the Gloved Hand as seen through the Abyss

Giorgio De Chirico - Love Song - 1914 - (c) Museum Of Modern Arts New York

… looking intensely at the other’s eyes, you come to regard that person as someone entirely incomprehensible, a realization which is not entirely unreasonable. There is this traveling of emotional alienations that exists between those two trying to tie themselves in a meaningful manner of communication. It is hard for people to commit themselves because no sooner have they laid eyes on a person or already that other has disappeared from vision, leaving behind only vague impressions of sensory defilement. It is incredible really how little people are aware of that true nature of optics, have an understanding of this strange theory of light, because as self-evident as it all may seem at moments, the truth is that light has become the true god always laboring and moving about in most mysterious ways.”
“You do not mean that seriously now do you?”
“I am talking in all earnest!” (both men sighed with incomprehensible twilight beneath their brows)
“But if what you say is true …” (third voice cuts through the silence just before it gets uncomfortable) “ then whatever may be the contents of that briefcase can never be known. Am I right in assuming that?”
“I guess so …” (thus spoke Mister Cipher who had been fumbling about his own fingers while sitting there quietly in that most dark corner of the dimly illuminated room) “I think it is important though that we never truly get too discouraged because that is how delusions are born.”
“What exactly is it that you mean?” Can you describe to me, or even define as to what is the nature of disillusionment?”
“Delusion,” (as such Mister Cipher began his jolly narration) “is born out of a convoluted abolishment of reason, because when we get discouraged we quickly react in a way that prescribes ourselves to take certain appropriate actions and needless to say of course that those actions rather quickly grow into self-righteous afflictions and I hate to say this, my most esteemed audience of gathered folks, but no matter how much antibiotics we may or may not administer or even establish in this case, none of them will do any good because truthfully speaking there really is no case here of an infectious nature to begin with.”
“Interesting, definitely … most intriguing, much to be learned here I would say, yes, you make a most valid point Mister Cipher; however one desperately pressing question seems to remain, at least for as far as I understand and am concerned with this whole matter. The question is this, and please I beg your forgiveness if I seem to betray ignorance because freely I admit by my own intent that my head is feeling a little as if it is floating among the clouds; but anyhow here is buggingly bothering me: should we just forget about the case?”
“This is a most delicate matter which cannot easily be summarized in a few brief words. The problem is you see, that opening up the case could cause a possible annihilation of its contents, there is a fifty fifty percent chance of this, meaning that the odds are in favor as much as they are against us. We could try several types of rays of course, I don’t know, but from the top of my hat and speaking freely intuitively I would say: ex why gamma zee; different configurations and approaches are open to interpretation of course. The problem however is that the intoxicating quality of any such rays can cause miniscule distortion in both being and behavior of the contents and as such later on interpretations can easily reach a maximum degree of entropy because as discovered by brother Lorenz, a minimum degree of insignificant and random variant can easily cause a maximized approach of alternating vector which would cause us to think we have seen but meaning that what we actually have seen is truthfully not at all there because we have been deceived by our own devices.”
“What you have just told us Mister Cipher is most valuable, please let me be the first to applaud and congratulate you on the magnificent depth of your insightful wisdom. Indeed, we are presented here with a situation that albeit a certain morbidity attached to it, still has a humoresque kind of quality and I personally feel as if there might be much to be learned here, especially because our ordinary methods, logics and functionalities seem to be completely out of place here. All of us as such, must come to this conclusion with most grief, namely that our present capacities are simply lacking in efficiency and sufficiency and thus we must try and turn our gaze towards a new angle and find a new horizon. What do you think about this Mister Cipher?”
