is for eyes
In 1794 John Dalton wrote a paper entitled “Extraordinary Facts Relating to the Visions of Colours.” In it he posited that because he had blue eyes, he had lens liquids in his eyeball that were tinged blue. He further thought that because of this people with blue eyes couldn’t see the color blue in nature exactly the way others who didn’t have blue eyes could.
What a curious thought. I remember reading that factoid back when I was a teenager, and then that very same day I somehow managed to splash a thankfully very diluted bleach solution in my eye. I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed and no harm was done, but I remember thinking at the time while I was rinsing me eye how strange it would be if I ended up with one tan eye and one dark brown eye.
Today I was looking for something on one of my bookshelves and I was drawn to a little stack of titles I’ve collected from the Arts and Imagination series. I love this series with their often esoteric topics and I always keep my eyes open for copies when I’m in used book stores. Many of the titles were published in the 1970s and although many have been published as newer editions, I prefer the old ones as the cover art is usually much more fabulous.
Here’s a photo of the eye book – I put three of my eye ex-votos on the cover so you could see them as well. I haven’t read this volume in ages, so tonight I’ll pore over it once again. It’s filled with wonderful art and interesting essays – a perfect compendium of miscellany that matches my focus for November.
And here’s a peek at a journal page I did. I like Xeroxing my hands, and I’m fascinated with the markings on our palms and fingers. Just as the zodiacal position of the sky at the time of your birth offers reminders of who you are, I like thinking the lines in our hands are markings to help us remember as well. When I did this page I was thinking about how we see with so much more than our eyes, and what would the world look like if we used eyes for various organs. So I have hand eyes, and heart eyes, and feet eyes and eyes of all kinds through which I see the world. What you can’t see on the page is that the back of the hand and the back of the eye are filled with messages. Because there’s so much more to all of us than can be seen, no?
I love this quote by Hafiz and thinks it’s a fabulous invitation on how to walk in this world.
“Why not become the one who lives with a
full moon in each eye that is
always saying,
with that sweet moon language,
what every other eye in
this world is
dying to
hear?”
What about you? What have you got your eyes on? What color lens are you using? Do tell – you know I love to hear.
The eye in the hand reminds me of minor Batman villain The Ten-Eyed Man. He was a small-time crook who suffered an eye injury, so a mad scientist transplanted his optic nerves into his fingertips instead. Sadly, the writer didn’t really go into how that would affect your perceptions of the world–ol’ Ten Eyes basically could see all around him by waving his hands about. All that did was make it harder for Batman to sneak up on him. And he’d go blind if he made fists or wore gloves. There’s a reason he stayed a minor villain.
Oh I think that’s wonderful – I’m sorry he was only a minor villian and not a superhero. It cracks me up knowing making a fist makes him blind, but it’s equally amusing imagining all the jazz hand movements that might be in play. You’ve planted an image in my mind Scott that’s highly entertaining – thanks!