A Conversation With an Errant God

I'm very pleased to announce that my story A Conversation With an Errant God: Distorted Reflections on the Kerker-Kreis has been released as a book on Mount Abraxas Press in Bucharest. The book has been printed in a gorgeous hardcover edition, complete with illustrated end-papers and silk ribbon. Limited to 100 copies. 

Copies will be available in the US at Ziesing Books. If you inquire by email, they'll reserve a copy for you. The story is a very perverse response to the German poet Stefan George and his circle of poets, the George-Kries. 

Taken from the pages of Die Nachtigal, issue 77, September 1973, “A Conversation with an Errant God: Distorted Reflections on the Kerker-Kreis”, directly transcribed from tape by the author. Text translated by C.K. Weber. Introduction excised. 

Die Nachtigal: How did you come to be involved with the Kerker-Kreis? I understand you were not a founding member. 

F. Keiner: It started when I was a boy. It was me and my brother, Kaspar. I must have been eleven, so he would have been twelve or thirteen. We’d sneak into our parent’s bedroom while they were in another part of the house and take off all our clothes. It was far more than merely a game between us. We treated it all with the utmost gravity. It would simply be unthinkable that our parents would find us behaving in such an unacceptable way. What, exactly, it was that we were doing, we didn’t really know. Whatever it was, we were genuinely inspired. 

I’m afraid I’m a little confused, Herr Keiner. Are you saying that this is what led to your involvement with the group? 

Excuse me?   

The Kerker-Kreis, Herr Keiner. The poets’ collective. The subject of this interview is your history with them. 

I’m coming to that. Some background details will be necessary. It all happened so long ago, I hardly remember. What I distinctly recall are the routines we acted out, my brother and I—the blindfolds, the punishments, the mock interrogations, the escalating dares and all the complicated dances. It all had very real consequences. 
     The worst was when we took the mantle clock apart. We’d always been fascinated by the faded Roman numerals that circumscribed its face. The curved, walnut casing, the ornate dials—they all came apart like lotus petals. We put it back together, but it was never the same. It didn’t keep time the way it was supposed to. What’s more, it did something to the house. 

A Token Derangement of the Senses

The Language of the Storm: A Tribute to Ernst Jünger is now available to order from Raphus Press in Brazil. Ziesing books in California should have copies available within a few weeks as well. 

My story "A Token Derangement of the Senses" is included in the book, along with stories and poetry by Adam S. Cantwell, Jonathan Wood, Alcebiades Diniz Miguel, and Brian Evanson, among others. 

http://raphuspress.weebly.com/the-language-of-the-storm.html

"So we marched with a limp that eluded detection, one foot in the forest and the other in the underworld. If we seemed to move in circles, it was only to propitiate the ambition of the night itself, which demanded, as if in compensation for its treasures, a token derangement of the senses."

The Sleep of the Assassins

I am very pleased to announce The Sleep of the Assassins and Other Stories, a book very much akin to a collection of b-sides and rarities from Mount Abraxas Press in Bucharest, gathering six short pieces from several disparate places along with a new, previously unpublished title story. 

The contents are as follows:

Paraffin

The Bastion Overwhelmed

The Subpoena

Imperium

A Flip-Take in the Heart of Seville

The Sleep of the Assassins

The Immaculate Scrambled Automat

"What I’m about to tell you is of marginal importance. You can regard it as akin to an anecdote. My hope is to provide you with a tentative guide to your expected conduct in the field, yet there’s every possibility that my advice will only lead you into error. You’ll have to seek refuge in uncertainty and guesswork, rely on chance and ambiguity, and find a means to kindle flame from little more than intuition. The very lack of clarity regarding your assignment will reveal far more than anything I can pass on to you. 

The outer layers of the citadel will not be difficult for an agent of your caliber to breach. The enemy won’t make it easy. They possess considerable prowess in the art of misdirection. With a little ingenuity, you’ll slip through their defenses like a sparrow through the hangings of a chandelier. What comes after will prove a more formidable challenge. This is only the first of a series of citadels, each of them nested inside the others and secured with insidious traps and locks. You can expect these to grow progressively more difficult the further you proceed." 

The Sleep of the Assassins and Other Stories can be purchased directly from the publisher by sending an inquiry to exoccidente@gmail.com, or pre-ordered from Ziesing Books in the US. 

The Embassy at Fontainebleau

I have a short piece, "The Embassy at Fontainebleau", in the anthology ORNITHOLOGIÆ, which is available now from Egaeus Press. 

My story involves ley lines and telluric forces, distant radiation from decaying stars, the fickle intelligence of the winds and the pulsation of magnetic currents, riots, fires, incendiary slogans, prayers to the night wind of Napoli, an oracular metronome, the rites of litigation, the howling of wolves around an opera house, symmetries, intervals, reversals, inversions, the nourishment of ancient ores, acrostics, ballistics, steganography, and forgery, as well as and several other things besides, but principally birds. 

https://www.egaeuspress.com/Ornithologiae.html

Neo-Decadence Evangelion

The latest offering from the last bastion of creative excess and reasonable aesthetic choices, Neo-Decadence Evangelion, is now available for pre-order from Zagava Books. 

