– Who started the map?
Garrett Kelly, co-founder of Hollow Earth Radio, and Jeremy Puma, local Seattle author and animist, with a huge debt of gratitude to Tim Boucher, “Agriculteur québécois.”. Ashley Pepper Smith, one half of the “That’s Weird” podcast, also provides assistance (especially with Instagram which we don’t understand).
– Why did you start it?
In 2017, we started tracking our weirdnesses — dreams, ‘coincidences’, strange encounters, etc. — on a personal level. One day, we kind of simultaneously had the idea to start putting our experiences on a map, and Garrett suggested we open it up to anyone. We’ve long wanted to do something that acts sort of like ‘Google Trends’ (which tracks sudden spikes on google search queries) for the collective unconscious. This map is an extension of that, because we’re trying to see if there are strange places or experiences that are actually quite common but go unnoticed because everyone is afraid to talk about this weird stuff happening to them.
– Why is there so much Seattle?
Because we live here. We originally started the site as Liminal Seattle, but have since expanded to the entire world.
– What is the Society for Liminal Cartography?
The Society for Liminal Cartography (SLC) is an organization founded in 1645 by a cabal of Quatrian magicians on the Isle of Malta. The motto of the “SLC” is “The Map Is The Territory” (which inspired Korzybski’s famous antithesis). The SLC exists to uphold the Quatrian understanding of the structure of reality, which is that there is no distinction between this “world” and the world of spirits (the “liminal world”). By mapping the strange, weird, and unusual, the SLC hopes to inspire personal mythologies and exciting explorations of the spaces we consider “normal.”
– Do you really believe this stuff or are you joking?
What is “Truth”?
– How did you determine the boundaries of the Hellmouth?
“Look man, I didn’t create the Hellmouth, I just pulled out the protractor and used my skills as a map-maker to roughly define the border. And I’ll have you know, this is a very conservative estimate – very conservative. There are people saying it’s actually many miles wider, some even saying that it encompasses the entire Seattle Metropolitan area. But I’m going to use my best judgment here and say what has been put on the map has all of the classic indicators of a Hellmouth epicenter.” – Garrett Kelly in an interview with Seattle Review of Books
– What are your plans for the future?
Ideally, we’d love to make some Tolkien-esque scroll maps available. Also, we’re considering a guidebook, and perhaps a walking tour. In addition, we’re discussing opening the ranks of the SLC and developing a series of badges and awards for members who report different kinds of weird phenomenon. Finally, we want to encourage other people to start their own liminal maps, so eventually you could visit anywhere in the world and find out what kind of odd things happen there under the surface. Stay tuned for more….
– I want to start my own liminal map community for my area – how can I do that?
Contact us at info@liminal.earth and let’s chat!
– What is Quatria? Who is Anthour? What the heck are you talking about?
Some things have to be experienced to be understood, but the earnest seeker can uncover The Method. Helmoquinth, Anthuor!