6. Entering the Mine

The Keeper of the Mine is satisified with the gifts of appeasement that you have left and she tells Annie Marshall, one of the guides who work in the mine, to bring you to the entrance of the main caverns that leads to the Lemurian Alluvial Mine.

Remembering those cave tours where you admired the stalagtites, stalegmites and columns memories drift back of a guide talking about how the cave features were formed as calcite droplets fell to the floor of the cave. Familiar smells return as you stand in the corridor leading to the cavern where a special door leads to the Alluvial Mine. But this cavern is like no other that you have stood in. The walls are filled with drawings done by travellers who have passed this way.

“Among miners rites calling for a state of cleanliness, fasting, meditation, prayers and acts of worship were strictly observed. All these things were ordained by the very nature of the operation to be conducted because the area to be entered is sacred and inviolable, subterranean life and the spirits reigning there are about to be disturbed… There is a feeling of venturing into a domain which by rights does not belong to humankind. – the subterranean world with its mysteries of mineral gestation which has been slowly taking its course in the bowers of the Earth Mother. There is above all the feeling that one is meddling with the natural order of things ruled by some higher law and intervening in a secret and sacred process.” Mircea Eliade The Forge and the Crucible.

Every precaution must be taken. A rites de passage is essential. Mystery is at stake and just as mining for minerals changed entire modes of existence, mining within the alluvial mine will change the lives of those who enter.

Charged with a sense of holiness you make an offering at the door – slough a skin and leave it behind.

Post under Sloughing

Press your hand into the handprint on the door at the end of the tunnel and trust that the door will permit you to pass by.

Describe what is on the other side of the door.

Post under Alluvial Mine Entrance

We will be living in the valley and working The Mine for a few weeks. So once you find any nuggets do be sure to show us all. Remember to use your mouse intuitively to explore the mine and keep a watchful eye on the Mine Canary. Make sure to listen to the voice of the canary – which is quite different to that of the inner critic.

Mine Canary: In the olden days, miners who went deep into coal shafts used to carry a golden canary with them into the chambers below. The miners, usually people who had spent their entire lives in the depths of mining shafts, were unable to sense when toxic gasses were escaping from the walls. The rule was simple, if you looked over and saw that the canary was laying on its side with “Xs” for eyes, you knew it was time to run as fast as you could towards an elevator.