This month, we follow a looooooooooong carrot, I mean a really loooooooooooooooong carrot, all the way from the Garden of Nameless Fingers to the ordinary world. Here, you’ll find another garden, a garden overgrown with wrinkled mint leaves, forlorn potatoes, and spiky raspberry bushes. Peter Peter the cat, Orange Soda the butterfly, Tommy the turtle, and Mouse the mouse all live here. This August, we’ll follow them into the long carrot and, perhaps impossibly — to all the homes they’ve loved and lost.
This month, we do our best to understand Loneliness. Is it a force in the universe, like gravity? How is it related to solitude, death, and insect repellent?
We know that Loneliness likes to play games, but does it like to be challenged to a race? To a turtle drawing competition, a howl-off, an egg drop contest?
If you’ve ever been visited by Loneliness, that soggy watermelon sandwich, this one might be for you.
This October, we deposit our old selves into the Bog and walk the forest in search of a new form. When we find our month's Disguise, we desire not only to appear as another Entity but to immerse ourselves in the rhythm of its life, the fabric of its consciousness.
We cloak ourselves in its image, and as we do so, we repeat a mantra that anchors us in the life of the Being in question. Over time, the mantra becomes as natural as breathing, moving from the slow cogs of the mind to the breezy expanses of the body. With words transformed to flesh, we undergo a process of Transfiguration. In imagining ourselves as Other, we become Other.
This November, we revisit the elusive (though paradoxically, very common) goose of gratitude, and chronicle some of the many miracles it has performed over the centuries, including the invention of scissors, the discovery of cartwheels, the remarkable evolution of bees, and more.
We'd love to know: in these difficult times, as the nights grow longer, has the Two-Headed Pocket Goose of Immaculate Symmetry (two wings, two legs, two hearts, two heads) made itself visible in your life? Has a little trace of gratitude appeared when you least expected it?
This month, the gods journey to the Bogflower, the most important source of divination in the Forest, to discover if a blue year or a yellow year awaits us. Our journey begins eight days before the Solstice, and culminates on the longest night of the year, when we make our way to the Bog of Despair and find the rare, elusive, night-blooming flower that grows at its center.
A collection of poems to savor in this blue year.
Last February, we made our annual pilgrimage to the Ancient Forest's Oracle of Love -- the First Sock Who Ever Lost Her Mate -- who lives above a well-tended fire just north of the Bog of Despair. You can read about our pilgrimage, and the Oracle's answer to our question: "What is the future of love?" in the Second Almanac.
This February, as we made our yearly return, we made a horrifying discovery -- THE ORACLE OF LOVE IS MISSING! Will we find our dear one, our Oracle, our Lost Sock?
In March, we visit the home of bears as they complete their hibernation.
Because bears sleep without dreaming, their minds weave the world instead. As they weave it, we read to them from the Mending Book, a collection of reminders (written in Primordial Bear symbols) on what to include in the fabric of the world, so that it will be able to withstand the hardship and suffering of the coming year.
(We'd recommend reading the Mending Book to any sleepers in your life. While bears have particular power in this arena, due to the Strength, Focus, and Longevity of their hibernation, it remains true that all of us in dreamless sleep share in the responsibility of weaving the world.)
This April, we'll do our best to answer all your questions about rain:
How is it made?
What does it have to do with godly feet?
How do we dance our blessings into it?
Is it true that raindrops shatter into questions when they hit the earth?
How does the earth answer?
So often in our lives, the world says no, no, no. Don’t touch that. Don’t feel that way. Don’t want too much. Don’t do that thing with your face. Don’t rest. Don’t eat. And whatever you do, don’t put that toad in your pocket.
This month -- for the third year -- the gods give you permission, no matter what kind of creature you are. (As we know, most living beings are afraid to devote their lives to fossil hunting, to feel a little proud of themselves, or even to succumb, for the day, to a hideous mood.)
In this season of May, you may touch that. You may feel that way. Want what you want. Do that thing with your face! Rest. Eat. And please: put that toad in your shirt pocket, with its little triangle face peeking out. Whisper into its ear-holes, in the ancientmost language you know: Lead the way, sticky old pal. Align your nose-holes with its nose-holes. Go where the nose-holes point.
Be free, be moss-green, be moisturized. Jump. Dip your toes into the bog where the hot dogs grow and the mud devours. Become amphibian. Become mind of action, mind that goes boing. Become body that leaps into land, water, sky. Body of leapingness everywhere. The gods give you permission:
You may.
You may.
You may.
