#thin places

[thinplacesradio]

stacked sound equipment and a radio with glowing green numbers. the image is distorted by VCR static. white text reads:

[026] THE SEEKER... A CALLER WAITS. THE SEEKER HEARS A VOICE ON THE RADIO.

listen here, or anywhere you find your podcasts. transcript under the cut:

[static, radio tuning]

[traveling sales rep: don’t touch that dial! We’ll be right b-]

[a high-register voice, not the Host’s:]

Car radio, yet again. Fixed, for now. It’s from a 2005 Honda CR-V, which I know is old, but, as you know, it’s been acting up for months now, um, and it finally just gave out on me. I don’t even know what worked to resurrect it here, but, well. [tools moving] The mystery of life, I guess. I’m sure it’ll start jumping stations again any day now.

[beep]

I could use a distraction so we are back to the transmitter. I’m building it from scratch instead of from a kit, uh, which basically means I’m just buying the parts that would have been in the kit separately, so I don’t really know if I’m saving money here or losing it. [tools clink] It’s pretty much kid stuff, but hey. It’s nice to go back to the basics sometimes, I guess. I think just to make it interesting I might take one of the old desktops to see if I can link it to some visuals? With different colors representing, I dunno, different letters, maybe? Maybe… make it so the words will show up as you tap the code in? Or I could just leave it with the binary, do kind of a black and white thing. I don’t know. [sigh] I don’t know.

[beep]

[phone ringing] [voicemail]

Hey, it’s me, you know what to do!

[beep]

[phone ringing] [voicemail]

Hey, it’s me, you –

[beep]

No one knows where she is, why does nobody know where she is. I - I think there’s something wrong.

[beep]

[phone ringing]

We’re sorry. You have reached a number that has been disconnected, or is no longer in service. To -

[beep]

I didn’t quit my job today. This isn’t really a project log, but I almost quit my job today, and I didn’t, and I, I think that deserves to be noted down, somewhere. I love what I do. But - doing it doesn’t seem as important anymore when I could be looking for her. I know I haven’t found a single thing, but that’s no reason to stop. I - [sigh]

I don’t know why I’m talking around it like this. Someone that matters to me is gone, and no one knows what happened, or why, or if - 

I wish she was just ghosting me, specifically. Like, that’s not something I want, at all, but I would take it if it meant that she was safe, living her life somewhere else. [sigh]

I don’t. I don’t think she’s dead. I really hope she isn’t dead. Sometimes I’d be at work glancing at the chat and there would be no new messages. Or at home with my phone on the table building myself a new desktop, and there would be no new messages. But I could still feel her on the other side, connected to me with that, I don’t know, electronic tether. Even when she wasn’t there, it helped knowing that she was somewhere.

That’s how it feels, still. I think she’s somewhere. I just don’t know where.

[voicemail]

Hiiiii, iris! Hi-riss! That’s nothing, sorry.  I texted you but I guess you must’ve lost track of time? I’ll just scale the building here and crawl in the IT window - you guys have windows, right? I feel like I imagine you in like a scifi basement most of the time. Anyway. I’m here, I’ll see you soon. Get down here before I bribe the security guard to let me in. I... yeah. See ya. I’ll be here.

[beep]

[morse code beeping] 

T-E-S-T. S-O-S. [pause] Where… are… you? 

Stupid, Iris. Just, stupid.

[beep] [equipment rustling, clinking, scraping]

It was, um, same company, different cities. I called her on the phone before I ported in to fix her computer, and she was – warm? Tired. Not exactly funny, but trying to make me laugh. I didn’t, but I thought about it, just to see if she’d laugh back? She messaged me on the company chat after, to thank me, and sent me a link to an article we’d been talking about while I worked on her desktop. I don’t remember what it was about even though it feels like I should. There are a lot of things I’m already forgetting. But I messaged back, and then we didn’t stop messaging. Until eight months ago.

I always want to know more about everything. Too much, probably. I can never stop digging. But she was the only one who really wanted to know more about… me.

I’m glad I got to meet her, but - I was supposed to keep meeting her - I - 

[beep]

[morse code beeping]

Don’t… be… dead.

[beep] [equipment moving aggressively]

Rob told me today that if I’m not going to go out for drinks with them after work anymore my only hobby can’t be looking for someone who’s been missing for a year. Really kind of insensitive, honestly. [huff] But I have been reading too many police reports, so today I will be starting a new project altogether.

