Aether PLAY is an entanglement of print and digital content that merges technology with playful, tactile, sensual processes as a way to call in greater balance between the physical and virtual worlds we inhabit. Tools of oracular exploration include a paper fortune teller, dice and a sigil maker app. Play as a single or multi-user. Another method of poiesis - the act of making, of bringing into being - is to sculpt your journal into origami polyhedra.

Fortune Teller

This fortune teller designed by artist Daniel Martin Diaz is also an experiential album by the band Trees Speak, composed of Daniel and his brother Damian. From Tucson, Arizona, their music is heavily influenced by the cosmic magic of the natural desert landscapes of Arizona. The band’s sound is characterised by a combination of German krautrock motoric-beat rhythms, angular New York post-punk attitude, 60s spy soundtracks, psych, rock, jazz, and 70s synthesizers and vocoders. There is also a cosmic spatial awareness to their sound; both personal inner space and galactic outer space, as well as a wilful pushing of sonic boundaries. Follow the instructional diagram to fold and play your fortune teller. For full functionality, folds must be neat and tight. Run your finger along the folds or use a ruler.

The number of times you push and pull the fortune teller before landing on a segment could be determined by number, poem, song or the influence of another. As we are working with the elements of earth, air, fire and water, and invoking transformational processes, you may wish to use this alchemical incantation:

‘As Above, So Below. As Within, So Without.’

Where you land, choose a symbol, and unfold it to reveal the image beneath which corresponds to a page/image on the journal. This will connect to a music video from Trees Speak, and a corresponding article in the digital journal. At the end of the article, you will see suggestions linking to other content that continues the explore resonant topics, or you may choose a random journey to your next destination. DOWNLOAD in black and white,, blue, or gold below.

FORTUNE B&W FORTUNE BLUE FORTUNE GOLD

Oracle

The I-Ching (Book Of Changes), is an ancient Chinese oracle matrix thought to be written by Fu Xi around 1000 BCE. This Confucian divination text, traditionally cast using yarrow sticks, contains 8 trigrams and 64 hexagrams for insight into human experience within the wisdom of nature and patterns of the cosmos.

Download, print and make the dice (normal versions or geometric) or use dice you have already. Roll directly onto the journal to land on a page/image or use multiple dice to generate a number between 2 and 72, the total number of pages in the journal. The highest number you will achieve with two dice, is 6 x 6 = 36. If you double this, it makes 72. You can also add rather than multiply the numbers so 5 + 7 = 57. 1-64 can correspond to the 64 hexagrams, with the remaining 8 corresponding to the 8 trigrams.

You can either follow the numbering system of the journal 1-72, or apply the 64 hexagrams to all the images except for the 8 fortune teller images, and these correspond to the 8 trigrams, adding another level of interpretation.

I-Ching hexagrams.
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Single/multiplayer dice game:
1-22: Match up with Major Arcana of tarot.
Even numbers: Go back in time - explore the article through your 7-year-old eyes, read it aloud, what would that version of you want to say?
Odd numbers: Ask yourself or your neighbour a question, then skip a go.
Numbers 3,6,9: Write a haiku in response to the page.
Numbers 11, 22 and 72: Meditate, contemplate, and create a ritual for the page.

DICE DESIGN 1 dICE DESIGN 2 dICE DESIGN 3 DICE DESIGN 4 DICE DESIGN 5

GEO DICE 1 GEO DICE 2

Sigil

Geomantra is a web application created by our XR studio Semantica, that generates a geomantra sonic device using sigil magic. Input words that describe a recent dream or any words that are pertinent to this moment, into the sigil maker and make a note of the design. Continue to create your geomantra and, optionally, meditate with this sonic device before you engage in the journal. Apply your sigil randomly to create a pathway of discovery or use the magic square below to translate the first letter of the first word into a number and begin by placing the first line of your sigil on that number. It is possible to create an analogue sigil by using a traditional magic square grid.
Write down your word or phrase. Use the alpha-numeric conversion grid to convert letters to numbers. One-by-one, apply these numbers to the grid by drawing a link on the grid from each corresponding number in order. The shape it forms is your sigil. This is your magical intention/dream/manifestation device and in creating it, it is sent out into the aether as a desire. It must be destroyed in order to be released - you may do this by burning or burying the paper.

To play Geomantra, scan the code below OR click on this link.

Origami

John Montroll is a master of single sheet polyhedra. With his instructional diagrams, it is possible to divide the journal into six and use each segment to create one of the five platonic solids, increasing in complexity - tetrahedron, cube, icosahedron, octahedron and dodecahedron, with one spare to practice with.

Preparation and folding instructional diagrams available to download below.

Please share your creations on Instagram or Tiktok @wildalchemylab using the hashtag #WALaether

PREPARATION POLYHEDRA ORIGAMI INSTRUCTIONS

CREATIVE CONSULTANCY X EXPERIENCE DESIGN

Fortune Teller

Oracle

Sigil

Origami