Phenomenology: Part 1

So I found myself in the presence of Yog Stothoth once again. The first time this happened I did not understand what a great honor it was. Yog Sothoth was pleased with me, so I was granted an audience. Again in the dard dimension as one of the constantly revolving spheres in teh great wheel that is Yog Sothoth.. Yog Sothoth spoke to me, or more accurately, he invoked the feelings and emotions. and I supplied the words: "My Necromancer, I am pleased with you, it is time for me to reveal more to you. Your totem animal is the crow" I am not a big fan of crows, with their constant cawing. I thought me being totally blind the bat would be a better choice. You know: like blind as a bat, or ears like a bat. As I was thinking these thoughts a shiver went through me, and I got the following instructions: "No the crows! It is best you start making friends with them soon." My god continued: "You have gained in power and intelligence, which shall open new possibilities, and dangers. Also I and my servants (that meant me) are now in alliance with Dread Cthulhu, and Father Dagon, but always remember you serve me. you shall also be gifted with new abilities." At this point I felt a ray of power pierce me as a spoke in a wheel going from the hub to the sphere that was me on the rim of the wheel. I later learned my new, and very undeveloped power was in necromancy: gaining knowledge from the dead. I know what a revolting ability, but you did not argue with demon gods. So I accepted my new totem animal, and abilities, sort of. i thanked my god, and was returned to my bed in this dimension. I rolled over and went to sleep. Things started happening as soon as I woke up the next day. There was a message from Randal Klaw, asking me to contact him, which I did. I found out I was now part owner in the business firm "Hugo's Antiques, Books, and Prints" a business that Randal was the general manager of, and part owner. I knew who the business was named after, and also the real owner. Someone I really did not want to meet again., but I accepted, I knew it had the blessing of Yog Sothoth. Randal picked me up from work. Yes I have started calling " Randal Klaw " Randal now. He was friendly and met me at the University where I work as philosophy Professor. He took me to to the location of "Hugo's" which was an old Victorian mansion in L.A.. I got the tour of the place, there were two showrooms, and two parts to the business. The first part being exoteric: the ordinary antiques, books, etc. This part was also a front for the esoteric part, that housed artifacts connected with the Great Old Ones. I signed the paperwork and was now a business owner, well sort of. Another sort of benefit that came from my association with Randal is that he got my sort of, part time boyfriend, we were both avoiding commitment, Jordan Munn some lucrative commissions. I say "sort of benefit", because the work took Jordan out of town so we could not spend as much time together. I was also told to tell everyone the business was named for Victor Hugo. It seems the Cthulhu spawn who calls himself "Hugo" has spent too much time on Earth associating with humans. The school year has wrapped up, even though I was still holding a reading group, with the help of my grad student Nora Mills. I has picked a book by Edmund Husserl as the text for the group. I like having the authority to pick the book, I picked Husserl, because I felt phenomenology would help me write the book I am working on, which I am calling "The Visual Bias in Thinking". I have decided to use a phenomenological approach in writing. Phenomenology is the study of appears without reference to how the world actually exists in itself. I figured being blind I should take a blind perspective in my writing, after all it is my natural starting point, and compare how the world appears to me and how it appears to sighted people. In other words phenomenology. I feel my blind vision allows me to see things that are hidden or ignored by the sighted world. The term "blind vision" is my coinage. I was hopping the group would help with insights into my study. Anyhow, the reading group did finally confirm my grad student Nora was spying or at least reporting on me. My reputation at the university is shady to put it nicely. Which I find amusing I mean shouldn't a blind Professor have a shady reputation instead of a bright one. I know my strange sense of humor again that no one else seems to get. Anyhow, the the way I found out she was keeping tabs on me, was she asked me who the older guy was that visited me, the one who looks like Husserl. It took me a few moments to realize she was talking about Randal. I told her we were business together. It is another blind thing that you can describe how someone looks without knowing how they look. I did look up a description of Husserl later.It seems Randal has a neatly trimmed beard, thick glasses, and is an immaculate dresser. Well, a few days later Tom Garcia the dept. chair asked