On the Nebulous by Scott Murphy

The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson.

There are many who would look to the sea as a primary source of beauty, inspiration, and calm but for me, it is the boundless sky. Of the large color-laden expanses which are viewable by us on this planet, there are multiple marvels. Yet, it is the seemingly infinite variability of color, tone, texture, lightness, darkness, activity, and glimmer as well as the ability to see back in time, into the vast expanse of space, which never fails to captivate me.

Clouds are one of the beautiful mysteries of the sky. Simple water vapor, at varying temperatures, they present such a marvelous range of ever-changing spectacle. These nebulous vessels of imagination are offered here as something to purely enjoy and contemplate. What better companion is there to these soft enigmas than a commonplace of quotations gathered over the past twenty years, to imbibe and digest, at one’s leisure. Take special note of the continuing passage at the bottom of each card, as it offers a longer cogitation with which to reckon.

On Cartomancy
If one is prone to an interest in divinatory practices, these cards can serve as an aid. Just conceive of a question, shuffle the entire stack and close your eyes. Select a card and look to it for an answer. Perhaps the cloud is the best answer. Or maybe the quote. Or the number. Or the portion of the continuing passage. You can decide this before you open your eyes or once you have perused your chosen card. If you simply have a yes or no question, consider the odd numbers as yes and the evens as no. Or choose a card in the morning if you would like general guidance for the day (or week, month, or year). And of course, you can create lottery numbers by selecting multiple cards. Lower-cased roman numeral cards should double the number found on the next selected card. May all your days be assisted by the pleasant guidance provided by these cloudy and consolatory commonplace cards.

Colophon
Images were pigment printed and text was letterpress printed using Baskerville and Academy Engraved Fonts on tea-toned Johannot Paper. All images, design, and non-referenced text, created by S.K. Murphy (©2022). The long passage is from Richard Jeffries (The Story of My Heart, Torrey House Press, 2014: 33-34). Published in a handmade Carte-de-Visite-sized (a popular image size in the 19th century) edition, as well as in a numbered contemporary snapshot-sized commercially printed edition, by the Befuddled Press in 2022.