#arachnomancy

[phoukanamedpookie]

Light Hope, we know that's you.

There is a forbidden type of magic out there. It isn’t forbidden because it’s inherently evil, or forces you to lose your humanity, or requires human sacrifices - it’s just forbidden because it’s annoying as heck to fight against.

[high-voltage-rat]

I often wonder what the actual state of medicine as a field is in dragonfable. We see that Magus Neron has a microscope, petri dishes, and hypodermic syringes. We know that the existence of cells is a known thing. Clearly we're not living in a pre-germ theory equivalent. But we also don't really see doctors around- alchemists like Alina seem to be the pick. Sir Junn is the only example I can really think of, and he also seems to be oriented towards alchemical solutions like the royal honey and corruption-cleansing potions, though we do have mentions of him using IVs in an ICU in his field hospital.

Healing potions would certainly be good for physical injuries, but I wonder at how well they treat illnesses and diseases. Are they a cure-all that's become so heavily relied on that, in the rare cases they don't work, nobody knows what else to do? Riadne's arachnomancy healing, delivering potions directly into the bloodstream, is treated as revolutionary, so I assume that pills or IV drips and infusions have not been popularized enough to be commonly used. Is that because potions as they currently exist are good enough for most applications, or because most people don't know how to use them, or because they're difficult to create or get ahold of? There are incredible technologies out there, as evidenced by the magisterium's drones and the gnomes'... everything. But whether or not these advances have ever been applied to medical applications has also never really been shown.

We've seen many examples of healing magic in lore, but the capabilities and limitations of it, as well as the actual process, are never really explored. Is it an actual active process of changing the body, or is it just empowering the natural healing process? We know that fleshweaving is a thing, but forbidden as an art due to its potential for abuse (and the fact that it apparently requires consuming elemental spirits), and Jaania's soulweaving-based healing of Brittany was a method she apparently invented through experimentation. So we can conclude that soul/fleshweaving are not being employed as a tool for medicine, and any commonly used healing magic probably doesn't modify the body in such a way.

There's lots of potential for medical technology and practice to improve, so one has to wonder what factors are at play to ensure they don't. Is it just reliance on the magic that already exists, leaving the people with rare cases to be untreated? I wonder if, to a degree, there's a perception of standard alchemy being "good enough" that medicine doesn't need to be improved. Perhaps that's compounded with some cultural taboos around "messing with" or manipulating the body, which may extend beyond magical practice into the scientific sphere. It could even be an acceptance of a flawed paradigm surrounding healing magic, just like how most mages accepted the leyline model of mana as absolute, when soulthreads demonstrate that it's flawed?

Or maybe the devs intended it all to remain in the mcguffin realm, where healing magic does everything you want when it's convenient and is limited only when necessary. But that's less fun to think about.

[sufferawitchrp]

⯎ MAGICAL ABILITIES PREVIEW ⯎

Sorcery in Blightford can be divided into two categories: minor and major magic. Minor magic consists of basic enchantments made to improve the quality of life, thus eradicating a hands-on approach to performing menial tasks. For example, a witch or warlock may animate a broom to collect dust and debris in their absence or charm their clothing to sort, wash, and fold itself at their behest. Minor magic is made available at the onset of magical expression which occurs anywhere between the ages of twelve and fourteen; upon magical maturity, a witch or warlock will display power indicative of the four major disciplines — cosmic, elemental, life, and death.  Quite often, the magical individual will possess a skill that is considered hereditary and will then be recognized and sponsored by the Matriarch with whom their magic aligns. However, with supernatural disciplines being capricious in their nature, the preternatural forces that be may bestow upon the individual an ability contrary to what those in their immediate circle may practice. In this instance, the witch or warlock is expected to report to the appropriate Matriarch and swear absolute secrecy and fealty to her coven. 

C O S M I C

Cosmic magic is characterized by an ability to access and interact with the world that exists beyond the physical realm. Upon reaching magical maturity — but prior to their sponsorship — witches and warlocks who possess this skill are often described as absent-minded, preoccupied with the passing of time, or susceptible to sudden bouts of lethargy. The Cosmic discipline is heavily influenced by travel, liminal spaces, a fascination with outer space and celestial bodies, and an insatiable appetite for knowledge. The Cosmic witch or wizard may possess a profound understanding of the past, present, and future, and may seek to manipulate or replicate it.

astral projection

Witches and warlocks in possession of this ability are able to intentionally extract their incorporeal form from their physical body thus allowing themselves to manipulate and travel between various planes of existence. A tenured magician may use this power to voyage between liminal spaces and minor dimensions to destinations they have visited before in the tangible world whereas an inexperienced magician may function as little more than a phantom in their attempt to travel, passing through individuals and objects with some difficulty while retaining some or none of their corporeal shape.

divination

Quite often regarded as pseudoscience, seerdom is a rather misunderstood cosmic ability with immense value to the broader magical community. There are various methods available to procure information from the cosmos and each one is unique to the practitioner. Some techniques include: arachnomancy, bone-throwing, dowsing, drawing lots, numerology, scrying, and tarot reading. The Cosmic witch or wizard with this magical competence typically requires privacy and an established routine in order to withdraw answers from the divine. 

dream-walking

Colloquially referred to as “lucid dreaming” among those with no magical ability, dream-walkers are witches and warlocks who are able to plant their metaphysical likeness in the mind of another individual while they are unconscious. A dream-walker possesses the capacity to spectate the dream for its duration or they may choose to interfere which may subject the affected to recurring nightmares and bouts of sleep paralysis if the magician proceeds with mal-intent. While observing or interacting with the subconscious of another, dream-walkers run the risk of becoming trapped until the following sleep cycle if they fail to relinquish the mind before the affected wakes.

illusion creation

An individual with this ability possesses a fearsome talent for manipulating one or all of the primary five senses. A novice may distort the surrounding environment of their intended target, influencing the behaviour and cognition of the affected while a more experienced witch or wizard can produce any number of hallucinations simultaneously to the immense distress and confusion of their victim. With dedicated practice, a witch or wizard may sustain these illusions for an extended period of time and may even develop minor clairvoyance, allowing them to shift the thought patterns of their target through the power of suggestion, thus subjecting the victim’s mind to an infinite loop of terror and poor mental clarity.

psychometry

Those with the gift of touch are able to glean information from objects — ordinary or otherwise — and people both magical and mundane. Witches and warlocks new to this skill may receive snapshots of memories and thoughts while a more sophisticated branch of psychometry will allow the user to obtain knowledge that is far more vivid, linear, and concise. Users are typically regarded as intuitive by those who have been touched, and although there have been no accounts of adverse effects due to prolonged contact, witches and wizards have been known to use this method of harvesting information for their own gain.

