Part-time Psychopomp

A semi-public sketchbook/trail/archive/dump/sorting-pile of things I come across, like, see, think or do. 

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Delicious scene from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uvIc4u475s&ab_channel=bilanofficial

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John Bauer (1882 ‑ 1918)

The Blue Bird, 1911

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1. Shopwindow in shepherds bush 

2. Slug on my window 

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John Bauer (1882 ‑ 1918)

The Blue Bird, 1911

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From  “Spellbound - John Bauer and the magical nature” at Waldermarsudde  

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Paintings/illustrations by Ragnar Persson for Midsommar (2019) by Ari Aster 

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From: Bon Iver - Jelmore - Official Lyric Video

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“Mr. Mattocks as Achilles. Was Hector here, the fate of Troy should this instant be decided. Act 3.d” 

Found this in a local thrift shop <3 There are so many things going on in this little print i cant 

[achilles-on-skyros]

ohhhh this has big “revealed on skyros” vibes and i can’t help but wonder if it’s ephemera from an opera

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@achilles-on-skyros You’re so right!! (sadly) been a while since I read anything Achilles related so hadn’t connected the two yet - but rly felt there was something to it. Will have a look at the back/see if I can find any other clues on its pot. opera related origins. Would love love to hear what your take is on the Skyros stories as well!

[achilles-on-skyros]

i’d love to one day find a transcript or some form of archiving for any of the operas so i could get a peek at how people in the past handled this story! (was there gender commentary? sexist jokes? was it gay? i hope it was gay) i know i have this whole blog but i still feel that i don’t know a lot about this part of the myth besides the basics and modern retellings like in Madeline Miller’s Song of Achilles or Eric Shanower’s Age of Bronze. i just love the concept that achilles was so beautiful that he was able to dodge the war for a while by living as a girl!

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So I have been unable to find out more about the origins of my print apart from the date at the bottom (1779) , BUT, I did a little googling and found this transcript from John Gay’s ‘Achilles in Petticoats’ opera from 1733. Maybe you’ve seen it already but in case not here it is! 

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=9I35MAAACAAJ&printsec=frontcover&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false 

yet to read the song of achilles but its on my wishlist 4 sure 

Really fascinated by the complexities of this story, with the ways it has or hasn’t been handled only adding to that complexity.( and I too hope the operas were gay).  

ps. also came across this podcast episode (yet to listen to it) https://trojanwarpodcast.com/episode-8-finding-achilles/ 

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oo and also this recent re-staging of a Spanish AoS opera, would be so cool to find a recording of it   https://www.pressreader.com/usa/the-dallas-morning-news/20180213/282711932493360   

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“Mr. Mattocks as Achilles. Was Hector here, the fate of Troy should this instant be decided. Act 3.d” 

Found this in a local thrift shop <3 There are so many things going on in this little print i cant 

[achilles-on-skyros]

ohhhh this has big “revealed on skyros” vibes and i can’t help but wonder if it’s ephemera from an opera

[parttimepsychopomp]

@achilles-on-skyros You’re so right!! (sadly) been a while since I read anything Achilles related so hadn’t connected the two yet - but rly felt there was something to it. Will have a look at the back/see if I can find any other clues on its pot. opera related origins. Would love love to hear what your take is on the Skyros stories as well!

[achilles-on-skyros]

i’d love to one day find a transcript or some form of archiving for any of the operas so i could get a peek at how people in the past handled this story! (was there gender commentary? sexist jokes? was it gay? i hope it was gay) i know i have this whole blog but i still feel that i don’t know a lot about this part of the myth besides the basics and modern retellings like in Madeline Miller’s Song of Achilles or Eric Shanower’s Age of Bronze. i just love the concept that achilles was so beautiful that he was able to dodge the war for a while by living as a girl!

[parttimepsychopomp]

So I have been unable to find out more about the origins of my print apart from the date at the bottom (1779) , BUT, I did a little googling and found this transcript from John Gay’s ‘Achilles in Petticoats’ opera from 1733. Maybe you’ve seen it already but in case not here it is! 

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=9I35MAAACAAJ&printsec=frontcover&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false 

yet to read the song of achilles but its on my wishlist 4 sure 

Really fascinated by the complexities of this story, with the ways it has or hasn’t been handled only adding to that complexity.( and I too hope the operas were gay).  

ps. also came across this podcast episode (yet to listen to it) https://trojanwarpodcast.com/episode-8-finding-achilles/ 

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Post from: Queer Nature 

“I’m interested in the original meaning of the word queer, as something similar to strange or weird. We center human queerness and culturally-rooted queerness in the context of this moment in Western culture. But we also are trying to center other-than-human queerness, which is actually available to everyone, not just not just LGBTQ people. This connects with the interest in reviving this kind of arcane meaning of queer as something cryptic or mysterious.

—

Strange basically means something that is external or outside of what is familiar. It’s from the Latin word extraneous. Weird is a similar word. And that refers to something that seems like it shouldn’t belong, but yet it’s here. Like it does belong somehow. It’s really interesting because when the status quo is toxic and damaging, like white supremacy, for example, then what is weird or what is strange within the status quo can actually be good. It can even be enchanting. It’s pointing to something sacred, I think.

—

For me, with “queer” and in the term Queer Nature, there’s a promise of healing our estrangement with the more-than-human world, our ancestors, and with land. If I think about nearly every memorable experience or connection with other-than-human life or death that I’ve had, those experiences have all been what I would describe as “strange” or “eerie”. Like holding a stick full of mycelium that’s growing green because it’s bioluminescent. The first time I encountered bioluminescent fungus was a very strange and eerie experience. It wasn’t because it felt wrong, but because it felt right.

—

There’s this earthly, strangeness or queerness that is almost like a spirit and, and we need to be possessed by it or something. As other trans thinkers like Susan Stryker have written about, there’s so much in the root of the word monster, which means portent. Like what is revealed about the hidden truths in ourselves. Revealing things that we can’t process or come to consciously.

—

@borealfaun

from our

@alignedmag

Interview”

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1. Detail from Abraham Ortelius map of Iceland, 1598 

2. Detail from Honorius Philoponus, Nova typis transacta navigato, 1621

3 & 4. The curious career of the flying turtle 

5. Still from Alien: Covenant 

found in Sea Monsters: on Medieval and Renaissance Maps by Chet Van Duzer 

I feel really ambivalent towards Sea Monsters on maps. Being both whimsical, wonderful & fantastical creatures but also tools (both literal and imaginary) designed for colonisation and the expansion of western empires. Linking this thought, with aliens and space - for another time. 

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LIL NAS X - MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) dir. Tanu Muino, Lil Nas X (2021)

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