The Poe Maelstrom

The Poe story of being saved by a barrel has two story tellers - Poe himself, as author, and the ancient mariner who is recalling his near death experience.

We have two also - Ron, who thinks of the Swirl as a kind of whirlpool that entraps the victim, and Ken, who thinks of the Swirl as a surge that invades consciousness by replacing normal function with fear and impending doom.

The whirlpool image is powerful, and evokes a sucked in and rendered helpless state that comes suddenly and offers no apparent escape.

How to find a way out, other than crouch and hope for the storm to pass?

The fear and high anxiety Swirl can bring on such panic and disorientation that death feels immanent, and feels less like something one is falling into, like a maelstrom, more like there is an internal wave which threatens to overwhelm. It's as if fears and fantasies surge from the unconscious unbidden and uncontrolled, ruthless terrorists breaching defences and creating mayhem.

How to counter the terror? A part of the self, an observing ego, will be aware, dimly perhaps, that this is a temporary condition, faced before, and like a tsunami it withdraws, leaving wreckage.