The Secret of Moroccan Lanterns

In a dream. Morocco. You suddenly find yourself back in the Mediterranean parlor which has consumed your subconscious for many months. The armoire, the ottoman, the ornate Moroccan tiles and ceilings- all the details which seem so vivid to you at this moment have always managed to slip just below reach of the waking mind. Then you see the Moroccan lanterns. You recall something- a distant memory- revealed not in a flash, but gradually, as if being told to you for the first time. It is a message sent from yourself in another life.

Keep your eyes fixed on the Moroccan lanterns. That is the first part of the message. And you comply out of sheer fascination. Between the lantern's vibrant stained-glass is an intersecting framework wrought by a living spirit. The Cosmos captured in three dimensions. A primary spectrum of colors that form the basis of everything you see as beautiful. In one glance, you witness a legacy of human craftsmanship that extends from the discovery of fire to the creation of something seductive enough to contain it: a Moroccan lantern.

But there is more to the message. It is beginning to come back to you now. Back in the real world, the world of plastic, the intoxicating mystery of the Mediterranean parlor has inspired you to practice lucid dreaming. By focusing your attention on the Moroccan lantern, you are somehow able to secure a foothold in this universe, the universe of form and light. If you were to return now, how could you describe these forms? How can you tell the others of what you have seen here? Words, despite all their practicalities, were never developed to convey the most powerful feelings. The soul speaks for itself, but in a voice as quiet as the sound of light against stained-glass.

You decide what you will tell them. That there exists a tranquility so perfect that it cannot be defined with labels or worldly metaphors. That peace can be experienced not in the trappings of industry, but in simple meditation of a Moroccan lantern. It seems like a revelation, but the words echo through your soul, conjuring images both ancient and spectral, like the laugher of a friend you thought was lost forever. Somewhere beneath the complexities of logic, you instinctively know the truth which has waxed dormant in the depths of your being. You will tell them that there are no words, there are only symbols- timeless ideals encoded in the architecture of the Moroccan lanterns

Remember this, and hope that the message will reach yourself again in the real world. Right now there seems to be no hurry. Eternities are unfolding before your eyes. Countless universes expand and contract in each dancing reflection of the Moroccan lantern. You have enjoyed many lifetimes in your Mediterranean parlor, and waking life has become the lucid dream. The calm insight that you have acquired here will be recited again when you wake, like a distant memory- revealed not in a flash, but gradually, as if being told to you again and again for the first time.