User:DoctorWho42/The Serpent of Kundalini

"The Serpent of Kundalini" is a short story by English author Brian Aldiss. It was first published in the February 1968 issue of New Worlds.

Publication history
"The Serpent of Kundalini" was first published in the February 1968 issue of New Worlds. In 1969, it appeared in the books Barefoot in the Head, Best SF: 1968 or The Year's Best Science Fiction No. 2 edited by Brian W. Aldiss and Harry Harrison, and Best SF Stories from New Worlds 5 edited by Michael Moorcock.

Plot
Charteris sleeps on the ferry. He wakes to find it docked. A blue-sweatered man sits in the customs shed. He recalls his vision in France. All humans are symbols. The waiting man might mean death. Charteris kneels to kiss the ground. He looks back and sees himself. Gurdjieff said useless I's must be discarded. Dead images peel from him. He will be born. Psychochemical bombs fell on England. He hurries up the street. There are three girls in very short skirts. A sign says "LOVE BURROW". Down the road are crimson blooms and a car accident. The ground rocks. He is on the ferry. He drives the red Banshee onward. The customs man says there was war. He drives away. Women walk furtively. Men gather but remain still. He drives up the hill. Behind, a red Banshee takes a different route. He catches the gaze of another Charteris. He looks for the girls. This England is sadder. He is gripping the railing and staring seaward. He spots himself on the ferry. They talk about Gurdjieff. He sees himself climbing into a car and driving. The waiting man tells Charteris he lives close. He invites him for tea. There are small neat houses. Charteris complains about private property. The waiting man says the war took care of that. Charteris believes there is a force sleeping within. The waiting man calls it Kundalini. Charteris wants to wake it. He notices people in the rain. They stare into the road. The waiting man tells Charteris that Kundalini should remain asleep. Charteris sees another red Banshee drive ahead. He does not want to become discarded. He asks if the waiting man was affected by the PCA bombs. The waiting man laughs. Everyone was affected. The war got rid of the old world but its shell remains. The waiting man is in the kitchen. The radio plays "Moonlight Serenade". The waiting man watches the music rise like steam. His daughter isn't in. Charteris asks about Gurdjieff and Kundalini. Charteris threatens him with the kettle. The waiting man says Kundalini is when one dreams instead of acting. Charteris thinks why not both. Love Burrow was a trap. The waiting man might be Kundalini. Charteris drops his tea. He runs but the red Banshee is driving away. He is a discarded I. Gulls sail from the cliffs to the sea. The ship comes. There was a war.

Reception
In 1969, Analog Science Fiction / Science Fact's P. Schuyler Miller decided Aldiss "creates a feeling of temporal confusion which may be precisely what he intended." In 1970, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction's Joanna Russ said it was "well done, although I have begun to have had enough of the whole series."