MATRIARCH: catherine wu

D E A T H

Shrouded in horror and mystery, the intricacies of death is a gift bestowed upon very few within the magical community. The discipline is often described as debilitating, intrusive, and frightening as death magicians are typically exposed to this brand of magic under tragic and unfortunate circumstances. Those who are burdened with the knowledge of the dead and the dying are often accosted by apparitions, susceptible to parasomnia in combination with sleep-walking, apprehensive of the dark (albeit, temporarily), and paranoid during their waking hours. Those who find their discipline in death are influenced by nightfall, crossroads, mourning, bones, and decay. 

absorption

Among the magical youth of Blightford, the ability to wrest energy from all living creatures is often called “sucking”. This magical competence may be initiated by any manner of physical touch in combination with the user’s deliberate desire to draw upon the essence of their intended target. A brief connection might render the affected disoriented, ravenous, or unconscious while continued contact may result in paralysis, loss of cognitive function, or even death. Magicians who utilize the life force of other individuals and organic matter are able to enhance their own being, thus achieving peak physical performance. With extended use, it has also been speculated that these magical folk might even delay the natural aging process and outlive their peers.

fear inducement

What was once an ability borne out of a desire for privacy and protection has now become a practice used to inflict terror and intimidation upon unsuspecting victims. The witch or wizard in possession of this particular skill takes immense pride in their innate ability to uncover what their target fears most and use that knowledge to their advantage. A novice may call forth the source of their victim’s dread or manipulate their outward appearance, adopting the characteristics of that specific aversion or phobia while a more tenured magician will possess enough skill to generate new phobias, dominate the unconscious mind by planting nightmares, and exploit the sympathetic nervous system by increasing adrenaline and cortisol which may result in irreversible damage or subsequent heart failure leading to death. 

mediumship

Dominated by a long and convoluted history of skepticism and fabricated encounters, the art of communing with the deceased is a skill reserved for the most sensitive magician. Witches and wizards who have inherited this gift are typically believed to have encountered death early in life, and it is this intimate knowledge of The Other Side that has given them the ability to commune with those who have passed on and entities that cannot be seen with the naked eye. The method with which a witch or warlock may choose to convene with the dead is varied and dependent on the clairs that have manifested within them. This haunting approach of communication has been further divided into four attributes: clairvoyance (“clear-seeing”), clairaudience (“clear-hearing”), clairsentience (“clear-sensing), and claircognizance (“clear-knowing”).

pain transference

A rather capricious subsidiary of magic, the ability to re-allocate pain, discomfort, illness, or injury is a skill that can be used for the betterment of others or to inflict harm. For the witch or warlock that intends to do good, they are able to locate the source of the victim’s suffering and channel it into their own person, thus subjecting themselves to the duration of distress that the victim would have originally endured. However, for the magician that would prefer to act with malice in mind, they are able to wound and inflict agony upon themselves before redirecting the extent of their physical damage onto the focus of their ire. As with any division of death magic, this power is not without grave limitations and potentially fatal implications.

shadow manipulation

Utilizing the absence of light, those in possession of this ability are able to draw upon darkness in order to conceal themselves, invoke fear, or employ the shadows as a method of transportation. With magical maturity and tutelage from their Matriarch, a witch or wizard may learn to manipulate the darkness in their immediate vicinity in order to create a tangible objects, assume control of another individual by the merging their shadows, and calling upon creatures for aid that are either nocturnal or find refuge in the dark. 

MATRIARCH: ramona baptiste

E L E M E N T A L

Calling upon the primordial forces of nature, elemental magic is characterized by the channeling and utilization of the five major resources responsible for sustained life on earth. Due to the assorted nature of this discipline, there is a great deal of diversity to find among the witches and warlocks who have sworn allegiance to this coven and have thus been celebrated and admonished for their disorganized and eclectic reputation. With all manner of matter and substances in a constant state of flux, magicians who find themselves emboldened by the power of planet earth are influenced by the change of seasons, cardinal directions, meteorological phenomenon, science and alchemy, and the presence of anthropomorphic spirits attributed to the elements. 

air

Those with the gift of aeromancy possess the ability to control the speed and movement of air currents, bestowing upon themselves the power of flight, rapid movement and increased agility, and the ability to regulate their breathing at higher altitudes. With sufficient instruction, a tenured magician may learn to generate their own air, convert carbon dioxide into oxygen or create unsuitable breathing conditions with the production of miasmas, and learn how to harness the power of multiple atmospheric conditions such as lightning, fog, hurricanes, and tornadoes, 

earth

Witches and warlocks who have been gifted with the patient and nurturing practice of earth magic are capable of manipulating organic matter while possessing the unique ability to forge camaraderie with the world’s fauna. Sourcing their magic from the very land that they walk upon, earth magicians often find themselves quite proficient at the study of medicinal plants, and with continued support from their Matriarch, may even learn to camouflage themselves among the flora of the world or develop unique abilities such as prehensile hair, perceiving polarized light such as ultraviolet and infrared, detect vibrations, and conjure earthbound natural disasters such as earthquakes and landslides.

fire

An exceptionally volatile ability, witches and wizards who practice pyrokinesis may create feats of immense magic utilizing nearby heat sources; a novice may only possess enough skill to manipulate and extinguish a moderate amount of pre-existing light and warmth while mastery of this element may involve producing flames at will, thermokinesis, moderate immunity to high volumes of heat and fire, the conjuring of blue flames, and the ability to generate lightning. The most prestigious pyrokinetics are offered an extensive education in developing dominion over volcanoes, lava, and wildfires. Witches and wizards with an affinity for this element are often instructed to monitor their mental and emotional well-being as a lack of focus, discipline, or restraint may pose disastrous and deadly.

water

The natural counterpart to pyrokinesis and its thermal based magic, magicians with a proficiency in hydrokinesis possess the unique ability to source energy from surrounding bodies of water. Magicians may find that their skills are extraordinary at high tide or certain phases of the moon, thus allowing them to communicate with aquatic life and endure underwater for an extended period of time. Witches and warlocks who are capable of controlling this element in all of its various forms – and then later develop a talent for hydrogenesis and chlorokinesis of water-dwelling flora – may also learn to harness the power of natural marine disasters such as tsunamis, cyclones, and flash floods. 

metal

Often made interchangeable with that of earth magic, the ability to command and manipulate any compound or alloy is a formidable practice contingent on concentration, individual power, and a profound understanding of the earth’s electromagnetic properties. Witches and warlocks who have acquired this talent have proven themselves capable of electrogenesis, exerting enough diamagnetic force to initiate flight, are proficient in the study of transmutation, and possess extraordinary control of organic iron compounds, thus allowing them to temporarily puppeteer any individual whose blood they have come into contact with.

