Tag Archives: jack loki

The Green Map

There have been many people who have attempted to use the Green Map to find Ulciajheyld Shain Erin, aka Near Faraway Mountain, only to discover that this map can be a perilous pathfinder. The Second House Cartographers Guild in Outer Tald Busket will adamantly refuse any commission to draw or copy the Green Map. Jack Loki was an apprentice for 13 months at the Outer Tald Busket Guild*, where he gained his Journeyman Certification. He achieved his Mastership in Mapmaking through years of practical experience and independent study. When he felt confident enough in his skills in augury, thaumaturgy, cartography and mythopoeia, Jack made his own Green Map, which led to the grievous occurrence in “The Journey to Near Faraway Mountain”, which was one of the few barely-survivable adventures Jack came to regret.

* His first choice was the Cartography, Mythopoeia and Zymurgy (CMZ) program at Gurrackelleen College, his mother’s college, until almost the last moment, when he decided he did not want to be her legacy.

The Mask of Veles Loki

This mask, representing the ghost of Jack Loki’s ancestral grandfather, is part of a Geranium Lake Properties story that was never published. The mask here is quite different from Veles Loki’s other appearances in GLP, but we know this is him because he was the only character who perceived Jack Loki as some sort of cat, and he was one of two characters who referred to the apertures in the Corsican screen as “wish rings”. Everyone else called them windows, doors, gaps, holes or rifts.

The other character who called them wish rings was Veles Loki’s stepmother, Ereshkigal Hecate. Some people argue that this mask represents her, but I have my doubts. The ghost of Ereshkigal Hecate always seemed quite fond of Jack Loki, but she disliked cats.

Demonizing That Which Does Not Belong

Hello! Long time no see, but here I am, with my first post in an endeavor to put my unsocial media back on track.

I took time off to make a serious effort at sorting out my personal philosophy–just the usual stuff: what’s the meaning of life, why am I here, staring into the abyss, mystified by death, birth and freedom, all that jazz. I ended up with a mindscape that is as messy as it ever was, but I now feel like this blog could be a somewhat new adventure. Although it will probably look very much like the old adventure to you.

So, onward.

Today’s comic appeared in the Official Geranium Lake Properties Calendar for 2022, for the month of March (for no particular reason). It is, of course, a jackalope mask, one of the many masks devised by Jack Loki for his various roles in his harum-scarum escapades. Yost based this image on a pictorial design common to the To-inen-wa clan of Jackalopian historical lore. I am not really clear on how the To-inen-wa (a name that was translated by a scholarly yet presumably fictitious authority as “Other People”) fit into the traditions of the Inultaru. In the GLP universe, the dominant Jackalopian culture is that of the Inultaru, to the point where the name Inultaru is practically synonymous with jackalope. However, the people of the To-inen-wa have (had?) their own nation or tribe of jackalopes.

Also, what about the people of the Second House, known as the Otilem Kejik?

The Masks of Jack Loki

My idea for this year’s Halloween post occurred to me late. I intended to observe the holiday with the last post about the Poe series, yesterday’s Poppy Garden post, and an upcoming marigold-themed panel for the Day of the Dead on November 2nd. The realization that I could make a retrospective of the many masquerades of Jack Loki, professional gallywagger, crackerjack bryologist, and erstwhile protagonist of Geranium Lake Properties, came to me last night. This also gives me a chance to share the above GLP comic, something I meant to do way back in June, for Hood and Mitre Day. Which is a day that gives you the opportunity for the recherché joy of donning your best hood or wimple, putting on your most ornamental mitre, and pretending you are the Pope of the Sacrum Romanum Imperium.

And then for Halloween, you can be the Antipope, and you won’t need to get yourself a new costume.

The Jackalope Mask
Still life with jackalope
The Jackalope’s Smile
Vouchsafe radium unto the lilacs
Jackalope totem
Spoken under the aegis

A Tale of Marginality and Colloidal Suspension




I really did not want to continue the tale of my losses–I wanted a more cheerful note for this post, although it almost had no note at all. I have lost the details about this GLP comic and its three misprints. (Whatever particulars I had in my files disappeared along with my notes on how to play Aggie Drewsticks, a kiGamnch board game that I hope to make part of my upcoming Christmas posts.) However, at some point in 2019, I did create a four-spot poster of these panels, which includes a short description at the bottom of the design. I can quote this much from that description: “In this panel, Yost introduced us to Jack Loki’s maternal great aunt Ottilie Dorothea, a Princess of Eriya and Hulanke, and the Last Margravine of Yukon.”

From the top, the misprints are from these newspapers: New Jersey’s Star Ledger, Australia’s Sun News-Pictorial and Uruguay’s El País.

Metsän Kuninkaat (Kings of the Forest)


There is no limit to the number of godparents for a jackalope child, but at least one of them should be a forestcousin. Jack Loki had four such creatures at his christening, invited by his Finnish grandmother. All were metsän kuninkaat with home territories near the river Kapperijoki in Finland.

For a glimpse of all four kings: Metsän Kuninkaat

Jack Loki’s Map to Gangaftagley


“Are you familiar with the phrase “best laid plans”? Jack asked.

“Yes, of course,” said the cartographer.

“Well, what I would like, really, is a map that would get me directly to Awry, without the fuss and bother of making all those plans.”

Invoking the Name of the Mystery as Elilim and Kochavim

For Catholics, today is All Soul’s Day, overtaken among Mexicans and hip moderns by the traditions of the Day of the Dead. Elilkocha is the name given to this holiday by jackalopes, who honor the day by drinking coffee and consuming brown butter cake made with bourbon or rum, preferably in their favorite diners. If you want to be really traditional, you will add some coconut liqueur to your coffee, which ruins the coffee and tastes nothing like coconut.

Jackalopes are unabashed thieves of culture, and they stole two Hebrew words for their holiday, Elilim, which means “false gods”, and Kochavim, “stars”. I mentioned to comandantechispas that jackalopes have a saying, “All names are the name of God.” They also have another saying, “All gods are false gods.” Jack Loki, the sometimes protagonist of Geranium Lake Properties, explains it like this, “Jackalopes are, by nature and every inclination, atheists, and they consider the various god concepts as metaphors. Metaphors are essentially lies that make facts more poetic, more epic, more mythic. Metaphors make a better story, a good yarn, or a lesson memorable as a parable or fable. If you want to celebrate Elilkocha, use this day to remind yourself not to scorn the good stories and lessons found in the religions of gods you think are false.”

The other half of the Elilkocha honors stars as the creators of all life–of all of everything, actually. Patron saint? Carl Sagan, of course.

PS. Diners are sacred places in America, don’t you think? Also, there is a larger invocation of this work.

© 2017 lcmt

The Procession of Entropy


Autumn heralds the great holiday for jackalopes, the Procession of Entropy, which begins on October 15 and ends on the last day of the year. Jackalopes believe in a few gods despite being atheists, with a very small percentage who are Greek Orthodox. (This small percentage is dedicated to preserving the traditions of jackalope history in the Byzantine Empire.) Of the Jackalopian Gods, Patchy Kettle might be their oddest, but he is also their most amiable god. Ekchuajumudabrutu is their most classical god, a son of Tiamat. Their most revered god is Entropy, and the major holidays for Entropy conveniently occur during the holiday season that includes Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, which are also celebrated by jackalopes. (Since jackalopes are largely athiests, they seize every opportunity to celebrate other cultures. Jackalopes firmly believe in holidays.)

Here you can find a few manifestations of Jack Loki in the panels of GLP.

Silver Lupin Collab


Silver Lupin Prayer, v.2

When my sisters and brother visit the family homestead, one of our favorite walks is Oso Flaco Lake. The walk has three parts: the lagoon, the dunes, the beach. The dunes are covered with a scrubby habitat all the way to the beach. You walk through a landscape densely packed with an array of textures that is fascinating even when the plants are not in bloom.


Silver Lupin Prayer, v. 1

The silver lupin was in bloom this past weekend, the perfect embodiment of its name, with pale flowers and gray green foliage. When they die, the plants leave behind intricate mounds of twisted branches, in every shade of silver and gray. My sister, Nancy Tarczynski, took some photographs of the silver lupin corpses:


She knew I would want to use this amazing source of pattern and line in my work.


Jack Loki Meets the Friendly Neighborhood Haruspices

© 2017 lcmt

Treasure Map, Not a Peony

glp546
© 2016 Lin Tarczynski

This GLP panel is rather plain, so I have included one of my designs for a poster to jazz up today’s offering. This design is called “Not a Peony” and it is a straightforward example of how I use the work that goes into Geranium Lake Properties for other projects. And vice versa.

notpeony