The Parallaxis

~

The city is so visible that it is invisible; a persistent substrate patterning our days. We see it no more than we imagine it to see us.

But what if this city is not the only one in which we dwell? What if there are other, more elusive cities inhabiting the same streets? Cities made of shadow and light, resonant with strange frequencies. Cities winking into existence and then out again. Perhaps you have found yourself slipped sideways into such a city, in the silent heat of noonday or in the amethyst twilight? Or maybe even now you are moving closer to catching your first glimpse…

~

The Parallaxis is an invitation to experience the city differently. It is an ongoing game that anyone can play. In this game the ordinary gives way to small moments of the extraordinary, transmuted by a magic that need not be invented, only allowed.

The game is played by walking, simply walking, through the city with no intent other than to play. Take an hour, take a day, take whatever time belongs to you alone. If this time does not exist, find a way to make it. You may be surprised by your ability to conjure.

As you walk, allow yourself to relax into the city. Allow the city to relax too; to make something other than sense. This shift usually takes about twenty minutes to achieve.

Eventually you will pause, and perhaps smile, at something that has entered your awareness. Sight, sound, smell, sensation, or some concatenation thereof. In any other circumstances, this moment would likely be mundane. But now it is essential; it is perfect. It is beauty or meaning or mischief that you have made together with the city.

This is how the game begins.

Keep walking until the spell is broken; until you find yourself released again into the everyday. This may occur in a decisive moment, or the game may simply fade away. Sometimes if you take a rest in a small park or on a quiet shady bench you may discover that there is still more to play.

One day you may find that you are walking through the city, simply walking — and without realising it you have already begun to play.

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Grimoire (Player 1)     Alchemy     Arcana     Diary of a witch doctor

The Parallaxis