flourish.
Sidonia:
I wanted you to be the first to hear the wonderful news.
Plato:
Oh? What is it?
Sidonia:
A great pole has been found at the corner of Lime Street and Leadenhall. It came out of the earth so quietly and quickly that it might not have been buried at all.
Plato:
If it was found at the corner of Leadenhall, then it must be the great maypole that stood on the site for many hundreds of years. It was the centre of our city’s festivity and celebration.
Sidonia:
And there are words upon it, partly defaced but still visible. I noted them down.
Plato:
What is this? ‘Ove Arup and Partners. For the Lloyd’s Building.’
Sidonia:
I admit that I was puzzled. That is why I came to you.
Plato:
If it is in the same location, then it must be the maypole. Everything in our city’s history tells us that the first and original shape never dies.
Sidonia:
So?
Plato:
The Lloyd’s Building must have been the name given to the maypole. Ove and Arup and Partners were the deities guarding it.
Sidonia:
Can that be true?
Plato:
There can be no doubt.
25
Plato:
There can be no doubt. Can there?
Soul:
It’s no good asking me. I have nothing to do with knowledge, certain or uncertain. I am all love and intuition.
Plato:
If you love me, then you will tell me. Can I be sure of what I say? Sometimes I feel that it is all pretence, and that I should take doubt like a dagger and plunge it into me. When I am wounded, then I might speak the truth.
Soul: Ouch.
Plato:
You think I am being extravagant?
Soul:
I take the long view in such matters. Whatever is good for you is right.
Plato:
But surely you understand? You are the one who gave me my restlessness. My nervous fear.
Soul:
Why should I be blamed? You are what you are. I am part of you, I admit it, but I really cannot bear all the responsibility.
Plato:
So you are ashamed of me.
Soul:
Not at all. I do not always enjoy your arguments, but I find them necessary. When you give expression to your thoughts, you help to define me. Is that selfish?
Plato:
We were taught that the pattern of birds in flight was also an image of their soul. I suppose that you and I bear the same relationship.
Soul:
And we, too, are part of the soul of the world. Then beyond that—well, it becomes more mysterious.
Plato:
So you will never leave me?
Soul:
A body without a soul is an impossibility, although I admit that there are times when I long to ‘sup above’. But of course I would never deprive you of your—how shall I put it?—your spirit.
Plato:
Thank you. You lend me courage.
Soul:
It is not a loan. It is a gift. You may need it soon.
Plato:
You intrigue me.
Soul:
Hush. Look into your heart now and speak to the citizens about the wonders of creation.
26
The ancient myths of creation are of the utmost interest to those of us who study the poetry of past ages. It was believed, for example, that a god called Khnumu fashioned a great egg in which all of creation resided; another deity, Ptal, then broke the egg with a hammer and life spilled out. This was known as the ‘big bang’, from which the universe was supposed continually to expand. Of course the poets of creation did not realise that what they considered to be flying outwards was, in reality, the retreat or recession of their own divine energy. They had, as it were, taken a hammer to their own brains.
From an ancient city named Babylon we have evidence of a creation song which is altogether more convincing. The two forces of light and darkness, otherwise called god and dragon, fight for mastery; god slays the dragon, but even in his death agonies darkness is able to sow the seeds of confusion in an otherwise enlightened universe. This was ‘chaos theory’, in which the dragon’s mouth became known as a black hole or, in another myth, dark matter. Such legendary creatures as the white dwarf and the brown dwarf also appear in these wonderful sagas. Their central purpose has, perhaps, become clear to you? The
Sidonia:
I wanted you to be the first to hear the wonderful news.
Plato:
Oh? What is it?
Sidonia:
A great pole has been found at the corner of Lime Street and Leadenhall. It came out of the earth so quietly and quickly that it might not have been buried at all.
Plato:
If it was found at the corner of Leadenhall, then it must be the great maypole that stood on the site for many hundreds of years. It was the centre of our city’s festivity and celebration.
Sidonia:
And there are words upon it, partly defaced but still visible. I noted them down.
Plato:
What is this? ‘Ove Arup and Partners. For the Lloyd’s Building.’
Sidonia:
I admit that I was puzzled. That is why I came to you.
Plato:
If it is in the same location, then it must be the maypole. Everything in our city’s history tells us that the first and original shape never dies.
Sidonia:
So?
Plato:
The Lloyd’s Building must have been the name given to the maypole. Ove and Arup and Partners were the deities guarding it.
Sidonia:
Can that be true?
Plato:
There can be no doubt.
25
Plato:
There can be no doubt. Can there?
Soul:
It’s no good asking me. I have nothing to do with knowledge, certain or uncertain. I am all love and intuition.
Plato:
If you love me, then you will tell me. Can I be sure of what I say? Sometimes I feel that it is all pretence, and that I should take doubt like a dagger and plunge it into me. When I am wounded, then I might speak the truth.
Soul: Ouch.
Plato:
You think I am being extravagant?
Soul:
I take the long view in such matters. Whatever is good for you is right.
Plato:
But surely you understand? You are the one who gave me my restlessness. My nervous fear.
Soul:
Why should I be blamed? You are what you are. I am part of you, I admit it, but I really cannot bear all the responsibility.
Plato:
So you are ashamed of me.
Soul:
Not at all. I do not always enjoy your arguments, but I find them necessary. When you give expression to your thoughts, you help to define me. Is that selfish?
Plato:
We were taught that the pattern of birds in flight was also an image of their soul. I suppose that you and I bear the same relationship.
Soul:
And we, too, are part of the soul of the world. Then beyond that—well, it becomes more mysterious.
Plato:
So you will never leave me?
Soul:
A body without a soul is an impossibility, although I admit that there are times when I long to ‘sup above’. But of course I would never deprive you of your—how shall I put it?—your spirit.
Plato:
Thank you. You lend me courage.
Soul:
It is not a loan. It is a gift. You may need it soon.
Plato:
You intrigue me.
Soul:
Hush. Look into your heart now and speak to the citizens about the wonders of creation.
26
The ancient myths of creation are of the utmost interest to those of us who study the poetry of past ages. It was believed, for example, that a god called Khnumu fashioned a great egg in which all of creation resided; another deity, Ptal, then broke the egg with a hammer and life spilled out. This was known as the ‘big bang’, from which the universe was supposed continually to expand. Of course the poets of creation did not realise that what they considered to be flying outwards was, in reality, the retreat or recession of their own divine energy. They had, as it were, taken a hammer to their own brains.
From an ancient city named Babylon we have evidence of a creation song which is altogether more convincing. The two forces of light and darkness, otherwise called god and dragon, fight for mastery; god slays the dragon, but even in his death agonies darkness is able to sow the seeds of confusion in an otherwise enlightened universe. This was ‘chaos theory’, in which the dragon’s mouth became known as a black hole or, in another myth, dark matter. Such legendary creatures as the white dwarf and the brown dwarf also appear in these wonderful sagas. Their central purpose has, perhaps, become clear to you? The
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