Pre-order the deluxe hardcover edition of The Disruption Generator here!
The smaller, cheaper paperback Portable Disruption Generator available here!
It only ever could have been a book.
Before moving the Portland 8 years ago my house had become more like a library than a dwelling space. The walls were lined with overstuffed shelves filled with graphic novels and art books. Instead of holding food or kitchen knickknacks, the cupboards throughout the decrepit mobile home contained vintage paperbacks with browning pages and the comforting musty odor that felt like home.
I donated most of that collection when I left Bemidji, Minnesota. I had decided that all I could take with me was what would fit in my car and I would need more than just books to survive in a new city, halfway across the country from my family. Even with this overwhelming reality staring me in the face, the entirety of the trunk of my 2000 Mercury Grand Marquis was taken up with the survivors of my gutted library.
They are necessary.
The books are always necessary.
8 years later and that library regrew and mutated into the overstuffed shelves lining the walls of the house I share with my wife and son. It’s probably almost as large as it once was. I find it hard to part with any of them even when I absolutely should. They are a presence, a guiding influence. They are security. They are a chorus of spirits, providing me with wisdom and guidance. They are family.
They are necessary.
The books are always necessary.
They are a presence, a guiding influence. They are security. They are a chorus of spirits, providing me with wisdom and guidance.
I’m not sure where I had heard of the book but I knew I had to have it.
I boarded the Trimet bus heading to downtown Portland, to Floating World Comics, my only intention to get my hands on the book. Perhaps I had seen the simplistic blue and silver cover on Facebook? Maybe one of my favorite cartoonists was one of the many great illustrators gracing its pages? I can’t recall. All I remember is that I needed the book.
That book was called D.I.Y. Magic, by Anthony Alvarado, and it is a guidebook to everyday practical magic.
D.I.Y. Magic, 1st edition, released by Floating World Comics/Press Gang
Much like the A Book of Surrealist Games, DIY Magic is filled with techniques to help a person come at their art from different and unknown angles.
D.I.Y. Magic inspired me to try new things. It lead me to trying sensory deprivation which, in turn, lead me to having my one and only art show at a local float center. It showed me Dali’s technique of “Dropping the Spoon,” a way of reaching a hypnagogic state for visualization. It taught me about the Derive, going out and getting lost in your everyday world, finding things previously unknown in your surroundings.
And somehow, nestled innocuously beside each other, were chapters explaining the two things at the core of The Disruption Generator.
The first was a chapter explaining ways to create for you own arcana for a more personal form of divination. Alvarado goes deep into the traditions of cartomancy and tarot before describing how one could use the old traditions to create their own deck using personal mythology and symbolism.
And the second?
The second was a chapter on Bibliomancy.
And somehow, nestled innocuously beside each other, were chapters explaining the two things at the core of The Disruption Generator.
Bibliomancy is the art of utilizing books as tools for divination. Traditionally a book is allowed to fall open and a random passage is chosen. The practitioner then tries to find meaning in what was found. The most commonly used books are the Bible or Quran but any book supposedly containing the “truth” could be utilized.
No idea could fall more into my wheelhouse than using books as a magical tool. The thought of consulting the paper spirits as a guide? Yes, please. I tried it a few times with varying results. It was difficult to find meaning in random passages of text taken completely out of context. An idea fluttered through my mind for the briefest of moments.
Why aren’t there any books meant for divination?
Years passed before that thought took root again. Now, after 4 years of making books of my own, it felt like something I should tackle. I made the briefest of outlines and sent it to Keats when he made the call for new haunts for We The Hallowed.
It was a loose plan:
- Pick a word at random.
- Draw a picture.
- Repeat until the thing feels done.
Simple.
But the random and unknown is never THAT simple.
Is it?
More next week…
Pre-order the deluxe hardcover edition of The Disruption Generator here!
The smaller, cheaper paperback Portable Disruption Generator available here!
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