THE SONG OF MEDUSA
PREFACE
And perhaps a tree
standing in the forest
fills its leaves
with the breath
of the World
and we listen
and we are not alone.
— THE BOOK OF GAIA
(Vezhna MS 2379, trans. w/comm.
Anastasia D’Mitriev, 1999)
For the general reader, we hope that this document, fragmentary though it may be, will provide a more human understanding of two figures who are already passing into legend, although they themselves might not have wanted it so.
Clearly, neither Anastasia D’Mitriev, “Ana” to her many admirers, nor Jason Sumner, would have considered themselves intrinsically remarkable. Throughout their careers, both avoided publicity insofar as it was possible. Certainly, their long struggle to decode the Vezhna Manuscript, to publish their extraordinary findings, and to gain credibility, was a heroic task. A task that has contributed not only to archeology, but also to an emerging paradigm with far-reaching implications for the future. The tragic automobile accident that took both their lives was a great loss; and yet, we believe they would be pleased with the world-wide blossoming today of the seeds they planted before leaving this world.
What we offer herein is a collection of materials compiled from the autobiography of Jason Sumner, excerpts from the personal diaries of Ana D’Mitriev, commentaries by other individuals who participated in the project during its inception, and a variety of related materials. And most importantly, we include excerpts from their translation of the Vezhna manuscripts, which have been widely published for the past ten years as The Book of Gaia.
The editors wish to thank Leial D’Mitriev, and members of the Community of Origins, who made available to us excerpts from the unpublished Diaries of Ana D’Mitriev. Without their cooperation and archives this publication would never have been made possible.
Susan Ashley & Mark Delaney
Harvard University, Cambridge, 2023
* * * * * * * * * *
LABYRINTH
And so it was
that Life became complex.
THE BOOK OF GAIA
From THE SONG OF MEDUSA – An Autobiography of Jason Sumner
Edited by Sandra Herdez
Pub. Harper Collins New York, 2011
Bulgaria can be confusing to an American. The body language, for instance. They shake their heads to mean “yes” and nod them for “no”.
The place looks very much like most Americans would expect a Balkan country to look – sort of a cross between Mexico and Hollywood’s idea of middle Europe. You expect the food and drink to be sharp, but instead it’s all loaded with sugar.
There are a lot of bad teeth in Bulgaria.
The new Bulgarian government was, naturally, highly suspicious of Americans. To the common people, all foreigners were the same, treated with an offhand, almost distant, hospitality.
I asked Georgi about this once.
“You are not Bulgar”, he said, “So of course you are a bit mad. It’s okay, we understand.”
Vezhna was no longer expected to yield spectacular finds. A shepherd had found shards of pottery at the mouth of a small animal’s den, and they proved to be quite ancient – almost five thousand years old. Initially, this stirred up a great deal of excitement.
In the 1970’s, one of the world’s oldest treasures of gold objects was excavated in several Neolithic gravesites near Varna, on the Black Sea coast. The handiwork of precursors to the marvelous goldsmiths of ancient Thrace, the find was quite extraordinary. The Bulgarian government, hoping for another Varna at the Vezhna site, put together an archeological team made up of their own best people, and scientists from several other countries, myself included.
Within a month, the site seemed to be tapped out. It appeared to be a small settlement, yielding only a few late Bronze age implements, ancient mementoes of any number of nomadic encampments that had passed that way, and bits of pottery. By the end of the second month, the “international team” consisted of myself, my graduate students, D’Mtriev and Hanchrow, a Bulgarian archeologist who was away at his lab in Sophia most of the time, and his graduate student, Geogi.
It was a soggy Spring in Vezhna, and I was beginning to wonder why the hell I was still here.
Vezhna can hardly be called a town; I suppose it came close to being a good sized village in earlier days, but, like much of rural Bulgaria, in the last 30 years or so it’s lost most of its youthful population to the cities, and the village of Vezhna consists mainly of older folks now. Situated along the Maritsa River, with the foothills of the Rhodope Mountains at their aging backs, mist rolls down from steep, overgrazed pastures, which surround the hilly little village. The red tile roofs and whitewashed houses are an agreeably bright contrast to the gray skies and muted greens of early spring.
Scenic? I suppose so. Bells on goats and sheep clank as they’re led to pasture in the morning. An old crone snaps firewood to cook her breakfast, windows hang with the ubiquitous red paprika peppers. And alongside practically every house tobacco leaves are drying under tents of plastic.
Bulgaria is one of the largest exporters of cigarettes in the world, particularly to the former Soviet Union.
In fact, cigarettes are one of the few products that are not in short supply. Bulgarians smoke so many Shipkas and BT’s that it’s a wonder any of them survive past
30. Unfortunately, I can’t stand Bulgarian tobacco.
* * * * * * * * * *
EDITOR’S NOTES:
The unpublished personal Diaries of Ana D’Mitriev, written on notebooks while she was in the field with Jason Sumner, are incomplete and fragmentary. Since it is our hope to share in this document a brief, and even intimate look at the personalities of these two people and the processes that led them to later publish THE BOOK OF GAIA, we have selected entries from Ana’s diaries, which were so kindly given to us by her sister, Leial, almost at random. We have done the same with excerpts from Jason Sumner’s autobiography, THE SONG OF MEDUSA, which was edited and published in 2011, shortly after his, and Ana’s, untimely deaths.
This book can be purchased through Infinity Press http://www.infinitypublishing.com/