finding home in montana
Old Man Gloom
Storytelling (week 10) Personal
Not far from where I am staying in Santa Fe, high on a hill, is the site of the city's 91 year old Zozobra Festival each September. This chimney pot, on the roof of our rented condo, silhouetted against the ominous storm clouds, looked like the back of the 50 foot tall Zozobra marionette which is built to be part ghost/part monster.
I watched him for a long time, imagining flames in the sky coming at him, as screaming children and thousands of visitors yell, "Burn him! Burn him!". As he hangs from a tall pole, at the base of his long white muslin dress, fire dancers torment him by waving torches of flame. Sparks begin to take hold of the cloth, and as the heat fills the frame made of sticks, he groans and his arms move in contortion in the updrafts. Fire pours from his eyes and out his mouth, and then his head explodes. Strips of flaming cloth fall from his shoulders until he collapses in the inferno. Shouts of joy emerge from the crowd and the City of Santa Fe officially begins the annual Fiesta de Santa Fe.
Poor Zozobra, which is Spanish for "anxiety" or "anguish". His wooden frame, covered in chicken wire, is filled with "bits of doom"--bushels of shredded paper which include old police reports, paid-off mortgage papers, divorce papers. There's a "gloom box" located near the stage where anyone can write down whatever bothers them, and have it burned at Zozobra's feet.
They say there is joy in watching one's feelings of gloom and doom go up in smoke, and the flames serve to renew hope and optimism. Perhaps, it takes this kind of violence to purify oneself of deep regrets, sprawled on a piece of paper; divorce papers, coldly laying out one's future. Even androgynous Zozobra is dressed in a never-used wedding dress.
I don't know. My husband has been to the Festival, but I never have. Can we truly vanquish Old Man Gloom with screams of "Burn him! Burn him!"? Is there not a kinder, more gentle way to transmute our deepest sorrows and regrets into golden flame? I don't know.
Old Man Gloom
Storytelling (week 10) Personal
Not far from where I am staying in Santa Fe, high on a hill, is the site of the city's 91 year old Zozobra Festival each September. This chimney pot, on the roof of our rented condo, silhouetted against the ominous storm clouds, looked like the back of the 50 foot tall Zozobra marionette which is built to be part ghost/part monster.
I watched him for a long time, imagining flames in the sky coming at him, as screaming children and thousands of visitors yell, "Burn him! Burn him!". As he hangs from a tall pole, at the base of his long white muslin dress, fire dancers torment him by waving torches of flame. Sparks begin to take hold of the cloth, and as the heat fills the frame made of sticks, he groans and his arms move in contortion in the updrafts. Fire pours from his eyes and out his mouth, and then his head explodes. Strips of flaming cloth fall from his shoulders until he collapses in the inferno. Shouts of joy emerge from the crowd and the City of Santa Fe officially begins the annual Fiesta de Santa Fe.
Poor Zozobra, which is Spanish for "anxiety" or "anguish". His wooden frame, covered in chicken wire, is filled with "bits of doom"--bushels of shredded paper which include old police reports, paid-off mortgage papers, divorce papers. There's a "gloom box" located near the stage where anyone can write down whatever bothers them, and have it burned at Zozobra's feet.
They say there is joy in watching one's feelings of gloom and doom go up in smoke, and the flames serve to renew hope and optimism. Perhaps, it takes this kind of violence to purify oneself of deep regrets, sprawled on a piece of paper; divorce papers, coldly laying out one's future. Even androgynous Zozobra is dressed in a never-used wedding dress.
I don't know. My husband has been to the Festival, but I never have. Can we truly vanquish Old Man Gloom with screams of "Burn him! Burn him!"? Is there not a kinder, more gentle way to transmute our deepest sorrows and regrets into golden flame? I don't know.