Another year has passed, and there’s really nothing we can do about it.
As usual, highs, lows, triumphs, and blows spread out pretty evenly over these 365 days. We can probably learn something by looking back – perhaps most of all that repetition seems to be the name of the game. What did we do differently? What exceptions did we actually find? Only enough of them to confirm the rules, I’d say.
Personally, I’m happy with my rules as the related existential output has been consistent and satisfying in many ways. However, I have learnt to go slower and occasionally wind down – part of the best relocation-to-a-small-town process ever! – but still there has been a decent offering from our desks and minds.
So, what happened?
First, there was Anathema Pillars, a great anthology about the important magical aspects of pilgrimage. It showed up right at the beginning of the year and was a delightful reconnection with a piece I wrote about our pilgrimage to Morocco in 2019.
Then, just as the year had gotten off to a good start, I received the news that my old friend Thomas ”Tibbe” Tibert had died in Poland, only 59 years old. This was sad, and brought back many memories from our long friendship, and from our work with White Stains, Cotton Ferox, shamanic journeying, travels, and a whole lot more. Cherish all your friends, all the time, because you never know when it’s time for you or them to move on!
To honor Tibbe I released my film SUB UMBRA free on YouTube. The soundtrack was one of our final collaborations musically, and I’m really pleased with it.
There were other projects in the wake of his demise: A Tibbe tribute compilation called has been released digitally and will be out on LP in 2023.
Speaking of memorial comps, the ”Not In My Future” project in memory of Genesis P-Orridge was also manifested. Vanessa and I have a track on it, and I also made a film for our track.
I initiated Trapartisan Radio to create community around Trapart Books, Films and Editions. So far there have been interviews with Vanessa, Steven Cline, Nina Antonia, Gabriella River Eriksson, and Anders Lundgren.
At the beginning of the year the first issue of The Trapartisan Review was published. I am very happy with the result, as it is a truly great expression of amazing art from all over the worlds.
After a hiatus, the Trapart mail order opened again, which made sense as we produced so much stuff, and why shouldn’t we sell it ourselves as well? I am truly grateful for each purchase via the Trapart site rather than via the online biggies. Every sale counts of course, but it’s still fun to pack and send away a few books now and then.
Speaking of Trapart, this was the year that we celebrated ten years as a publisher. What began with Fanzinera in 2012 has moved on in mysterious but satisfying ways, and brings great hope for the future.
We also produced some more episodes of the ”23rd Mind TV,” catching up with what we released ourselves, made, wrote, talked about, and received in the most recent period. And there was one new film this year: ”Reseduction.” Based on my album of the same name, it’s another trippy journey into the 23rd Mind of Vanessa and I; in images as well as in sounds and words.
It was a busy book year for me, and that makes me happy: First out was Anton LaVey and the Church of Satan, the book that is based on my film Anton LaVey – Into the Devil’s Den. It feels like I was on a million different podcasts talking about it, and the reviews of the book have been hot as hell.
Then came Free of the Darkness – 136 Photograhps from Russia. The Russian attack on the Ukraine made me remember Cotton Ferox’ trip to Russia in 2007. I revisited the vaults and found a great number of nice photos; some of them ended up in this book.
The eleventh issue of The Fenris Wolf showed up, edited by me and Vanessa together. It collects all the papers and talks from the ”Psychoanalysis, Art & the Occult” conference we had in Merano, Italy, in 2019. Another great memory lane blast from the past.
My first Swedish novel, Codex Nordica, was published and it’s as exciting that it’s out there as it was to write it. I can’t explain it fully, but there’s something decidedly magical about writing in your native tongue – a much more literary voice can be perceived, and I like that voice a great deal. I see myself as bilingual, and have by now written a number of books in English. But my Swedish voice is quite different, and I will continue exploring that in 2023.
As we hit the New Year, I’m knee deep in writing my magical autobiography, Two Times Saturn (working title). It’s the most laborious task I’ve ever jumped into, as it’s not only about writing from memory, but actually also going through 50+ volumes of diaries and organizing my entire archive. But it’s great fun to see what (and how much) I was up to, and how I haven’t really changed that much, after all. The book will be out in 2024, as I leave two Saturn returns behind.
Throughout the year, Vanessa and I have held monthly #psychartcult events c/o Morbid Anatomy online, and it’s been great in so many ways. And of course we got the big itch after a three year break: In October, we organized a brand new ”Psychoanalysis, Art & the Occult” conference in Copenhagen: ”Visionary Medium.” As on the previous occasions, it was a mindblower that still reverberates. And as per usual, we will collect all the material into an issue of The Fenris Wolf (tentatively number 13).
In the summer, we got a darling ”familiar”: a Samoyed puppy by the name of Linnea (Småland’s regional flower, and the name of many of my most recent female ancestors). Seeing her grow and develop, and taking her for long (and short) walks in nature has been a real booster, and an absolute necessity for me as an intellectual. You have to move the body! Also… I believe that if you can’t communicate with one (or more) animal, you’re not fully human!
We have also been enjoying our small town a lot. People are so much friendlier than in Stockholm, and we love living here more and more every day. There is time and space to create in peace and quiet, and that’s really an ultimate expression of paradise for us. On that sweet note, we also celebrated our sixth anniversary on December 28th. Love has blessed us with its presence and continues to do so. This year was also the first time we celebrated an anniversary with Vanessa as a Swedish citizen. So much to be happy about and grateful for… We drift into the new year with high hopes and great expectations, and wish you all the very best and health, wealth, and length of days. See you on the other side of New Year’s!
– Carl Abrahamsson, Vimmerby, December 30th, 2022
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PPS. Photograph by Vanessa.
