The Screaming Sheep
female, landscape
my life is a matter of discord;
mapped on torn hills,
mines & their toxic waters,
contour lines redolent__
the smell of burning lemon.
the first week after the diagnosis,
15 & hitching north to climb,
no ropes, the garnet schists
black and shining; Northern Sea
hanging wet, one-handed
on etched rock
a kind of material rescue
not fear__
the acid of limitation
melting finger grips
the mountain giving
way
; times were,
I'd get caught
at the base of a chalk & grass cliff
cold tide bellowing, the only way out
a quicksand marsh,
jumping, shoes sucked,
grass hussock to hussock
after the gasping,
like Icarus, but one that didn't die
like Icarus, climbing, not
flying flat along the cliffs,
still
an hour to anywhere warm.
To follow was never
the jewel it promised,
like Mount Snowden and the dense
cloud lifting__
in the beginning
a whole mountain had been under foot__
following blind, the others disappeared
and all that was left,
a narrow sole-wide ridge progressing,
a crevasse of air so tall
bottoming lakes
looked to be hummingbird eggs.
life: waiting for the hatch; and then
the feathers
Carol Shillibeer
After a wildly productive life as an alchemist, Carol Shillibeer retired to read tarot, stalk Hierocholoë odorata in the lands west of the Pacific cordillera, and consider the implications of post-human materialism. Marginally more information (including her publication list) can be found at carolshillibeer.com.
Unit 1
University classrooms seating 500 or more persons are a prerequisite. The authors of the work state that they have found the manuscript and have caused the work to be published for those dreaming of the Society of the Rose Cross. Chemistry students are playing with additives to the water supply. Because of this, it is clearly known that only through science, and not without labor, that the dedicated student will acquire this knowledge. Prior to commencing this course, students should know that the philosopher's stone and related substances are absolutely necessary for the accomplishment of desire.
Unit 2
Child of science, come and imbibe from me the treasure. It is written on youtube that cats dominate, and that dogs, of long-lost alchemists come home from the wars, will threaten light to the darkness. In times of heavy dew, a portion of these imaginations bottom with the true incombustible Sulphur. Reddit fans will know this. It will be written there that all that has been created is contained. You should know the purging of all metals and the fixity of gold, especially given that these pursuits are nature's entertainment. In addition, be able to reproduce (under examination conditions) the penetrating and tincturing virtues.
Unit 3
All these expressions, so different (yet all true) are a little more advanced; it is not impossible to find minds. For these reasons, read. Reflect upon lithic propensities to squash all manner of insects and human skulls. Become perfectly wise: a key. Substance is not a conversion: extension is just a feeling. It is absolutely impossible to believe that cold can be changed. Abscond with free texts from Internet Archive and Gutenberg. Do not pass GO, but adhere to what Hippocrates said. Water and Fire enter in the same amount into the body of man. (Women's constitution is covered in Alchemy 201.) Do not despair that Fire becomes stupid and doltish. You should know the key; that there is no key, but only the great solvent.
Unit 4
The Great Hermes taught hidden in golden caskets. Go to Tumblr, discover the golden fish. There you will find the secret of a successful examination. Do not render in 3D animation. Do not seek Pirate Bay as it transits the established verities of cold and moisture, but wait for the banishment of authorities. You cannot see them in vegetables. You cannot see them in Anonymous. Understand what takes place on the earth, second order systems theory, inter-kingdom signalling. You should know that monsters are produced only because some obstacle interrupts. Know the obstacles; know the interruptions; archive the monsters.
Unit 5
If you wish to add perfection, to arrive at your end, take Latin. Imperfectus takes its true form there. Truly, the entire work of the sages, the root of vpn servers makes netflix inarticulate by this speculation. Seek then among the minerals. Do not aid nature. Give nourishment to trees, advances to fruits, and share this doctrine a hundredfold and even to the infinite. You should know profanation or irreverence for sacred things. Finally, beyond the limits of the class of metallic things, a child a year old should be able to take the scepter and rule modeling software. Do not be diminished by university testing. Be able to go into the Isle of the Virtually Real and say lazy man, take a lesson from the ant.
Source text: Le texte d'Alchymie et le Songe-Verd, authorship unknown.
English translation provided via JSTOR by Tenny L. Davis, Massachussetts Insitute of Technology