The book is edited by Justin Isis and features artwork by Gea Philes. 

The table of contents are as follows: 

Brendan Connell – THE SLUG

Golnoosh Nour – SADPRINCE

Justin Isis – A TREE ROTTING FROM THE TOP DOWN

Arturo Calderon – YAWAR JAGUAR

Gaurav Monga – THE COSTUME

Audrey Szasz – FRED IS DEAD

Colby Smith – HELLENIC DROPOUT

LC von Hessen – BAPHOMET’S BALLROOM

James Champagne – PROVIDENCE SPLEEN

Kristine Ong Muslim – THE BLACK ZODIAC

Damian Murphy – A NIGHT OF AMETHYST

A sample of my entry in the book follows below.

https://zagava.de/shop/neo-decadence-evangelion?edition=8

A Night of Amethyst

Copyright © 1981 by Mimesis Software, all rights reserved.

Release 1 / Serial Number 044516

(First-time players will benefit from typing ‘help’)

Lobby

Exits: north, east, south

    You stand in the lobby of an institution stained with scandal and ignominy. A symmetrical group of decorative lamps hang by thick strands from the ceiling. Their bulbs are shaped like rising flames and are arranged in tight concentric circles. A slender front desk resides on the far end of the room, behind which stands a well-dressed attendant. He wields the authority of the minor official whose expertise exceeds that of their superiors. His attention is absorbed in what appears to be an open registry.

    Sitting areas of no great size lie to either side of the desk. A woman reclines in an immodest position on the elegant upholstery of one of the armchairs. She wears a button-up top of vivid emerald and a skirt of pale cream. A bare foot is propped on one of the armrests while the fingers of one hand trace lazy circles on the fabric. She appears to be intolerably bored.

    To the west, behind you, is the entrance to the establishment, but of course you have no intention of leaving so soon.

> examine carpet

    The mandates of the night itself are enciphered in its rich designs and its golden fringes flash like filaments against the dark, wooden floors. It occurs to you that its pattern reflects every possible path that can be taken through this game.

> approach desk

    “Sir?” prompts the attendant as he looks up from the registry. “If you’ll be so kind as to sign in.” He turns the book around to face you. A pen lies on the desk to one side.

    You’ve managed to attract the scrutiny of the woman in the armchair. She lies just out of view, yet you can feel her gaze on the back of your neck. You’re ashamed to admit it, but this pleases you a little.

> sign registry

    “Thank you kindly, Mr. Morse,” says the man behind the desk after you’ve added your name and time of arrival. “There are a few preparations that must be attended to. If you’ll be seated for a moment, we’ll be ready for you shortly.” He executes a barely perceptible bow before making his exit through a doorway in the east.

    You turn around to confront the woman that fixes you with her gaze. She glances over to the northern archway, beyond which lies a well-lit corridor that extends in both directions. Her eyes are aflame with provocation as they return to yours. She seems to be suggesting that you slip out of the lobby before the man returns.

> examine desk

    I fail to see how the front desk warrants the benefit of your attention. Nevertheless, you turn around and consider its simple elegance. The woman behind you is hardly amused that you’ve turned your back on her. She proceeds to make a gentle hissing sound with her tongue and the roof of her mouth, her presence overflowing with a shameless physicality that’s all the more pronounced when your attention is focused elsewhere.

> search desk

    With all of the discretion of a gentleman thief, you step behind the desk. You realize that the risk you’re taking is nothing short of absurd. The attendant might return at any time.

The Night of Disposition

The latest bundle from Snuggly Books is now available for order. This includes my up-coming collection of stories and novellas, The Exalted and the Abased (which will be available on its own on October 19th).

The Exalted and the Abased collects four stories reprinted from older collections along with two previously unpublished novellas, each of which comprises a fairly major work. 

The contents are as follows: 
The Ivory Sovereign 
The Notary 
The Hieromantic Mirror 
The Exalted and the Abased
An Incident in the House of Destiny
A Night of Amethyst

Of these, the title story and A Night of Amethyst are new. 

The bundle can be purchased here: 
https://www.snugglybooks.co.uk/special-offers/

I'll post again when The Exalted and the Abased is available for purchase on its own. 

“You’ve passed into a house of catastrophic repute—the carpets confound, the lamps conceal, the passages obstruct, and the locks are unfaithful. The night has crept in through a crack in the foundation and impersonates the night watch. Even the shadows revolt against the light—they cluster around it like a company of pickpockets.”

Two Podcast Interviews

I've just done two different podcast interviews, each of them partly focused on occult practice and partly focused on writing. 

The first is with Praxis Behind the Obscure and is roughly two hours long: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wiHWdzzNdU&t=1324s

The second is with Magick Without Fears and is roughly 3 hours: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0sAtL3ORDfvL0bEotKwHdb

Topics discussed include details about my occult background, initiation, teaching occultism, running a temple, The Bornless Rite, Enochian, grimoires, writing, occult fiction, Neo-Decadence, and far too many other things to list.