RITUALS FICTION: ‘THE RITE OF ODOBENA’ BY ADAM MARKS
The Rite of OdobenaAdam Marks It was a dark, cloudy night: perfect! A group was gathered in a corner of Old St Pancras Churchyard. They were not a regular congregation. They were men and women of various ages, pepper-pot faces, ordinarily dressed, mostly;...
RITUALS FICTION: ‘WATCHING THE SATANISTS’ BY GERARD MCKEOWN
Watching The SatanistsGerard McKeown ‘We bought that goat with our own money and can sacrifice it to our Lord Satan if we feel like it.’Her screams land over the roof as I press the ignition. Something has died, or will die – a goat? Air clears through the...
RITUALS POETRY – ‘DECO DECORUM’ BY JANINA AZA KARPINSKA
Deco DecorumJanina Aza Karpinska As a young man he developed a taste forart deco artefacts – attracted by theirgeometric designs; curvaceous furniture,and dressers that displayed, to good effect,cups and saucers, and bric-a-brac, collecting as much as he...
RITUALS FICTION: ‘SEEING YELLOW’ BY MARY ROSE MCCARTHY
Seeing YellowMary Rose McCarthy At forty, Alison had come to detest the colour yellow. And she saw it everywhere. She wasn’t the navel gazing type, but if she thought at all about her problem with yellow, she figured it could have something to do with an...
RITUALS ARTWORK: ‘ZOLA PHOTOS’ BY JIM ZOLA
ZOLA PHOTOSJIM ZOLA JIM ZOLA is a poet and photographer living in North Carolina.
RITUALS POETRY: ‘THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC’ BY PAMELA SCOTT
That Old Black MagicPamela Scott went down tothe woods lastnight, in the dark,moon shining above went down tothe darkest partof the woods,right into theold black heart went down, deepdown, until all thelight was gone, untilthe dark breathed around me went...
RITUALS FICTION: ‘NO FLOWERS BY REQUEST’ BY ANNE GOODWIN
No Flowers by RequestAnne Goodwin Had my highlights not been in need of attention, I might never have known of Mr. Blenkinsop’s demise. I don’t normally patronise the local rag but I was marooned at the hairdresser’s and some other woman had nabbed last...
RITUALS FICTION: ‘ARTIFICIAL, INTELLIGIBLE’ BY TIMOTHY RYAN
Artificial, IntelligibleTimothy Ryan —Adrianne?—Yes, Mom, it’s me.—Adrianne, is that you?—Yes, Mom, you can open the door.—Wonderful, Adrianne, yes, yes, of course, it’s been so long–—How are you today, Mom? I brought over the honey you like from Mr....
RITUALS POETRY: ‘DISOWNING HER FATHER, MADE EASY’ BY ANASTASIA JILL
Disowning Her Father, Made EasyAnastasia Jill Her father spent years askingher, “Read the book I wrote.It will tell you everythingyou need to know.” Words tinted like a windowdidn’t wait for her to touch a pagebefore they jumped,with sharpened clawsand...
RITUALS NON-FICTION: ‘PERFORMANCE OR RITUAL’ BY DIANA V TOOMBS
Performance or RitualDiana V Toombs Is ritual performative or is performance a ritual?The relationship between performance and ritual has long fascinated theatre scholars, and has formed the basis of the work of some of the most influential practitioners...