A Method for Entering the Hypogeum

A Hypogeum is a vast, subterranean ritual space, both internal and external–- it’s a Liminal Space that acts as a kind of neuron connecting the World of the Unseen and the World of the Senses. It’s the font of the Life Force, and the place to which it returns when all has been completed. It looks different to each one of us, and each of us can access it in our own way. This is one tried-and-tested way to enter the Hypogeum; you may know a different method that uses terms and concepts more familiar to you.

The entrance to the Hypogeum can only be opened (by a human entity) in an ‘in-between state’: dusk, dawn, half-way between sleep and wakefulness, etc. (The denizens of the Hypogeum can open it from either side according to their own rules.)

To enter the Hypogeum:

Begin by finding a comfortable place for yourself. Be barefoot. Close your eyes. Breathe in and out, feeling your connection to the earth below you as it strengthens with each breath.
Begin to perceive that you are in a space that is different from the one you are in. The Goose is Out of the Bottle.
Stand, feeling the ground beneath your bare feet. Maybe it’s sand, or grass, or bare rocks, or fallen leaves. Now open your eyes.
In fact, you are next to a natural water source of some kind. Could be a beach, a lakeside, a river bank, a ditch, a stream, an oasis.
Listen to the sound of the water moving– waves crashing on shore, the babble of a brook, the rush of a river, insects on the surface of the pond.
Smell the chemicals exuded into the air by the Life Force in the area, the vegetal odor of rotting leaves, the .
Then hear a noise behind you.
Turn, and see a Friend. It may be a person, a plant, a spirit, an ancestor, an animal– but this is YOUR friend. You know their Name and they help with things. They turn around and beckon you to follow them.
They lead you deeper into your surroundings, which they reflect. There are no incorrect surroundings; they could lead you deeper into a forest, or out onto a field in the sun, or among the liana in a jungle, or even a busy food court.
Follow your Friend to an entrance to a place. This could be a cave, a door, could be a temple, could be a closet, a palace, a vehicle, could be a ‘fairy house’ or a ‘mall fountain’– whatever ‘entrance’ appears for you.
Your Friend beckons you, opens the door, and hands you a torch.
You step through the door, alone. As your eyes adjust to the light you look down. You see a carven stone table, into which are carved two bowls. The edge of the table pushes into your upper leg. In one of the bowls is a plant of some kind; it has meaning to you, but you can’t quite identify what it is.
You feel the flames of the torch on your cheek, and see the shadows they cast on the walls. Using the torch, you light the plant in the bowl on fire.
The herbs emit a scent that is important to you. It could be a floral incense, a loved one’s perfume, a favorite meal, the peculiar scent of your old dorm room, or petrichor, but it means something to you.
You listen closely until you start hearing a faint ringing noise within. Turning towards the chiming, you come across to the entrance to the Hypogeum. This is a tunnel. Perhaps it’s a cave, or a sewer, or a hollow log, or a cigarette. Regardless, as you move into the tunnel, you find it is blocked with thick cobwebs. You push the cobwebs to no avail– they seem to be very strong.
The chiming becomes louder, and the noise is becoming a two-syllable ‘word.’ Repeat that word in your head. It may not mean anything, but keep repeating over and over. You can now clear the cobwebs away. Once through the webs, you see that stairs descend into the passage. Taking the stairs to the bottom, you find a series of four or five colored dots, displayed on a surface. The surface could be a mirror, a painting, the wall, the back of your hand, but it will be an easy-to-recognize sequence of colors.
Remember that word and that series of colors: they are your ‘key’ to the Hypogeum. They’re yours, and yours alone. They won’t work for anyone else. “The door to the Hypogeum will open for everyone, but each of us needs our own Key.” In the future, this word and these colors will allow a much easier descent into the Hypogeum.
Leap off of the bottom-most stair. Perhaps you fall, or slide, or do hopscotch, or fly, or drift, but it is time to venture into the Hypogeum and find out what happens next.
Take a moment and have your experience.
Turn around, and REMEMBER what has happened.
At the appropriate time, take a deep breath and smell the scent of the burning herbs. Return to your Friend, who leads you back to the place next to the water.
Feel the ground beneath your feet once again, the sand or leaves or rocks becoming something else as you begin to perceive that you have returned to your original place.
Open your eyes.