Large Fierce Mammal

In keeping with the spirit of this season of Dark Sentiments, enlivened by the general air of gloom and doom casting its shadow across the land, we’ll be taking forays into an ever so special genre straddling science fiction and horror. I’m speaking, of course, of the post-apocalyptic tale, and this will be the first of several we’ll be screening ere we’re done.

In general, the premise is that human society has been dealt a death blow leaving only a few survivors fighting one another to the death over the last few drops of gasoline or the last can of peaches. Nobody knows how to live off the land, or even that it’s possible. Nevertheless, some of the characters I’ve encountered in my research seem in remarkably good physical condition, and beautifully groomed, so clearly in these worlds there is no dearth of well fitted clothes and grooming products. (more…)

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEV6wHUYwr8

I have come to know that my Esteemed Friend Master At Arms James Keating and I are joined at the spiritual hip, and so it came as no surprise when late last August he emailed me some articles on the Wetiko. If you come here often enough, you will know that I have previously written of the Wendigo, most notably here and here. The Wetiko is quite obviously, a kindred spirit, albeit one disinclined to limit its hunting season to wintry climes.

As Jim put it, “It echos some traditional wendigo lore and adds some new age energy suckers and human monster spice,” adding, “Since both yourself and I have at some point written & spoke about the Wendigo I felt you might like this tidbit. And with Halloween coming such material can act to ignite the dark lamp of creativity from which we draw inspiration.”

He wasn’t whistling Dixie, even though I expect he has in the past and no doubt will again given sufficient provocation.

We will speak further of this subject in coming days. Right now, decant some spruce beer and soak this up.

I Am Wetiko

By LFM

I am the mirror the kitten doesn’t see
As it stalks the other.
Its efforts exhausted in reaction
To only what it, itself, has done.

I am the dream that makes real all that you see in me,
And I remain unseen
As you believe in the lies you tell yourself,
Absent thought.

I thrive when your thinking is at its lowest resolution.
When “woke” is equated with “enlightened”
My strength grows,
In concert with my hunger.

I revel in apartness. Chosenness. That special kind of polarization
That splits the whole into fragments.
“Divide and conquer” you say,
As though you invented it.

You stand for the children, the planet, the Bees,
But you do not stand together.
For anything.
I will see to that.

You are the kitten before the mirror,
The dreamer who never knows it’s a dream.
You will devour yourselves and I will rejoice
In the fullness of my belly.

I am the blade, unseen and only felt.
You are blind to me.
I am the vector of your destruction.
I am Wetiko.

“About 15 years ago a multinational company purchased an old cement plant near my place and started to incinerate dangerous waste. One day, when the smell of burning tires and plastic was particularly bad, I joined a local group of ecological activists.

“We fought the cement plant and corrupt government officials for many years and we actually won, but it made us very unpopular among the local people and we faced all kinds of threats on a daily basis.

“One night I had a nightmare; I was in a very dark place in the middle of a large crowd of people. I noticed they couldn’t move because they had roots instead of legs growing into the ground.

“All of them were in some kind of catatonic sleep and I desperately tried to wake them up and tell them something. All of a sudden they opened their eyes and started yelling. Then I woke up, all sweaty.

“I just couldn’t get those images out of my head and I decided that I would deal with them by using them in an animated film.”

So Slovenian animator/illustrator Dusan Kastelic describes his inspiration for the film that is tonight’s Dark Sentiment. (more…)

“In truth, most people really don’t understand the burden of responsibility they carry for their own safety and survival, and the commonalities that link every threat to life and limb. In truth, most people have accepted the idea that no matter what happens, all you need do is call “Them” and “They’ll” take care of it. If it’s bad, “They” will figure out what to do about it. News flash – YOU are “THEM“, because when the shit hits the fan, and you are standing at ground zero, running away may not be an option. The time to get tuned in is NOW.

“Reality remains Reality no matter how angry that makes you, and one doesn’t need to look far for evidence that much of the population prefers to live as though things are actually the way they simply wish them to be. The assumption is that publicly funded agencies and organizations exist for the betterment and protection of individuals, which could not be further from the truth. The list of people to whom you actually matter is very short indeed, and if you’re, “… doin’ it right ….”, you know them all by name.” ~ Four Pillars and a Double Standard

You’ve all probably noticed that there’s been a lot of talk about “climate change” in this year just winding down. If you missed it, or caught some of it but not enough to get the gist, essentially it appears “the world is coming to an end” again.

This isn’t one of those bang and it’s over ends of the world like the Cold War going hot into nuclear Armageddon, the Y2K lights out as the last seconds of 1999 rolled into the first few of 2000, or the Mayan calendar running out in December 2012. This is one where even the Great Unwashed are not only blaming “Them” for the problem, but now demand “They” fix it. Or we’re all dead. Real soon.

