Omicron Blue Chapter# 18
18
‘From darkness into the Light. How trite these words seem, yet nevertheless, they are true in an historical context. And more and more are they true today as my whole being is constantly and completely infused with this fact by the contradictions of an age… the schizophrenia… that is, the multipersonalities of a species… which cloak one with frustration, yet is no doubt also the regalia, the harbinger, the psychodrama of an age in transition and evolution.
‘Darkness, light. From the dank cave-like refuge of the monk’s cell to the expanse and splendor of Gothic arch and tracery. From the bat-like wings of priestly office and candle-dripped manuscripts of forgotten libraries beneath the earth to the erudite illumination of universities. From the skulking, furtive transactions of the Jew… in the shadow of the wall of prince, sword, and early death… to the engines of steel and glass straining forth with the energy of the millennia towards the expanse of the heavens, towards the sky-brilliant Light.
‘So blinded by light in fact are we that we all too often forget that we are still children of darkness. So frantically have we sought to place our whole selves into that tiniest of pin-dots of light afforded by man’s technological wonders, which by our estimation should immediately translate us unto a paradise of exquisite joy… that we have nearly torn the body societas asunder… as foot, leg, trunk, arm are still firmly anchored… in relentless medieval night.’
On Sunday, Omicron was up early. He was all energy and he sought ways to expend it. He wanted to carry his woman off into the jungle, mate, and begin his Life. The time for this had not yet arrived. Omicron’s mind was repeatedly lured to the thought of how during the Struggle, the victory of one moment had so suddenly collapsed into the ruin and destruction of the next. One never knows, he concluded. One must always be ready for the unexpected. But this… he promptly checked himself …, is not the proper conclusion. There is more to this than the mere vulnerability of man and woman to the whims of fate. Man and woman can fight and win. However, fate, reversal, disaster… and man and woman’s successful response to these things is the True essence of victory. Therefore, such disaster is a part of the journey man and woman must traverse towards the Light, and thus, is part of the ultimate victory. It is not so much that the world or the Cosmos is against anyone. It is more that they are indifferent to man and woman and their Lives. Consequently, most things that happen are not consistent with one’s goals. One must assess the realities about him or her and make adjustments. If one is working on a play and for some reason he or she loses a draft of a screenplay and has to start over, he or she should not say that Cosmos is against him or her and give up. Instead he or she should say, ‘O.K., I really can make it better anyway.’ This will turn a negative Force of fate into a positive Force of action. Consciousness is known by the tools it creates…If certain tools are lost or don’t work…we can always create new ones….On the other hand, when one looks back on his or her Life…it often seems that if one works diligently on the proper course…things seem in retrospect to have been fostered, facilitated by events that have occurred…Yes…in spite of all that has been said…when the last speaking is done…it may actually be the case…that the Cosmos may be watching!
At noon when the Blues were eating lunch… with Aura a continual presence now…the news came. Steve was taking a brief rest in the Blue’s cluster. It was then that a message appeared on the Cerebrum screen…
‘Concerning the application of Omicron Blue to the United States Music Academy: Admission denied.’
Two weeks before, Omicron would have been crushed and would have been frantic that his father was not nearby for advice and consolation. The faces around the table zeroed in on him for his inevitable reaction. Omicron pressed his lips together in a small smile, stood… then saluted smartly with his hand… half sarcastically, half reconciled to the destinies of the universe… and excused himself to go for a walk.
For an hour he walked. He might as well have flown… for all his mind knew or cared. At first he was bitter and began to blame the school for making a bad decision… and the Struggle…both had disrupted his dream of creating music for a drama which could be accepted for nationwide showing.
However, very quickly, he acknowledged the Truth. First, his music up to this point had not been very good. Maybe, as Aura had said, he had not been sufficiently inspired. More likely he had had nothing of worth to say. For in the end, music is nothing more than a vehicle for communication. And communication in spite of its elegance of form or color and variety of its presentation can never by more than its content.
One does not write music to win acceptance to a school. One writes music because one must. That is, one is compelled to use music to express a certain idea… because in a particular case it is the only medium capable of expressing the thought most completely and successfully. Up to now, he had accepted the plot and dialog of a musical as a given, as a showcase in which context his music could be presented. However, the music had been contaminated by this process. He was writing words he could not relate to… beliefs he did not hold. Now he could see that to be entirely successful he would have to start at the very beginning…He must develop the ideas, the concepts, the philosophy that is to be expressed. If the Beatles…had only read something!
