Names of places from “Underland: A Deep Time Journey” written by Robert MacFarlane.
“The Room of Cubes. The Passage of the Claustrophile. The Boutique of Psychosis. Crossroads of the Dead. The Clinic of the Aliens. The Chamber of Phantoms. The Medusa. The Glazery. The Maze of Montsouris. The Bermudas. The Shelter of the Little Leaves. The Monastery of the Bears. Bunker under the Mountain. The Cabinet of Mineralogy. The School of Mines. The Chamber of Oysters. Ossa Arida. Stairways of the Ossuary. Room Z. Hanke Channel. Martel’s Chamber. The Rudolf Hall. Dead Lake. The Silent Cave. Church-Cave. Hell’s Mouth. Hell’s Hole. Troll’s Eye.” (MacFarlane, 2019, p. 130, 187, 264).
MacFarlane goes on to say:
“In the Celtic Christian tradition, ‘thin places’ are those sites in a landscape where the borders between worlds or epochs feel at their most fragile.” (MacFarlane, 2019, p. 270-71).
The weight o' the wisp is palpable, significant, real, when it gathers, swirling, obscuring, to form a new place, a thin place, an edge, a precipice, a fragility. Often imagination and certainty fuse to freeze or solidify a place and a time and a circumstance and a thought, making it something it is not. On occasion a time exists without place; a time that is both boundless and momentary, dream time, dark time, 2am, alone time, lifetime; a time that will pass. On occasion a place exists without time; an ancient place with weight so solid and meaningful and life-giving that a single individual mistakes it for fragility, believes it to be a thin place, when in actuality it is the individual standing at this border that is projecting his or her own obscurity onto the immovable, timeless reality. This projection is the imagined border. Subtract the personal circumstance and the dynamic of time and place becomes weighty, palpable, significant, real; and the border becomes thicker, impenetrable. Subtract the individual thought and the dynamic of time and place becomes wispy, swirling, obscure, fragile; and the border becomes nonexistent; and time becomes place; and place becomes time.
To think is to change reality. To believe that I am, or any individual is, more than a momentary wisp in a random place, is laughable; an altered reality. Yet to not feel a connection with an ancient place, or to not wonder at the entanglement of momentary and boundless, or to not strengthen relationships with future generations, is ignorant, prideful, lazy, inhumane.
My most important connection is not with other worlds or epochs. My most important connection is with past, present and future life, all life, in this world. And yes, this distinction can be largely semantic, but the former emphasizes difference and separation, whereas the latter emphasizes a relationship and a continuation. Ancient life in this world may feel like another world, but it is not. One day I will be ancient life in this world and I will remain connected. I am both ancient and eventual. I am both momentary and boundless. I am here now and forever. I am both time and place. But I am only significant if I am able to discount personal circumstance and question individual thought as I live and work these connections. I am only significant in my insignificance.