Encyclopedia of the Alturian Curator (5th edition)
Subject #62,401: Euphoria (#62,401)
Category: Emotion.
Definition: An intense fusion of excitement (#72,003) and joy (#151,054) resulting in the affected entity undergoing feelings of inner-peace (#122,998) and complete satisfaction (#409,211) with its existence (#70,768).
The Curator’s Notes on Euphoria
‘EUPHORIA’ is classified as an uncommon emotion among interdimensional beings. It is a subject which I have discovered uncountable times in my journey across realities. I am fortunate as my own species shares a similar sort of emotion, though it is only a sub-emotion of euphoria we call flarrg (#88,281). For the sake of coherency, I will now focus only on Euphoria in its most essential form, and not delve into its sub-forms.
Most Riveting Examples of Euphoria
Because euphoria is so widespread among the dimensions, it can take on many forms depending on the entity experiencing the emotion.
In Liorsep (#168,091) circles, euphoria is exclusively experienced in ceremonies surrounding death on the battlefield. Fallen warriors or civilians are remembered during these ceremonies. Their deaths bring Liorsep communities a shared sense of euphoria because of their concept of indirect sacrifice (#119,978), a core tenant of their spirituality, where a Liorsep death in war is believed to give a still-living Liorsep increased venerability. The prospect of increased lifespan brings euphoria to Liorsep communities. Thus, they do not mourn their fallen.
It should be noted that experiencing euphoria is not always a communal experience. It was interesting to learn that several entities feel euphoria individually (i.e as a personal episode).
Gantric Wanderers (#95,054) undergo this emotion of euphoria seasonally as part of their mating ritual. In summer (#419,628), a fully matured Gantric Wanderer will have the most pollen (#287,001) it will ever have in its lifespan of 400-500 years. This collection of pollen already brings a strong feeling of joy to the Gantric Wanderer as it is viewed as a ‘coming of age’ milestone in one’s life. The Gantric Wanderer subsequently travels on its slithering root-tentacles (#398,555) toward the highest peak it remembers visiting during its existence. Once found, the Gantric Wanderer will ascend the peak to disperse pollen into the wind, where it is carried to other mating Wanderers and fertilises their gametes (#96,453) across extraordinary distances. The act of this sexual reproduction brings intense feelings of euphoria to all participating Gantric Wanderers. I had the fortune of watching this incredible feat of nature unfold when I visited dimension YZ754, and I remembered my own mating periods years ago (I was prosperous, granting to my world 15,000 young. At that time, the simple recollection of that memory brought me flarrg, and I could, to some degree, sympathise with the Gantric Wanderer. I nearly understood how the Gantric Wanderer was feeling; it was the closest I came to experiencing euphoria myself. Of course, what I was feeling was not true euphoria, as Alturians (#2,143) are among the inter-dimensional entities biologically incapable of this emotion.
These previous examples listed instances where euphoria in entities was caused by a particular event or time, either communally or by individuals. But euphoria isn’t always activated by a single cause such as a festival for the fallen in wartimes, or a lifetime development allowing one to mate.
Florry (#98,564) are the feathered flying peoples from dimension EFCA64. Their experience of euphoria is a more personal experience than most. I had the rare opportunity to meet with a member of the Florry race, a big-time celebrity, Winkus Flumo.
Flumo and I talked at length about our dreams, aspirations, and the Florry form of euphoria while we enjoyed coffee (#27,432) and pancakes (#284,669).
‘Florry feel most euphoric in times when their lifelong dreams are finally achieved,’ Flumo said, swallowing down a beakful of pancake. ‘We [Florry] spend our lives pursuing our dreams, but things [daily life] prolong those dreams’ fabrication. Yes, I speak from experience. I had euphoria after my lead role in the recent action blockbuster, ‘Plumes, Dooms, Chemical fumes (#286,877)’, and my fame across the dimensions was just fabulous. But still, all Florry are different. Reconnection with old friends bring some Florry this feeling, others get it from a night of soar-partying (#410,111), many get euphoria from their romantic relationships. It’s all subjective. Our poets and writers have written beautiful stories about it, come, I will show you!’