But then this was not entirely correct…It wasn’t that he did not have ideas… He did have ideas…he just hadn’t used them in musical productions… Yes, indeed…he had ideas that he would like to express…These were concepts he had developed and were his alone. The ideas must now be allowed to blossom forth, naturally… with melodies consistent with them and supportive of them in energy and content. The dialog, costumes, sets, and Lighting would also have to be used to support these ideas…into the highest forms of dramatic and conceptual art. These other aspects of the theater were not his forte… but he could rely upon A-types for contributions in these spheres.
Yes, he could do it. And he would do it, right away…. However… Then a second part of the truth hit him. The whole scheme of going to the academy in New York had been merely an escape. It had been a dream he had had… to prolong his formative education, to isolate himself from the world… to pleasure himself in his previous dilatory way. He knew now that he must remain in the world. Music would be one means, but not the only way, he would impact the world. There was his research, which was most important. Composing music can generate joy and happiness. But one must not concentrate upon that to the detriment of the many other ways one can obtain such joy and happiness. The major way to receive the Cosmic rewards, that is, the way most people on earth had receive them in the past, is through physical creativity… And Omicron now was committed to staying in the Bay area with his woman and starting his family. This now had to have the highest priority. Intellectual creativity also produces joy and happiness. But he knew that the creation of intellectual tools, that is, ideas… produced the desired ends only if the tools were of use, if they were capable of having a great impact upon the world….Tools are of use only if they have the potential to make man and woman’s Lives easier and more meaningful. But such tools can be created only if one is fully immersed in Life, is acquainted with Life’s problems, and therefore is in a prime position to help solve problems.
Lastly, there was Cosmic creativity, which was a third source of joy and happiness. His ideas…his tools…which are filled with potential…must become Cosmic!…One must follow through..and take the first steps towards enabling his ideas to impact the world. This meant that his place was here… in the communities … to reap the experience of working in the world…His ideas must be Powerful enough…to be used in developing products, social tools, that is, institutions, creating new patterns of social interaction on the national and world levels and rendering to all mankind a better Life. He would accept the responsibilities of being a leader in his community, being active in political life, receiving joy and happiness from service in Love…to the tribe and nation, writing songs and working with his wife in their Circle of Love and community… celebrating cooperation, progress, and perpetuation of the species on the highest levels. His place was here…not in New York…His place was in the Bay area… and community creativity on all three levels would be furthered by this decision.
As Omicron walked the hills in contemplation, Omicron noticed that spring had blossomed forth overnight. It was the second week of March. When he returned to the community an hour later, Aura was walking towards him with an armload of flowers. Seeing her, he almost laughed. Here was the crux of it all! He realized that it was impossible for him to be any happier. His dream had been a false one, and a new course had to be taken.
Aura approached cautiously, surveying his face carefully to make sure that Omicron would not snap her head off.
‘Well, there you are. You just walked off like that. Didn’t even wait to share the tragedy of the moment together.’
Then seeing that in spite of the news he was in fairly good spirits, she teased, ‘Well, if they don’t want you, I do.’ These words reinforced the thoughts that Omicron had just had…Hearing these words, Omicron realized that here indeed was… the Heart of the matter. If he went to New York, he would be giving up their Life together. He would return, but so many precious joyful hours together would be lost. He really was not sure now what he would have done if the production had been accepted. He suspected that with circumstances the way they were now, he probably would not have gone east anyway.
If things are so bad, why do I feel so happy, and so certain that glorious times are ahead? he wondered. Before him, Omicron saw a picture of Typhon, the symbol of Cosmic step 15… Fate… ‘the spirit of catastrophes, who rises out of a flaming abyss and brandishes a torch above the heads of two men chained at his feet. It is the image of fatality which bursts into certain lives like the eruption of a volcano, and overwhelms great as well as small, strong and weak, the cleverest and the least perceptive, in its equal disaster. On the physical level, the step expresses the Unforeseen, and Fatality. On the intellectual level, it signifies mystery. On the Cosmic level, it means predestination.
‘Whoever you may be , son of Earth, contemplate the ancient oaks that defy the Lightning, but which the Lightning strikes after having avoided them for more than a century. Cease to believe in your wisdom and your strength, if God has not granted that you may receive the key to the mysteries that make a prisoner of Fate.’ The key to survival and progression in a world embraced by fate is to keep the initiative of the Will bright by riveting one’s eyes upon the True and Just. Then in spite of a world falling about one, he or she may strike forward with the knowledge that if he or she proceeds in accordance with the Laws of the universe, he or she will ultimately prevail. “Well, it looks as if you have to stay and be with me,” Aura interrupted his reverie. With his grasp he brought her next to himself and kissed her. Those old plans of escape and lethargy seemed irrelevant and pathetic… considered now… with the woman of his dreams… in his arms .