This June, we visit the very enigmatic and very very small, gentle, not-to-be-feared Volcano of the Ancient Forest. The Volcano, in its generosity, has provided a wonderful and Porous supply of lava stones which we will use to harvest the fears of the earth.
Of course, we cannot harvest the fears of the earth without first harvesting the summer's earliest and most precocious tomatoes, which will help us -- through a feat of soup-making and librarianly translation -- understand the mysterious language of our Trembling Planet. (We hope that, in speaking its language, we will be better equipped to care for it.)
This July, we transcribe the hopes encoded in the wing-beats of every new butterfly:
flap-flap
flap-flap
flap-flap
flap-flap
flap-flap
flap-flap
flap-flap
and so on.
As we know, the hopes and dreams of butterflies radiate through the atmosphere from their light and fragile bodies, transforming the breath of all living beings. As you read the transcriptions in this book, please flap the pages or your electronic device to bring them to life, doing your best to absorb the Hopefulness wafted into the air with each breath you take.
This month, we follow a looooooooooong carrot, I mean a really loooooooooooooooong carrot, all the way from the Garden of Nameless Fingers to the ordinary world. Here, you’ll find another garden, a garden overgrown with wrinkled mint leaves, forlorn potatoes, and spiky raspberry bushes. Peter Peter the cat, Orange Soda the butterfly, Tommy the turtle, and Mouse the mouse all live here. This August, we’ll follow them into the long carrot and, perhaps impossibly — to all the homes they’ve loved and lost.
You’ll receive two pdf files of the book: one formatted for screen reading (labeled “SCREEN”), and another formatted for double-sided printing (labeled “PRINTABLE BOOKLET”). Please don’t distribute this top-secret content!
This month, we do our best to understand Loneliness. Is it a force in the universe, like gravity? How is it related to solitude, death, and insect repellent?
We know that Loneliness likes to play games, but does it like to be challenged to a race? To a turtle drawing competition, a howl-off, an egg drop contest?
If you’ve ever been visited by Loneliness, that soggy watermelon sandwich, this one might be for you.
You’ll receive two pdf files of the book: one formatted for screen reading (labeled “SCREEN”), and another formatted for double-sided printing (labeled “PRINTABLE BOOKLET”). Please don’t distribute this top-secret content!
This October, we deposit our old selves into the Bog and walk the forest in search of a new form. When we find our month's Disguise, we desire not only to appear as another Entity but to immerse ourselves in the rhythm of its life, the fabric of its consciousness.
We cloak ourselves in its image, and as we do so, we repeat a mantra that anchors us in the life of the Being in question. Over time, the mantra becomes as natural as breathing, moving from the slow cogs of the mind to the breezy expanses of the body. With words transformed to flesh, we undergo a process of Transfiguration. In imagining ourselves as Other, we become Other.
You’ll receive two pdf files of the book: one formatted for screen reading (labeled “SCREEN”), and another formatted for double-sided printing (labeled “PRINTABLE BOOKLET”). Please don’t distribute this top-secret content!
This November, we revisit the elusive (though paradoxically, very common) goose of gratitude, and chronicle some of the many miracles it has performed over the centuries, including the invention of scissors, the discovery of cartwheels, the remarkable evolution of bees, and more.
We'd love to know: in these difficult times, as the nights grow longer, has the Two-Headed Pocket Goose of Immaculate Symmetry (two wings, two legs, two hearts, two heads) made itself visible in your life? Has a little trace of gratitude appeared when you least expected it?
You’ll receive two pdf files of the book: one formatted for screen reading (labeled “SCREEN”), and another formatted for double-sided printing (labeled “PRINTABLE BOOKLET”). Please don’t distribute this top-secret content!
This month, the gods journey to the Bogflower, the most important source of divination in the Forest, to discover if a blue year or a yellow year awaits us. Our journey begins eight days before the Solstice, and culminates on the longest night of the year, when we make our way to the Bog of Despair and find the rare, elusive, night-blooming flower that grows at its center.
You’ll receive two pdf files of the book: one formatted for screen reading (labeled “SCREEN”), and another formatted for double-sided printing (labeled “PRINTABLE BOOKLET”). Please don’t distribute this top-secret content!
A collection of poems to savor in this blue year.
You’ll receive two pdf files of the book: one formatted for screen reading (labeled “SCREEN”), and another formatted for double-sided printing (labeled “PRINTABLE BOOKLET”). Please don’t distribute this top-secret content!
