Changeling and Abyssmass

Possibly my most experimental text to date, Changeling is a poem about magician Aleister Crowley and his acolyte Victor Neuburg crossing the abyss in the Algerian desert in 1909. It is written in the form of a three-act absurdist play. The text is also in These were days of endless endless.

Changeling’s launch was on the 6th December 2022. One hundred copies of the work had been mailed to people all over the world and they were asked to read it simultaneously at 7pm UK time. The date and time were concurrent with magical activity performed by Crowley.

I have now designated 6th December each year as Abyssmass – for those who observe Abyssmass it is a time for the reading of Changeling, but more importantly for reflection on our own past, present or future crossing of the abyss. ‘He’s been! He’s been!’ goes up the cry at 8pm, as people begin to notice all the synchronicities Choronzon has left scattered about their personal deserts.

Music
The lonely, breathy sound of two duduks. One plays the drone, ‘the dum’, the other a plaintive, knowing,
melancholic melody that snakes ancient above the theatre audience, a beautiful ghost of old lands that can never be resolved. Everyone cries.

Set
Bare stage covered in sand.
Backdrop of desert and pale sky.
A man stands left. 
A Westerner traveling through Africa, 1909.
Over a tweed jacket he wears a beige prosthetic camel hump.
Right, a three meter wide circle is drawn in the floor.
This is the abyss.

Music
Fades.

Camel
I am a camel.

Set
The sand of the circle ripples outwards in waves.
The abyss speaks in a hollowed voice.

Abyss
Absurd, but certain. I knew your before, but I think this suits you.

Camel
I remember the moment I became one.

Abyss
I’d like to hear.