“The First Protocols of Queer Goetia”

The First Protocols of Queer Goetia is an anonymous text first published in 2019.

It begins:

[1. QUEER: “strange, peculiar, eccentric.” From the German quer meaning “oblique, perverse, odd” which in turn comes from the Old High German word for “oblique.” twerh, which is derived from the root terkw, “to turn, twist, wind” as in “the labyrinth turns, twists, winds.”

2. GOETIA: “the invocation of dæmons or spirits.” From the ancient Greek goeteia. “sorcery”. from goes. “sorcerer, wizard”, ultimately derived from goao, “to wail, to cry” as in mourning or in a funeral rite.]

These dead are hungry. Fuck, Dance, run, kiss, steal, eat decadently, sing, destroy, create. The energy of life, ecstatic life, draws them close, nourishes.

Let your kissing, dancing, fucking, creating, destroying move you to trance.

Give them space and adorn it lavishly. Speak to them there, where they are comfortable and at home.

The dead, and especially the queer dead, are unorganized, chaotic. Don’t expect organization. Instead find nodes, affines, contacts among them. They’ll coordinate among themselves.

Learn their names, all their names, the secret ones too. All the better to call them by.

Research obsessively, research frantically, research ecstatically.

Study their codes, commit yourself to the argot, the signs, open yourself up to veiled messages.

Pay attention to subtle omens — on the radio, in thrift stores, bookstores, passing conversations — they work through synchronicity.

There is no such thing as a coincidence.

See Emma Cieslik’s essay for the Order of the Good Death for more.

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