Shadow Play

by M.J. Harkins

Joanne Walker entered her well-appointed apartment overlooking Central Park, deposited her bags by the coat rack, and after fixing herself a fine scotch, neat, sat in her favorite chair. She missed her home, its familiar feel, its shadows, shadows she had become very acquainted with over the decades. What she needed right now was to be entertained, but instead of turning on the radio or television, she cleared her mind and went back to that moment in her childhood when everything fell into place.

A teen in the early 70s, her parents had an apartment in Toronto, and Jo stumbled upon the TV show ‘Witness to Yesterday’, which featured interviews with historical figures. She was immediately hooked. This was followed by an even deeper love of Steve Allen’s ‘Meeting of Minds’, which brought multiple figures into conversation with each other and the host. The eclectic nature of the show imbued in her a love of all knowledge. 

Over the decades Jo sought out every skill possible to enable her to recreate those encounters. She learned playwriting and direction, obtained degrees in various disciplines, worked in improv, ran seminar series, eventually stumbling upon the psychological approach known as active imagination, where she learned to summon characters from her unconscious and spontaneously interacting with them. She truly believed that everything she ever witnessed, read, saw, experienced, was accessible to her unconscious, and with disciple she would, and eventually could, have a conversation with any person or persons familiar to her.

This was one of the times, feeling a little nostalgic, having been six weeks from home, she conjured the familiar set of Steve Allen’s show. Jayne Meadows assumed the persona of Anaïs Nin. Beside Nin sat Jean Cocteau, J. Krishnamurti, Alan Watts, Joseph Campbell, and James Hillman. She would think of a question and Steve would ask it in his inimitable way, and the conversation would flow. Eventually she was able to ask the questions herself and join in the conversation. A voracious reader and autodidact, Jo had delved into every subject imaginable, and after many decades had become mentor to many, passing on this skill.

Working with the latest technologies, and the most able staff, she was able to recreate what her mind’s eye could imagine. She brought back ‘Meeting of Minds’ for a new generation. Having subsisted for generations on canned media, the public devoured her works. Collaborating with authors, screenwriters, directors, actors, and technologists, she spearheaded a renaissance in the film and streaming worlds. What she taught was beyond anything Artificial Intelligence could conjure. 

Sipping her scotch, coming out of her reverie, she returned to the symposium that was happening as if on autopilot, when Steve turned to her and said “I see you’re back.”  Jo did a kind of mental double take. Steve’s demeaner was not that of moderator but had a personal, almost familiar nature. Jo had never experienced Steve in this way. It was as if he were actually in the room, and their eye contact was real. Everything paused, and everything was different. 

“Yes Jo, this is different. I’ve assumed the appearance of Steve to enter your thoughts and introduce myself.”

Jo’s first thought was that she was having a stroke or some psychological break. While being extremely fit and intellectually active for an octogenarian she had seen so many of her peers and mentors disassemble rapidly. 

Steve interrupted, “Jo, everything’s alright. Don’t be afraid. You are familiar with telepathy, and I know you have read of and researched astral projection. This is very much like that.”

Jo’s next thought was that somehow this was staged. She couldn’t figure out how. The phrase “it’s all done with mirrors” entered her mind, and then she entertained the idea of holograms and artificial intelligence. Again, the entity in Steve’s persona assured her it was none of that. 

Jo asked, “So I’m to accept that I’m being visited by a living intelligence?”

“The willing suspension of disbelief would make this easier for the time being.”

“I’m game. Who are you really? How is this happening, and why me?”

“I’m an intelligence assigned to collaborate with your civilization. As I stated, we are engaged in telepathic symbiosis, and you are a highly attuned human, capable of reception, and intellectually prepared.’

“Attuned? Prepared? What does that mean?”

“Jo, you’ve spent most of your life disciplining your mind and acquiring most forms of knowledge. You haven’t succumbed to the pull of obscure, esoteric, or, as you would call it, occult avenues of inquiry, nor have you adopted any religious or spiritual stance. You’re logical and pragmatic, skeptical and open-minded. You’re an ideal candidate.”

“Candidate for what?”

“According to my records, Earth has been contacted many times, but we don’t seem to get anywhere. Descartes thought he was having a chat with some kind of demon, Ouspensky turned the talk into a series of dialogues with a devil, anyone with a vaguely religious background ‘got religion’, a few were committed or had themselves committed, so we’ve been more cautious and are more hesitant. You seem like a rational person, with a background in many of the world’s arts and sciences and have developed a unique talent.”

“What is it you want of me?” Joanne was buying time as she was coming to grips with the situation. 

Steve continued. “Most of the individuals we’ve really gotten through to have been reclusive, hermits and mystics and the like, people that attain a clarity of mind and an openness, that have grown apart from the everyday. They’ve tuned into the signal and shut out the noise. You for instance, with all your knowledge of how your world got to its current state, you maintain a balance between the past and future. You haven’t adopted an ambivalence that nothing will really change, nor a complacency that things will get better. Your optimism is checked by a practicality that allows you to move through the world expecting few to get what you’re trying to do while knowing that some will. You are devastatingly determined.”

