Haunt-ology
the frequenting of the uncomfortable, the wailing of ghosts.
I’ve had this word stuck in my head for most of April and some of May as I’ve been percolating a month full of community experiences (is communal a better word here?), and by this I mean meeting people and opening up to conversations around life and belief. I’m not sure how this word came to mind through all this, maybe like a haunting it popped up surreptitiously, but it has kept showing up through each encounter. Like the ghostly lady in white, a wailing.
These encounters have centered around places of a “conservative” angle. Which I find significant in thinking with haunts. Is it a rumor of a haunting that I sense, frequenting these conservative arenas? Like an echo that seeks to be seen or felt. Perhaps. Or a felt presence of what is left unspoken.
I’ve been thinking with this haunting because it’s brought me to be with who I am and what I am in the places I inhabit, the conservative place, the quotidian place, the familial place, the green place, the work place, et al. And the I that am in these places longs for a symphony, of sorts, a we. A harmony of differences. This haunting gestures at a desire for co-creating within differences, or at least this is how I perceive it. A haunting that seeks to blur the hard lines of separation. Funny, I’m now suddenly reminded of Charles Eisenstein. To create a harmony between all these places where conversations, thoughts, questions, yearnings can flourish. A haunting that sows seeds of bio-diversity, that allows for expression within ourselves and between us, our interactions, and that laments the fear that has separated us as we.
Within the low hum of the haunt, these new conversations have allowed for new friendships to flourish, and I’m not so much speaking of doing anything in particular about the haunting, other than what I am already doing. Namely, welcoming new experiences and friendships that arise amid the said and the unsaid, listening with the heart. This is a sign of something perhaps, that these times of increasing cacophony, the haunting is becoming pervasive, and maybe, just maybe, this haunting will lead to insights. Pockets of clarity where in differences we can find connection, love, compassion with all those around us, the living field. A creation of a whole-ism, a being-with that opposes fragmentation.
Speaking of haunts, some months ago I received this little book, Fairy Women: from the Portuguese Book of Lineages of Count Dom Pedro: Politics Mysticism, Magic by Jose Leitao published by Papaveria Press. I want to talk about it. It’s a beautiful slim 84-page book. Hardcover, with blue/green foil on the cover. It also has a bookmark.
It has two short tales, Lady Goat-Foot and Lady Marinha. They reminded me of another little gem of fables in translation, The Immaterial Book of St. Cyprian. What is valuable in contextualizing these two stories within their terrain, The Book of Lineages, is Jose Leitao’s tracing of the stories through empire and expansion, and the books of magic that follow these movements.
The change from Melusine into Melosina was not solely a passive translation, but a partial reformulation of this text to cater to the newly established rule of the Catholic Monarch Fernando of Aragon and Isabella I of Castille. In particular, this publication seems to serve the purpose of providing its Castilian and Aragonese readers a parallel between Melosina and Isabella I as a way of promoting an image of female power and authority, a trend which is common during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs. Melosina is a figure of female courtly governance, associated with an ideology of territorial and religious expansion, large-scale construction, and imperial an chivalrous ideals. (pg. 38)
I admit the scope of this little book is niche, not necessarily for everyone to include in their library, but for those working within the Cyprianic lineage of books I do recommend it, Jose Leitao’s commentary is always well-thought out, rich, and provides seeds of insight for one to think with. Plus, the craftmanship is beautiful.
Endnotes:
~From the chest, a continuation of my dance with Aquarius: Sic profluit urna…
~Jay Springett, hypertext transfer protocol and generosity:
~A few things going on that I want to participate in (note these are crowdfunding campaigns): The Matronua Tarot and Collected Artwork Vol. III: The Pen & Ink Fantasy Artwork of Luke Eidenschink (pen and ink art).
Reaping the spillover from the tower besieged, what was once guarded and closed lies open. Fill your cups as it flows out, as there is abundance aplenty.
Great this, thank you :)