“Most wonderful dignitaries assembled here in this beautifully adorned room; here is a good example which proves and illustrates this most valuable point which has been laid out in front of us. Let us take a box! Every single creature bestowed with certain, be they limited or not, capacities of reasonable nature will soon come to a dead end, because unlimited variants as their might be to this which box we are holding up in front of our mind’s eye, a box is always still just a box, and as such we can never truly come to an imagination of something truly spectacular because for it to be a box and for us to imagine it as just a box, the box must stay a box. It must obey certain properties, dwell in certain dimensions and adhere to certain inescapable laws of geometrical physicalities. There is no way out of this gentlemen! At least not from our perspective, of us the ones standing here outside of the box. Now, my bellowed spectators, let us this bellowed and much adored imagination of ours, let us imagine a certain something inside of this, let us imagine a spring! Furthermore, my dearly gathered friends, let us imagine some jolly facial masquerade enthroned on top of this said spring. Now, the spring is pushed in, so what do we have? Indeed, we have tension! And when we have tension, we have potential! Our box is there, our box is there! Cannot you just see it? It is laying there and practically is rolling like a loaded die. What happens next? Cannot you all just see it so most marvelously illustrated in front of you eyes? Out it comes this jack-in-the-box! You see, this expression to think outside of the box was created by unimaginative people. Why you ask!? Because the real trick always is to think from inside the box trying to figure a way out! It is important that we learn how to both utilize and manufacture internal pulsations, to work from within because that is the only way out. To just think outside leaves you from the very beginning in an altogether different world! We must always start in the middle being found at the center of circling horizons that always is here and now! We must realize this box from within!”
“Of course Mister Cipher! How grandly magnificent of you! Splendidly I understand what it is you are trying to convey and converse to us. To get towards the inside of this packaged deal we must get inside of it! All too well I fully realize the vast truth of your words, however I have this twitching emotion that such a feat as going within the insides of this case in order to spring the locks is an impossible task for which we might as well employ Herr Sisyphus.”
“Relax my brethren, for luckily I am blessed with certain capacities beyond sheer intellectualization and upon realizing certain statistics of implied probabilities when invited to this meeting, I politely and with most daring secrecy invited a special friend of mine to this little place of ours who no doubt you all will come to like immediately since he offers us a way out of the seemingly vicious malignity of said predicament. You see, my friend presently remaining in the shadows outside of that very door right there in the not so distanced corner, is what those mundane people living in their little houses and reading their little books and newspapers call a psychic. My dear comrades, the person whom you are about to meet is quite genuine; he does not write or work for some silly pseudo paranormal horoscopal magazine! No one knows of him because he prefers that no one does so; because his is a true gift! What he can do, is to get inside of that which we so desperately want to get inside of. He can do this without his hands, without any bodily contact! All he needs is his mind! Mentally, with that greater power of his, he will get inside this briefcase laying here in the center circle resting between us; and trust me when I say that he will spring it from the inside like a jack-in-the-box!”
“Is your acquaintance ready to be called to be called here and summoned in front of this council Mister Cipher? If so … may he enter now without delay, because we are readily prepared and most anxious to rid our hearts of this plaguing mystery.”
“Most gladdened of heart I am” (the persona spoke upon entering knowing all that had occurred) “I thank the esteemed Mister Cipher for his trust in me and soon I hope, most delightfully, to win you over in a relationship of similar trust. Before we begin however I must stress certain things upon all of you and that is that all of what is about to occur is partaking in an atmosphere of utmost seriousness. There is no turning back! What all of you are about to witness, is genuine and must never be talked about. I am a shadow gentlemen! Always must I remain a shadow! So do not ever talk about me! I can reach you from the inside! I am not one of those quacks nor would I ever want to be associated with them … for that alone I forbid you to even talk about me nor to even think of me in a idly and ungodly manner. There are some things which I would like to talk to you about in a preliminary manner, this may all seem quite philosophical and logically unnecessary, but everything always has its own precise and punctual needs! You see, it is like this, that when you are, you always are a being reached out, stretched in several metaphysical dimensions. What you must understand is that always as you are …
 

(c) 2007 Steven Van Neste