I will add this to my calendar! A friend and I have been celebrating Angstgiving over here in the States for the last 30 years. I still think it is just the two of us, but it has always been fun.
Thanks for the mention, Thomas - your events are always an adventure, and I highly recommend them. I just wish I hadn't come late to the party - last year's Abyssmass sounds amazing! But mine was significant this year.
Today a friend gave me a small vacuum cleaner as a housewarming gift. She brought it down from London on the train, cradling it in her arms like an infant Serpopard - the ancient Mesopotamian serpent-necked leopard, thought to represent chaos, the vitality of the underworld, or the protection of mothers during childbirth. (Obviously these things are deeply related.) Its arrival on Dec 6th prompted me to reflect on the need to keep the Abyss clean.
One tends to think one can just bung everything psychologically difficult, broken and complicated into the Abyss, pull the rug back over, and carry on as if the Cosmic Void doesn't (not) exist. But the Abyss is not for sissies. We are here to deal with our own Shadows, not disown them. Like a cat with a sensitive stomach, the Abyss will regurgitate any half-digested darkness in a great icky clump in our laps.
Setting an intention to keep the Abyss as empty as possible of self-sabotaging thoughts, I vacuumed my new flat this evening. And may do so again before Dec 6 2026.
Thank you so much for your company and support on Abyssmass. The following day, it transpired that I had either crossed, or found a handy ledge somewhere within, my abyss. Synchronously enough, a part of that involved doing some gardening at Daisy's house, where I told her about Tim Smit's "accept every third invitation" rule (and she decided that this may be a more sustainable approach than the "accept every invitation" rule she'd been operating).
The abyss that is both real and not looms before the winter solstice. Celebrating our options before we are swallowed is a yes for me. I would enjoy a copy.
I've not thought about Abyssmass's proximity to the solstice before. Thank you. Will you send me (yes@thepoetryofitall.com) a good email address for you and Changeling will be with you tomorrow.
I will add this to my calendar! A friend and I have been celebrating Angstgiving over here in the States for the last 30 years. I still think it is just the two of us, but it has always been fun.
Also, I would love a rule broken pdf copy!
Angstgiving! Love that. Send me your email address to yes@thepoetryofitall.com and you'll receive a Changeling tomorrow.
Thanks for the mention, Thomas - your events are always an adventure, and I highly recommend them. I just wish I hadn't come late to the party - last year's Abyssmass sounds amazing! But mine was significant this year.
Today a friend gave me a small vacuum cleaner as a housewarming gift. She brought it down from London on the train, cradling it in her arms like an infant Serpopard - the ancient Mesopotamian serpent-necked leopard, thought to represent chaos, the vitality of the underworld, or the protection of mothers during childbirth. (Obviously these things are deeply related.) Its arrival on Dec 6th prompted me to reflect on the need to keep the Abyss clean.
One tends to think one can just bung everything psychologically difficult, broken and complicated into the Abyss, pull the rug back over, and carry on as if the Cosmic Void doesn't (not) exist. But the Abyss is not for sissies. We are here to deal with our own Shadows, not disown them. Like a cat with a sensitive stomach, the Abyss will regurgitate any half-digested darkness in a great icky clump in our laps.
Setting an intention to keep the Abyss as empty as possible of self-sabotaging thoughts, I vacuumed my new flat this evening. And may do so again before Dec 6 2026.
This comment is a happening in itself Naomi.
Thank you so much for your company and support on Abyssmass. The following day, it transpired that I had either crossed, or found a handy ledge somewhere within, my abyss. Synchronously enough, a part of that involved doing some gardening at Daisy's house, where I told her about Tim Smit's "accept every third invitation" rule (and she decided that this may be a more sustainable approach than the "accept every invitation" rule she'd been operating).
Must go now, new abysses to traverse...
This is exciting handhold news Dan.
I applaud this alternative festival! May I also ask if you could send a PDF of The Changeling my way?
Thank you! And of course, just let me (yes@thepoetryofitall.com) know a good email address for you.
The abyss that is both real and not looms before the winter solstice. Celebrating our options before we are swallowed is a yes for me. I would enjoy a copy.
I've not thought about Abyssmass's proximity to the solstice before. Thank you. Will you send me (yes@thepoetryofitall.com) a good email address for you and Changeling will be with you tomorrow.