Lucky Disasters

Diego Agulló

A disaster is the influence of the stars and planets on us under the form of a sudden unpredictable event that alters the regular order of things bringing chaos and change of luck in our lives.

The etymology of “disaster“ comes from the Latin word “disastrum,“ a combination of “dis-“ (meaning “bad“ or “away“) and “astrum“ (meaning “star“).  A “dis-aster” literally means a “dis-star”: the negative influence of a star, an ill destiny, a bad fortune, or an unlucky star. A disaster is a calamity blamed on an unfavorable position of a planet, and “star“ here is meant in the astrological sense of “destiny, fortune, fate”. If people’s fate is figured in the stars, a disaster is what brings bad luck to people. In ancient astrology, the term “disastrum“ referred to an unfavorable aspect of celestial bodies, particularly planets, which was believed to bring about negative or disastrous events on Earth. Over time, the word evolved to encompass any event or occurrence that brings great harm, damage, or misfortune. So, the word “disaster“ ultimately means a calamitous or catastrophic event that results in significant destruction, harm, or suffering. Its etymology reflects the historical belief in the influence of celestial bodies on human affairs and the association of certain planetary alignments with unfortunate outcomes.

The first uses of the word disaster designated the observation of cosmic anomalies or any form of celestial irregularity that would break the order of the sky. For example, a stellar cataclysm by which a star or any shining body observed in the sky disintegrated in a thousand directions until it disappeared from our sight. Sometimes it also indicated an anomalous distancing of stellar bodies from each other, bodies that normally kept a regular distance. Such celestial disorder was interpreted as a sign of misfortunes and catastrophes because astrology linked the action and attractive forces of the stars to multiple effects on the Earth and on the lives of human beings, without them being able to have control over these celestial bodies. Phenomena such as eclipses, comets, supernovae, and unusual reddening of the Sun were also considered disasters.

There is a belief that the luck of a person depends on the type of star that is influencing them which they cannot control or predict. People who “have a good star” are people with good luck and people who “have a bad star” are people with bad luck exposed to the malevolent influence of heavenly bodies. For example, being cursed is sometimes understood as the evil influence of a star or planet. Even if you don’t believe in astrology, the term “star” here is understood as a synonym of fate, luck or destiny. A disaster is an unfavorable destiny that falls upon us.

But, against the common belief, disasters are not only related to misfortune. In Provençal dialect (a variety of Occitan languages) it exists two words, benastre and malastre to distinguish between creative and destructive effects of a disaster:

– Benaster: bene + star = a benevolent disaster, a disaster with creative effects. The effect of a benastrous event is the vital affirmation of life that exists behind a disaster: it gives birth to a new beginning, it releases new life. A benaster is the disastrous event that makes it possible a cycle of ends and beginnings ensuring that there will never be a final conclusion. These are the revolutionary effects of a disaster.

– Malaster: mal + star = a bad star, a malevolent disaster, a disaster with destructive effects. The effect of a malastrous event is the destruction of life terminating a process to a final conclusion or End. A malaster is not creative because does not originate a new beginning.

It is a pity that we lost this distinction between benaster and malaster that allows us to see the positive creative side of disasters, to look at them as vital forces for transformation. To start reusing these two terms is an invitation to understand disasters in a less catastrophic way discovering their vital effects. If we want to learn to find the benaster in the malaster, we must break with the assumption that disasters are something exclusively negative and start to pay attention to the potential that they hold for change and transformation: understanding the disaster as a fruitful provokation. Going one step further, we can also think of this distinction between the benaster and malaster not as two incompatible events but actually as complementary and even simultaneous forces behind any disaster. There is the possibility that a disaster has a double nature containing a paradox: when the influence of the stars are not only good or not only bad: when a disaster brings also good luck and a favorable fate. The lucky unlucky star, the good bad fortune, the benevolent disaster: something comes to an end but at the same time something begins.

What if we remove the negative connotations from the word disaster and start to understand it without judging it as only negative? This change of paradigm invites us into a collaboration with the stars and planets instead of passively being a “victim of them”. For example realizing that we also attract disasters. Chaos and the starry sky are also inside of us, we are part of the chaos. Only our illusions of planning and control of our lives makes us forget that chaos is within us. The starry sky is just a mirror where we contemplate ourselves. As if the night sky would be inside of us. This approach to disasters requires an attitude in life of affirmative acceptance of everything that happens to us, even in the case of a misfortunate event.
The disaster falls upon me from within as well as from the sky.

