Biting the Night

Publisher:
Circadian

This book written by Maryna Makarenko and Diego Agulló proposes the experiment of opening a window right in the middle of the night, when you feel more vulnerable and unprotected and to set up a direct passage towards the night, digging a tunnel underneath the structure of your identity where your shadows dwell. There are many ways of creating those passages towards the raw night. We like to call them the arts of night and twilight; they consist of a set of nocturnal practices and exercises to invoke your shadows and invite them to be part of a series of rituals on early awakening and voluntary insomnia. The purpose is not to domesticate your shadows but rather to enroll them in long term research that allows not only self knowledge but, above all, movement and transformation.

To embark on these night journeys you might need a companion, a faithful lover, someone who will support you in case the ground beneath you shatters. Someone who can pass you a torch to light the way inwards, towards the inmost shadows of your inner journey. This process is reciprocal. 

This book is a kaleidoscope of texts written by two lovers during the insomnia winter nights in Berlin. It is an attempt to give form to the experiences and findings that were collected during the nocturnal research combining essays with love letters, poems with testimonials, rituals and exercises. This book does not offer solutions to any problem but it rather wishes to become a nocturnal companion for other night explorers and to encourage them to create their own practices of voluntary insomnia.     

Of course there are risks and dangers. We recommend patience and prudence.

Illustrations by Ronja Polzin

Authors
Maryna Makarenko, Diego Agulló
Year
2022
Length
115 pages
Cover
Softcover