The Art of Being Posthumous

I wrote a poem once, titled “Freedom,” which began:

Do you remember the night
of your death?
How it pursued you with flashlights
and dogs trained to hunt
the scent of your fear?

And which, after a few more lines, concluded:

You looked in the mirror,
remember?
It made no difference
whether you were a human being
or a ghost.

I thought of that poem last week, as on Monday we published J.F. Martel’s brilliant return to Metapsychosis with an essay titled, ““We are Ghosts. This is Hades.” I hate to break it to y’all, but J.F. is not just being cute. Death is an image we live with, not only as we personally get older, but as our civilization spirals, ever more fascinated with its own productions, into the unknown. What does it mean to live in a time when it seems everything is already over, in some sense? In what sense? I suggest you read J.F.’s essay to find out.

(Also check out his podcast with Phil Ford, Weird Studies, and their Patreon to support their work.)

Then if you really want to peek through the veil of space and time, well, Brian George has got something for you. On Thursday we published his newest essay, “On the Welcoming of the Unexpected Guest,” which not only reflects upon the nature of deep time and what the rediscovery of ancient civilizations might be telling us, but also serves as a kind of creative practicum in how to respond to a critic who seems only to want to assume the worst about you.

In the hell-realm which much of online discourse has become, we all know what it’s like to be attacked for things we never said and would never countenance believing, let along putting in writing; but how many of us can welcome even the most misguided critic as a “guest” and unwitting accomplice in the creative process? That’s what Brian’s essay does.

Do read it, and then help us transform the discourse in our forum at Infinite Conversations. Every piece we publish in Metapsychosis comes with a dedicated discussion topic, where we invite you, the reader, to reflect thoughtfully, ask questions, give feedback, and engage with our community of fellow thinkers and creatives— people who are actually there for learning; for the love of wisdom (philo-sophia); for the development of our consciousness and creativity; and because it’s a lot more fun to be online when people aren’t yelling at you 🙂

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The most active topic last week was the introductory session to our Cosmos Café series on philosopher Francesca Ferrando’s new book, The Art of Being Posthuman. First thing to know: “posthumanism” is not synonymous with “transhumanism”—i.e., the movement that believes we should transform our species through technological enhancement—although it intersects with technology, as much as ecology and spirituality.

“Posthumanism,” according to Ferrando, is something we can do right now, by changing our consciousness and making different existential choices. It’s a way of going beyond anthropocentrism, as well as beyond dualism, colonialism, and various other features of historical “humanism” and the privileging of human identity as a philosophical ideal.

Honestly, I have my doubts about #posthumanism as a movement, which I freely express. But Ferrando’s enthusiasm is infectious, her thinking sophisticated and integrally minded, and I believe her book is well worth reading and contemplating in depth.

We’re just getting started with the conversation, which is open to new participants—so check it out, and feel free to share your thoughts in the thread. You are also more than welcome to join us at our next virtual meeting on March 21st, when we’ll be meditating with the first chapter of Ferrando’s book.

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A couple final reminders.

Our Writer’s Critique Circle begins on March 11, so there is still time to join the first session. Here again is Mary Thaler’s invitation:

Our current call for submissions, Writing from the Future, remains open until the end of this month. We’ve already received a couple strong pieces, but I know there’s more out there, so why not send us something and potentially get published in Metapsychosis?

Speaking for myself, it’s an honor to work with the authors, artists, and editors that I do, as well as to interface with our community of readers who still actually read, think, dream, imagine, create, listen to each other, and know how to have fun—even if we’re already dead!

Thanks again for welcoming Metapsychosis into your inbox. Please do share our journal with your friends—and consider becoming a Supporting Member to join our reading and writing groups and get invited to special events, and so that we can pay our writers and artists and continue bringing you Metapsychosis well into the future.

Stayed tuned as next week we begin mixing it up again, with an essay by Stephanie Wellen Levine titled, “It’s Hard to Compete with Simplistic Spiritual Teachers,” and a review of Maía’s recent book of poetry, Portraits.

Yours truly,

Marco V Morelli

Editor-in-Chief, Metapsychosis journal
Co-Creator, Cosmos Co-op
@madrush: on Mastodon | on Infinite Conversations