The Soilbound Almanac | A Rule of Life for the End of the World

The world as we know it is unraveling in a profound moment of social, economic, and ecological crisis. The soil left arid, the oceans boil, and the air made thick by an endless amount of carbon pumped into our atmosphere steadily pushes our world toward wide scale planetary collapse. This present apocalyptic moment has not only subjected the biosphere to mass environmental degradation buthas also left the soil of our theological and moral imaginations contaminated and in need of reclamation. Lost as we are in the smog of industrialization and unfettered capitalism, this corrosive cloud of unknowing renders us amnesiacs dis/membered from our world, each other, and the sacred.

It is this insidious and destructive force of dis/memberment that necessitates a turn toward the lives of flora and fauna saints like Hildegard von Bingen, Clare of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, and Julian of Norwich in search of a path toward re/membrance, resistance, and repair. This is not our first apocalypse, nor will it be our last, but a different end of the world may yet be possible. Even now, verdant dandelion shoots push their way through the cracks of the old world in an act of resistance, mycelium weave rhizomorphic webs of remembrance deep beneath the soil, and birdsong rings out in constant praise of a future repaired from the damage of ecological overshoot.

This almanac is an invitation to become rooted and entangled in a different way of being, bound to the soil in deep solidarity with our biosphere and the sacred that sustains it all. This rule is not a rigid law or static framework but a living seed, rooted in the wisdom of these medieval women mystics, that has the potential to into lives of ecological fidelity in a world ravaged by crises. To live well —to survive, thrive, and fight— in a world on fire, we must cultivate an ecological ethic and spirituality that binds us to the soil and the sacred.

Drawing from the vast tributaries of these flora and fauna saints we can find the grounding needed to commit to a life of deep solidarity with the earth and all our non/other than-human kin.

This is not a rule of retreat or cloistered living, but one of seditious hope and the sacred refusal to accept that dismemberment has the final word. It is a rule to guide us as we seek to remember, resist, and repair our world as both imago dei and adamah, recognizing that we are born of both soil and spirit. May this compost heap of an almanac nourish and guide us toward a future beyond collapse as we are converted to the cause of the earth and become a people bound to the soil and the sacred.

Along with being a type of communal ecological rule of life, the Soilbound Almanac is also a piece of art and print media influenced by DIY Zine culture, particularly that of the anarchist tradition, and the punk movement.

The forty-four page zine is meant to be both simple and elegant without losing its DIY aesthetics. Taking into account the earthy metaphors,  teachings, and wisdom of various medieval women mystics I sought to capture the radical simplicity at the heart of Clare of Assisi’s life and rule, while maintaining a connection to the larger DIY zine movement through the use of frayed edges, collage art, tape, scanned ephemera, and torn images.

While the zine largely abandoned the heavily saturated print tones that dominate anarchist aesthetics for what might be most accurately described as something more akin as cottage-core, the zine’s typography maintains a markedly reminiscent design influenced by 80-90’s  punk zines created on old typewriters and xerox machines.

Want more content like this? Then be sure to check out my blog Seeds & Sabotage | Theology In A World On Fire

Recommended price is $10, but you can pay whatever you want! Even if that means $0!

*This is a digital PDF / downloadable zine! You will not receive a physical copy.