Nephelococcygia
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
Nephelococcygia is a term used when people find familiar objects within the shape of a cloud. At one time or another, humans have looked up to the clouds and imagined shapes resembling familiar objects. The earth’s atmosphere and the system of the weather are complex and self-organizing, the system itself is transient, permanent and fleeting, and transfixed all at the same time. Maybe an imagined letter of the alphabet. Or, it might be an animal or a person’s face. This is called nephelococcygia and the word was first coined in the play The Birds written in 414 B.C. by the Greek comic poet Aristophanes. He wrote in the style known as Old Comedy, a farcical and free style form that permitted him to ridicule the public figures and institutions of his time.
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Tags: bagasse, nephelococcygia
