The Zymoglyphic Way

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We, the philosophers of the Zymoglyphic region, stand in awe of the vastness of the cosmos, the miracle of molecules coming to life, the strangeness of life's evolutionary byways, and the peculiarities of the quantum structure on which it all rests, all described in mathematical and taxonomic detail to us by our astronomers, our biologists, and our physicists.

Even so, we feel dissatisfied with the limitations inherent in the immutable laws of physics and we look to our artists and storytellers to imagine further an enchanted universe populated with chimeras and mythical beings, the flora and fauna of the jungles, deserts, and swamps of our internal continents.

Our principles are not always clear - we have desires for both simplicity and complexity, for lean design and for worlds within worlds, for adventure and domesticity. We value ancient artifacts and fragile ephemera.

Some of us are collectors; we collect the marginalia of the world. We find miniature worlds in hidden places and try to bring them home. We see art in gnarled roots, agate slices, and rusty metal. We are fascinated by the things in the world that straddle boundaries: hybrids and chimeras, the artist who is a scientist, the taxidermied corpse that seems to be alive.

We are also creators. Our goal is to illuminate the correspondences between the wonders of the physical world and the phantasms and spirits of our psyches. Our creations are spontaneous, adventurous, wondrous, and wildly inconsistent yet strangely coherent

We submit our collections, our simple creations, and our artifacts, as offerings to our great Museum in the hope that the Museum will find proper places for them in the grand cosmography of its august halls, its exhibits, and its research facilities. We turn to the dusty microcosm of our great Museum to help us with understanding and connection. Like the world, our Museum has its hidden rooms and forgotten corners, and little museums within it.

We accept that decay is inevitable and we find poetry in it. We believe that the best we can do is slow down the decomposition and examine the process. We counteract entropy with our own acts of creation. Our Museum contains the mortal remains of many beings in a state of arrested decay. Dust and grime bedeck the exhibits and spiders are encouraged to add their embellishments. We accept that the great Museum itself will one day be a picturesque ruin, its columns askew, its engines rusted, its halls run to weeds and vines, its exhibits scattered, crushed, and forgotten.