viernes, 29 de noviembre de 2019

Ghost, not Buster, not a movie, but still in love with them

Spectrophilia: 1. Sexual attraction to ghosts. 2. Engaging in sexual activity with a ghost. .......................................................................................................................................... While religious radicalism (our President proposed a better term: religious manipulation) is very much on the rise in Indonesia and many countries, Spectrophilia is used by religious leaders to lure their followers. Among others, they say that if we die, we will have 72 angels (no description whether they are beautiful, fitting our taste or sexual orientation, or just random angels) serving us continuously. That's why some suicide bombers wore a protector around their vital organ, hoping that they would still "function well" after they enter heaven. .......................................................................................................................................... I don't have spectrophilia, but I did have a period of depression in my early 20s, and so I was fascinated with those dark places that attract people to commit suicide. In those places I sat down and wrote sketches of textures, chords and their progressions and change of colours, inspired by anything in those places. Those sketches remain in a pile of manuscripts, and when the fantastic Duo Xistra whose concert I listened to around 2 years ago asked me for a piece for their anti-mainstream formation of flute & accordion producing that rich and strange atmosphere, I immediately thought to resuscitate these sketches and develop them into real music, among others because duo Xistra were formed in Galicia, and Finisterre was one of the places that fascinated me in my younger years .... to consider committing suicide. .......................................................................................................................................... Cape Finisterre (literally means The End of the World) in Galicia is a beautiful place facing the Atlantic Ocean, wild rough landscapes and amazing beaches, some (protected by the cape) with calm waters and others with strong waves. And the greatest attraction of all times: the sunset over the enormity of the ocean, the sea of the end of the world. Unfortunately it's the real end of the world for many people too. Finisterre has long evoked a profound sense of mystery in the souls of mankind. The roots of the legendary aura of this site, open to the immensity of the Atlantic Ocean, can be found in the mythology of the first European inhabitants. They believed that, after death, the earthly life was replaced by another existence on an island situated to the west, where the sun set. In Celtic legends it is frequent to find images of heroes making their final journey to this paradise in a stone vessel. This merging of stone, sea and spiritual life is still present in different forms along the Costa de Morte (Coast of Death). .......................................................................................................................................... I visited Aokigahara Forest, known to be "suicide forest" since suicidal people could just enter it and they will never return, lured by the "yurei" inside the forest. In the Japanese popular belief, if a person dies in a deep sense of hatred, anger, sadness, or desire for revenge, their soul can’t leave this world and continues to wander, appearing to people affected by the spell or those who cross his path . These souls are called yurei and they can be found in many modern cultural references such as movies as well. Unlike western horror movies, where the ghost wants something specific in order to be able to rest in peace, the yurei wants nothing in particular; they just want to have their curse removed or conflicts resolved. .......................................................................................................................................... When the forest guardians find a dead body, they will take it to a special room designed for dead bodies that can be found next to the forest. Here, the body will be placed on a bed. What is more interesting though, is that a guard will sleep in the same room with the body. This may seem surprising, but it is said that if the corpse is left alone in the room, its yurei will move all night in the dormitories screaming and being deranged. .......................................................................................................................................... I haven't thought of the third piece yet, but I have always been wishing to develop my sketches I did at Isola de San Michele, in Venice. There lies the graves of Stravinsky, Diaghilev, Ezra Pound, Joseph Brodsky and many more. It's an island of cemetary, but it's so peaceful. You should visit it during sunset, and you'll never forget the feeling. But then this has nothing to do with suicides, but yeah, of ghosts. My favorite ghosts, if they haven't reincarnated yet. So, we'll see about this third piece of Spectrophilia. Now, back to writing the actual notes.