I think I’ve met you, but also know I Haven’t
Episode 4 –
You don’t want to mess with that lady
Even though it has often been pointed out that Stile 13 never seems to stay in one place for a sustained period of time, sceptics continue to use the argument that we shouldn’t be stating as fact that portals to different dimensions really exist, until such time as we can scientifically measure and prove that they do. The fact that the elusiveness of the portal makes scientific study rather difficult, thereby making their requirements hard to fulfil, does not seem to come into the equation for them, and they continue to cast doubt upon the gateways existence.
To support their view they often reference Austrian-Irish physicist Erwin Schrödinger who in the 1930’s stated that if you place a cat and a radioactive atom in a box and seal it, you will not know if the cat is dead or alive until you open the box and check. On the basis of that logic, he contended, that until the box was actually opened, the cat was both dead and alive.
Although his means tended to annoy cat lovers, Schrödinger’s reasoning is frequently used to explain how scientific theory works. Basically, what he is saying is that nobody knows if a scientific theory is right or wrong, until such time as it can be observed, tested and proved.
Of late it has become apparent that the sceptics view is not in fact endorsed by many people in the scientific community. A leaked report from the royal society of sciences caused controversy recently when its central premise was revealed:
We do not advise our members to use Schrodinger’s theory when dealing with Stile 13. Our recommendation is, that should you be lucky enough to find a portal, then you shouldn’t waste your time trying to analyse it. Just step on through and enjoy the ride.
Parallel Chic was the main theme at this year’s Paris fashion week, where controversial designer, Nena, was debuting her “I let the cat out of the box” collection. Her programme culminated with the modelling of duplicate outfits worn by sets of identical twins and triplets, in a finale that was intended to be a representation of our other dimensional selves.
At the end of the show Nena caused quite a stir, when she declared from the aptly named Schrödinger’s catwalk…that she had now decided that fashion wasn’t really all that important, and she was taking time off to go interdimensional gateway hopping for the summer.
‘Look…it is fine. Don’t worry your head about fashion (Loud gasps and muttering from the audience). It comes…it goes. What’s in vogue here…is so last year in other places…other worlds. You cannot decide what outfit you want to wear, this one…that one? Don’t concern yourself about it. Take it from me, it does not matter. You have actually worn them both, in separate parallel universes.’
A short distance from Cruachan, the ancient capital of Connaught in the west of Ireland, lies an enigmatic cavern known as Oweynagat. Oweynagat translates from old Irish as the cave of cats, and fearful Christian scribes describe it in the 12th century Book of Leinster as Ireland’s hell-mouth, the Gateway to Hell. According to local legend, the cavern is also said to be the home of the Morrigan, the ancient, and rather scary, Goddess of war and battle.
Today, visitors to the area often remark at the atmosphere of the place, with most agreeing that the veils between worlds feels very thin here.
An incident caught on film at Oweynagat has been accepted by many as being more evidence of a physical inter-dimensional gateway. Two brothers, Paddy and Steve, were trying to record a piece for a podcast they were putting together. Steve had volunteered to enter the cave alone, to try capture the feeling of what it must have been like for the young Celtic warriors whom it was thought had to spent time alone in the cavern as part of their initiation into adulthood. The recordings start with Paddy interviewing a local guide as they await Steve’s return.
‘Have you been working as a guide here for long?’
‘Oh Jeez yeah. Oh yeah…a good few years now.’
‘You’re from the area, yes?’
‘I was born and bred not half a mile from here. Sure an uncle of mine owns the field you’re standin’ in. Oh yeah…as kids this was our playground. We’d even venture into the cave there from time to time…eggin’ each other on, ye know.’
‘And did You ever go in on your own?’
‘On me own? Are you joking? Oh no no. Sure…you might meet herself down there.’
‘Herself?’
‘Yeah…Morrigan. You don’t want to mess with that lady. You want her staying in her own world and not straying into this one.’
‘But…you were encouraging my brother to go in on his own.’
‘Ah yeah sure…bit o craic…ha-ha.’
Navigating by his head torch Steve slid his way down the rocky and slippery slope to the cave floor. Reaching the bottom of the incline, he stood up straight, finding himself in a tall but narrow chamber. He switched on the camera on his phone to record his experience.
‘So here I am…in Oweynagat cave…in county Roscommon. The so called gateway to hell. I just slid my way down the slope here behind me…you can see there, it’s a bit muddy, as are my clothes now. And…I’ve arrived in this…very impressive…and very tall chamber. It’s narrow…see, I can touch both side walls if I stretch out my arms. There’s definitely an…atmosphere here…something very ancient about it…and it’s slightly spooky. Well…more than slightly. I’m wondering now why I came in here on my own. Hope my torch doesn’t go out. Oh…look at that. There’s a slight mist on the floor of the cave in front of me…strange…it appears to be drifting this way. I’m…not sure I really want to go on much further. Don’t know if I can go an awful lot further anyway. I’ll just shine my light ahead here to show you the rest of the place…you can see…a rocky slope…leading upwards away from us back there. And…and…Oh.’
