I went beachcombing last night. I scuttled under the immense Jurassic cliffs at Saltburn-By-The-Sea, and filled my carrier bag with rocks and driftwood and more rocks. (I really wanted to find sea glass but only scored two tiny pieces.) It was the first time, in as long as I can remember, that I felt like… Continue reading Wyrd Days : Saltburn-By-The-Sea
A few months ago, I wrote a song when I was in one of the deepest depressions of my life. I never could have imagined that a short time on, I would be in a band with one of my favourite musicians of all time, and on the verge of releasing a full-length album. But… Continue reading Hex By Cave Mouth : Album Artwork
When I take little Saga out for a walk, I know there’s a likelihood that I’ll encounter roadkill. I walk the country road most of the way, and too many people drive idiotically fast. Usually, I come across rabbits or birds that have been hit, but in the past two days, it’s been hedgehogs –… Continue reading Roadkill : I Will Remember You, My Friend
Thistles, like foxgloves, can steal me away for hours. If I’m passing by a thistle or a whole host of them, I always, always, always have to stop and drink in their presence. The prickles that we see all over the plant are for defense and protect the thistle from being eaten by most animals.… Continue reading Thinking In The Dark : Thistles
Anxiety and I go back a long way. A very long way. Such a long way that I struggle to actually remember a time in my life when I wasn’t anxious. When I’m not anxious though (or in a depression), I fucking radiate joy. I really do. Part of it is to do with the… Continue reading Thinking In The Dark : Living With Anxiety
I feel somewhat ashamed that it’s taken me until the age of thirty-two to read into Black Annis. My attention in the sphere of folklore has, for the most part of the past fifteen years, been elsewhere, predominately Scandinavia. Little did I know that one of the most fearsome folkloric creatures was actually extremely close… Continue reading Art Of Black Annis
Everything has been too much today. I'm depressed, exhausted and all my senses are way too overloaded. Even the mumbled noise of people talking in another room is making me twitch. Saga has been screaming in my face for the past twelve hours, I can't get my stupid septum ring out of my stupid nose,… Continue reading Thinking In The Dark : When Everything Is Just Too Much
A year and a half ago, I went from waist length black hair - a style I'd had for well over fifteen years - to a white blonde pixie cut, and then to a buzzcut. At the time, I thought white blonde, short hair was the best thing ever and I swore I'd never go… Continue reading Thinking In The Dark : Imposter Hair
Today has been fraught with anxiety and a despair so deep I’m astonished that I managed to haul myself out of bed. My patience has been as thin as a new moon and I’ve been shaking for most of the past twelve hours. My chest has been so tight it's as if someone has bound… Continue reading Mind In The Dark : The Healing Wild
Celebrating the strange and the shadowy, the damned and unseen 