“OK, you can cut to the chase. Stop trying to feed my ego. I’m too old and tired. If I accept that you are a benevolent intelligence from another world, what is it you want from me.”

“You have a network of mentees you’ve been training in your work. It would be best if you continued to do that. Your world moves in fits and starts and any approach that fosters growth and receptiveness should be fostered.”

Joanne changed tactics. “You make it sound like something bad will happen soon. Is there a threat to humanity that you are aware of?”

Steve hesitated, then “There’s always a threat to every sentient lifeform. Just as I am now reaching out to you directly, both positive and negative emanations are constantly bathing the universe, and the negative side has it easier. Tearing down is always easier than building up.”

Joanne paused to consider what she was being told. “It sounds like every other mystical unfolding of the universe. How do I know you aren’t some unconscious disturbance in my psyche? Or have I fallen asleep and this is all a bad dream?”

“A test? It often comes to this. And more often than not there is no way to corroborate my existence, but you’re in a unique position. Some of your mentees have advanced to a level of reception that would allow me to contact them,” was Steve’s response.

“You can reach members of my group and have this same conversation?” Joanne was somewhat startled.

“Yes Jo, we can open a dialogue with some number of your group and start the process of preparing the way.”

Joanne interjected, “Hold on. Suddenly this sounds a little creepy.”

“Sorry. Over the eons countless worlds have taken millennia to establish full bidirectional dialogue with the Constellated Worlds.”

“How is this happening? How are we communicating? Are you here, on Earth, or nearby?”

“As I stated initially, we are in telepathic communication. I believe one of your scientists quaintly called it ‘spooky action at a distance’.”

“How would we have gotten entangled in the first place?”

“The entire universe has always been entangled since the last instantiation. What your scientists call the Big Bang, or, more correctly, a Big Bang. The connections are there, but reception is tricky.”

“Are you saying telepathy is possible between other humans and myself now?” Again there was a sense of startlement in Joanne’s voice.

“That’s part of the process. Establishing communication with the subject civilization, and then fostering true communication between inhabitants.”

“You’ll help my group establish telepathic connections with one another?”

“Once we establish individual connections, we can have group discussions, and then your team will be able to think among themselves.”

“But you didn’t answer my question. Where are you?” Joanne countered.

“I’m a member of a constellation of worlds local to Earth, in what you would call the Local Arm or Orion Arm of our galaxy.”

“Will everyone in my group call you Steve?” said Joanne.

“No Jo, we can speak more freely now. We seem to have come to an understanding. Let me introduce myself to a few members of your group via their active imaginative cohorts. As I introduced myself as Steve to you, the others have their own familiars, and I will assume those personae to establish contact. I’m assuming I can use our new relationship as a form of calling card?”

“By all means. Do I recommend contacts?”

“It’s best if I establish contact as I’ll be selecting the first few members that are most receptive and are the best candidates by our criteria. Be prepared to have some interesting conversations in the next few days.”

“I’m feeling giddy. I haven’t felt this way since I was a little girl. You mentioned people from a century or more ago. How long does your species live?”

“Our lifespans are equal or greater than eight of your centuries. With our health sciences and augmentation capabilities, we can survive and contribute for more than a millennia.”

“Have you been to our world?” Joanne inquired.

“Newer civilizations often experiment with interstellar exploration, but the varieties of life are so varied, that cross contamination is somewhat problematic, as is the time dilation at vast distances. However, there are some aggressive civilizations that hold sway over vast regions that are hemmed in over time. Occasionally, an upstart society with novel weaponry take us by surprise, but we usually have the advantage of numbers or time. To answer your question, I have not been to your world, and neither have my kind, but others in our constellation have.”

“Is my civilization important in any way? Politics on my planet are such that tiny, out of the way places are usually sought out for resources or leverage of some sort.”

“Yes, we often encounter young civilizations that have internal strife, and we do our best to let them resolve these conflicts, but we lend assistance where possible. Our concern is that a society at your level, with your capabilities, does not spiral downward or pose a nuisance to neighbors.” 

Joanne was getting tired. She had one last question. “I get the sense that your offer to be of benevolent assistance has some hidden element. I don’t want to think it sinister, but I must err on the side of caution. Does your ‘Constellation of Worlds’, not the local group, but the larger association, which I glean from our conversation, have enemies, and would Earth become a target if we entered into a relationship?”

“We usually broach this subject later on in the process, but since you have brought it up, the binary answer is yes, Earth would gain more attention once they began to contribute in any significant way. You see, we are all in danger, and have always been in danger, and may very well never be free of danger. There are ancient forces in the universe, we refrain from calling them intelligences because they emanate malignant and chaotic energies. Our Constellation of Worlds is an attempt to keep such emanations at bay. Think of us as a light in the darkness of being. On every world we’ve encountered the battle of light against darkness is being waged. We sense this capability in the inhabitants of Earth and wish to foster it to join the fight, to move closer to the light.”

Joanne was silent for many minutes, then she said “I look forward to more conversations in the future.”

“I am glad. To answer your earlier question, my friends call me Mikal.”