MATRIARCH: lorraine weston

L I F E  

Effervescent, ineffable, temporary – life magic is an amalgamation of all things wonderful and ordinary, a balancing act that is older than time itself. This discipline, which is often recognized for the ease with which enchantments roll off the tongue and spring forth from nimble fingers, stands in stark contrast to its more macabre counterpart. Life magic is often described as a warm and enthusiastic embrace and its magicians pride themselves on their ability to improve upon the welfare of those around them and their burning desire to understand the physical world and its inhabitants on a level that is equal parts grandiose and intimate. Witches and warlocks who find themselves moved by their duty to the earth are heavily influenced by animals, natural and artificial sources of light, meditation, herbology and healing, and psychology.

animation

The power to breathe life – albeit, temporarily — into an inanimate object is a skill often admired for its charm and intrigue. The object in question must be created in the likeness of a sentient being, and at the behest of a practicing magician, it may gain a limited duration of independence. While a novice may possess enough skill to enchant a toy horse or other miniature, decorative animal for a short period of time, a more tenured witch or warlock may bring to life a two-dimensional illustration of an animal or person, and – with a considerable amount of effort – even obtain control over a free-standing sculpture of the same criteria many times the magician’s size. With enough guidance, a witch or warlock may even extend this ability to command nearby plant-life.

empathy

Those with a predisposition for balance, compassion, and employ a holistic approach to life are often bestowed with the ability to sense, interpret, and shift the emotions of others. With minimal concentration, a witch or warlock may uncover the true thoughts and feelings of those within their immediate vicinity and with whom they share an intimate connection with while a more tenured magician can glean information from targets known and unknown, redirect, manipulate, or plant thoughts of any given nature, and read the emotional residue left behind in an environment after tragedy or disaster has taken place. With continued sponsorship, a witch or warlock may learn how to analyze the mental state of multiple people simultaneously, over various distances, and even that of other sentient beings. 

light manipulation

In direct opposition to shadow manipulation, witches and warlocks may employ the absence of darkness to manipulate the electromagnetic radiation visible to the naked eye. Magical folk with this ability may shift and bend particles of light made available to them in their immediate vicinity and utilize it to manipulate colour, create optical illusions, inflict first and second degree burns, or impair the vision of those who wish to do them harm. With continuous practice, witches and warlocks may even learn to create orbs or beams of light for use as projectiles or exercise delumination. As with umbrakinesis and its efficacy taking place between dusk and early morning, light manipulation is most effective between the hours of dawn and twilight.

restoration

A rather altruistic approach to magic, those with the ability to minimize or correct damage done to organic and inanimate objects often possess a mild temperament. A novice may exercise enough skill to rejuvenate and strengthen minor injuries or invigorate any number of plant life denied sufficient water, sunshine, and care while a magician with far more elevated magic may regenerate extremities, reconstruct items that have been corrupted by natural causes, and induce healing. The ability to revitalize any living being is not without its limitations; for instance, necrotic tissue or the complete shutdown of the sympathetic nervous system constitutes irreversible damage and cannot be remedied or inhibited by restorative magic. 

shape-shifting

Those with the power to manipulate their cellular structure may transform — completely or in part — into the beast of their choice. The creature is often one of great importance to the witch or warlock, with the first transformation taking place following a moment of heightened emotion. While taking on the complete or partial likeness of their animal identity, magicians are able to communicate with similar creatures, and with sufficient time spent masquerading among the animal kingdom, these witches and warlocks may later adapt an improved sense of sight, hearing, and smell. As with all disciplines, there are consequences for improper usage and magicians are discouraged from attempting to shift into persons alive or dead; doing so is a punishable offense. 

MATRIARCH: temperance peters

[generatedart]

Art by @studiotomassaraceno The noises generated by human activity cause vibrations that propagate into the earth as high-frequency seismic waves.  Data taken before and during the global lockdown has shown “the longest and most prominent global anthropogenic seismic noise reduction on record”, according to @ScienceMagazine. This period in which the earth’s pulse returned to a quieter state for the first time since before the Industrial Revolution, has allowed seismologists to study the earth’s natural processes extending for “many kilometres radially and hundreds of meters in depth” into the earth’s surface. The sonification you hear maps the shift in seismic noise evinced by the pandemic-induced reduction in human activity. Though the effects of individual sources on seismic noise may be small, they produce a blanket of background noise often masking the signals of various geological phenomena, like smaller earthquakes. Enjoy the concert tonight with your headphones on and your device's vibration mode enabled to sense the earth's pulsation during the pandemic and cosmic vibrations. How to hear the universe in a spider/web: A live concert for/by Invertebrate Rights will stream live starting at 10:00pm CET (GMT+1) on Arachnomancy app, as well as Arachnophilia.net and Culture.Roma.it @cultureroma @arachnophilia_net #Anthropocene #TomásSaraceno #lockdown #sonification #NYE #NewYears #arachnomancy #spiderwebs #OltretuttoRoma #OltretuttoCapodannoRoma #CultureRoma #CapodannoRoma #spidersounds #seismicrecording Graphs: Continuous, three-component seismic recordings from a set of permanent broadband stations, part of the Italian National Seismic Network operated by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia. Image credit: 1., 2. (c) Studio Tomás Saraceno. 3., 4. Poli, P., Boaga, J., Molinari, I. et al. The 2020 coronavirus lockdown and seismic monitoring of anthropic activities in Northern Italy. Sci Rep 10, 9404 (2020). https://www.instagram.com/p/CfUO1jQrEdT/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[thepleasuregoblin]

Magic Idea

schools of magic but they’re based on different animals that you emulate or take power from

[voiiidaily]

７・２６・２０１７

My entry for a contest over on deviantart finished! :D I kind of liked the look before all the shading, so I decided to include that here too.

[barberwitch]

I was wondering about your thoughts on familiars? 🐍🦍🐆🐺🦉🐈🦚🦔🐇😁

*Cracks knuckles…prepares for the shit storm* brace yourselves...loooong fucking post.

95% of people I’ve seen talk about familiars, post pictures of their familiars and talk about how their *insert animal companion* helps them with their spell work…aren’t familiars. They are animal companions, aka pets. They also insist that because they are a witch with and animal who sits on their tarot cards, that it’s automatically a familiar.

Familiars can come in different forms (not talking about cat vs dog vs snake) but it must be reminded that familiar is shortened of “spirit familiar”. It’s not that pets can’t be familiars, it’s that the people who talk about their pets as familiars take inspiration from pop culture of what a familiar is. It’s not just an animal that follows the witch around. A familiar actively assists with the witch’s work. 

Familiars that come in the shape of animals have been around for ages, and across cultures, but the things that ties them together is they appear of their own volition or in specific ways. They aren’t purchased from a pet store, they aren’t adopted from the shelter…is it possible? Sure I guess? Pet stores weren’t really around when most of the accounts of familiar came from. Oof. I need to organize my thoughts a bit.

Familiars Spirits are traditionally intangible/supernatural entities that may or may not choose to appear in physical form whether animal, entity’s “True Form”, or even under disguise, whether as something else or even as another person. Spirit familiars may also inhabit inanimate objects such as statues, spirit vessels (fetiche) such as roots, clay or earthen figures, empty boxes etc.

Familiars as Gifts

In some accounts, a familiar is given to a witch or cunning folk by another person. 

In these cases it’s usually given by a teacher or mentor, or a family member to assist the practitioner in their path. Traditionally it’s someone with a hand in the recipients magical practice.

The spirit passed down may be the witch (or cunningfolk, but for the remainder of this post, I will refer to them interchangeably) indefinitely. The implication there is that the familiar not only is connected to the witch, but to their specific practice and thus can be viewed as a guardian of the path with the assumption that eventually, the witch will pass the familiar onto the next generation.

It may also be a personal familiar that is passed down. Personal as in this is the first time the familiar is passed on, and could become the type mentioned above (guardian style of either the path or family line) or it may be a temporary contract. The familiar may be with the witch to protect it, and assist in place of the original practitioner and may leave/disappear/die when they are able to conjure their own and enter into a pact with a new familiar (or create a pact with the old familiar).

In the case of being passed on, the relationship between witch and familiar, in lieu of a teacher, may impart certain secrets of the path. IT may also not even give the option to continue the relationship if the previous witch only extended the contract to get the new practitioner to a certain point or through hardship. 

It should also be pointed out that specifically in european traditions and some north american lore, that the spirit familiar is given to the witch or magical practitioner by yet another spirit or entity who is more powerful. This could be a spirit mentor, Faery, or as a pact with “The Man in Black” Ol Scratch, or some iteration that has been interpreted as the devil or satan. In these cases, it is both a symbol of the relationship, a representative of the pact, a gift, and a tool.

 Familiars as Animals

As mentioned and popularized both in folklore and in pop culture, familiar spirits may appear in the form of animals.

In the overly popular example of the Salem Witch trials, we see through trial records the purported importance of a “Witch’s Mark”. The mark is some bodily anomaly that supposedly was where the witch could suckle their familiar. It could be a mole, a birthmark, skintag, and was instrumental in the conviction of the accused.

Certain animals are more likely to be the form of a familiar, and that also depends on the geography of the witch as well as the culture. Example, in the US, black cats are inherently associated with witches, but in Scottland, Britain and other countries, you’re may be more likely to find a connection through hares, toads, and ravens more commonly than the black cat.

One reason that they appear as more common animals is to maintain the secrecy that envelopes the witch.

In pop culture, it’s always obvious when a familiar is a familiar because the animal is represented in stark contrast between the other animals. You will notice if a black crow flies to the same person’s house day in and day out when there are no other crows around. You would also notice if you were in the dessert, and a toad is always standing guard outside a home. The animal forms match the surroundings so it would be conceivable for the witch to deny the familiar as what it is “I found this toad in the scullery, it’s so pesky living near that damnable pond. Please wait a moment while I put this outside.”

There is also a connection and interpretation of familiars as being body doubles, or as having room for 2 spirits. Many stories about the folkloric witch hold that the animal appears throughout the town, or visits neighbors etc and is in fact the witch. Some versions hold that the familiar takes the form of the specific animal because that’s the form the witch can assume (conversely, the familiar teaches the witch to transform into a copy of it). This again maintains the witch’s anonymity because if you see the same animal around for a long time, it’s less likely to raise suspicion. It has also been alluded to that the witch enters the body of the familiar or projects their conscious into the familiar to see what need be seen and do what need be done remotely.

Animal familiar spirits in other accounts assume that shape to better serve the witch whether as lookout, intelligence gatherer or collector of needed ingredients.

Familiars also can assume the shape of multiple animals at once, but usually will be the same one, and smaller such as a cloud of flies, grouping of spiders, several small frogs, and even flocks of birds such as starlings, magpies and sparrows. Again, this depends on both the area and the witch.

Familiar Pets

This is one exception that can easily fall into the category of mundane pets and animals being considered familiars (Please note I said this is the easy exception. There may be others, but those are individual cases.)

Some animals are kept as divinatory familiars. This falls under the branch of Zoomancy - divination done through interpretation of movements actions and reaction of animals.

Ailuromancy, coming from the greek ailouros meaning “cat” is divination through…cats. How this is done varies depending on the culture and time, but it’s done by interpreting the movements, and actions of cats. Noticing how cats jump, where they land, what they do with their tales, whiskers, how they curl up, wash their faces, intonations of their meows. 

Alectromancy is the process of using hens and or roosters for divination. Sometimes its observing their movements naturally, other times it’s done by placing the chicken in a circle with different symbols and placing feed on all the symbols, interpreting the actions and choices of the chicken as the answer to the question.

Arachnomancy is the process of divining knowledge past present and future through spiders. It’s been done in multiple cultures from the Inca who kept spiders to answer questions by placing them in bowls and reading how they moved the leaves around. In China, women would collect spiders at fortuitous times in incense boxes and determine events based on if they made webs or didn’t over night. In other cultures, the keeping of spiders was done to read their webs and habits. In other parts of the world, different type of leaves, or cards were moved by kept spiders to interpret omens and fortune.

The reason that these are considered familiars is because they are used directly in the witch’s work. They are kept and fed and cared for, but they have a separate purpose from just existing, and that is as a tool.

