May 19, 2023
All these layers of Reality! No wonder some Eastern traditions say that we’re asleep and dreaming. It’s true that the ego is a form of delusion, preventing us from seeing Reality as it is. But there are also many layers to Reality and the physical world is but one. We humans seem to operate on several levels simultaneously but are mostly oblivious to all but the most obvious.
Today, I found myself with a demonic horror. She seemed to have a vertical mouth that, when open, exposed vertical teeth and a blood-red maw. She was tall and slim and shapely, clad in silky, black and white robes. Despite this description, I knew she wasn’t evil and was actually benevolent. When I looked down at myself, I realized my body was similarly demonic. My skin was black and I was naked. I have no idea what my head looked like but it probably wasn’t pretty.
I understood that my appearance was appropriate for where we were, which was one of the darker realms, home to innumerable demons. Further, I understood that my appearance was a camouflage of sorts. By looking like this, I didn’t draw attention to myself.
As I stood beside the female demon, I slowly became aware of a body lying under a black sheet. It was like a crime scene of sorts. The body under the sheet and a trail of black blood leading away. I knelt beside the sheet, noting that the hand of the ‘victim’ was black and clawed. It was a demon’s hand. Curious, I lifted the sheet and saw something bizarre. It was a demon that had been skinned and its muscle and skeletal structure had been removed. Disturbing. It wasn’t dead, though. It had just been flayed.
I followed the trail of black blood and soon located the creature that had lived inside the demon’s skin. It was human but rather than bloody, its body was opaque white. It reminded me of a fruit whose husk had been peeled. The poor thing was in pain and was terrified. It felt exposed, vulnerable and, missing its skin, was suffering. I’d never seen anything quite like it. Only the black hair on its hair was ‘normal’ and the rest of its body was moist, translucent white. What had ripped this poor thing out of its demon shell?
As I tried to soothe the creature, I gradually understood that he was human, probably a young man, although I’m not certain. When I looked at his eyes, I noticed they were all black and, as soon as I looked inside them, I was inside him. Inside those dark eyes was a black chamber. And on the floor was a boy. This boy looked more human and was wearing clothes; however, his eyes were all black just like the other’s.
Layers within layers. I gazed into his depthless eyes and discovered the ghostly white body of a boy floating within. I leaned over and reached out to grab him, bringing him back into the black chamber. By doing so, the boy’s eyes turned back to normal and were no longer all black. From there, it was easy to return to the demon realm where the boy whose body had been opaque white was now a regular adolescent or possibly young adult male. I led him back to his discarded skin and the two - boy and skin - were reunited.
I’m just guessing here but it seems like this was a real young man in the physical world who had experienced severe emotional distress and had dissociated. It seems like most humans are twinned with an angelic being that reflects our inner state of development. For most people, this means our twin is demonic in appearance until we have grown up and developed. I don’t know for sure, I think the boy/man was no longer quite so dissociated. It seems like its dangerous to be dissociated for too long because you can attract unwanted attention.
Anyway, after they left, I was back with the demonic woman. We sat and meditated together, eventually waking up in a brilliant white world. The woman had transformed and now appeared not as a demon but as a winged lioness. This form was appropriate for this realm, just as her previous form had been appropriate for the other realm.
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