteps with theirs based on the cadence of their arm swings so that you don't step on their feet. They are being guided but you still have the feeling that it's the blind leading the blind. You walk up a slight incline, maybe 25 steps, make a 180-degree turn, and walk back about 5 steps. You are turned 90 degrees to your right and pushed forward. Through the hood you can feel the warmth radiating from whatever is directly in front of you. Your mask comes off and your face is 6" from the left of two light blue, metal doors. Directly in front of your face, in thick, red sharpie, is the word "RUN".

The door opens towards you and you're shoved into a space full of fog and lit by a single, but incredibly bright, colored LED lamp on a tripod to your right, and a similar, differently colored LED on the far side of the room. You enter from the corner of a room approximately 20' across and 50' side to side. In the closer of the 2 adjacent corners, there are stairs, framed but not fully finished. The whole space is unfinished, with cement walls, sheets of plywood on the ground, no fixtures and no furniture, except for a table at the far end of the room. You're heart rate is elevated and you've already developed a few sweat beads on your forehead from having the bag over your head. You press forward towards the table.

You scratch your words into the parchment paper in front of you and fold the thick stock twice before putting it in your pocket. You make your way to the stairs in the opposite corner. They're not directly lit but there's enough light to make your way up a flight of stairs with a 180-degree turn half way up them. The landing of the second floor is not lit, but you see a well-lit doorway about 20' away. You walk towards the doorway ignoring the large shadowy space to your right and the human shaped figure within it.

The room you enter is half the size of the room downstairs with twice as many obnoxiously bright LED lights shining directly at you. From the center of the pentagram, you see candles, 3 pails, and a design of some sort on the ground. It's warmer in this room than it was even with the hood on. When she approaches you she smells... earthy. When you upset her, you feel her fingernails dig into your shoulder as she pushes towards the door. You retreat through the darkness and back down the stairs, wondering what would happen if you went up further instead.

You walk towards your friend but, from behind, you feel a hand come over your mouth and another over your eyes. You're shoved into a corner and slightly bend your neck to place your forehead on the concrete wall as you are instructed. You stand up straight and feel a hand clamped firmly around the back of our neck, strongly suggesting direction as you walk. His breath is warm. His eyes are wide and piercing. You feel frightening vulnerability and the warmth of friendship simultaneously. You're spoken to with such sincerity and meaning that you're almost disappointed to leave.

You're herded towards the door. The hood goes back on. The door opens. The sticky, 85-degree, night air feels cool.

[haleywilde]

Matt, this is so... strangely specific and detailed. Can you actually confirm certain things like the 3 minute car ride?