chthonic transmissions

“In lone and silent hours / When night makes a weird sound of its own stillness” —the lost blog network—

[charnel-grounds]

Alfred Kubin (1877–1959)

o. T. (Frau mit Esel) / untitled (Woman with Donkey)

watercolour & India ink washed on laid paper, 1940

source

[charnel-grounds]

“Ever since I began to think, I came to the bitter, inescapable conclusion that my life is always, at every conscious moment, an essentially painful one. Unpleasant events follow each other like the beads of a rosary changing from uneasiness to the discomfort of unfulfilled desires, to the most terrible bodily pain or desperation, with countless interim stages. Only the fear of the moment of death has kept me alive.”

— Alfred Kubin, Visions from the Other Side

[charnel-grounds]

David Lynch (1946–2025), “I Fix My Head”

lithograph, 2010

[charnel-grounds]

Norman Lindsay (1879–1969), “Oblation”

etching, aquatint & stipple, 1920

source

[suliqyre]

When I'm facing a particularly bad situation, I immediately start looking for signs of reassurance. I want to know that things are not as bad as they seem. I want to be able to see a way out of the difficulty. I want to know that there is a route back to the relatively comfortable existence I'm used to living.

But sometimes nothing like this is available. Even as I try to find something that might at least temporarily satisfy these wants, nothing provides me with any solid reassurance. What I instead discover is that the situation truly is bad and it's likely to get worse. The realization that the comfort and certainty I desperately want are not only distant but receding almost always brings on the suffering of despair. I feel miserable because I'm trapped where I am.

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[diana-andraste]

Femmes fantômes, Gaston Bogaert, n.d.

Oil on panel

[charnel-grounds]

“The torture of Roman Catholics by monsters in hell…”

engraving & etching by unknown artist, n.d. (16th or 17th century)

source

[charnel-grounds]

Erick “Dub” Weir, “Ritual”

charcoal on paper, n.d.

[charnel-grounds]

Marcel Roux (1878–1922), “L’Enfant et la Mort” (Death and the Child)

plate 11 from the ‘Danse Macabre’ series, 1905 — source

[charnel-grounds]

“Degustat amara” (Bitter Taste)

engraved by Johann Christoph Böcklin (1657–1709) after the design by Johann Andreas Thelott (1654–1734)

engraving on laid paper, 1708 — source

[gacougnol]

Hans Albert von Behr (German-American, 1902-1990)

Reverie, 1930's

[charnel-grounds]

Sidney H. Sime (1865–1941)

“Pattering Leaves Danced (The Journey of the King)”

illustration from “Time and the Gods” by Lord Dunsany, 1906

source

[charnel-grounds]

Sidney H. Sime (1865–1941)

“The Dirge of Shimono Kani (The Journey of the King)”

illustration from “Time and the Gods” by Lord Dunsany, 1906

source

[charnel-grounds]

Sidney H. Sime (1865–1941)

“The Tomb of Morning Zai (The Secret of the Gods)”

illustration from “Time and the Gods” by Lord Dunsany, 1906

source

[charnel-grounds]

Sidney H. Sime (1865–1941), “Yazun is God (Mlideen)”

illustration from “Time and the Gods” by Lord Dunsany, 1906

source

[charnel-grounds]

Sidney H. Sime (1865–1941)

“Lo! The Gods (For the Honour of the Gods)”

illustration from “Time and the Gods” by Lord Dunsany, 1906

source

[charnel-grounds]

Sidney H. Sime (1865–1941)

“Departure of Hothrun Dath (Men of Yarnith)”

illustration from “Time and the Gods” by Lord Dunsany, 1906

source