Accelerated Thinking

This month I have mostly been thinking about the way that days dance into each other as the wheel of the year turns. Yes, the modern calendar is pretty much an arbitrary result of numerous historical tweaks, but the underlying astrological observances coupled with the life to death to life cycle of the Earth itself was always going to lead us to try and claim the seasons. Efforts to track the migration habits of game in the Neolithic or sowing time for crops once agriculture took hold much later would rely on such calculations, after all, so the effort put in is understandable. While spring, summer, autumn and winter are the demarcations that most recognise it is the liminal days between those states that I love the most. The ones which are warm but overcast, sunny yet hold a refreshing chill in the air. And with the Solstice just around the corner now, I feel very much at home.

Empowered Words

“Everything starts somewhere, although many physicists disagree. There is the constant desire to find out where – where is the point where it all began. But much, much later than that the Discworld was formed. Drifting onwards through space … atop four elephants on the shell of a giant turtle, the great A’Tuin. It was some time after its creation when most people forgot that the very oldest stories of the beginning are sooner or later about blood. At least that’s one theory. The philosopher Didactylos suggested an alternative hypothesis: ‘things just happen, what the hell’. And so our story begins in Ankh-Morpork, the twin city of proud Ankh and pestilent Morpork, the biggest city in Discworld. A city where magic is just another job, and where the Tower of Art of the Unseen University for Wizards looms over all the dark narrow streets … Our story begins on a midwinter festival bearing a remarkable similarity to your Christmas. And so … it was the night before Hogswatch.”
— The Narrator, Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather

Occult Almanac

December rounds out the celestial events of the year in an understandably busy way. Accelerated Necromancer’s observe the Traveller’s a New Moon on the 1st. The First Quarter is then on the 8th, before the Long Nights or Elder Moon occurs on the 15th. The Third Quarter happens on the 22nd and the lunar journey ends on a Black New Moon, which in this case is the second in a single calendar month, on the 30th. Accelerated Necromancer’s call such lunar events a Reaper’s Moon, and celebrate accordingly. For those with an interest in celestial magicks, December has much to offer with both the Geminids meteor shower peaking over the 13th and 14th as well as the Ursids on the 21st and 22nd. Jupiter is at Opposition on the 7th and Mercury reaches its Greatest Elongation West on the 25th, both being easily visible on those dates. However with the former planet still in Retrograde until the 15th there is a real danger of technology and communication issues ruining the run up to the holiday season. Of course the big story this month from a Neo-Pagan perspective is the Winter Solstice, or Yule, on the 21st. Some demonolaters also celebrate a Rite to Belial on this date. Sol Invictus, or the festival of the unconquered sun, occurs on the 25th, alongside the more general Christmas celebrations enjoyed by our wider culture. And then we finish up 2024 with New Year’s Eve on the 31st. All times and dates given are UK specific.

Necronomicon Mortui

A list of notable members of the occult, paranormal and Fortean community, ordered by date of death as opposed to birth. Aleister Crowley, Magickian, born 12th October 1875, died 1st December 1947. Alexis-Vincent-Charles Berbiguier, Demonologist, born 1765, died 3rd December 1831. Friedrich Bernhard Marby, Occultist, born 10th May 1882, died 3rd December 1966. Charles Robert Richet, Parapsychologist, born 25th August 1850, died 4th December 1935. Colin Henry Wilson, Author, born 26 June 1931, died 5th December 2013. Victoria Helen McCrae Duncan, Medium, born 25th November 1897, died 6th December 1956. Henry James Edwards, Healer, born 29th May 1893, died 7th December 1976. Ademar José Gevaerd, UFOlogist, born 19th March 1962, died 9th December 2022. Algernon Blackwood, Mystic, born 14th March 1869, died 10th December 1951. Johannes Trithemius, Occultist, born 1st February 1462, died 13th December 1516. Arthur Machen, Mystic, born 3rd March 1863, died 15th December 1947. Stanislas de Guaita, Rosicrucian, born 6th April 1861, died 19th December 1897. Riley Lee Martin, UFOlogist, born 9th May 1946, died 22nd December 2015. Hereward Carrington, Parapsychologist, born 17th October 1880, died 26th December 1958. Grigori Rasputin, Mystic, born 22nd January 1869, died around 30th December 1916. Philip Coppens, Folklorist, born 25th January 1971, died 30th December 2012.

Grimoire Guides

While I doubt that many of my audience would hold message board microfiction in particularly high regard, the Gideon Keys are without a doubt one of the best examples of that usually overlooked genre. Set within two different real world locations, Calgary and Glasgow, both multi entry story arcs create a damned gazetteer of sorts which hints at a deeper narrative that never quite comes to light. Unlike The Backstates or Book of Sands, both of which are similar projects, the Keys are less humorous in tone, trading the absurd for what could be considered believably Fortean events while feeling far more realistic than those other narratives. As a fan of shows such as Urban Gothic and Neverwhere, the idea of an eldritch reality bubbling under the surface of the one we all see was always going to appeal to me, and this bleak modern myth cycle is definitely worth your time.

End Notes

And there it is, this year’s second to last issue of my occult and paranormal newsletter winging its merry way to an ever eager audience. The one for January will be up late December, as always, though of course that is more based in 2025 than 2024. A such, now is a good time to take stock of what the last twelve months held for this damned little project. In general this has been another strong year for The Accelerated Chaote, with viewer numbers growing and my content finally starting to trickle out into occulture through social media shares and friend of a friend referrals as planned. I have chosen to grade the memetic power of my ideas by watching them disperse organically without my pressing the issue beyond a couple of posts here and there to get the ball rolling, and so far that hands off approach has reassured me that people actually take an interest in what I write.