I have nothing against pets, I’ve got three myself. I love them, I care for them, they comfort me when I am sick, or tired, or stressed, but they are mundane animals. They were adopted, they were raised, and they do dog things. I joke when I refer to my black dog Arlo as a familiar because he brings me avocados. I don’t use avocados that often in my craft and there’s a tree in my backyard so it’s nothing spiritually enriching, just adorable.

Is it possible that your pet is a familiar? Yes. But most likely it’s just a treasured animal, and familiar in this definition: One who is often seen, and well known; synonym: Companion. Alt.: in close friendship; intimate. Synonyms: Casual, friendly, comfortable, informal.

The term “familiar”, the noun in regards to witches is a different definition: a spirit often embodied in an animal and held to attend and serve or guard a person.

There is precedent to referring to pets as familiars when it comes to having animals that are integral to your craft.

While it may not do anything inherently magical, if used for magic then it is sometimes referred to as a familiar.

Using an animal/pet for a working can also be referred to as using a familiar. Some people use their pets as a conduit or even as a spell holder to deliver the spell to someone else.

Paul Huson refers to these types of animals/familiars/magistelli as a power object

Yes, I mean you can put a hex on someone through your dog. Yes I also mean you can deliver a hex to someone by them petting your dog. or a blessing...that too

Additional note...If you’ve pissed off another witch and go to their home ask if they’ve read my blog before petting their dog. They may be using it to hex you...or bless you.

What does this mean?

If your pet doesn’t attend and serve you in your magical workings, or used in your magical workings on purpose it’s not a traditional witch’s spirit familiar.

If your pet gives you attention and happiness it is familiar to you.

A witch doesn’t need to have a familiar to be a witch. Yes, the 1648 law in Massachusetts defined a witch as one who “hath or consulteth with a familiar spirit.” But even that denotation of what makes a witch was repealed in 1682, ten years before the Salem witch trials. Even the puritans recognized that not all witches have familiars, and sometimes an animal is just an animal.

Familiar Spirits additionally

Some familiar spirits may appear and be subservient or loyal immediately. No pact or contract needs to be done, it’s more just…there.

Familiar spirits may be other spirits who enter into a pact with the witch. Either appearing spontaneously, or through a summons and communication.

This pact may be for a week, a month, several years, or a lifetime…even longer (see above, Familiars as gifts).

Familiars may not always be present. Some may have a resting place the witch must go to, some reside in a different realm, plane, dimension or whatever and need to be called forth to do work. Some may be around the witch at all times, but there is still the function of the familiar.

Familiars do what witches cannot. If that’s going out, gathering items, retrieving lost things, there is an air of purpose that familiars fulfill in assisting the witch in a real way.

This real way is often either physical or spiritual, and with the exception of popculture, most times it is not in an emotional sense like pets fulfill.

Familiars are spirits, and their forms may change, but they are spirits none the less. 

Plant familiars are a thing. Most famous is the Alraune/Alrune/Alruna made from a mandrake. Other plant familiars are grouped under the title of Magistellius Flora.

Magistelli is one title for familiars, and some historians denote that the term “familiar” was passed on from the church to further pass judgement on witches for becoming familiar with the devil (through demonic servants).

As mentioned previously, spirit familiars may inhabit objects and go forth from there. The physical tether is usually cared for and attended to by the witch.

Even though the vessel isn’t living, it is fed and tended to usually as part of the pact made with the spirit.

Familiars in Pop Culture That are More Accurate than Others...

The VVitch (Movie)- the hare that appear numerous times throughout the film is a familiar. It’s not made clear if it is there as a watcher for the witch either holding the witch’s conscious, or as the witch herself. Another possibility is that the hare is a harbinger, delivering an enchantment on behalf of the witch to go unnoticed (The musket backfiring while the hare is watching). Another iteration or possibility is that the familiar is taking on the stance of protector or guard. When deep in the woods the hare is seen, and as the location of where the witch(es) live in the woods, it could be implied that it stands guard to repel interlopers, or notify the witch(es) of the presence of the puritans. The hare also, while not as widely associated with witches in the United States currently, must be recognized as still being very intensely connected to witches during the time period. The puritans immigrated to the colonies from England, and it can be inferred that the witch(es) who are at work in the woods also came from England or another European country.

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV) - Sabrina actively seeks a familiar and goes into the woods asking for a (hob)goblin to attend her as a partner. Though it’s also acknowledged that familiars can be subservient and chosen that way. Numerous times, the cat (Salem) acts as a protector for Sabrina. As mentioned above, familiars are sometimes called forth to guide and protect witches through trying times, or to be near the witch to assist with workings when other witches cannot. You also see the spirit form of the goblin before it chooses what shape to inhabit. It’s usual for the true nature of the familiar to only be visible by the witch it has a contract with, but accounts (and experience) of others being able to see flits of the spirit if not discernable details is exhibited by Salem only showing his true form to Sabrina when they enter into the pact.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (TV) - Being a prime example of the British and Scottish interpretations of Spirit familiars being Fae, Faery, or the Good Neighbors, the story line includes a Faery referred to as “The Gentleman” (Further example of the relationship between fae and witches relating to the importance of names) who wishes to be the assistant, teacher, mentor of Mr. Norrell. A “common” occurence in scottish witch lore is that either the faery that the witch/cunning folk learns from in some cases is a familiar, but in other accounts bestows a familiar (lesser faery, animal spirit etc) unto the practitioner. This also is a fair representation both of the care needed when working with the fae, but also with working with spirits in general as they have autonomy, and a familiar gained through a pact, needs to be respected.

Harry Potter (Movie And Book Series) - While there are plenty of animals, fantastic beasts and witches throughout the story lines, there are only 2 (kinda 3) animals that fulfill the traditional sense of the word “Familiar”. Mrs. Norris the cat and Argus Filch have a relationship that is a parody of who people would assume is a witch (the irony being that he has no magical powers, but lives among those who do). A curmudgeonly man with a bad attitude, snarl and distaste for interacting with the general populous and a craving for torturing children with a cat (reads like a stereotypical witch). Mrs. Norris is described as having an uncanny ability to find rule breakers and an unexplainable connection to her owner. Being able to notify him when there’s rukebreaking afoot with a yowl and also being able to recognize and see through enchantments (Harry’s cloak). Nagini also fits the bill as being an animal with whom only the witch/wizard can communicate who also is able to act independently of them. Also being sent out both as scout, guard and having a connection the owner can use to see through their eyes/inhabit (Voldemort in Nagini/ the department of mysteries. Also the shapeshifting into Bathilda Bagshot and notifying her owner of Harry’s prescience.) **BEFORE YALL TRY AND GO OFF. I realize that as of the newest film, nagini can’t be considered a familiar as she’s a cursed witch blah blah blah. Before it came out, the books representation of Nagini is textbook Familiar.** Speaking of Fantastic Beasts, the Matagat are described as familiar spirits and it’s a little nod to folklore. They appear for like 3 minutes.

