The Seen

Truth is at the Bottom of the Well (1895) by Jean-Léon Gérôme, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon.

Truth Coming from the Well to chastise mankind (1896).

The Dialogues are plays that represent the seen part of the Unconscious. As Jean-Léon Gérôme painted her, naked Truth was at the bottom of a well. The only exceptions to his work were that Truth, in this instance, was at the bottom of the Well of Sorrow, and she was a Black woman. Her call came as a whispered howl. The task was to look down into the well, record what I saw and heard, and then assist in her rescue by employing the clue held in her hand, a mirror, the feminine aspect of self-reflection. She emerged from the well in image and sound. Her rescue, the process of deciphering her needs and desires, took courage, a fearlessness I did not know I had.

Journal entry 1:

6/18/25

I’m on PF’s massage table. As part of the structural bodywork I’ve come in for, he is manipulating my neck at the base of my skull. The music he is playing syncs with his fingers, and I sense myself going into an alpha state. I don’t know how long I’ve been under, but after some time, I started to feel myself crying. I resurface and, with my eyes closed, tell him that I’m feeling gratitude. It’s a very deep emotional sensation. Still, with eyes closed, I see a dim outline of a shadow of a black woman who, for some reason, I know is irrational. Our session ends while I am wiping away tears, and I wonder who or what the irrational black woman was. Hours later, I am writing Appendix A for my book called Phosphorus, and I pen this:

 

“Phosphorus/Lucifer’s significance in relation to women/Nymphs lies with the cult’s connection to the moon and Night worship. Phosphorus/Lucifer, the light-bearer, lit the way to mysteries connected with Isis and her sister Nephthys. Of these mysteries, a fair amount is known about the cult of Isis, but almost nothing remains of the cult of Nephthys’ practices. They must be inferred from those of Isis. Nephthys, goddess of the House of Ra and wife of Set, is a sky Goddess. In her benevolent state, she is the irrational, naughty sister. In contrast to Isis, she represents death and rebirth, as well as night and rain. As a sex goddess, she is Anuket, the goddess of sweat and a yearning desire.”

Continued...