The Enchantment,

by J. W. Cassandra

I am publishing here the introduction to my anthology, Unknown Pathway. It is a kind of excursus in itself that goes beyond a simple introduction: a confession about writing, a confession about the compulsion that makes me let be seen what is hidden, and then to continue hiding myself. It is a confession of the naked soul, of the enchantment that is the peculiarity of writing. At the same time, it foreshadows that the stories that follow will be unusual.

I quote the immortal lines of Attila József to show how bare the soul is from writing:

"Those who read me should be part

Of my soul and of my heart,..." *

(Those Who Read Me..., early June 1937,

Translation is by Henrik Attila Szabó)

*My literal translation:

"Only those should read my poem,

Who knows me and loves me well,..."

I do not know what remains and what disappears with the Circles of Change, but the fascination of paper, books, letters, writing, and of reading is vivid in me. The paper and the pen attract me like a magnet, and until I fill it with lines that seem to be undulating, sometimes crooked, sometimes straight, it will not let me leave. Therefore, I sit and let the fascination permeate me and guide me. And if the lines are born, with every rune, with every letter, the dance of the grandiose striptease show of my life with every single arch writhes, meanders, twists, pit-pats, twirls, and turns – and when I wrote the white paper full again, I was more bare than before. Every piece of paper, every piece of work, every page, every line, every word, every letter flares up, and as they line up, like the years behind me, I am more and more naked – a naked soul. Because you can see not only the letter, the word, the line, the page, the work, the piece of paper, but behind them everything that is really me, down to the core that constitutes my innermost essence. The veil, the disguise, the costum of every order, the veil, the mask falls – and each stripped layer wants to hide, but at the same time it thirsts that you see my essence: see the flash of the naked soul, see the fall of the disguise, finally see my naked self, and if you have seen me: I close my eyes – from then on the starry sky is my blanket, I put it on myself like a dream cloak.

I turn in a dream under the sky, by the time I wake up, the existence falls out of me, the seed sprouts, and the enchantment drives me to expose myself again and again, even though no one wants it – even I myself do not want...

Yet I penetrate to the depths of the abyss, and I show my bare soul: see by seeing! For this, enchantment enchants me, and I cast spells through it. I cast spells: I enchant and dissolve, and I give an easy way to those who leave – from myself for them to see, I light a torch that blazes to the sky! And I am extinguished like a star... This fascination is me! And behind this fascination blazes the Eternal One.

Written: 28 / 10. 2018, by J. W. Cassandra
Translated: 04 / 12. 2025, by J. W. Cassandra

All rights reserved. ©