Last February, we made our annual pilgrimage to the Ancient Forest's Oracle of Love -- the First Sock Who Ever Lost Her Mate -- who lives above a well-tended fire just north of the Bog of Despair. You can read about our pilgrimage, and the Oracle's answer to our question: "What is the future of love?" in the Second Almanac.
This February, as we made our yearly return, we made a horrifying discovery -- THE ORACLE OF LOVE IS MISSING! Will we find our dear one, our Oracle, our Lost Sock?
You’ll receive two pdf files of the book: one formatted for screen reading (labeled “SCREEN”), and another formatted for double-sided printing (labeled “PRINTABLE BOOKLET”). Please don’t distribute this top-secret content!
In March, we visit the home of bears as they complete their hibernation.
Because bears sleep without dreaming, their minds weave the world instead. As they weave it, we read to them from the Mending Book, a collection of reminders (written in Primordial Bear symbols) on what to include in the fabric of the world, so that it will be able to withstand the hardship and suffering of the coming year.
(We'd recommend reading the Mending Book to any sleepers in your life. While bears have particular power in this arena, due to the Strength, Focus, and Longevity of their hibernation, it remains true that all of us in dreamless sleep share in the responsibility of weaving the world.)
You’ll receive two pdf files of the book: one formatted for screen reading (labeled “SCREEN”), and another formatted for double-sided printing (labeled “PRINTABLE BOOKLET”). Please don’t distribute this top-secret content!
This April, we'll do our best to answer all your questions about rain:
How is it made?
What does it have to do with godly feet?
How do we dance our blessings into it?
Is it true that raindrops shatter into questions when they hit the earth?
How does the earth answer?
You’ll receive two pdf files of the book: one formatted for screen reading (labeled “SCREEN”), and another formatted for double-sided printing (labeled “PRINTABLE BOOKLET”). Please don’t distribute this top-secret content!
So often in our lives, the world says no, no, no. Don’t touch that. Don’t feel that way. Don’t want too much. Don’t do that thing with your face. Don’t rest. Don’t eat. And whatever you do, don’t put that toad in your pocket.
This month -- for the third year -- the gods give you permission, no matter what kind of creature you are. (As we know, most living beings are afraid to devote their lives to fossil hunting, to feel a little proud of themselves, or even to succumb, for the day, to a hideous mood.)
In this season of May, you may touch that. You may feel that way. Want what you want. Do that thing with your face! Rest. Eat. And please: put that toad in your shirt pocket, with its little triangle face peeking out. Whisper into its ear-holes, in the ancientmost language you know: Lead the way, sticky old pal. Align your nose-holes with its nose-holes. Go where the nose-holes point.
Be free, be moss-green, be moisturized. Jump. Dip your toes into the bog where the hot dogs grow and the mud devours. Become amphibian. Become mind of action, mind that goes boing. Become body that leaps into land, water, sky. Body of leapingness everywhere. The gods give you permission:
You may.
You may.
You may.
You’ll receive two pdf files of the book: one formatted for screen reading (labeled “SCREEN”), and another formatted for double-sided printing (labeled “PRINTABLE BOOKLET”). Please don’t distribute this top-secret content!
This June, we visit the very enigmatic and very very small, gentle, not-to-be-feared Volcano of the Ancient Forest. The Volcano, in its generosity, has provided a wonderful and Porous supply of lava stones which we will use to harvest the fears of the earth.
Of course, we cannot harvest the fears of the earth without first harvesting the summer's earliest and most precocious tomatoes, which will help us -- through a feat of soup-making and librarianly translation -- understand the mysterious language of our Trembling Planet. (We hope that, in speaking its language, we will be better equipped to care for it.)
You’ll receive two pdf files of the book: one formatted for screen reading (labeled “SCREEN”), and another formatted for double-sided printing (labeled “PRINTABLE BOOKLET”). Please don’t distribute this top-secret content!
This July, we transcribe the hopes encoded in the wing-beats of every new butterfly:
flap-flap
flap-flap
flap-flap
flap-flap
flap-flap
flap-flap
flap-flap
and so on.
As we know, the hopes and dreams of butterflies radiate through the atmosphere from their light and fragile bodies, transforming the breath of all living beings. As you read the transcriptions in this book, please flap the pages or your electronic device to bring them to life, doing your best to absorb the Hopefulness wafted into the air with each breath you take.
You’ll receive two pdf files of the book: one formatted for screen reading (labeled “SCREEN”), and another formatted for double-sided printing (labeled “PRINTABLE BOOKLET”). Please don’t distribute this top-secret content!