Naperville
I chose to attend the event in Naperville, Illinois and went with my friend Eric Johnson. I went with a decidedly open frame of mind; I had consciously chosen not to ‘pre-empt’ my experience with either skepticism or an excitable expectation. I knew that many others had chosen one or the other orientation prior to attending; I just wanted to truly participate--but not as an outsider or an observer or a ‘true believer’. At the time I had a healthy respect for the activities of the Teaching Mission, and often had defended their beliefs on the various UB chat sites of the period.
The event took place in a large auditorium in the Holiday Inn in Naperville. If I remember correctly the place was filled to capacity, maybe 250 people in total. The lights dimmed, and there was a period of approximately twenty minutes when the crowd sat in silence, encouraged by an event coordinator to stay open to the spirit and to welcome Machiventa’s advent. There was definitely a powerful sense of silent expectancy in the room, which I was happy to share.
Eventually there was a stirring in the open space and several white robed women appeared, forming a circle. I believe that the idea was to create an energy vortex which Machiventa would use to localize his materialization in the room. I honestly can’t remember what might have been said as part of a ceremonial invocation or welcoming during this time. I believe that there was someone vocalizing something of the sort, but that is all. This welcoming activity took maybe 15-20 minutes, and then silence ensued as folks waited for Machiventa to appear. Five minutes passed, then ten, then fifteen There was soft stirring in the auditorium. At twenty minutes people gradually began to leave the auditorium and congregate in the room outside until the auditorium had emptied.
I did not spend too much time talking to people after the event had ended, but the general tenor was downbeat, as nothing perceptible had occurred. A few people said that they had witnessed something, but I can’t remember what they claimed.
Commentary
After flying back to Boston I vividly remember sitting in my car, listening to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ song, “Learning to Fly”:
- …I’m learning to fly
- But I ain’t got wings
- Coming down
- Is the hardest thing…
- I’m learning to fly, around the clouds
- What goes up must come down…
At that moment I realized that I had been mightily touched with the romance, the grandeur, and the bittersweet aftertaste of what I could only think of as an experiential encounter with what H.P. Blavatsky had often warned her students about: spiritual glamour.
Note
For an interesting theosophical commentary on spiritual glamour, see this link
