Continuing the vein of my recent ‘what I did yesterday / last night / today’ entries, I want to write a bit about the events of yesterday afternoon. We didn’t go far this time – indeed just to the park down the road – but what happened there was pretty incredible. Lyn and I were invited by our PA, Dominic, to go with him to watch his friends play some music. I thought they were just going to have a jam, and muck around in the park; but I can only describe what I saw yesterday as a pseudoreligious ceremony.

First we found a space under a tall oak, then cleared the ground. Incense was lit and wafted around with a feather, as I’ve seen native Americans do. There were about twelve of us sat in a semi-circle. First Dominick played the didgeridoo, then they put resonating bowls out, and a gong. Two people played these, hitting them not quite in a tune but melodically, for I know not how long. The effect was one of complete calm – it seemed to put everyone in a trance. I can’t really describe it; I can only say it was one off the most interesting events of my life. I wasn’t sure what I’d just seen – it had a deeply therapeutic, calming, almost mystical power to it. I try to see such things in scientific, rational terms, but I can easily see how such events induce experiences some call sacred.