[beep]

It’s the car radio, again, always the car radio. I should just buy a new one at this point, but then I’d never find out what was wrong with this one. Alright, okay, we’re trying scanning again, here we go.

[channels scan] [we hear the Sales Rep, and then the Host, cutting in and out:]

- Thank you for - feel - on - as always, our number is 71–

[Iris scrambles to stop the station but misses it. She tries tuning it back.]

Wait, wait wait wait wait. W-wait wait wait. 102 point 1. Oh my god. Oh my God. Wait. Hold on. 102 point - Wait, come back. Come back. 

I don’t – I don’t understand – [the road prov-] that’s Ha -

[beep] [keyboard clacking] 

I’m not the only person who’s heard her. There are people on subreddits talking about catching a radio call-in show on one frequency, exactly when they needed to hear it, but then not finding it again when they look for it, but just - How do I not need to hear it?

Here’s what I know about “the Host,” from what they know about the Host. Um, she’s always moving somewhere. She cares about her listeners. She’s experiencing impossible things, and so are the people calling in. And there’s a number.

Here’s what I know about my friend. She listened. She hated her job and always wanted a longer break. She loves pigeons and thinks that if aliens exist they’re single celled and acidophilic. She misses her mom. She was always reaching out for something. She was my friend.

[frantic music begins]

I know her voice, even if I haven’t heard it again. I know it was her, and I know I’m going to hear it again. I’m going to find the station. I’m going to find her.

[static] [Traveling Sales Rep: visit us at the - diner just off -] [Various Garbled Voices: the - road - provides - the - road - provides -]

Thin Places Radio is a podcast written by Kristen O’Neal and produced by Kaitlin Bruder. 

The voice of Iris is Kaitlin Bruder. 

The voice of H[static] is Kristen O’Neal. 

Editing and sound design are by Kaitlin Bruder, and the music track you heard in tonight’s episode is: Junoon by RANA. If you have a question to ask, a story to tell, or a suggestion for the host, give us a call at ‪[phone]. The lines are always open.

[Junoon plays]

#if you're gonna listen to an episode make it this one. fyi. #026 #the seeker #thin places radio #tpr #episodes #fiction podcast #liminal #surreal #thin places #caller: redacted #:) #iris

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

November 2nd. All souls night. It's an old Irish tradition.

It is believed that as the veil between the two worlds is at it's thinnest at this time of year. Those who have left us can come back for a brief visit on this night. Your energy and love for them is the path they follow. The Candle is the light that guides them to your home, and two small vessels one of salt and one of water, represent the essence of life. the salt and water also represent the meal you would have prepared for them when they were on this side. As they pass through your home, they can leave their love and blessings, and take away your troubles.

[Love Ireland]

+

Samhain was considered to be the moment when the veil between this world and the otherworld  was it its thinnest.  Old gods had to be placated with gifts and sacrifice, and the trickery of fairies was an even greater risk than usual.  This was a liminal moment in the calendar, a time between two worlds, between two phases of the year, when worshippers were about to cross a boundary but hadn’t yet done so.  Samhain was a way of marking that ambiguous moment when you didn’t know who you were about to become, or what the future would hold.  It was a celebration of limbo.

~ Katherine May, Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times

#Love Ireland #Thin places #November 2nd #All Souls Night #Samhain #Katherine May #Ireland

[lailoken]

My husband and I recently saw a place known locally as "The Three Arches" (there are two more natural stone arches in this stone outcropping, though they're not visible from this angle.)

It was a truly wisht location, and felt to me like a "Thin Place", betwixt the veils of worlds. It was long ago made illegal to visit it for the sake of preserving the wildlife there, and I frankly think that's for the best. But my oh my—what I wouldn't give to experience this location up close.

#personal #thin places #genius loci

[hog-babe]

"When we are in a place where the manmade constructs of the world seem as though they have crumbled, where time feels like it no longer exists, that feeling of separation fades away. We are reminded, in the deepest, rawest parts of our being, that we are nature. It is in and of us. We are not superior or inferior, separate or removed; our breathing, breaking, ageing, bleeding, making and dying are the things of this earth. We are made up of the materials we see in the places around us, and we cannot undo the blood and bone that forms us." From Thin Places by Kerri Ní Dochartaigh

#screaming crying etc #2023 #Kerri Ní Dochartaigh #thin places

[earraigh]

home is a thin place

maigh eo, ireland - august '23

#that's my mam and brother in the bottom right of the first pic!! #35mm #ireland #thin places

[jludeau]

Davis Mountains

#high desert #thin places #marfa #marfatexas #westtexas

[lesbianalanwake]

She might never leave the road at all, but just hurry on and on until the wheels of the car were worn to nothing and she had come to the end of the world.

