Chantry Circuitry - Bardic Engineering Tools

My feet, your foundations,
Make my fingers chisels.
The body is the station
Connecting world to will.

I’ve been quietly working on a new book - its coming together surprisingly quickly. I’m aiming for a digital release by Halloween… This book follows “Chaos Charms”, while I’m proud of that work I hope Chantry Circuitry will somewhat rebalance the more esoteric and abstract nature of it.

Introduction

In a previous work entitled “Chaos Charms” I explored paradigm shifts and perceptual renewal through the creation, evolution, and reimagining of personal, maybe even societal vocabularies. While the work telegraphed the major signposts on such a journey, it was in hindsight somewhat lacking in actionable steps. When it was complete, I felt strangely empty.

If I was creating this grand, exciting and transformative journey through language and symbols, then why did I feel stuck? Why hadn’t I undergone the same mental shifts that the poetry spoke of? I believe I have found the answer. In my eagerness to explore the higher possibilities of language - I had neglected the specific acts that invite change. Before we can consider deconstructing our long-ingrained personal narratives and models of possibility - we should explore the power of word, rhythm and story to create smaller shifts in our lives. Can language help us transcend the frantic pace of our personal lives, transform difficult relationships, aid in navigating the data flooding us from all directions? Maybe with these smaller shifts we can truly rebuild our inner landscapes. With this vision in mind I set to work on more exact, less abstract poems.

I choose the title Chantry Circuitry as it speaks both to our ancient history and present day. The chantry housed the daily hymns and prayers to the Logos. The circuit carries electricity and information around a computer system. These are the small, exact movements of great works - the daily practices that feed into the high celebrations of Yule or Samhain, the data pulses that feed into our global communications. Like the smallest root of an oak tree finding a rich vein of soil, changing the smallest piece can change the greater whole. I hope these poems can inspire subtle shifts in direction, just like that searching root.

Each poem is a call to an archetype or a specific conceptual idea - eloquence, time, calm and so on. The accompanying mandalas contain the letterforms and intentions of the poems, carrying their messages to a different level of awareness. With these “bardic engineering tools” let us shift our perceptions, even just a little, and in doing so, perhaps reshape our internal universes.