I have never flown upon the back of a Florry, nor participated in their theatre until that night. It was dazzling to be a part of, and I returned to my lodgings to write on Florry culture and entertainment with my newly inspired mind.
Misconceptions of Euphoria
Disclaimer: I began this great project in the interest of documenting all; cultures; customs; entities; emotions; inventions; objects; peoples; races; regimes; religions and spiritualities; and zytrixes across the known dimensions. Ideally, this documentation will be done with the best accuracy a member of the Alturian species can manage. When writing and categorising the aforementioned topics, a great deal of cultural sensitivity is necessary. I try my best to portray the information in these works with honesty from my own experience and interactions, but I do not always get it right. At times, there are areas in my field research that are ungraspable by any Alturian, and my best efforts to understand and document my findings are simply insufficient. Making a mistake in my descriptions leads to misconceptions that, if not addressed promptly, have the potential to create chaos, confusion, division, and hate. This section aims to remove all potentially harmful misconceptions in the interest of creating a more knowledgeable and connected inter-dimensional future.
Entities unfamiliar with the emotion of euphoria tend to pin to it some brutal misconceptions. My lack of coverage of the emotion in any preceding edition of this project led to gross misconceptions across inter-dimensional readers: scholars and conspiracists alike. It is my fear that such misconceptions are damaging in the inter-dimensional scale, with results ranging from a disgruntled look and a ruined afternoon for a poor offended individual, to the complete extinction of a species or destruction of an artefact of heritage because I wrote poorly about it. As a result, I am obligated to address all misconceptions around the subject of euphoria. Euphoria is defined by this work as ‘an intense fusion of excitement and joy resulting in the affected entity undergoing feelings of inner-peace and complete satisfaction with its existence.’
In the fourth edition of ‘Encyclopedia of the Alturian Curator’, I touched upon euphoria briefly while mentioning the Humans (#108,345), a civilisation of bipedal mammalian (#235,619) peoples. I wrote ‘humans are among those races that feel euphoria differently to most inter-dimensional beings’, and this unsupported statement caused widespread speculation. In Alturian society, some political radicals used the line to legalise the abduction and dissection of the human species to understand the inner workings of their brains on the basis of ‘understanding’. Thankfully, this law never passed. Our pacifist society should never resort to harming another being in the name of any scientific field, and certainly should not use my work to justify their blasphemous ways. Quite simply, it was an attempt to sully my good name. I digress.
Misconceptions among the mollusc-like Starleo (#418,100) species were more interesting. They interpreted my words as a prophecy of the return of the god Aa (#2), who is uncannily human-shaped, to restore the climate of their polluted world. They prophesised that Aa (#2) will restore the climate of their polluted world, and promptly revered me as a prophet for better times. While I do wish them a better future, I cannot bring them promises. I also cannot directly interfere in what Starleo choose to believe, as is my own principal.
The biggest fear I had was that there was a misconception so damaging it might threaten the human species beyond scientific examination. There was one worrying case from the EADYX21 dimension, where humans also hail from, concerning a large living stone. The stone, yet to be classified, was so furious upon learning that humans experience emotion it set a course to collide with the human world. Thankfully, inter-dimensional authorities stopped its progression, and the stone confessed to simply feeling upset after a bad breakup with its ex-partner, and that it has no malicious feelings toward the humans or any group. The rock is undergoing regular psychological support at time of writing.
Author: Lachlan aims to convert his experience of existence into writing. For Lachlan, the most entertaining thing about being a creative writer is the ability to become multiple things at once. He hopes you come away from his work feeling connected with the universe, and with a stronger sense of optimistic nihilism.
Artist: Sarah McLachlan is a third year Bachelor of Creative Writing student who likes to draw in her spare time. She wishes to combine both her art and writing skills to create a webcomic of her own one day, but she’s also open to illustrating for books and book covers. Sarah is also a major The Legend of Zelda fan and can be found drawing a lot of elves. You can find her at @hideriame02 on Instagram.
Editors: Jasmine Tait and Eliana Fritz