Ancient and New Age Darkness

I was in total darkness twice this weekend. Given our modern electric society, it's not very often that you find yourself in complete black, the sort of black where you can only tell your eyes are open because you feel yourself blink.

The first blackout occurred Saturday in the 5,000 year old passage tomb at Newgrange. As the tour guide said, she has yet to meet a stone mason that will give you a 5,000 year guarantee on a structure let alone one built without mortar. On the tour, they turn off the lights and let you see what the tomb is like most of the year. The only time natural light enters the tomb is for about 15 minutes each morning during the few days before and after the winter solstice. It is a little awe inspiring to stand there and think about the time, thought, engineering, and determination that was required to build such a structure.

Kahlil wasn't very awestruck, although he did quiet down when they turned off the lights. He went into the tomb strapped on Jay and I think this made Jay a little claustrophobic. Another man on the tour took about three steps down the tight, low passageway and couldn't do it. He pushed by us and headed for daylight. It was hard to miss the face of fear on him. A couple steps later I started to see the same face on Jay. But he was able to control his fear and make the walk to the internal chamber. I think he was a little relieved when the tour was over.

The picture is the entrance to the tomb. The large decorated stone at the bottom is the entrance kerb stone. Above that is the entrance you have to duck to get into. And above that, outlined by the white quartz stones, is the Roof Box; the inlet that lets the winter sunlight enter the tomb.

My second black out happened Sunday at the Harvest Moon Center. For my birthday, Jay gave me a gift certificate to HMC for a massage. He also saw they have a flotation chamber and told me he hoped I upgraded to have a float as well. When I set up the appointment for the massage I was feeling curious so I added the float.

The floatation chamber looks like a large igloo-style dog house. It's about eight feet long and four feet wide and high. There is only about a foot of 'water' in the bottom of the chamber. I say 'water' because is NOT something you would want to drink. The literature says it's a high concentration of Epsom salts. Given how it felt like liquid silk, I think there might be something else in there as well. After stripping, showering, and putting in ear plugs I climbed into the water. When I first stepped in, I just felt like a warm bath. But then I laid back and my legs floated right to the top surface of the water. It was a very strange feeling - maybe what it's like to be an embryo before the quarters get cramped. I pushed back to the rear of the chamber and turned off the light. So there I was, in total darkness floating on a layer of liquid silk. Strangely enough, I found it rather uncomfortable at first. I couldn't figure out how my head should be or where my arms should go. I think our muscles get so use to holding us up all the time, they don't know how to just release. It's hard to judge time in there, but I'm guessing I fidgeted for the first thirty minutes and was in a deep state of relaxation/dozing for the second thirty minutes. I felt very invigorated when I got out. If you have the chance to 'take a float', I would recommend it. I've never experienced anything like it.