It was at this point that Steve’s camera captured a type of shimmering distortion…followed by some movement. Then the outline of a woman slowly appeared at the top of the incline in front of him. She seemed to be pulling a long dark cape around her. Steve admitted afterwards that his heart rate had gone kind of crazy at that point.
‘Amm…hello? Sorry, sorry I didn’t know there was anyone else down here.’
There was no reply from the mysterious woman.
‘Ah…you know what. I think I’ll just be going now. Leave you to it. Yeah…yeah I have to go…back…yeah.’
Steve emerged from the cave a lot quicker than he had gone in. When he had caught his breath, he recounted what he had seen inside. A fluttering noise from the entrance to the cave stopped him and brought them all to silence. Paddy turned his camera and was just in time to film a large black crow emerging from the darkness. The bird cawed at them twice before taking to the skies. There was silence between the three men for a few moments.
‘Yep…she can do that you know, Morrigan…shape shift. And she does like being a crow…yep.’
In the aftermath, the brother’s footage and the cave itself were examined by experts. Nobody could find any sign that they had tampered with the recordings, but nor could they find any concrete explanation for what they had filmed.
Given that the theory of an infinite number of parallel universes beyond ours had for so long not been empirically testable, the emergence of Stile 13 and similar portal gateways around the world, should have made the concept of other dimensions less controversial. However the fact that Stile 13 itself doesn’t seem to remain in one place for any great length of time hinders that acceptance.
An enthralling theory that is gaining traction is that the gateway itself contributes to its own elusiveness, and that the portal is in some way sentient. This idea has once again upset many religious leaders.
In an unusual move a cross section of religious and spiritual representatives gathered together on world religion day, to try to reach a consensus on the best way of dealing with what was unofficially dubbed, the Stile 13 problem. Delegates were there to discuss the impact…or non impact as the case may be, of the portals existence on their respective dogmas and deities. To the chagrin of many in attendance, the suggestion that the portals might be conscious and capable of making decisions on their own was not dismissed out of hand.
The initial atmosphere of cordiality soon faded as it became clear that some of the envoys present felt the Gateways existence did not present all that big a challenge to their own personal beliefs. In fact they felt they could justifiably lay claim and attribute the concept of parallel dimensions to their version of divine creation and intervention. However…this did not always fit in with their particular religions guidelines and policies, causing in house arguments between members of the same groups. A divide emerged, not based on religious belief lines, but on Stile 13 recognition lines.
A proposal that believers in physical portals should band together and form their own faction was surprisingly carried. Shortly afterwards a spokesperson for the newly formed cross faith group, spoke to the press.
‘Hi…I have been asked to address you by my new colleagues, to let you know we’ve founded a spiritual group, from across the religious divide. We’re calling ourselves the Trans portalists…a working title, but, not bad I think…it was my suggestion by the way. I just have a few words to say to our detractors. There’s no need to fear us. We’re the same as you…essentially. Sure we have some differences in the way we look at things…but we’re still like you. I accept that dimensions besides our own are unobservable for the most part, and unless you’ve had an encounter…they can be hard to believe in…but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. I mean, a lot of our religions include dimensions and otherworldly realms…and that seems to be acceptable to most.’
It has been some weeks now since the world religion day conference, but most of the main religions and spiritual groups have yet to recognise the trans-portalists as being an entity in their own right.
The question what is reality is probably one of the oldest questions on the planet as we traditionally know it. From the time of our earliest ancestors we have wondered why we’re here…where here is, and what is the point of here. We’ve gone from thinking everything revolves around us, to knowing that it doesn’t. But…for quite a lot of us we only really accept that intellectually, certainly not completely. Why is this? Is it a thing that we just forget that there’s more to life and existence than ourselves…or is the vastness of everything just too huge a concept for us to comprehend? There’s no doubting that we are conceited enough to think that human consciousness is a very necessary component of reality…at least in this dimension.
The fact that the human race has only existed for somewhere between two and three hundred thousand years, and that the earth itself is 4.5 billion years old doesn’t seem to cross our minds all that much. If it did…we might have to face the fact that the place got on just fine without us…or our consciousness.
Stile 13’s emergence has certainly shaken things up. It has not only offered up a route into other dimensions, it has also challenged us to face up to the almost incomprehensibly huge multi-verse existence that many of us now accept as our new reality.
As the hymn by the up and coming trans-portalist choir goes:
Stile 13 is outside the rules, makes no distinction for genius or fools.