me about my new business and business partner. I smiled and gave him the web addresses of the exoteric collections. Anyhow, back to the reading group. I was trying to gain some insights into phenomenology, and Existentialism, but the groups progress was slow. Nora asked me if a friend of hers; a grad student in philosophy from another school could join us, I agreed. She also told me he had something to show me that might interest me. The student was a twenty eight year old philosophy student form another school in town, by the name of Paul Kimball. He did not stand out reading group, but after we wrapped up he asked me if he could show me something, again I agreed. I know it seems I was in an agreeable mood, but it was just that events were gathering a momentum of their own. You know it is not usual for me to be so agreeable. So the three of us went back to my office, I even remembered to turn on the lights.This is something I have been working on trying to avoid that blind thing, well it is really a sighted thing that encounter when a blind person and sighted person walk into a dark room together. I guess the Existentialists would call it the "gaze'. As I understand the "gaze' it is when someone fixes you and judges you. I have called an "encounter" for lack of a better term. The only way I know it is happening is when the sighted person makes some embarrassed comments about it being dark. I used to reply with something like: "You do not have to be embarrassed about your total incompetence in the dark, I know sighted people need light." Again my sense of humor, but I sounded more sarcastic than usual. Of course their embarrassment was for me, and not about their incompetence. It would be ridiculous to think sighted people would ever doubt the superiority of sight in all situations, even when it was them having the panic attack. I know I am sounding sarcastic again, whatever. Anyhow, I managed to avoid this by turning on the lights, and we all sat down at the desk in my office. I heard the rustling of a book bag being unzipped, yes I have I have been around schools so much I know all the sounds back packs make. Paul placed the object on my desk. It was a peculiar object made out of some sort of super light alloy metal, I was told was gunmetal gray. I picked it up and ran my fingers over it, It was shaped like two pyramids (it was eight sided) joined at the base, and about a foot long. I gently wrapped on it with my index finger. I could hear it resonate, telling me it was hallow. So I ran the lacquered nail of my index finger over it searching for a seam, I figured it it is hallow it must be two pieces. It was very faint, but, I found the seam at the base of the two joined pyramids. I gently tried to separate the pieces, but had no luck. I did not want to force or break it. The two pieces were tightly joined there was no play. Paul found a magnifying glass somewhere and looked at the seam, he said it was the width of a human hair. He had not noticed it before, of course he had not looked. While I ran my fingers over the object admiring the precision work that went into making it, I asked Paul: "Where did you get it?" He told me: "My uncle was an occultist, the black sheep of the family" he sort of chuckled, and continued: "He died a few weeks ago, and left me all of his stuff. Which was strange, since I had only met him once when I was a kid." I was still examining the object, it had something of the eldritch about it, I was enjoying running my fingers over the super smooth finish. I was getting interested now. So I asked him: "Was there anything else like this?" He replied: "No just some books and figurines of snakes." I cautiously inquired with some amusement: "Why bring it to me?" He replied in a slightly embarrassed tone: "Well, I have heard you have a reputation for occult knowledge, so I have heard" I could tell from the way his voice trailed off, that he had turned to look at Nora. I heard a quick intake of embarrassed breath from her, I knew she was blushing, she knew I knew she was telling on me. Since I was interested in the object, I diffused the situation: "Quite right, glad you did, If you do not mind leaving it with me. I know someone to ask about it." I was thinking of Randal, and I already wanted to acquire the object. He agreed. With that Paul returned it to the back pack and gave it to me.They also gave me a ride home, Nora was good about giving me rides, whether it was from goodwill or her curiosity about me I would take it. After getting home I called Randal, and described the object to him. He did not know what it was either, but said he knew someone to ask that would know, and he would get back to me. I did not realize at the time who that "someone" was. As soon as I got up the next morning Randal called me, the "someone" was Hugo and he wanted to see me right away. I really wanted to refuse, but I was curious, and audiences with Hugo really could not be refused. At least I did not have much time to think