My dream is to swim with the crocodiles in Al Faiyūm. If not swim with them in their sanctuary, then praise them in their presence. At Al Faiyūm there is a temple dedicated to the Sun God, Sebek, a crocodile. During the Greaco-Roman occupation, the city was called Crocodopolis. As the sun sets, god Sebek descends to the underworld carrying the light with him—in the morning he lights the world again—such is the power of the Sun.
And who is the Moon? As is the case with both rotating
bodies, there is a near infinite trove of myth, lore, direct observation,
science and desire that spans human-recorded time. A painting by Paul
Delvaux
(Belgian, 1897–1994) called Les phases de
la lune II (The Phases of the Moon II),
1941, caught my attention and made me think of the moon’s gaze as another gaze
in the repertoire of gazes. A gaze that might go unnoticed. A non-human gaze.
The Sun’s furtive ocular gaze transposed onto the Moon’s reflective
surface...everything works in conjunction. The painting by Delvaux is a case
study in bad Western humanist social propriety. I do adore the gateway to the
Moon’s glow and feel that a rebellion is festering inside the disregarded nude
woman.
About a 1 ½ year ago I began a practice of meditation under sunlight and moonlight. Later I would transcribe impressions into a notebook that has an image of a Grizzly bear on its cover. A description of the image states that some “ancient cultures believed that bears were the very voice of the earth”. My writing tends to be grounded in terrestrial concerns. How could I ignore the cosmos? I set about contemplating the Sun and the Moon as they exert such a great force on Earth—to record the calibrations. Rainbow, a feline best friend often gives me Moon fatigue because he wants to experience life under Moonlight as long as possible every night so I end up in the garden in the transfixing hours between 2-4 am, in a semi-trance with cat, flora, minerals presences, fauna, the Moon and the expanse of the universe. It is important to study how sentience is influenced by the Moon. This summer I noticed that plants grew rapidly before my eyes at twilight. All is recharged by Sunlight and Moonlight. Remembering our rotational gestures is significant—a choreography of influential circular motions. I’ve been studying floral, faunal and mineral consciousness as my central intention. Focusing on the Sun and the Moon is an extension of this intention. The mineral consciousness of the Sun and the Moon is world-building.
