In August and September of 1978 ... [Lucille] Clifton received a series of dire warnings about the fate of the human world from a mysterious group of spirits she called “the Ones.” The Ones did not assume the personality of a departed human, and they did not weigh in on day-to-day affairs. They spoke of things of cosmic importance: the deep past of human civilization (for instance, the origins of Atlantis and demystifications of ancient Egyptian civilization) and its tenuous future. They returned “to remind human beings that they are more than flesh,” and in 1978 they warned Clifton:If the world continues on its way without the possibility of God which is the same as saying without Light Love Truth then what does this mean? It means that perhaps a thousand years of mans life on this planet will be without Light Love Truth It is what we were saying indeed that there will be on Earth that place which human beings describe to the world of the spirits Hell Now there is yet time but not very much your generation Lucille is the beginning of the possibility and your girls generation is the middle etc.
The Ones, characterized by their mythic tone and liberal use of a royal we, peppered their messages with a line they repeated like a refrain: “There are so many confusions so many potential dangers in the world of the Americas.”
Marina Magloire, "The Spirit Writing of Lucille Clifton." The Paris Review, 10/19/2020.
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The original Greek word for apocalypse—apokalypsis—does not mean “end times.” It means “to unveil.” This is the apocalypse we are living through: a process of unveiling and revealing.
Jess Hill, "Privilege, Power, Patriarchy: Are These the Reasons for the Mess We're In?" The Guardian, 10/17/2020.
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This world is just a little place, just the red in the sky, before the sun rises, so let us keep fast hold of hands, that when the birds begin, none of us be missing.
From a letter written by Emily Dickinson in 1860. (Quoted by Barry Lopez here.)
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From top:
Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo, Il sole o Il sole nascente (The sun or the rising sun). 1904.
Leonora Carrington, Orpheus. 1953.
Eugène Carrière, The Contemplator. 1901. The Cleveland Museum of Art.
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Also: posts of Halloweens past, including Halloween-ish reads for all ages.
