The Crystal Space requires some explication. It is the n-dimensional space of possibility, the network of cause and effect, where we follow the threads through from all that has gone before to all that might be to come. For me it is a holding place, but one which is open to the possibilities, a sort of node or cross roads where there may be lots of different paths leading into different futures. It also relates to the Buddhist concept of ‘conditioned arising’.

The phrase came to me as a mis-hearing of something said in passing by my meditation teacher (who later denied ever saying any such thing).

The idea caught hold with me and I googled it, which led me to the poetry of Phyllis Webb, particularly the following quotation:

‘I merely make a statement, judicious and polite,
that in this poise of crystal space
I balance and I claim the five gods of reality
to bless and keep me sane’.