about it, or more like dread it. Randal came right over, since there was no reason to dress up to meet Hugo I wore flip flops, and sweats; red top and black pants.My favorite color is red. Even though I have never seen color I liked the associations, you know: danger, sex, etc. Randal took me to the building that housed the business, I had been here before to meet Hugo, but at that time did not know the location. The place had a very deep basement. Like my previous meeting with Hugo I was given a robe to wear. I must have looked miserable, I mean what other feeling can a meeting with Hugo invoke? Randal reassured me that it would not be like the last meeting. Not that Randal has any sympathy for anyone, but I guess he likes me. I was led down the twisting staircase, barefooted,and robed. I had been right the last time we were going underground the temperature dropped. This being the second time I noticed more. The staircase was odd, besides its twisting at weird angles, the stairs varied in height form step to step, there was no uniformity to it. We made it down to the odd room. Nothing is right in the room. The air currents did not seem to have any pattern, and shifted, the echos also lacked any uniformity. I could feel the floor with my feet it seemed to make out of some kind of porous stone, I could feel the myriad tiny holes. This time voluntarily laid prostrate on the floor, laying the object beside my head., while waiting for Hugo. Hugo appeared from nowhere. This time I had no feeling of sickness or nausea, but could still feel the raw power of the Cthulhu spawn. I also got a better image of Hugo this time. Last time I was too sick to notice much. He was sitting on an ornate stool. He had four eyes in his octopus type head above his writhing face tentacles. A humanoid body with large wings, ad clawed hands and feet, He was the size of a large man. He sat cross legged on the stool, with one clawed foot above my head. Even though he was not inducing sickness in me, there was no doubt about his power. Of course, I did not see any of this visually, but from a telepathic image emanating from Hugo. He picked up the object turning it around in his clawed hands. He spoke to me, Hugo's idea of small talk while he examined the object: "I can see you have been admiring my room" He continued: " It is to bad you cannot see you miss the rooms vertigo inducing qualities." I gave a weak acknowledgement, I also mentally brought up the object, and my suspicion it was make by the Mi-Go. Hugo informed me in his arrogant, harsh physical and mental voices: "It is an octahedron, one of the Platonic solids. No it was not made by those space cockroaches, but a good guess, It is too high quality for them,but you are right it was not made on Earth." The Cthulhu spawn had fought the Mi-Go on many occasions, or so I have heard. He paused rolling the octahedron aroundin his clawed hands, and seemed to sniff at it. I am sure Hugo has senses I have no conception of, after awhile he continued. " It is part of an occult machine called a Mystograph" it comprises all the Platonic solids connected together like those Russian dolls that are nested in each other, or concentric circles. Kepler the astronomer stumbled on the secret, but of course did not have the resources to build it." Hugo again paused waving his clawed foot above my head, which gave me a mild anxiety attack: couple of choking coughs.This seemed to amuse Hugo, so he continued: "It is a device for instantaneous travel in the galaxy. it needs to be powered by Seraphim stone. The Seraphim stone would be placed in a Tetahedron a figure with four triangular sides, the first of the Platonic solids." I immediately, and inadvertently asked: "What is Seraphim stone?" Hugo laughed at this his arrogant tome took on an amused quality: "It is the same type of stone as the Monas stone that you swallowed to gain access to other dimensions." Again he seemed to be enjoying some private joke.Then he started talking again: " I see you still have your eyes, The vibrations form the Seraphim stone will soon destroy them" Great just what I wanted to hear, I had been having eye pain that I was trying to ignore. Hugo went on: "Why do you think that idiot Hartman built that ridiculous machine? He did not want to go blind, That is one of the problems with Yig's servants they never want to sacrifice themselves." Hugo seemed to be thinking then he started talking in more thoughtful tome: "The loathsome fungus (the Mi-Go) are said to know where it find Seraphim stone. It hard to believe that we the servants of Dread Cthulhu are now allied with loathsome Mi-Go!" He said the last word with disgust, the alliance was new, guess it would take time for some entities to get used to it. Hugo asked me" " Any questions Necromancer?" As I said I had already decided to try to acquire the octahedron, I was even more fascinated now, so I asked: "If I acquire the octahedron do you have a safe place I can store it?" "Yes!" and Hugo was gone.