It always seemed strange that the only thing that separated the
two worlds was the large stained-glass window facing the street.
You could see shadows on the other side, people walking to
and from on the street, and I’m sure they could see similar shadowed movement
within the room.
The building was old stone and brick.
Flagstone floors.
Heavy wooden and metal doors.
Once you were inside and the door to the room was closed, everything
was hermetically sealed.
The cars, the people, the sounds of the city a few feet outside
all but vanished.
What do you see?
The two pillars towering to the ceiling are the first thing
you notice, there is no way otherwise not to. They frame a square black altar
which has some objects placed on it.
Behind the altar and off to the side hands a red tasseled
white banner, opposite it on the other wall need the door is a parallel banner only
in black.
Two small tables, one with a blue cloth and one with a red
cloth are on opposite walls, a silver chalice rests on one, a large brass bowl
of smoke on the other.
There is a geometry to the room.
What do you see?
Closing the eyes, the room invisibly lights up.
Gods tower over the room.
Rays of light from one banner, absorbed by the other banner.
In the center of the altar, a shaft of light piercing the ceiling
and extending beyond the planet.
What do you see?
Beyond the stone walls of the room, beyond the city outside,
in the far distance.
Another similar beam of light extending beyond the planet.
One to the East.
One to the North.