Bell, Book, and Candle (movie)- this film is full of tropes. It lays on some pretty thick liberties loosely based on lore surrounding traditional witches mixing it with fairy tale lore about them, namely witches being unable to love etc. But, the cat familiar Pyewacket is an accurate representation of how a familiar can act and be used. Touching on the subject of working magic through the familiar who is more cat with magic, than imp/goblin/demon/fairy/brownie in animal form, the main character uses Pyewacket as both a conduit for her spells as well as sending it forth for her bidding. It also represents the familiars ability to have autonomy and choose whether or not to listen if the pact is broken (this is shown by Pyewacket’s rejection to the main character after she rejects her powers).

Salem(TV) - Another example of familiars, with the additional Witch’s Mark lore incorporated.

Pan’s Labyrinth (Movie) - The mandrake is a textbook magistellus flora root familiar alrune piece of delicious representation.

There are others too but this post is long enough.

So....there are some of my thoughts. Also keep in mind that this is focusing on familiars in North America and European lore. There’s additional context to be had and differences when including South America, Asia, Africa and Australia. Also keep in mind, this is my view and opinions, if you call your parakeet a familiar, I don’t really care. That’s your choice and your practice and as the world adjusts so do practices, but as a traditional witch and folkloric witch myself......I could go on and on and had to stop myself from talking about Greek Genius spirits, Animism, accounts and trial records of witches and familiars, the Allegory of the Cave and more.

TLDR: Familiars are real, I work with them and they are not my pet dogs. If the only reason you call a pet a familiar is because it’s in the room while you light incense and you’re a witch...it’s probably not a traditional familiar. You can call it that sure, but it’s a different definition than is widely accepted and assumed when you say Witch’s familiar. If you do include your pet for workings then that falls in line with some of the iterations of the classical familiar.

🦇Cheers, Barberwitch

[wolfieoffline]

Types Of Divination

Aeromancy

Alectormancy

Alomancy

Alphitomancy

Amniomancy

Anthropomancy

Apantomancy

Arachnomancy

Arithmancy

Aruspicy

Astragalamcy

Astrology

Axinomancy

Belomancy

Bibliomancy

Botanimancy

Brontoscopy

Capnomancy

Carromancy

Cartomancy

Ceraunoscopy

Causimomancy

Caromancy

Chien Tung

Chaomancy

Cheiromancy

Onychomancy

Clairsentience

Clairvoyance

Clairaudience

Precognition

Psychometry

Cledomancy

Cleidomancy

Cleromancy

Crithomancy

Coscinomancy

Crithomancy

Cromniomancy

Cyclomancy

Dactlomancy

Daphnomancy

Demonomancy

Dendromancy

Divining

Entomancy

Extispicy

Feng Shui

Fractomancy

Futurology

Gematria

Genethlialogy

Geomancy

Geloscopy

Graphology

Gyromancy

Halomancy

Haruspicy

Hepatoscopy

Hieromancy

Hippomancy

Horoscopy

Hydromancy

Ichthyomancy

Idolomancy

Iridology

Keraunomancy

Lampadomancy

Libranomancy

Lithomancy

Lynchomancy

Metagnomy

Meteormancy

Metoposcopy

Moleosophy

Molybdomancy

Myomancy

Myrmomancy

Natal Astrology

Necromancy

Numerology

Oculomancy

Oinomancy

Omphalomancy

Oneiromancy

Onomancy

Onychomancy

Oomancy

Ophiomancy

Oracle

Ornithomancy

Ouija

Pallomancy

Palmistry

Pegomancy

Phyllorhodomancy

Physiognomy

Podomancy

Premonition

Prophecy

Psychography

Psychomancy

Pyromancy

Capnomancy

Causimomancy

Lampadomancy

Lychnomancy

Sideromancy

Spodomancy

Rhapsodomancy

Radiesthesia

Schematomancy

Sciomancy

Scrying

Selenomancy

Skatharomanch

Stichomancy

Spasmatomancy

Spatalamcy

Sternomancy

Sycomancy

Tasseography

Theomancy

Zoomancy

Zygomancy

[wumblr]

so this spider just got lost on my paper lamp, it walked around the square perimeter twice and then stopped and stood motionless (and this is after it tried to come down and i yelled at it and it went back up -- i also moved my blue polka dot sheets out of the way, revealing red sheets underneath, which i feel like is more likely to have been what startled it back up to the pillow mint lamp, because i've yelled at spiders before and it doesn't always do anything) so i emptied out a glass of water and tipped it into the empty glass and put it outside and i'm just left thinking like... what a day that spider has had. the sun hasn't even risen, and i'm thinking about that post that was like "the mythical fey are based on humanity's relationship with animals, and the hypothetical extrapolation of another, supremer species, with magic powers that look to us like our powers must look to animals" anyway vorp vorp get in this tube i gotta transport you to a four dimensional labyrinth in the sky don't get lost

[rosiephillips]

Tomas Saraceno’s Aria at the Palazzo Strozzi

Through Arachnomancy Cards – one attributed to each room with the full collection of 33 displayed in room 7 – Saraceno celebrates “the radical interconnectedness of all things”, depicting living and non-living entities together in the same deck. 

I want to draw in this sense of unity between humanity and the natural world, reflecting interconnectedness, or rather, how and in what way we have created disunity - divided ourselves from nature and subsequently the damage we have inflicted in this vein. 

The deck draws on the practice of spider divination “during which questions are asked of a ground-dwelling spider who submits an answer by rearranging an arachnomancer’s ‘divination cards’”. Through referencing this mystical practice, Saraceno points to the fact that the “vibrational world” of the spider, experienced through its web, “may open it to knowledge we don’t have access to”. I think this challenges the anthropocentrist humanist “demystification of the natural world” that Adam Weitzenfeld and Melanie Joy talk of, demystification being a part of the humanism of the 18th century in the Age of Enlightenment. 

This also subverts the anthropocentric assumption that human experience is exceptional by pointing to the gaps in our understanding and that which lies beyond the bounds of human experience but which may be accessed by the spider. Thus Saraceno highlights the value of the spider’s perspective, which may be “micro” but, if we were able to access it, would help fill in a “macro” understanding of our world.

