The Devil holds the strings which move us!
In repugnant things we discover charms;
Every day we descend a step further toward Hell,
Without horror, through gloom that stinks.
— Charles Baudelaire, To the Reader in Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil) (1861)
Is today Halloween? It’s hard to tell these days since every day sees our streets filled with masked goblins swooping in and whisking kids away. It sometimes feels like every day is Halloween now, only darker and much more dangerous.
But still wanting to recognize the holiday as it once was, I went looking for something a bit Halloween-ish. I dipped into French author Charles Baudelaire‘s controversial 1861 book of poetry The Flowers of Evil and found something of interest on the first page.
The verse both struck my fancy and was topical, as well. It basically describes how the Devil tempts us with things ugly and loathsome, pulling us deeper and deeper into the depths of Hell and all the while we barely notice though the sight and stench of death and horror is all around us.
In our glee for the awful we begin to normalize the aberrant and indecent while at the same time demonize that which was once the accepted normal.
Sounds familiar, right?
It might not be totally in the spirit of today’s holiday that we recognize, but it is scary. I guess every day in Hell is Halloween, only with the emphasis on the trick part rather than the treat.
Could that be right? You tell me.
In my research I came across a post from several years back that featured these photographic oddities. I thought they would be fitting companions for Baudelaire’s words. These images are intended for the stereoscope which was invented in Paris in 1850 and became a worldwide sensation over the next decade with its three-dimensional imagery. In 1861, a series of 72 of these stereoscopic photos were printed anonymously in Paris that consisted of macabre scenes of Satan and various aspects of Hell. Called Les Diableries, these plates were a drastic turn away from the often-mundane photos seen in early stereoscopes and were quite the hit in 1860’s Paris.
The photos remained anonymous in that time because they were viewed as politically satiric of the French government of the time, the Second Empire under Napoleon III. To openly chide the emperor at that time could bring swift retribution (this also sounds familiar, huh?) but the images circulated freely, nonetheless. I think they are a remarkable set of images from that time, and I can imagine how they must have resonated in the minds of people who weren’t exposed to the mind-boggling array of imagery that we often experience in a single day in our time on social media.
When I look at them closely, I can recognize satiric parallels to our current time. Unfortunately, it doesn’t feel as humorous as I had thought it might. Not a lot of laughs in Hell, I guess.
Keeping in the theme of a devilish Halloween, here’s a song from Chris McDermott called Even the Devil Gets Right Someday. Let’s hope the song is correct.
Hoping you have a good and Hell-free Halloween.
Finally, here’s a reminder that I will be giving my annual Gallery Talk at the West End Gallery tomorrow, Saturday, November 1. The talk begins at 11 AM and lasts about an hour, ending with the drawing for the painting, Dare to Know, shown at the bottom of this page. The Gallery Talk and the drawing for the painting are free and open to all. You must be in attendance to win prize. Seating is limited so I would suggest you arrive early to claim your seat and settle in. We can chat or you can take in the exhibit. Doors Open at 10:30 AM.
Redtree Times 