Mundus Transfiguratus
Towards a Queer Ecological Mythology
Mundus Transfiguratus depicts an alternative living mythological world where queer transmogrified beings take centre stage and challenge the established perception of human supremacy. This experimental counter narrative interweaves fiction and reality, legends and biographies, to explore conflict, displacement and trauma, but also to celebrate hope and love, and overcoming adversity.
Part 2. The Queerdom of Brightwyna
Behold the Warriors of the Queerdom of Brightwyna
Over the course of many centuries, Brightwyna has built and eclectic collection of votive statues; each imbued with stories, prayers, and forgotten intentions. Some are gifts from the souls they’ve shepherded into the next world, others were found buried in sunken gardens or beneath the roots of trees. Some appeared without explanation, left on their threshold in the dead of night. The collection lines the inner sanctum of Brightwyna’s home like a silent constellation of the lost, the loved, and the longing. There are four statues among the collection that are far more than devotional relics. These four are thought to have been destroyed long ago, their legends faded to myth, their power buried beneath centuries of war and suspicion. They were created by an unknown ancient sorcerer, with the aid of Arawn. Each statue was gifted to one of the four ruling Houses: Cliza, Oretta, Karlota, and Brightwyna, and they allow their owner to shape-shift into any living being they can imagine. The three statues belonging to the other Houses came into Brightwyna’s possession when an antique dealer sold Brightwyna a solid marble cube engraved with the stamp of Compostica, the goddess of composting and transmutation. Upon arrival at Brightwyna’s house, the cube spontaneously fractured and fell away like a crumbling husk, revealing the three statues nestled within.
Variable dimensions
Variable dimensions
Landscape Divinations
These conceptual paintings were born out of the symbiotic relationship between Brightwyna and their natural environment. In a performative dendromancy ritual, Brightwyna enters a trance state, drawing forth visions from the land itself. Using bark, leaves, petals, lichen, and sap, they scatter organic matter onto raw canvas. The materials fall, forming patterns that answer the questions Brightwyna dares to ask.
Storyline
The House of Brightwyna
The House of Brightwyna are human-deer descendants of Cernunnos. Their lineage pulsed with ancient forest magic, and their antlers, which grew in elaborate spirals and patterns unique to each individual, were considered living symbols of wisdom and heritage. The House was founded deep within the cradle of an ancient mega caldera, a place of breathtaking desolation where the air shimmered with toxic vapours. Most who dared enter perished within hours. But the House of Brightwyna, over centuries, evolved a rare immunity, their lungs adapting to the sulphur-laced mists and their bodies imbued with resilience unknown to outsiders. Though isolated, the House of Brightwyna was far from idle. They were the greatest artisans of golden torcs the world had ever known. Forged in volcanic heat, each torc was a masterpiece. The finest pieces were said to resonate with the wearer's bloodline, awakening dormant abilities or ancestral memories. These torcs became coveted by kings, warriors, and mystics across the realms. Among them, one ancient torc stood apart, it was said to grant its bearer the power to understand and speak with any living creature. But envy festers where beauty flourishes. The neighbouring human tribes, driven by greed and suspicion, feared The House of Brightwyna’s growing influence. During the brutal War of Torcs, these tribes unleashed a genetically-modified virus designed to survive in the caldera’s hostile environment. The House could not withstand this engineered plague and it fell swiftly. The caldera became a tomb and the ancient torc was lost in the chaos; its fate unknown.
Brightwyna
Brightwyna is the sole known survivor of the House of Brightwyna, a living relic of a lineage thought long extinguished. Their antlers mark them as heir to the sacred bloodline of Cernunnos, yet Brightwyna no longer lays claim to titles or thrones. Instead, they walk a solemn path as a psychopomp, a guide between worlds. It is their sacred duty to escort newly deceased souls to the afterlife, cradling their final breath with reverence and tenderness. Brightwyna’s home lies nestled in a grove shrouded in perpetual twilight. There, they tend a fragrant garden of everlasting honeyed daffodils, each bloom enchanted to release a beguiling fragrance. Those who inhale their sweet scent soon find themselves helplessly ensnared by Brightwyna’s spell. Within their stone sanctuary lies an extensive collection of votive statues; gifts left by the departed and those who still dream of the dead. Brightwyna is also a gifted diviner, known for their rare and haunting practice of dendromancy. In this ritual, Brightwyna enters a trance state, often beneath the open canopy of a sacred tree, drawing forth visions from the land itself. Using bark, leaves, petals, lichen, and sap, they scatter organic matter onto raw canvas. The materials fall guided by the deep will of nature, forming patterns that answer the questions Brightwyna dares to ask. These paintings, ephemeral yet charged with insight, offer glimpses of futures both near and far, joyous and grim. Brightwyna has lived for centuries, untouched by time’s ordinary decay, yet their heart has known love only once. That love came in the form of the trobairitz Comtessa Beatriz de Dia, whose soul Brightwyna was tasked with escorting to the underworld. The moment their eyes met across the liminal veil, something ancient and aching stirred in Brightwyna’s heart. Unable to bear the thought of her vanishing into silence, they pleaded with her to sing song after song in rich Occitan verse. And so, Beatriz sang. Her voice wove through the dark like a thread, suspending her passage to the underworld with each note. For a time, Brightwyna believed they had tricked fate itself. But even songs must end. And when Beatriz finally passed beyond the threshold, Brightwyna wept. They have not fallen in love since.