Boat Trip to Wizard Island

THE LEGEND OF LLAO

ACCORDING to the legend of the Klamath and Modoc Indians the mystic land of Gaywas was the home of the great god Llao. His throne in the infinite depths of the blue waters was surrounded by his warriors, giant crawfish able to lift great claws out of the water and seize too venturesome enemies on the cliff tops.

War broke out with Skell, the god of the neighboring Klamath Marshes. Skell was killed and his heart used for a ball by Llao's monsters. But an eagle, one of Skell's servants, captured it in flight, and escaped with it; and Skell's body grew again around his living heart. Once more he was powerful, and once more he waged war against the God of the Lake.

Then Llao was captured; but he was not so fortunate. Upon the highest cliff his body was torn into fragments and cast into the lake, and eaten by his own monsters under the belief that it was Skell's body. But when Llao's head was thrown in, the monsters recognized it, and would not eat it.

Llao's head still lies in the lake, and white men call it Wizard Island. And the cliff where Llao was torn to pieces is named Llao Rock.

On Friday, September 13, we drove down to Crater Lake to try to find Llao's head and explore the places told about in the legends.

The gods were kind to us, giving us a beautiful blue sky and clear weather, and we could see our shadows as we travelled to the sacred ground:

The gods of Merriam Point smiled down on us as we approached the junction at the rim of the lake before turning east toward the trailhead:

We signed in at the trailhead and were initiated into the tribal rituals of the Xanterra tribe, and finally, after we passed our tests, we were given permission to journey down from the rim to the sacred water's edge and board the spirit boat to tour the lake and visit Llao's head.  Here was our first view of the lake.  It was almost perfectly still:

Arriving at the sacred shores, we ventured out to the cliff edge to make our sacrifices to Skell and the other lake spirits:

Boarding the magical boat, we started our journey into the mists of time, where everything in visible matter has a reflection in dark matter, and the surface of the lake is the thin veil between the visible and dark universes:

This is no familiar land.  Our vessel passed the Devil's Backbone:

Finally, we were transported to Llao's head, and with the blessings of the spiritual ranger, we stepped respectfully onto sacred soil.  It was all tumbled lava (or 'a 'a, as the Hawaiians call it), and Kathy donned her protective magical bandana as a sign to the spirits that we came in peace:

We decided first to climb to the top of Llao's head, to see what he might have seen just as he was defeated by Skell and the forces of good.  It was beautiful.  The broken rim of the caldera of Mount Mazama encircled us and was filled with the most brilliant sapphire blue (western scientist would explain that it is the deep water that filters out all but the blue, indigo and violet wavelengths of the spectrum, plus the reflection of the blue sky, but we believe it was the blue spirit of Skell greeting us warmly:

David took a chance and mounted to the very top of Llao's hat, seating himself on what he dubbed the "Wizard's Throne" as another throne for "Game of Thrones":

When David sat on the throne, one of Skell's minions rose up in greeting and offered to preserve our spirits for all eternity, as they inhabited this world in bliss.  We welcomed his blessing, below:

Having paid our homage to Llao and his defeat, and peered down into the perfect crater of his hat, we journeyed back down to the shore of Fumarole Bay, where the 'a 'a tumbles right down into the clear water.  Kathy soaked her feet and offered up prayers of thanksgiving to the lake spirits:

The point on the island where the journeys to the top of Llao's head and the bay of 'a 'a intersect has great magic.  Here is Kathy, exhausted from her labors, seeking revival from the magic that Skell has placed at this spot:

The tribal ship returned to take us back to the visible world, but as we left, we looked back at Llao's head, reflected in dark matter below the rippling surface of space-time:

Our Odyssey home was not to be short or direct.  We detoured to the magical world where blue and green spirits hover below the curtain of space-time, making dark matter visible to those humans who are fortunate enough to see them:

And yet another stream of spirits flows into space-time, morphing from visible matter to the blue-green spirits of dark matter before our eyes.  These are wonders that one might hope to find only in the distant reaches of the Universe:

As you explore the frontier of visible matter and dark matter, you start to see the ripples in space-time and you begin to understand how each bundle of energy that is visible matter finds a harmonic vibration in the world of dark matter and dark energy:

Not all spirits return to the visible world.  Some remain on the edge of space-time, forever sailing the margin, as here the Phantom Ship:

We caught a glimpse of the phantom ship as it rippled space-time, showing the dark sapphire reflections of visible mountains and rocks, with the sun reflecting off time's curtain:

Just before our ship returned to its harbor, we passed a great Pumice Castle, red against the brown and tan cliffs, where Skell's royal court is housed.  We are not allowed to enter the castle, but only be amazed by its beauty from afar.

Having been safely transported back to the shores of the visible world by our tribal guides, we climbed the mile back to the rim of the lake and flew home in our white chariot, tired and inspired by this magical mystery tour to the edges of tribal myth and the margins of quantum theory, hoping that we have a chance to experience something like this again.