Funny, I recently wrote about Mercury/Hermes and world-bridging so this is ringing out clear as a bell. Mercury also has a free pass to and from the underworld – not something I've tended to appreciate until fairly recently. Looking forward to learning more Dougald, exciting times!
Thanks, Claire! I'm struck by that 'free pass to and from the underworld' and what it entails. Thinking again about the first conversation that put me on this thread, the person who recognised the 'mercurial' in me was one of many I've known for whom the underworld was all too real, but not a place that could be entered and left easily.
Ah, well, I could wax lyrical on this theme! Someone who recognised that both my sun and Mercury reside in my eighth house referred to me as something of a psychopomp – this quicksilver nature being the currency to and from Hades without coin. It is a slippery slope though, and I have attracted people who are otherworldly and underwordly and I can easily be enchanted by the "glamour" of it (not helped by my Neptune in the eighth too – yikes!). It's knowing when to enter, plumb the depths and gather the riches that Pluto holds in the underworld, then leave unscathed to tell the tale.
Following a serendipitous link from your latest newsletter, I found that I really needed to read this today. I, too, have tended to be Mercury, always (and not often intentionally) dissolving binaries, troubling categories, and bringing overlooked perspectives to the table. And now I am learning to be Saturn.
There was a song that really resonated with me in my melodramatic 20s, with the lyric "I wonder if everything I do / I do instead / of something I want to do more."
Without analysing it too much, I can understand the resonance, through Gordon White's suggestion that desire (not gratification, importantly) is divine telos. I heard the song again recently while shuffling through my music, felt a nostalgic pang, but realised that it no longer describes me. For better or for worse, I’ve made my choices: of all the endless possibilities - which were never as wide open as we were given to believe - I chose this life, and settled on these deepening beliefs.
Right now I am reading the final chapters of your book and feeling deeply grateful to have encountered it. This description of the process of writing it has been an enjoyable companion piece for a future in which At Work In The Ruins is out here in the world. Thank you.
"For better or for worse, I’ve made my choices: of all the endless possibilities - which were never as wide open as we were given to believe - I chose this life, and settled on these deepening beliefs."
And there's a relief in being able to say this, right? One of the secrets that the propaganda of modernity does its best to keep from us.
For years, I’ve lacked a simple answer when people ask me, ‘How can I make sure I don’t miss your latest work?’ Well, now I have one.
I am so happy to hear this! I have wanted this for a long time and get it with other writers I like to read so you going this avenue is brilliant. Much love and thanks xox
Oof! Some of this feels like you’re writing from inside my head. I too am quite mercurial, and I struggle to write because I want to explore all the rabbit trails and hold all the sides and tensions and bridge all the divides and am loathe to commit myself to just one. I’m glad we’ll be hearing from you regularly and I hope you write more about how you managed to channel Saturn. :)
That mystery book that you read. I wonder, is it among the things that you don't believe any more, or the things you believe more deeply than ever? From what you say, either would make sense. I mean I know it's not the book itself, but still.
Good question! I may say more about that book as the series goes on – but I think it's the latter, and perhaps it's the deepening itself that means that book is no longer the door through which I can get there. Is that a cryptic enough answer? ;-)
Funny, I recently wrote about Mercury/Hermes and world-bridging so this is ringing out clear as a bell. Mercury also has a free pass to and from the underworld – not something I've tended to appreciate until fairly recently. Looking forward to learning more Dougald, exciting times!
Thanks, Claire! I'm struck by that 'free pass to and from the underworld' and what it entails. Thinking again about the first conversation that put me on this thread, the person who recognised the 'mercurial' in me was one of many I've known for whom the underworld was all too real, but not a place that could be entered and left easily.
Ah, well, I could wax lyrical on this theme! Someone who recognised that both my sun and Mercury reside in my eighth house referred to me as something of a psychopomp – this quicksilver nature being the currency to and from Hades without coin. It is a slippery slope though, and I have attracted people who are otherworldly and underwordly and I can easily be enchanted by the "glamour" of it (not helped by my Neptune in the eighth too – yikes!). It's knowing when to enter, plumb the depths and gather the riches that Pluto holds in the underworld, then leave unscathed to tell the tale.
Following a serendipitous link from your latest newsletter, I found that I really needed to read this today. I, too, have tended to be Mercury, always (and not often intentionally) dissolving binaries, troubling categories, and bringing overlooked perspectives to the table. And now I am learning to be Saturn.
There was a song that really resonated with me in my melodramatic 20s, with the lyric "I wonder if everything I do / I do instead / of something I want to do more."
Without analysing it too much, I can understand the resonance, through Gordon White's suggestion that desire (not gratification, importantly) is divine telos. I heard the song again recently while shuffling through my music, felt a nostalgic pang, but realised that it no longer describes me. For better or for worse, I’ve made my choices: of all the endless possibilities - which were never as wide open as we were given to believe - I chose this life, and settled on these deepening beliefs.
Right now I am reading the final chapters of your book and feeling deeply grateful to have encountered it. This description of the process of writing it has been an enjoyable companion piece for a future in which At Work In The Ruins is out here in the world. Thank you.
"For better or for worse, I’ve made my choices: of all the endless possibilities - which were never as wide open as we were given to believe - I chose this life, and settled on these deepening beliefs."
And there's a relief in being able to say this, right? One of the secrets that the propaganda of modernity does its best to keep from us.
Good to have you reading!
For years, I’ve lacked a simple answer when people ask me, ‘How can I make sure I don’t miss your latest work?’ Well, now I have one.
I am so happy to hear this! I have wanted this for a long time and get it with other writers I like to read so you going this avenue is brilliant. Much love and thanks xox
Oof! Some of this feels like you’re writing from inside my head. I too am quite mercurial, and I struggle to write because I want to explore all the rabbit trails and hold all the sides and tensions and bridge all the divides and am loathe to commit myself to just one. I’m glad we’ll be hearing from you regularly and I hope you write more about how you managed to channel Saturn. :)
Well, there's a theme for a future post! Good to know you're reading, Rebekah.
How utterly thrilling. Great to see you here!
Thank you! It's great to be here at last. And what magical timing that Black Elephant brought the two of us together this morning.
That mystery book that you read. I wonder, is it among the things that you don't believe any more, or the things you believe more deeply than ever? From what you say, either would make sense. I mean I know it's not the book itself, but still.
Good question! I may say more about that book as the series goes on – but I think it's the latter, and perhaps it's the deepening itself that means that book is no longer the door through which I can get there. Is that a cryptic enough answer? ;-)
No, actually. Pretty clear :-)