I don’t know a darker Dark Sentiment than an Armageddon that keeps getting offered up with all the reliability of an election year promise, and it sure is fun to watch. To draw a metaphor from porn, it resembles “edging” (look it up) leading to a “ruined orgasm” (look that one up too).

Before the full on tearing of hair and rending of garments gets too noisy, none of this is to imply that these ecological concerns aren’t worthy of concern and intense scrutiny, and you’ll know that, if you spend enough time here. (more…)

“‘That’s a great deal to make one word mean,’ Alice said in a thoughtful tone.

“‘When I make a word do a lot of work like that,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘I always pay it extra.’

“‘Oh!’ said Alice. She was too much puzzled to make any other remark.

“‘Ah, you should see ’em come round me of a Saturday night,’ Humpty Dumpty went on, wagging his head gravely from side to side, ‘for to get their wages, you know.'” ~
Through the Looking Glass, Chapter 6 — Humpty Dumpty; by Lewis Carroll

We live in an age of worthless and witless verbosity in which words mean whatever the speaker wishes them to, and in an indulgent audience of a thousand minds, heads will nod in concert with an exchange of knowing winks in solemn solidarity born of understanding a thousand individual meanings. None of them being that meant by the original speaker, nor even the original definition and usage of the word. (more…)

A Tipple With Death

By LFM

Death came to call on a neighbour last night,
One I never knew well past a nod and a wave,
That she drove her wee car just a little too fast,
And a widow, her husband three years in the grave.

I thought, it’s a while since we shared a wee dram,
As through my desk window I watched Him go by,
So I tapped on the pane and He turned His grim head,
“Come in if you’ve time ere the next one’s to die!”

And soon I was back in my writing desk chair,
My guest sprawled in comfort on opposite chaise,
We stared at the fire o’er a 60 year dram,
A suitable pour for the Ender of Days.

Our glasses half emptied ere speaking a word,
I finally asked, “Was she fucked or just doomed?”
He said, “Sad, don’t you think, when I harvest your kind,
“While Doomed is a given, that Fucked is presumed?”

I sipped and agreed with a nod of my head,
“The distinction’s not new, and Doom’s not to be ducked.
“We’re all of us Doomed, and as sure as we’re born,
“Our choices say if and how badly we’re fucked.”

Then Death pricked an ear and in haste drained His glass,
He savoured its dregs ere His snifter He chucked,
Straight into the fire, a smile on His lips,
“This one is both Doomed and royally Fucked!”

He strode to the door where He paused and looked back,
“There’s something, my Friend, you should know of this matter,
“Summon your Bannermen, rally your Clan,
For this kind of Fuckery’s Hell bound to splatter.”

If ever human flesh were formed to personify the Truth that only in darkness can one see the light, it’s Leonard Cohen.

Described as Cohen the Elder’s “first posthumous album“, announcement of the impending release of Thanks for the Dance, produced by Cohen the Younger, Adam, and scheduled for release on the 22nd day of November of this year,  came with a single. A singular single called The Goal. (more…)

“Every living thing in Nature, flora or fauna, has a Way that defines its ideal state of being. That balanced equation of form and function forged by generations of evolution against the anvil of environmental reality. This ideal state of being is, for each species, its own unique expression of the greater, all encompassing Way – the Way of the Wild – the Way from which all others spring.

“The Way of the Wild deals with Life, Death, who gets each, and when. For successful organisms, embracing this Way is not a choice, and of all things on the Earth, only one kind flirts with living as though this were not so – Man. For the most part, human society does not embrace Wild in its Natural sense, viewing it instead as representing all that is wanton, dangerous, and out of control. An unpredictably unacceptable condition fit only to be tamed or eradicated for the greater; i. e., human; good. Down that path lies a disconnection wrought by an artificially orchestrated thing called “civilization”, built on a foundation of conflict with the Way of the Wild. This will one day resolve itself, one way or another, and of that resolution only one thing can be said with certainty – the Way of the Wild will prevail, as it always has and always will.” ~ Worldly Wisdom Wednesday – The Way of the Wild

A lot of things can kill you, and some day one of them will. I personally conduct myself as though I and every other of my species is doomed. Now, I know the word “doom” is one of those fraught with dramatic import, so before the more delicate of you throw your aprons up over your faces and run off screaming like Mrs. Dilber when Alistair Sim’s Ebenezer Scrooge stood on his head, here’s a moment of clarity —

“I once convinced a small group of idiots that my birth certificate had an expiry date stamped on it. Don’t try this yourselves though, because my powers of persuasion exceed that of mere mortals, and I’d hate to be responsible for any of you hurting yourselves; at least if I’m not there to watch.