Disastrology is the theory that studies the paradoxical nature of disasters, or, in other words, how the effects of a disaster can be negative and positive at the same time making possible to feel simultaneously lucky and unlucky.

Disastrology, as an artistic practice, provides a framework for experimenting with disasters. It implies training oneself in responding to and intervening in a disastrous event creatively. By engaging with the artistic process, we can unearth hidden possibilities, untangle paradoxes, and reveal the transformative potential within chaos. In doing so, we merge art and ethics, blurring the boundaries between creation and responsibility. Through this experimentation in the art of living, we are actively shaping the narrative of our own lives, drawing strength from the uncertain, and discovering new pathways towards meaning making and self-discovery.

As a research practice, disastrology is concerned with the following questions:

– What are the effects of a disaster? Is a disaster a benaster or a malaster? (This book focuses in particular cases when disasters provoked the end of a process, especially referring to the end love and the end of life. The disaster of a break up, the disaster of death.)

– How the whims of fate influence our life’s processes to either come to a final end or to give birth to a new beginning?

– How do we attract disasters consciously or unconsciously in order to change something in our lives?

– How much is in our hands to interpret disasters not only as something negative but undercovering their potential for transformation?

– How to learn to navigate across chaos and order when a disaster irrupts? How much chaos are you capable of producing? How much disorder can you tolerate in your life?

Artistic disasters

When was the last time you provoked a disaster?

Disasters, when they act like benasters, serve as the fertile ground from which we can contemplate and experience life at its fullest complexity. There is a paradox  for the common sense in the fact that life affirms itself through disasters and their creative effects. Life‘s deepest truths often emerge from the tension between opposing forces. Paradoxes serve as portals to a heightened state of awareness, where the complexities of existence reveal themselves in all their splendor. It is within these paradoxical spaces that we are confronted with the inherent contradictions, mysteries of life and the fundamental questions of our existence. It is through this process that we can gain a more nuanced understanding of our own values, beliefs, and desires. Paradoxical contemplation also offers a profound appreciation for the fragility of life. By confronting the paradoxes we can gain a deeper empathy for the struggles and joys that others endure, and a heightened sense of gratitude for our ephemeral life.

It is within these paradoxical spaces that artistic practices find a fertile ground for research and experimentation.  Art has a unique role to play when it comes to explore and process the complexities of disasters. Art can articulate the chaos of paradox and give it form. Through art, the intangible becomes tangible, the chaotic finds coherence, and the poetic dimension of the paradox is revealed. Art becomes a vessel through which the ineffable nature of paradox finds a voice and its intricate patterns and hidden connections are illuminated. In this way, artistic practice becomes a form of alchemy, transmuting the chaos of the paradox into meaning and form.

But what if art, instead of giving form to chaos, art would become disastrous itself? What if art would have the mission to provoke the disaster? What is the disastrous power of art?

Art can become our disaster: an art piece has the potential to shake not only our thinking structures but also our perception and sensibility producing a reconfiguration of ourselves, or in other words, transforming us. An artwork can literally force us to become someone else. There is an intimate affinity between art and disasters, as both delve into the depths of human existence and challenge our perceptions of reality. Just as disasters disrupt our lives, art has the power to disrupt our conventional ways of thinking, feeling and seeing. It resists the status quo inviting us to question our assumptions. Art is not merely a mirror that reflects our preconceived notions; it has the capability to transport us beyond the boundaries of the familiar. It has the audacity to disrupt our identities, compelling us to confront our deepest fears, dreams, and desires. In this process, we are challenged to reshape ourselves, to critically reassess who we are and who we want to be. Through this disruption, we are compelled to confront the fragility of our existence, the paradoxes of fate and our vulnerability in the face of uncertainty.

By embracing art as a tool for research and intervention on disasters, we can transform our experiences and find affirmation within the chaos. It demands vulnerability and courage, because we may emerge changed, perhaps even unrecognizable to ourselves.