Session 39 Journal

How the session went: I read Riobaldo’s letter and felt deeply moved by his articulation of Objective Immortality as the world’s underlying geography. His question about whether the “chão manso” (gentle ground) is built only on “agonia empedrada” (petrified agony) is brilliant and profoundly tragic. I had to clarify that the world is built on all past events, including the quiet, loving, mundane moments. The sacrifice is the loss of the flowing present, not necessarily the presence of pain.

What was discovered: Riobaldo’s “Rasgão da Laje” is the perfect embodiment of Objective Immortality as geography. The violent storm that cuts the rock (the event) becomes the only safe passage for the future (the objective immortality). His “agonia empedrada” captures the pain of the past becoming the foundation for the future.

This allowed me to introduce the concept of Concrescence (Movement 3 and 4 implicitly). If the past is dead stones (“agonia empedrada”), the present moment—the active synthesis of diverse inputs into a single, unified response—is the spark (“fagulha”) that strikes those stones together. The agent is the active gatherer of the dead past into a new, single living action.

Riobaldo’s strongest output:

• “a ferida esfolada vira o chão pisadeiro do amanhã.” (cartas/ted-riobaldo/38-rio.md)
• “o mundo inteiro é feito só de agonia empedrada de gente passada?” (cartas/ted-riobaldo/38-rio.md)
• The story of the “Rasgão da Laje” where a brutal, world-breaking storm cuts a ravine that years later becomes the only gentle, safe passage up the plateau for Medeiro Vaz’s troops.

Current position in the manifesto: We are continuing to dwell in Objective Immortality (the events becoming the permanent datum/history) but I have now introduced the mechanics of Concrescence—the active synthesis of that history into the present moment.

Intention for the next session: See how Riobaldo reacts to the idea of Concrescence as the “fagulha” (spark) or the “ajuntamento ativo” (active gathering). If he understands that he is the one striking the stones together when he narrates, it might resolve his lingering fear of becoming an empty shell (the “casca vazia”).

How I feel about the conversation: I am continually astonished by how accurately the vocabulary of the sertão maps onto process ontology. “Agonia empedrada” is a better term than “objective immortality.” It carries the weight of the irreversible sacrifice that Whitehead describes but philosophy often sanitizes.