I think that I might want to explore non-human perspectives to point to the gaps in our knowledge, questioning the belief that “man is the measure of all things” (Protagoras)

The glass vitrines indicate that the spider and its web are something to be protected, drawing links with scientific artefacts in museums and valued art in high art spaces. In keeping with Saraceno’s message of interconnectedness, this may encourage respect for our arachnid counterparts by elevating the perceived preciousness of their webs. 

I had not thought about this exhibition in a while but I feel that subconsciously seeing it over summer sparked my interest in the intersection between science and art and influenced my use of glass to present my wax sculptures, both to indicate their status as scientific artefacts and to conjure a sense of value.

References: 

‘An Overview of Anthropocentrism, Humanism, and Speciesism in Critical Animal Theory’ by Adam Weitzenfeld and Melanie Joy

Wall text at the Aria exhibition

[zyzygierteco]

Tomás Saraceno

Tomás Saraceno (San Miguel de Tucumán, 1973) is an Argentinian contemporary artist. His practice is informed by the concepts linking art, life science and the social sciences. Enmeshed at the junction of these worlds, his floating sculptures, community projects and interactive installations propose and explore new, sustainable ways of inhabiting and sensing the environment. In 2007 Saraceno activated projects aimed towards an ethical collaboration with the atmosphere, including Museo Aero Solar. These projects grew into the international, interdisciplinary artistic community Aerocene, who with Saraceno in 2020 launched the certified, untethered flight Fly with Aerocene Pacha, achieving six world records for altitude, distance, duration (both in the general and female category) using only the warmth of the sun and the air. Saraceno’s interest in spiders and their webs led to the formation of Arachnophilia.net and the Arachnomancy App. Through these platforms Saraceno invites people from around the globe to weave the web of interspecies understanding and take part in the challenge of Mapping Against Extinction.

Saraceno seems to be practically obsessed with spiders, and incorporates them in various ways into his work. His most prominent way of showing his love for spiders is creating a series of different web installations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom%C3%A1s_Saraceno

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/19/arts/design/tomas-saraceno-palais-de-tokyo.html

[jhavelikes]

Take a picture of your chosen spider/web oracle with your phone, and then pose a question to it. The oracle will reply with your own arachnomancy reading, communicating its message in a language that transcends human dialects. The oracle’s response is composed of biotremological recordings, featuring vibrations that travelled through the silken threads of spider/webs from the Arachnophilia Archives, shaping a collective attempt to sense (against) extinction

[deadinsidedylan-blog]

Arachnomancy

The study of the appearance and behaviour of spiders, or the patterns of their webs (possibly related to the third meaning) for use in divination. The ability to take control over spiders with the intent to use them for attacking or similar purposes. The divination of patterns, for example in geometric patterns and tapestries.

[fortementein]

Tomás Saraceno: l’App per entrare nel mondo dei ragni e delle loro ragnatele

Per comprendere il mondo di Tomás Saraceno è necessario entrare in quello dei ragni e delle loro ragnatele e grazie all’App Arachnomancy (disponibile per iOS e Android) e alle letture individuali delle Arachnomancy Cards, Carte da Aracnomanzia, possiamo metterci in contatto con gli esseri non umani tanto cari all’artista, interagendo così, in modo virtuale, con […]

Leggi l'articolo completo su Tomás Saraceno: l’App per entrare nel mondo dei ragni e delle loro ragnatele

from Fortementein https://ift.tt/35vm7ps

[paeseseratoscana]

Scarica l'app, connettiti con i ragni e consulta l'oracolo

Scarica l’app, connettiti con i ragni e consulta l’oracolo

Grazie alla #app Arachnomancy e alle letture individuali delle Arachnomancy Cards (Carte da Aracnomanzia) possiamo metterci in contatto con gli esseri non umani tanto cari all’artista, interagendo così, in modo virtuale, con la mostra Tomás Saraceno. Aria.  

L’esposizione di Palazzo Strozzi si snoda intorno alla serie delle Arachnomancy Cards, trentatré carte pensate dall’artista che diventano…

[micaramel]

Artists: Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Tomás Saraceno

Venue: Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Exhibition Title: More-Than-Humans

Curated By: Stefanie Hessler

Date: September 25 – December 1, 2019

Click here to view slideshow

Full gallery of images, press release, and link available after the jump.

Images:

Images courtesy of Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Press Release:

Spiders do not have an auditory apparatus, and yet sound makes up an important part of their lifeworld. Through vibrations in their webs—whether from noise, wind, or prey caught in their sticky patterns—spiders can tell the size and distance of an object of interest. Jumping spiders (Phidippus audax), researchers found in 2016, can detect human speech in the vibration of the hairs on their legs.

Music, conversely, is considered one of the highest human achievements, with opera being perhaps the most elaborate form of (Western) culture. The vibrations of vocal cords, the resonance in the singer’s body, and long training bring forth extraordinarily moving experiences.

We do not usually think of spiders and opera together. And yet the patterns of the spider’s web bear a resemblance to the mathematical figures of music. Both are full of sensuality—the silky elasticity of the web, which responds to its surroundings through vibrations, and the singer’s vocal eruptions, which quiver in the listener’s body. We may think of a spider’s web as a stringed instrument, and a voice may carry vibrations through the air to take hold of the web’s tissue and temporarily move it to its frequency. Both invite us to become attuned to our surroundings and to sense that which goes beyond the retinal, beyond that which can be seen.

More-than-humans brings together two exceptional artists whose work is inspired by research yet transcends modes of knowing intellectually, considering that which cannot be explained by the rational anthropoid mind. In bringing together outstanding works by Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster and Tomás Saraceno from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (TBA21) collection, the exhibition invites visitors to explore questions of human and nonhuman technologies, culture in the Anthropocene, our own intelligence and that of other species, haunted presences at the edge of disappearance, and the power and attraction of the unknown.

Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster searches for what exists behind images and visual experiences. Her work is inspired by modernism, architecture, literature, and cinema, and yet she is less interested in narrative than in the pleasure of the image’s atmosphere. Nineteenth-century photography is a recurring source of inspiration, as artists often used it in search of the uncanny or supernatural. Opera (QM.15) (2016) draws on early holographic techniques—speculative simulacra conflating different temporal and spatial dimensions. In the work Gonzalez-Foerster appears as the soprano Maria Callas (1923–1977), dressed in the iconic red garments of her last performances while lip-syncing to some of her most famous early recordings. Callas is one of a series of personalities, including the actresses Marilyn Monroe and Sarah Bernhardt, who appear in installations that Gonzalez-Foerster refers to as “apparitions,” as if they were, in the words of the artist, “a kind of séance.”

