Author: heathenstorm
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For the Magic of Metal
I never had “Backing Dancer for Arthur Brown” on my 2025 Bingo card… Metal Magic has always been one of my favourite festivals, having only missed out on a single accessible year since 2014. I’ve always found the chilled out ‘Garden Party’ atmosphere to be appealing, a reflection on the friendliness I’ve experienced in all…
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Ten Years of Blood and Fire
Nearly a fortnight has passed since the Summer Solstice on Neudegg Alm, and life has barely calmed since that wondrous night of flame and belonging. With the heat of the moment propelling once-aching feet towards new possibilities, I must take pause to reflect and release before moving on. It was my tenth year on the…
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Of climbing…
I’d never climbed a mountain before. At the start of this year’s House of the Holy festival in Abtenau, Austria, a group of friends from the UK and Sweden decided that’s just what they were going to do, taking on the First Pass in the nearby Tennengebirge range. Accepting their kind invite and relishing the…
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“It’s Only a Game, Isn’t it?”
Forging academic connections across the Pennines, last week took me to Manchester Metropolitan University for “Rituals of Play”. An international conference deftly combining gaming (in both digital and tabletop forms) with magick and the occult. This uniquely compelling focus for Manchester Game Centre’s annual Multiplatform symposium was ratified in conjunction with MMU’s Dark Arts Research…
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Magna cum Loudly
As I take pause to commemorate another year round the sun, it is the right time to reveal just what I’ve been up to these past months. A secret to most, although obvious to many, l have returned to the hallowed halls of academia with a suitably Rock and Roll twist. Last year I began…
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Midsummer comes around
Two years ago while en-route to the mountain, I scheduled a weekend layover for a gig and associated debauchery in Arnhem. Sharing the delightful company of dear friend, dancer, occultist, and erotic Priestess Dayenne Neroli. As way of repaying her hospitality and sating mutual creative compulsions, we indulged in an impromptu video shoot. Taking a…
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Kony Lingers
Most people in the West had never heard of Joseph Kony. Head of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a Christian insurgent militia operating out of Uganda and elsewhere since 1987, Kony met all international definitions of a terrorist warlord. Cutting a swathe through the region, the LRA soon became notorious for mass atrocities, kidnapping, and the…
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Sunday Morning Melancholia
While visiting Deutschland back in March, I had the privilege of spending the weekend with omni-talented artist, seamstress, and muse Méli Melancholia. Internationally renowned across many alternative subgenres, her enchanting aura consistently captivates. A long-time admirer, my appreciation from afar has blossomed into a wonderful friendship, and it was a delight to go on an…
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Into the Fediverse
For those who already know about the Fediverse, I can be followed at @index@heathenstorm.com As for those who don’t (likely most reading this), an explanation: The Fediverse is a decentralised, federated network of independent social platforms that communicate using the ActivityPub protocol. Each individual instance runs according to its own community rules, hosting anything from…
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Startin’ up a POSSE
Owning one’s identity, online or otherwise, is a fundamental responsibility. It is a core tenet of individual liberty and the capacity to respond to any challenge on one’s own terms. Free from the influence of censorious agents who would silence or sway opinion to insidious ends. Connections made with others still matter, absolutely. Even as…
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A Populace of Plastic People
In the 2013 TV special “How Videogames Changed the World”; Charlie Brooker (of Nathan Barley and Black Mirror infamy) positioned SocMed as nothing more than a game. Players would jostle for attention, earning points by views and followers. The aim being to win regardless of what it takes to get there, with integrity and accountability…
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Detaching from SocMed
It has become the fashion for folk to announce, very publicly and performatively, their departure from current Social Media accounts. Moving on to other sites, or even switching off entirely, due to changes of company ownership and the incessant swing of the political pendulum. Protesting against the new regime, they isolate themselves against loss of…