Katabasis

Neil Gaiman’s Sandman recasts Orpheus as the son of the Dream King, but otherwise leaves the ancient tragedy intact. In the television adaptation, Orpheus survives as an immortal, severed head, speaking calmly, prophetically, and with the explicit wish for death. He is neither alive nor dead, suspended between worlds. Gaiman uses this image to exploreContinue reading “Katabasis”

INITIATION and TESTING

  ____________________________ I regret not recording where I grabbed this photograph. I believe it was from Life magazine in the late 1970s, taken by Marialba Russo [1] from her study in virility, ritual, and the human need to prove transformation. ____________________________ The latent anthropologist in me laments the lack of rites of passage celebrating importantContinue reading “INITIATION and TESTING”