#psychopompus

!! Ahhh, Emergence Magazine…

Foraging through the back issues and found this, David G. Haskell on Listening to the Language of Birds. Unsurprising to any solitary readers of this little corner of the webs, I’m a total fan:

The Language if Crows

The Language of Sparrows

Now, full confession: I’m no great twitcher. My human cloth-ears and dulled senses struggle to identify each call, but I dont…

Confirmed. There are two Ravens in my neck of the woods.

Previous sightings have these much maligned birds along the edges of Ceredigion – notably where here are also wildlife reserves (Natur Cymru). I’d been seeing this pair around all winter, and, well, because they’re large and black and our resident crow-family The Gang of Three are also large and black I’d hesitated to call it. Also: I…

The Language of Crows

Night-black; void-black; black as December-seas – crows can be encountered like silhouetted cut-outs on a sunny day; you can’t expect them to move, to soar, to have life. They sit sentinel and watching. Maybe this is why this effusive bird has garnered such a dire reputation through the ages, from being the harbinger of death and the herald of war to even having the title ‘carrion’ appended to…

Writing Process & Rare Birds

Standing amidst the vegetabilia of a Welsh supermarket the other day, I found myself talking to a good friend and fellow writer, Carol Lovekin. I wonder if this is a common way for writers to meet, distractedly, whilst scavenging for more supplies. As a general rule, our profession makes us a stay-at-home sort (although the oceanic perambulations of Warren Ellis, and Cory Doctorow might beg to…

Lēcythus quī Hermam psȳchopompum dēmōnstrat | Fōns - CC BY 2.5

psȳchopompus, psȳchopompī - (m.)