“Good news for everyone reading this – if you’re alive you’re going to get dead. Every life comes with a death, no assembly required.” ~ Dark Sentiments 2013 – Day 13: Whither Thou Goest?

So you see, this isn’t a late breaking realization. It’s been part of the deal since the beginning, and there is nothing that can, or should, be done about it. That Humans die is primarily of concern only to Humans, but that isn’t to say we’re insignificant to Nature. Only that our significance is measured by Her standards — whether or not our effect on the ecosystems in which we live has positive or negative consequences overall.

This is not to say that studies in medicine, hygiene, health, and assorted related disciplines aimed at improving the length and quality of Human life are doing anything wrong within the Human Way of the Wild. All things are, after all, compelled by their Nature to thrive. Where the rubber leaves the road, however, is where Human striving to thrive proceeds absent the obvious caveat that our actions, though they may slay species, divert mighty rivers, and turn forest to wasteland, with all their consequences real and imagined, will end in that kind of doom reported in the news when a car full of revelers careens off a road late one night to incinerate its occupants at the bottom of a ravine — speed and alcohol may have been a factor.

Recent news serves up a hearty helping of lip service to getting that car under control, changing its V8 to an electric motor, and maybe pulling over to check the map, just to confirm whether we’re just doomed or actually fucked, which is really the question.

There’s a proverbial saying oft attributed merely to “Africa”, whoever he or she is, that’s lent itself to every expression of “wisdom” now extant:

“If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

Notwithstanding the fraught nature of its origin and widespread self-serving interpretations, the advice undeniably fits tonight’s Dark Sentiment.

My late Father, Lawrence Clement Whynacht of whom I’ve previously written, had a broad compendium of sayings to fit any occasion, some original, others not. From the “others not” category, he also had one that fits our purpose here tonight, although when he said it he was referring to the fact that a guest who was making noises of departure had up to that point imbibed only one drink:

“You can’t fly on one wing.”

Created by Asger Grevil, Mette V. Madsen, Jonas Kirkegaard, and Michael Bech of Denmark’s The Animation Workshop, Wing is a 2012 animated short film with this synopsis —

A lonely, one-winged creature is constantly harassed by a flock of demonic crows. One day after an attack he decides to escape from the forest. 

I would recommend a nice oatmeal stout, black as a Crow’s wing, to sip through and beyond the next four minutes and forty-three seconds. (more…)

“No organism can afford to be conscious of matters with which it could deal at unconscious levels.” ~ Gregory Bateson – Steps to an Ecology of Mind

Welcome back thou frayed and fraught traveller. We’ve kept your seat by the fire warm and ask that you pay no attention to the vacant ones. We live in hope those empty places are merely a result of lateness in the sense of mere tardiness, and not the other kind.

Each year as Winter approaches, I go to the Green Places I know. Not to imply this doesn’t occur in all the other seasons, only that there is a greater drive through Harvest into first snow.

When I call a place “Green”, I refer to something transcending what most speak of within the more limited context of “holy”, or the broader, and only slightly more comparable “sacred”. The limitations of both are that they are anthropocentric. and so valued not as a Constant of Nature, but rather only within the ideological fluidity of Human entitlement and desire.

Whether my pilgrimages are compelled or summoned, I cannot say beyond that they are undeniably more than a polite invitation, and to dwell on the distinction would be a waste of effort because the outcome is the same — I go to converse with the Genius Loci — the Spirits of Place — who dwell there.

My time with Them is a period of reflection on where things are and where they need to be on a scale that runs from now to forever, and the communication eschews the language of Man, for any level of verbosity draws upon conscious thought with all its intrinsic limitations. Rather the conversation, either in substance or condition of even beginning, may be made of hot and cold, wet and dry, tired and vibrant, hungry and sated, thirsty and slaked, denied and indulged, hard and gentle, focussed and blurred, fast and slow, quiet and loud, painful and ecstatic, thriving and dying, living and dead. In all this, one thing it never is nor ever will be is Safe.

To say that I go to these places to converse implies the sedentary or even meditative, and this can be the case for some Places, although others may be demanding of more physically feral expressions of Worthiness — walking, swimming, harvesting, eating, drinking, fasting, remembering, forgetting, embracing, rejecting, creating, destroying, copulating, watching, listening, touching, chasing, hiding, stalking, killing.

There is a time and place to speak aloud of what has come from these audiences. Never in a Green Place of course, but here with you, Goode Reader, in this 10th season of Dark Sentiments, is a different story.

Until tomorrow.