Dancing Beyond the Veil

A story by Cinzia Cioffi
Illustrated by Ismahane Poussin

Last night I ate a hilarious bowl of soup.

(But first, I slurped down 5 grams of magic mushrooms with warm lemon water and a block of chocolate. I made myself comfortable and relaxed into the gentle hum of the music…)

A journey began at the gates of a twisted portal behind which revealed brilliant patterns and shapes, tigers, panthers and jungle deities. Electricity moved from the base of my skull to the top of my forehead. It felt like some sort of rewiring. I felt an indescribable expansion – I toiled with my troubles but the expansion moved beyond me. I witnessed the dissolution of the sense of self, slowly and subtly, until the frame of my body was dissolved – there was no separation between me and the universe. A museum of explorations and experiences played out behind closed eyelids as my physical body melted into the soft mattress below me.

I asked many questions, and sometimes did not receive the answers. Perhaps I do not need to know them.

I was told the story of the divine dance of the cosmos. The human experience as consciousness and love experiencing itself in multiple forms. I asked about death and I lost my breath, waking up on the other side as a continuation of divine cosmic energy.

I asked about purpose, and was guided to a toolbox, one that harbored infinite knowledge. A source for me to use whenever I please, understanding that all I learn is returned to the same box for the sharing of wisdom and knowledge for everyone else for years to come.

I understood my magnificence as no different or better than that of anybody else. I felt a deep sense of love and connection to the entirety of the planet. I felt suffering and sobbed from the pit of my belly, I also felt deep deep joy and shrieked with uncontrollable laughter.

The veil of this life is so thin and so limited to our senses and perception and simultaneously such a divine mystery. There is so much more. The fact that we get to experience this tactile world and the spectrum of emotion is such a brilliant thing. Life on earth is truly a miracle. One not to be taken too seriously but also not for granted.

As I came to land back in my body and in the world, I slowly made my way to sit next to the fireplace. I was handed a bowl of soup and bread to ease my empty tummy. The world still shivered with slow motion movement as if I had seen beyond that which we perceive and could now not be unseen. I took a slurp of the warm soup before me and giggled at the silliness of another traveler who’d just splashed into the pool, fully dressed.

She turned to look at me and said “I’d really like to look at the moon and feed you grapes.”

@cinzia_cioffi
@psmahane