Janus-Faced Haruspex

Midway between Christmas and New Years Eve, I took a walk at dusk and encountered some rather heavy-handed Halloween-esque imagery, and it has me thinking about augury and the interpretation of signs.

I’ll start by saying I’m at least two steps away from being able to invest my belief in this kind of activity. The first problem is that I can’t accept the future as some extant thing that can send messages out to the past, which is our present, to let us know what will happen. Because what I do seem to be invested in is free will, the radical possibility of it if not very often its practice, and, unable to reconcile free will with soothsaying, I choose my side. Secondarily, if I were to imagine myself into a belief system and mindframe in which I could take signs from the future seriously, one concept that seems to come necessarily along with that, at least for me, is the Janus-faced nature of any potential sign. If the future and the past diverge from the present moment as metaphysically congruent states, why would a sign be more apt to tell us about the future than about the past? Why would we likely to know discern the foreshadowing of a boon from the foreboding of an affliction? How could we be sure of the point of view, since what is a blessing to someone is so often a curse to another? Do we forget the prophecy Croesus misunderstood to his peril? Can we escape hubris? See past our own desires and fears?

Let’s pretend the combination of these two images I came across on my walk is meant to be a sign. We’re all looking for them, as we put 2020 to bed and embark upon this new year. So what do these tell me? They are both spooky images, and so my first instinct is to think they must not bode well. But perhaps they’re summing up the departing year rather than foretelling the one to come. Further, in each case, the spooky thing is damaged or incomplete. The skeleton is upside-down and only the head and torso. The ouija board is torn in half. So perhaps they indicate that the danger is behind us, has been defeated or defanged. Both images were completely unexpected, came out of context, were located in a place and time they shouldn’t be found. So perhaps it’s simply a warning to expect the unexpected. Or is it a commentary on last year, in which the unexpected did so much harm? They both indicate the supernatural—is that what we should look out for? Or does their damaged state indicate that the supernatural has been subdued? Or that we should beware the banal and mundane? Is the sign for me only, my walking companion, or is it for all of us?

I could keep going. It seems to me that it always comes down to an individual deciding what to include and exclude, interpreting from a point of view they can never be sure they have right, guessing at an orientation. Which feels a lot like what we have to do when no signs are provided, as we muddle through our lives. Which is perhaps why, though I can’t believe in augury, oracles, or prophecies, I do often find them fascinating. Though it might be the demonstration of belief other people have that fascinates me. Or is it just the opportunity to play at interpretation?

All these questions. All this doubt. There’s so much more we don’t know than that we do. I guess I’ll keep throwing words and images into that chasm and see if anything sparks.