The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson

#picking this up again now that my brain will allow me to read once more #passed this bit a while ago but not only am i obsessed with the house.... i'm obsessed with the car too..... #like..... yeah. yeah #words #roads #thin places #f: the haunting of hill house #*posts

[photon-milk]

#liminal #thin places

[annemarieyeretzian]

Things I was grateful for in January 2023: Demi mid suede Keds sneakers, Glossier Boy Brow, LUSH Lip Service lip balm, Cookie Dough lip scrub, and Happy Skin face scrub, Do It Like A Girl by Morgan St. Jean, i feel everything by Amelia Moore, YES MOM by Tessa Violet, a ColourPop So Fly eyeshadow palette, s’mores cupcakes from Sprinkles, Thin Places by Kerri ní Dochartaigh, The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak, insect posters by Kelzuki, The Overstory by Richard Powers, a weekend stay at a cabin in Lake Arrowhead with my best friends, a Frostbeard Studios Campsite Reads candle, playing Divinity: Original Sin II with my brother, Stabilo pens, Butterflies by Tom Odell (ft. AURORA), and The Mighty Nein Origins: Veth the Brave.

#sneakers #glossier #lip balm #lip scrub #face scrub #do it like a girl #i feel everything #yes mom #colourpop #eyeshadow palette #s'mores #thin places #the island of missing trees #posters #the overstory #candle #divinity: original sin II #stabilo pens #butterflies #gratitude #january #2023 #digital art #digital illustration #illustration #photoshop #photoshop artist #artists on tumblr #artist on tumblr #annemarieyeretzian

[fotofacade]

I’d like to leave another word for this place: a Gaelic word: Caol Áit - a thin place - where the membrane between heaven and earth is so thin that you could almost touch it.

#thin places #church #wales #time travel #writing #sanctuary #respite

[mothbiter]

Thin Places, Brendon Burton

#brendon burton #photography #thin places

[thinplacesradio]

two shopping carts discarded on their sides in the grass beside a parking lot, the grate of a storm drain visible in front of them. the greens, pinks, and blues of the image are heightened. the image is distorted by VCR static. white text reads:

[027] THE LONG DISTANCE. A CALLER ASKS FOR RELATIONSHIP ADVICE. THE HOST GETS GROCERIES.

listen here, or anywhere you find your podcasts. transcript under the cut:

[static, radio tuning]

[Traveling Sales Rep: Don’t touch that dial! We’ll be right back, after these short messages.] [static, radio tuning]

[click]

Hello and welcome to Thin Places Radio. I’m your host,

and it is the middle of the night. But don’t worry. You’re not alone.

[Thin Places theme] 

I’m coming to you solo from my studio, which is what I like to call this closed-for-the-night grocery store, lit only by the white pulse of the fridges, and the strip of lights along the back wall of the store. I was trying to find that bowling alley again, and I know that this is the same town, but the bowling alley is gone, like it never existed. 

I know it did, though. It meant something to me while I was there. 

It’s strange to see the grocery store like this, shelves hulking and dark and rising up around me as I pass through the aisles. It’s strange to see it like this, which means that even though I can’t remember going grocery shopping in my old life, because there must have been an old life, I must have gone, and it must have been during the day, surrounded by the bustle of other people. Other people. Other people, huh. [laughs] No.

It’s always more fun to go grocery shopping with somebody else, tossing things in the cart and taking them back out, and joking about the names of the brands, and talking about your days. There’s nobody with me now, but there’s somebody a few aisles back. I’ve been hearing them follow me for the last half hour as I pick out what food I’m going to take back to my car. 

I’m sure I’ll see them when I reach the last aisle. But now that I’m looking, there are three aisles left in front of me, before the cold glow of the dairy section. There have been three aisles in front of me, before I reach the cold glow of the dairy section, for the last half hour. But here’s the thing. I’m dying for some cheddar. 

So… what is Thin Places Radio? Well, you can call in about anything strange that you’ve got going on in your life - feelings, omens, premonitions, hauntings.

Is this place cursed, or are you cursed in this place? 

Have you fallen in love with the universe? 

Are you looking for a friend? 

When the veil between worlds is thin, we get closer than ever to the strange and the unexplained - but also to each other. Call in, get it off your chest. Lines are open.

