Mary Butts Diary Entry

Wednesday, 10 August 1921

Astral journey —

Bright green wood in summer, shallows, quick brown stream nearly hidden by foliage. Path up a hill—out of the bushed a brown horse with a rider. Could not see rider clearly—Horse listed off. Came to an immense tree, a bole and three arms, very old and sinister looking.

I left the tree and curve to the mouth of a cave.

Went down, there was curious alcove that led out into the high tunnel of terrific black mountains, and a purple colour in the atmosphere. Went back and found the alcove. It looked like a kind of manger as in a Catholic church. In front was a large crescent-shaped basket with brown moss hanging from it or a kind of hair. I thought it was a cradle. The people were behind it and someone called it the ‘boat of the moon’. I stepped in and pulled up its [illegible] till they met over my head. I found they were the front tentacles of a crab, and that to stand in there gave me more power—I looked into the alcove and saw several people putting a young man to bed in a yellow light—he was wrapped round and round, swaddled like a bambino. He was fair. I shuffled off in my basket that I thought of as a parrot’s [illegible] Came to mouth of cave. Saw them again, knew it was important, but it baffled me.

Came back.

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