Category: short stories

 

OCTOBER 30th, 2017
The Wine-Dark Sea – Robert Aickman

The Work
We discuss Robert Aickman’s short story “The Wine-Dark Sea” from the story collection by the same name. The print and ebook are both available.

The Guest
Our guest is writer Sarah Lyon. She is a contributor to Vice’s Broadly. Sarah practices witchcraft out of New York. 

You can find Sarah at sarahlyons.org and on Vice. You can follow her on instagram @citymystic.

Sarah mentions some resources and inspiration:
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Witch-Cult in Western Europe by Margaret Murray
Aleister Crowley’s Thoth tarot deck
Barbara Creed’s The Monstrous-Feminine
Carole Glover’s Men, Women and Chain Saws 
Silvia Federici’s Caliban and the Witch
Jodorowsky’s The Way of the Tarot
Arthur E. Waite’s Pictorial Key of the Tarot
The Rider-Waite Tarot by Waite & Smith
Phil Hine’s Condensed Chaos
Gemma Gary’s Cornish Book of Ways
The blog of Sarah Anne Lawless
Religion and the Decline of Magic by Keith Thomas

Pairings
Spirits
“The Liquid Rock”
There is no soil on the island.

1 oz Brandy
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1 spoonful Fig Jam
2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Shake, top with sparkling Lambrusco

Aural Stimuli

Visual Stimuli
Hellenic Art from Athens.
The Grecian island Milos.
One of the oldest full Tarot sets, the Sola-Busca Tarrochi.

Next
House of Leaves, Part One: An Introduction
We’re beginning our first novel and with it our first introductory episode. No reading required but feel free to check out Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves for yourself. We will be joined by guest Giaco Furino (@giacofurino) to discuss the genre of horror fiction.

 

OCTOBER 23rd, 2017
The Garden of Many Forking Paths – Jorge Luis Borges

The Work
We discuss Jorge Luis Borges’ titular short story from his collection The Garden of Many Forking Paths.  An Argentine, Borge’s stories were written in Spanish, and there is some legal dispute that has held the release of English translations done by Norman Thomas Di Giovanni in collaboration with Borges himself.

Fans of the author have made these translations available here at the Library of Babel.

The Guest
Our guest is artist Felipe Posada. He is a Brooklyn, NY based artist who grew up in Latin America. We discuss the experience of growing up within an educational system learning about the Latin American literature in contrast to North American, or European centric literary education.

You can find Felipe’s work at The Invisible Realm,  where you can also learn about his upcoming gallery shows and purchase prints of his artwork. You can also follow him on instagram @the_invisible_realm.

Felipe mentions a few other works to seek out:
Carlos Castaneda’s The Teachings of Don Jaun
Adolfo Bioy Casares’ The Invention of Morel
The Norse Epic Poem The Song of the Nibelungs
Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude  &  Chronicles of a Death Foretold

Pairings
Spirits
“Vortices”
A cocktail that can be served one of three ways.

2 oz Irish Whiskey
1 large spoonful Sugar
1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
2 oz Black Tea (hot or iced)
1/2 oz Lemon Juice 

Shake, Stir, or Serve Hot: It’s up to you.

Aural Stimuli

Visual Stimuli
The works of Xul Solar, artist and friend of Borges
The Art Deco Architecture of Francisco Salamone
Garden Mazes of Argentina like Parque-El-Descanso

Next
The Wine-Dark Sea
We’ll be discussing titular tale from Robert Aickman’s The Wine-Dark Sea and conversing with practicing sorceress Sarah Lyons about women and power.