Ecsis

a hand holding a fossil

Ecsis

n.
the haunting sense of mystery infused into certain random details that beckons you to wonder how it ended up here at this point in time—marveling at a patch of white on a dog’s chest, a bubble trapped in an old window, a glimpse of Saturn’s rings shivering in a telescope lens—knowing that behind the thing itself is a long chain of causes and effects that veers off into the shadows of prehistory, anchored somewhere near the dawn of time, even though the end result is somehow right there in front of you, shimmering in place.

Indonesian eksis, to exist, to be. Pronounced “ek-sis.”

Adomania

a person riding a horse

Aponemia

a group of people standing together

Kadot

a person looking at an abstract spiral

Craxis

a tall house of cards

Hem-Jawed

an abstract image of someone touching their face

Nilous

a person standing at a bus terminal

Furosha

a storm raging in the sky over a building

Dystoria

close up of water drops on a window

Evertheless

a person floating in water

Starlorn

snow flakes in the dark

Tornomov

a cloudy sky and landscape

Ecsis

a hand holding a fossil

Grayshift

a spiral staircase from above

Karanoia

a neat stack of white paper

Winnewaw

a person wearing a party hat

Irrition

a close up of a dandelion

Ironsick

a group of random devices

Achenia

a close-up of a bottle with an organic object inside

Nighthawk

Cover image for the Nighthawk word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Hiddled

Cover image for the Hiddled word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Manusia

Cover image for the Manusia word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Symptomania

Cover image for the Symptomania word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Arroia

people standing on a stage

Tirosy

a close-up of a young child's face

Vicarous

Cover image for the Vicarous word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Backmasking

a woman's face with a double exposure

Viadne

Cover image for the Viadne word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows