The Sleeping Serpent - One-Time Box Purchase

In September 2026, subscribers encountered the Sleeping Serpent.

The old stories tell of an enormous Sleeping Serpent, protectively curled around the heart of the world, Dreaming it into existence. She makes the world as she Dreams, and it ends when she wakes. She remains when the world dissolves, and then she Dreams it back again.

They say that she slumbers beneath the tree roots of the Pomegranate Grove, twisting through the dark, rocky tunnels of the Birdmoss Below. The Serpent subsists only on the damp earthy air, growing slowly over millennia. Down here, earthquakes strike like lightning, but she continues to Dream the world in more and more elaborate designs, materials, and narratives. Here in the misty caverns, Spirits, like Moths, flutter with an erratic grace. Perhaps they remain even when she wakes up.

The Sleeping Serpent Box includes an abundance of beautiful objects; hints and additions to expand the story; a mysterious document; and a lore card.

Some items are available for individual purchase.

• Mysterious Document
• An instructional document is augmented with marginalia which will help you interpret clues. It is available only in the Sleeping Serpent.

• Lore Card
• The Sleeping Serpent is introduced in a full-color collectible 4x6 inch lore card. The artwork for this month's lore card was created by Joanna Rzepecka, a Warsaw, Poland-based illustrator. She says, "My work is inspired by biodiversity, mainly animals. Through my work, I'm trying to capture moments where nature is untouched by humans. Peaceful scenery, colors, and rough textures are some things that I enjoy the most."

• Amplifying Spell
• The Crows have prepared an amplifier for your powers.  It will help you Dream to the land beneath the Pomegranate Grove.  As you prepare to sleep, don this ring, turning it three times upon your finger.  When you close your eyes, picture a tunnel through the tree roots, through the damp earth, down into the Birdmoss Below where the Sleeping Serpent encircles the very heart of the world.

• Eyes of the Serpent
• As you Dream of her, the Sleeping Serpent Dreams of you.  In her Dream, you arrive in Birdmoss.  In your Dream, she begins to wake.  She stirs and blinks. In Birdmoss, lithops succulents are sometimes called “Serpent Eyes” because they seem to gaze upon you.  These little stone-like plants will watch over the place they’re planted.

• Glazed Bowl
• You receive a bowl crafted from the clay of the earth, then quickened with glaze and fired. Fill it with rocky gravel to approximate the stony passages beneath the Pomegranate Grove. Although the fine rubble seems inhospitable to us, it is comfortable for succulents like lithops.

• Ancient Protections
• In Birdmoss, imagery of a coiled Serpent is evoked to confuse negative energy.  Labyrinthine designs draw in troubled vibrations, funneling them through confusing paths until they reach a pinprick in the center and drain away.  The walls of most homes are hung with ornaments or garlands of medallions embossed with spirals, snakes, and flowers.  They are made using traditional techniques of repoussé (pressing a design into the back side of the material) and chasing (commensurate detail-work on the front side). Sometimes the medallions are worn as a kind of ceremonial armor.

• Sloughing Device
• The old stories say that when the Sleeping Serpent wakes, the world dissolves.  She then sheds her skin and settles into a trance to Dream the world back into existence.  Everything begins and ends in the Pomegranate Grove, so she begins there as well, Dreaming the trees to life.  Gently massage your own tight, dry skin with this brush to slough away old habits and attitudes which no longer serve you.  Your senses will be heightened.
  

• Serpent Talisman
  
  • You may wonder: is the Sleeping Serpent merely a story, a myth? Or was that myth inspired by something real? In your world, fables are often rooted in historic events. In Birdmoss, the reverse can be true, as physical reality can be spun out of Dreams. Here is a reliquary holding a small portion of the Sleeping Serpent’s shed, which marks both the end and the beginning. Wear this talisman to strengthen your own intuitive powers, allowing you to see the potential beginnings in every conclusion.

Photo props are not included.