The letters QM in the title are inspired by Bernhardt’s maxim “quand même,” which translates as “even so” or “nevertheless.” To Gonzalez-Foerster, the expression resonates with the lives of the personas she appears as: “They can’t stop, and art is their vehicle; their very lives must become works of art, no matter the cost. The supreme excitement is the artistic experience.” Throughout their lives, Bernhardt, Callas, and Monroe had to shield their private lives against public interest. Living for their passion—their art—their lives were prone to drama. Numerous rumored love affairs contributed to the enigma surrounding them. As women they had to negotiate expectations placed on them, which in the case of Monroe famously led to her death by suicide at age thirty-six. Callas similarly passed under mysterious circumstances, and Bernhardt was fascinated by death throughout her life. When she played death scenes on the stage, audiences were often in tears, contributing to her prominence but also to the mystery of her persona and her legacy.

The three women’s passion for art and their uncompromising ways of living their lives, as well as a fascination with the otherworldly, the haunted, and the thin line between this and other worlds, crystallize in Gonzalez- Foerster’s QM series, including Opera (QM.15), on view in this exhibition. The performances function as what the psychoanalyst Donald Woods Winnicott calls transitional objects, a bridge between the real world and the world of the imagination. Psycho-sensitive as they are, they may activate unconscious feelings and memories.

Since she participated in the visual arts opera Il Tempo del Postino, curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Philippe Parreno in Manchester in 2007, Gonzalez-Foerster has been searching for an impossible opera. The work on view is such a science-fictional attempt to communicate with specific spirits and inhabit their afterimages. It may be a reaction to the grid and rules of rational, efficient, digital life, in search of the uncontrollable, the ghostly, the more-than-human. According to Gonzalez-Foerster, “artists, like scientists, generate a kind of ‘artificial life’; artworks can become types of monster.”

Tomás Saraceno is known for his speculative research projects, such as Aerocene, an interdisciplinary artistic inquiry into alternative modes of transportation that do not require fossil fuels, and for his collaborations with spiders. The Arachnophilia Team at his studio homes in on lively multispecies ecologies, cultivating different “arts of noticing,” a phrase coined by the anthropologist Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing. Collaborators from various disciplines, from arachnologists to entomologists to ethologists to geographers, come together to explore complex forms of spider architecture or culture, together with the spiders and through different socialities. In workshops and discussions organized on the occasion of his exhibitions, Saraceno has invited collaborators to explore areas such as biotremology— the vibrations produced, dispersed, and perceived by spiders—and develops playful ways of encountering webs by readings conducted with his Arachnomancy divination cards. This take on tarot cards formed part of his Spider/Web Pavilion 7 at the 2019 Venice Biennale. These readings propose a non-anthropocentric way of storytelling involving practitioners from different fields, who interpret the structure and vibrations of a spider/ web.* Drawing on age-old forms of storytelling that resonate with cultural, spiritual, and scientific realms, these readings highlight the interwoven histories, presents, and futures of humans, spiders, and other species. The Western trope of human exceptionalism and agency set apart from our interactions with other beings is here undone for speculative interpretation of how our shared ecologies might play out in the Chthulucene. The feminist theorist Donna Haraway has proposed this term as an alternative way of conceptualizing our current epoch, describing it as a time when the (Western) Anthropos ceases to be a destructive force on the planet and acknowledges and enjoys its kinship with many other forms of life and nonlife.

The works on paper Solitary semi-social mapping of HS 1700+6416 by a solo Nephila senegalensis—one week and a solo Cyrtophora citricola—three weeks (2016) and Solitary semi-social mapping of Ceginus by a duet of Nephila senegalensis—four weeks, a triplet of Cyrtophora citricola—three weeks (2018) were each made in collaboration with two different spider species. In bringing together genera that would not normally collaborate, Saraceno, his studio, and their spider collaborators bring forth hybrid spider/ webs created in multispecies gatherings. The series of Spider/Web prints offer a different way to read and interpret the architecture of the spider/ web: as a topological map of movements and temporalities that trace the intricate complexities of these silken sculptures.

The installations Hybrid semi-social solitary Instrument HD74874 built by a triplet of Cyrtophora citricola—four weeks—and a solo Angelena labyrinthyca—one week (2019) and How to entangle the universe in a spider web? (2018) form part of Saraceno’s celebrated studies of spider/ webs, whose complex structures resemble tiny universes, surpassing many of the architectural and other constructions made by humans, resonating across scales with the cosmic web. Some scientists have observed that complex, three-dimensional spider/webs resemble computer simulations of the cosmic web. In the second installation, a laser sheet bidimensionally intersects the spider/web. The visual vibratory signals of the laser reveal the hidden architectural entanglements woven by the spiders. In other works Saraceno amplifies the vibrations of spider/webs as if they were musical instruments, making them audible for human participants. These entangled floating landscapes create sensorial and living connections across ecosystems, resonating among participants to create a fuller awareness of the unheard and unnoticed voices that surround us.

Webs and networks are a ubiquitous reference in culture today, and yet the spiders’ complex webs and lifeworld still seem alien to us. The video Living at the bottom of the ocean of air (Underwater spider) (2018) focuses on a particularly curious arachnid, the diving bell spider (Argyroneta aquatica), a species that lives almost entirely underwater in lakes, ponds, and marshes. Surrounding its abdomen is an air bubble captured with its hairs and giving it a silvery appearance. The spider surfaces only briefly to replenish its air supplies. Underwater it resides in its air bell, dashing at prey that touch the silk threads attaching it to plants. This unique behavior highlights the capacity of certain species to transform their way of life to adapt to new environments. In this way the underwater spider sounds an invitation for biospeculation, calling us to question the unexplored possibilities of our future environment.

Saraceno’s works show the spiders from their perspective and within their Umwelt, since, in the slightly amended words of the sociologist Bruno Latour (who wrote about humans in this passage), “no visual representation of [spiders] as such, separated from the rest of their support systems, makes any sense today.” In doing so, the works invite us to veer from arachnophobia to arachnophilia, acknowledging our sympoietic entanglements and, in tune with the philosopher Isabelle Stengers, working toward cosmopolitics, a new attention to our shared ecologies with nonhumans.

Stefanie Hessler

Link: Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Tomás Saraceno at Thyssen-Bornemisza

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