The Riddle of the Sphinx

About Fiddler’s Green Peculiar Parish

Fiddler’s Green Peculiar Parish Magazine was born of a languid afternoon of conversation on a sunny tavern lawn. Taking its name from the pleasant afterlife dreamed into being by sailors, cavalrymen, and other adventurous spirits, Fiddler’s Green gathers friends, good cheer, and a bit of magic to create a better world not someday, but now.

In ecclesiastical terms, the word “peculiar” refers to a district outside the jurisdiction of the Church. It’s also a good word for describing my own view of reality, and likely yours as well. And so here is a “peculiar parish magazine” for anyone who doesn’t feel the need to have their inner life directed by others. If it is peculiar that we wish to govern our bodies and souls ourselves, then let us be peculiar.

The conversation continues, and there is room for you in it. Each of us is on our own journey, both in this world and whatever lies beyond it. Sometimes the path is well lit; at other times it is obscured. Your wanderings have brought you here, and I hope you’ll stray for a while with me and the other souls gathered at Fiddler’s Green.

Clint Marsh [Publisher]

Description

A Fiddler's Green Leaflet by Clint Marsh & Adrienne Rozzi.

The artist’s life presents those who dare take it up with a unique set of possibilities and challenges, among them a chance for renown long after the end of their days on earth.

In this illustrated essay, writer Clint Marsh and artist Adrienne Rozzi use the myth of ­Oedipus and the Sphinx to examine the perils all creative ­people face—and the ways they overcome them—on their path to mastery and the promise of this most treasured form of immortality.

Each copy of The Riddle of the Sphinx ordered from Fiddler’s Green ships with an exclusive gold-foil sticker depicting the Sphinx of the Magi, as described by occult philosopher Éliphas Lévi in his book Transcendental Magic.

Clint Marsh uses elements of myth, magic, folklore, and humor to help people navigate everyday life. He is the editor of Fiddler’s Green Peculiar Parish Magazine and a winner of the Bookseller/Diagram Prize.

Adrienne Rozzi is an illustrator, printmaker, antiquarian, and hedge witch based in Pennsylvania. She is the creative force behind Poison Apple Printshop, a one-woman operation showcasing the old-world nostalgia of her immersive illustrations through themes of witchcraft, herbalism, and folk magick.