The Parisian Diapsora of Kcymaerica
There are 53 towns or cities named Paris scattered across the planet. Ever wonder why?
Well, I had a very wise college literature teacher once explain to me on the sly that if you want to know the truth you gotta embrace some fiction!
So when I recently discovered the creative work of Eames Demterios (Geographer-at-large), I was instantly intrigued.
Fair warning, it’s a bizarre rabbit hole so don’t expect easy explanations, just some food for thought.
Okay, so here is his deal.
First off, Eamos is writing this continuing story of Kcymaerxthaere (pronounced `ky-MAR-ex-theere), a parallel world with it’s own rich history that takes place on the same landscape as our world.
But he is not writing a book per se, instead he is travelling the world searching for the places where the realities overlap, sometimes leaving physical remnants of the Kcymaerxthaere culture for us to puzzle over.
Eames has a grand mission, to travel the world marking places that are important to Kcymaerxthaere history.
This guy and his enthusiastic helpers have physically installed to date over 140 plaques, carvings, monuments — he even has museum art exhibits — all in our Linear World!
His ongoing quest is to make the planet the “pages of his novel” by placing these plaques so that they not only continue the story, but affect the reader so their perspective of Time and Space will be altered, if only for a moment.
London’s West End
Of course, it’s not always easy to find or read his historical markers (some are underwater!) but he doesn’t let public access guide his decision of where to erect his landmarks for the Kymaerica Project.
Gotta Want It!
So what does this have to do with Paris?
Well, according to Demtarios’ story line, the word Paris was the Cognate (Kymaerican) term for good ground.
Their head guy, Amory Frontage, had a special talent for locating these ideal places to set up communities.
Amory Frontage Story
So, the celebrated capital of the Kymaerican empire was Paris, Illinois. And yes, there is a real Paris, Illinois!
In Demterios’ alternative reality, this now sleepy little town was the scene of a violent revolution that destroyed most of the city.
The only part left undamaged was the second floor of the old Woolworth Building (shades of FBAWTFT) where the Kcymaerxthaere Museum is now housed.
The citizens of Paris even have an annual spelling bee of Kcymaerxthaere words!
I kid you not!
So to tie the stories together —
The Council Chambers in Kymaerican Paris were left a burnt out shell, but in our Linear World, the residents of Paris discover the ruins and rebuild it into their courthouse.
Strange, I know, it is a head-scratcher!
But what a beauty, eh?
Edgar County Courthouse, Paris, Illinois
This particular gwome (his name for where the worlds intersect) was once the “Embassy Row” of the Empire but was devastated by the Certification Riots and the remaining population was set adrift.
As Amory led his people into the American wilderness, they found suitable spots to build new Paris communities and erect their gorgeous buildings.
They would only stay a few years before leaving half the population behind and moving to the next location. At present count, there are 33 Paris locations in the Americas linked to Amory Frontage.
The Grid Culture
Among the interesting concepts Emos introduces about this parallel world (well, symbiotic world might be a better term) is presence of the Grid Culture.
The foremost authority in Kcymaerxthaere is Our Lady of the Grid Church. Their capitol city in the Linear World is Exira, Iowa, which is the absolute center of their world.
According to the narrative:
The Grid was determined by a careful demarcation of an imagined grid (to call it imaginary could have gotten one executed at certain times) centered at a spot just outside the Our Lady of the Grid Church. Many of the rigid township systems and squarish county lines in that part of the continent are an artifact of this time.
Yes, there is a real world Exira, and this is the actual street plan of their city!
The Grid System
Pretty trippy.
Interesting side note — right after signing America’s Declaration of Independence in 1776, Thomas Jefferson quickly instigated the Rectangular Survey System for mapping out the newly acquired Northwest Territories.
In our Linear World, the marker for the start of this survey was Columbiana County, near the town of East Liverpool on the Ohio/Pennsylvania border. Since the original survey point is currently underwater in the Ohio River, the actual historical marker isn’t on the precise location where the survey was begun.
Typical fake history scenario, eh?
No mention that it doesn’t ACTUALLY mark the spot
It gets even more confusing when you inquire as to the center of the United States, seems a lot of places have laid claim to that distinction:
Geodetic Center of North America – Lebannon, Kansas
Geographical Center of USA – Fort Riley, Kansas
Geographical Center of North America – Rugby, North Dakota
Geographic Center of the Nation – Belle Fourche, South Dakota
Fine. Be that way.
Anyway, back to Kyreameria, the wanderings of Emory’s group in America are not the only tales that intersect our geography, Eames has “discovered” gwomes all over the planet.
He quite ingeniously begins his quest to place a marker in a location by speaking at nearby schools and youth centers. There he presents a program where he explains the area’s significance to the great Kcymaerxthaere history and enlists the kids’ help to create a fitting tribute.
Naturally, they love the idea and before you know it the town has agreed and a new landmark is erected.
Goodwell, Oklahoma
Admittedly, he presentation at TedX Taipei seemed to have left his audience rather dumbfounded! It’s not an easy concept to explain, but his enthusiasm is infectious!
One last tidbit about Eames Demitrios, his grandparents were Charles and Ray Eames, the wildly creative designers responsible for the “look of the 20th century.”
Oh, and one last interesting history-twisting plaque —
The story concerns the Sale of Manhattan to the Future Gwome Manhattaan to settle the equivalent of a 24 dollar gambling debt. There was much work that had been done to the land here, indeed, it was one of the most famous of the Monastery Districts, but slowly a more beautiful one arose, hovering above the waters offshore, and myriad creatures made this district their home.
Atlas Obscura series on Kymaetica
So, who knows how this man’s fantasy story fits into the overall fake history investigations, but it’s intriguing as shit!
Just the concept that this scenario contains wisp of explanations about those hidden history puzzles like grid lines in the middle of the wilderness, husks of fairy-tale buildings and the appropriation of town names!
Weewarrior's Weblog 
I am not sure where this man’s mind is, (surely in another reality all of his own!) but it goes to prove one thing – just how easy it is to confuse the populace and implant false information into the historical record!
Yep, it’s a study in the cause/effect relationship between fact and fiction. Makes me even more suspicious of “official accounts”
Wow what a read! I had to stop at least twice to fact check myself back to reality. Will for sure without a doubt be checking out his works. Also I have been reading every post on your page and I love your well detailed writings as well as the photographs to go along with. Thank you for taking the time to make these available to everyone. If you have been writing somewhere else besides this blog where might I find them at? Again thank you for this.
Thanks Josh, so glad you enjoy the blog! It is my only written work on line, I do hope to add more material, I’ve just been a bit lazy recently. But comments like yours inspire me to get back to work! Really appreciate you taking the time to express your gratitude.
Interesting, also sounds like chimeric sphere. Sometimes the term multiple realities is used to cover up mysteries (shenanigans), too. Such as an infamous “Mandela”: ice or no ice for Arctic region. Then when everyone sees water on maps, but they remember ice, *magic fingers* it’s multiple realities. Pertaining to that, there are some images as well lol.