[click] [voicemail:]

Hi here. I know you normally don't do romance advice or, you know, couple advice, but this one might be just a little bit more up your alley? Uh, you see the relationship I'm in is with an entity that’s a cosmic entity the size of a galaxy. Yeah. It's a little weird but it actually works out pretty well. We communicate through telepathy, and they actually contacted me years ago, and they've been helping me out ever since. And we've really become close. They're great, but sometimes I feel like, because they're so different, that I can't show the same support they give me. They never complain, but it's more of a personal thing. So when it comes to someone very different, especially in a long-distance relationships like ours, how can I show my support for them?

[click] 

You’re right, caller, your question is a little bit outside of my wheelhouse. I don’t remember exactly who I’ve loved, or exactly how. I don’t remember what it feels like to be loved, but I remember what it feels like to love. I must. I can feel the ghost of it. [eerie, curious music] There are people I miss, even if I don’t know why. I do miss them. I - I miss my mom, I think. 

But I’ll try my best here, for your sake. You’re missing things, too - someone to go to the grocery store with. Someone to touch. That specific someone, a world unto themselves. I’m glad you’re not asking me a question I can’t answer - will it last? How long will you have with them? None of us ever have as much time as we think we do. It’s sweet that you’re spending yours thinking about how to give back the love and support that you receive. 

But, why do you think that just being yourself isn’t enough, caller? Just speaking to them makes you feel supported. Maybe speaking to you makes them feel the same way. Or maybe they don’t need to feel supported - maybe you give them something else they do need. Groundedness. A personal touch. A reminder that there’s somebody out there in the vast void of existence. A way to pour their love out so they don’t have to keep it all to themselves. 

But my best advice is to stop guessing. If you don’t know what they need? Ask them. It’s the one luxury you’ve got. 

[click]

[music playing] [cart wheels spinning] [overhead announcement from the Traveling Sales Rep:] Don’t miss our sale on hagfish slime. It’s a great deal, we’re practically giving it away. Please take some. It won’t stop spreading. Freakishly fast. Related to that, can we get someone to clean up aisles 6, 7, 8, and 9? And 10? Don’t miss that slime, and don’t make me go in there. Please.] 

Who was that? 

[click] 

The dairy section remains 3 aisles ahead of me, but I’ve fashioned a kind of pulley system out of materials I found in the pantry, baking, and cleaning aisles. I think that if I throw this part kind of like a lasso -

[clanging] [dragging]

Okay, no, hold on -

[clanging, dragging] 

No, let me just -

Haha! Yes! F**k yeah! We’re having a good night after all, folks. And all by ourselves, too. [pause] Kind of, there's that - I think there's someone trapped in that hagfish slime? I’ll go look on my way out. 

[click]

Thank you for listening, callers, and thank you for calling, listeners. I hope you feel a little bit lighter. I know I do. As always, our number is 717.382.8093. That’s 717.382.8093. Until next time. I’ll be here.

[static] [Traveling Sales Rep: visit us at the - diner just off -] [Various Garbled Voices: the - road - provides - the - road - provides -]

Thin Places Radio is a podcast written by Kristen O’Neal and produced by Kaitlin Bruder. The voice of Your Host is Kristen O’Neal.

Tonight’s voicemail was left for us by a mystery caller. The sound FX, music, and voice of our Travelling Sales Rep are by Miles Morkri. Editing and sound design are by Kaitlin Bruder, and the music tracks you heard in tonight’s episode are: the Thin Places theme and Unearthed, by Miles Morkri. If you have a question to ask, a story to tell, or a suggestion for the host, give us a call at ‪[phone]. The lines are always open.

[Thin Places Theme outro]

#027 #the long distance #mystery caller #thin places radio #tpr #episodes #fiction podcast #liminal #surreal #thin places #traveling sales rep #relationship advice

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

A Samhain pondering from 'Hare in the Moon Astrology'.

Samhain.......a Thin Place 

“We have come to another turning of the Great Round and the Celtic Year’s end is now upon us. Today, we stand in the gateway between the old, which is utterly and forever gone and the new, which has not fully arrived.

It is now that our beloved dead are remembered. Here the veil thins and Mystery comes upon us, ready or not.There is so little in our Western secular culture that even remotely prepares us for the irrevocable powers of Life, Death, and cthonic transformation, as they overturn the haute couture masks, plastic pumpkins, pointy hats, and chocolate bars.” 

(Quote by Beth Owl’s Daughter.)

