I understand little about Phrenology, but I love my Phrenology head, I bought it a few years ago as a muse,and it has been somewhat supplanted by other muses – writers are superstitious. Phrenology is a kind of Victorian pseudo-medicine focused on measurements of the human skull, he idea is that the brain is the organ of the mind, and certain brain areas  have specific and localized modules. It is a theory of the brain and the science of character reading derived from the largely forgotten and highly idiosyncratic theories of Viennese physician Franz Joseph Gall.

The head is supposed to show and outline the various centers of the brain, and how they affect human behavior.  That’s about all I know. My head sits on a bookcase in the living room, and I think it is alive sometimes, the eyes seem to follow me around the house when the sunlight strikes.

This morning, I sat in my chair meditating and the sun burst into the room and it landed squarely on my Phrenology head, which took on an eerie and somewhat beautiful glow against the books that keep it company. Perhaps I will take him out into the study for awhile and give him a chance of pace, he can stare at me all he wants in there, and who knows, perhaps Dr. Gall’s head will help my writing.

I like the photo, I took it my new Petzval lens, which makes it a bit eerie than the head already is. If you stare at the photo, you will see he is looking straight at you.