This Samhain /Scorpio season is a Hecate Crossroads we all instinctively recognise, a liminal moment when you need to shed a skin, a mask, a disguise. If you do, you’ll feel exposed, raw and need to take extra care of yourself for a while. If you don’t, that old skin will harden around you. Winter and Wintering is not the death of the life cycle but its crucible where we sense that the boundary that lies between the living and the departed, and between what is past, present, and future has become thin. Where Heaven and Earth come closer.

Scorpio - ruled by both Pluto and Mars - is the great de-numbing agent of the zodiac. Not everyone wants to look deep ……. the constant hit of 24/7 disinformation and fear has most people running for instant distraction. But here at Samhain between two eclipses there’s nowhere left to run. The only option is to stop and face the raw truth of what you feel and the raw truth of what's going on all around.

Choosing those deeply unfashionable things - slowing down, letting your unaccounted - for time expand, getting enough sleep, resting -are radical acts these days but they are essential to thriving not just surviving In the face of this dark night of the global soul - where none of our old avoidance tricks and tactics touch the sides - those of us who are empaths and sensitives are having to develop these gifts to a new level of skill, learning to live moment to moment, honing our ability to scry, to Know without knowing, to intuit, to sense energy as if we have fur and feathers.

[Thanks Ian Sanders]

#Samhain #Thin places #astrology #Ian Sanders #liminal moments #fall #seasons #Halloween #All Souls #All Saints

[johnny-hoxton]

Darkling I listen; and, for many a time I have been half in love with easeful Death, Call'd him soft names in many a mused rhyme, To take into the air my quiet breath; Now more than ever seems it rich to die, To cease upon the midnight with no pain, While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad In such an ecstasy! Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain— To thy high requiem become a sod.

John Keats

#keats #nature #life #death #melancholia #water #magic #thin places #homoerotic

[uncanny-tranny]

I think so many people are so deeply alienated from themselves that they have no clue how to exercise their free will and autonomy. For some, this alienation runs so deep that they are afraid of their own autonomy and humanity. It is completely understandable why one would have those feelings, but it can be worrisome.

I want to help others who feel this way, so here are small things I have done to exercise my free will:

Add "guilty pleasure" songs to playlists and actually listen to them (I have a ton of late 1990s-early 2000s music I listen to now proudly that I never listened to in the past out of shame)

Getting the décor item, bath set, bed spread, ect. in the patterns you like, even if it's "childish" (I got a dinosaur-themed wastebasket from the kids' décor section and I adore it)

Taking a new route to get to a place you go to often

Eat dessert first

Celebrate well, and often

Collect things that are "odd" or don't seem like an "acceptable" thing to collect (somebody on my "for you" page collects dandelion crayola crayons and it was so cool!!!!!!)

Incorporate one new piece in an outfit you wear frequently (e.g., a new chain, a necklace, ribbons, bracelets, ect.). Challenge yourself to add onto the outfits if you feel up for it.

Sing along to songs without worrying that you sound "good" or your intonation is completely accurate

Read a book from a genre you weren't allowed to read as a kid (comics, thrillers, mysteries, anything!)

Walk without having a specific destination or goal

Pick up a new craft without expecting yourself to master it or to ever be "good" enough. Get your hands messy.

I don't want to shame anybody for not feeling as though they have free will or that they are exempt from exercising it. However, I wanted to give ideas so that you might read this list and find your own ways to express your intrinsic autonomy and will. You deserve to be a person, to feel alive, not just living. That is what our lives are for.

#mental health #mental health support #positivity #if anybody has ideas of their own definitely include them! #i just think being stuck with this feeling that you don't have autonomy and that you ultimately aren't an equal person or a person at all.. #...in comparison to other people can be a really troubling and dangerous place to be in... #...and that isn't the person's fault for feeling that way. they didn't pluck those thoughts out of thin air... #...like i have felt that exact way all my LIFE because i have been abused for. probably 2/3s of my life... #...only within these past few years have i even FELT alive. frankly it's going to take a while to repair what i have been left with... #...so i know the feeling and i want to help others feel even a LITTLE bit alive. you deserve it... #...you deserve to take in a deep breath before slowly realizing 'oh my gd this is what it feels like to be alive' and SMILE about it #i want that for you even if it is brief. even if it is small. even if it is a whisper. i want you to feel alive #unironically getting rid of the idea of 'guilty pleasures' has made my life SO much better

[musiconspotify]

#JasonHawkHarris Shine A Little Light

#spotify #jason hawk harris #shine a little light #thin places #musiconspotify #Youtube