Avalon

For June, we'll be jetting off to Italy for a nightmare in translation with 20 Days of Turin by Giorgio De Maria. From Amazon: "Written during the height of the 1970s Italian domestic terror, a cult novel, with distinct echoes of Lovecraft and Borges, makes its English-language debut. In the spare wing of a church-run sanatorium, some zealous youths create "the Library," a space where lonely citizens can read one another’s personal diaries and connect with like-minded souls in "dialogues across the ether." But when their scribblings devolve into the ugliest confessions of the macabre, the Library’s users learn too late that a malicious force has consumed their privacy and their sanity. As the city of Turin suffers a twenty-day "phenomenon of collective psychosis" culminating in nightly massacres that hundreds of witnesses cannot explain, the Library is shut down and erased from history. That is, until a lonely salaryman decides to investigate these mysterious events, which the citizenry of Turin fear to mention. Inevitably drawn into the city’s occult netherworld, he unearths the stuff of modern nightmares: what’s shared can never be unshared. An allegory inspired by the grisly neo-fascist campaigns of its day, The Twenty Days of Turin has enjoyed a fervent cult following in Italy for forty years. Now, in a fretful new age of "lone-wolf" terrorism fueled by social media, we can find uncanny resonances in Giorgio De Maria’s vision of mass fear: a mute, palpitating dread that seeps into every moment of daily existence. With its stunning anticipation of the Internet―and the apocalyptic repercussions of oversharing―this bleak, prescient story is more disturbingly pertinent than ever. Brilliantly translated into English for the first time by Ramon Glazov, The Twenty Days of Turin establishes De Maria’s place among the literary ranks of Italo Calvino and beside classic horror masters such as Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft. Hauntingly imaginative, with visceral prose that chills to the marrow, the novel is an eerily clairvoyant magnum opus, long overdue but ever timely." Please note: this location is not wheelchair accessible. If this is an issue for us, please let us know! We welcome everyone.

Join us for MORE Women's MTB Ride at the Cabin John Trails in Potomac, MD. Beginner-level riders are welcome and encouraged to join in the fun! A mountain bike in good condition and helmet are required. **Sign up at Golden Volunteer here:** [https://x.gldn.io/e/jgkrtQUn21b](https://x.gldn.io/e/jgkrtQUn21b) ***Please do not sign up on Meetup! If you do, you won't be alerted if the ride is cancelled!*** **Meet** at 6:00 PM with wheels down at 6:10 PM. We will not ride if the trails are wet or muddy. Check your email from Golden Volunteer in case the ride is cancelled due to weather/trail conditions. **Description** \- The event is open for women age 18\+\. You must sign a waiver on the Golden Volunteer link\, wear a helmet\, and be able to comfortably ride your mountain bike\. We expect to ride about 4\-5 miles on single track natural surface trails\. Bring your mountain bike\, helmet\, and drinking water\. This ride is **not suitable for hybrid bikes**! As space is limited, please update your RSVP if you cannot attend. **And support your trails and join MORE! www.more-mtb.org** **Where** – Meet at the parking lot for the Cabin John Group Picnic Area at 7701 Tuckerman Lane, Potomac, MD. Follow Google Maps at: https://goo.gl/maps/aumXoQnD2qAp3iNp9

They say put up or shut up in today's world! You asked for it............... you got it! What's up Thursday night?

Winchester ASL group meets for a social dinner every third Thursday from 4:30 to 6:30. Location changes monthly. All are welcome. Everyone who is deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing individuals learning ASL are welcome to join us for fellowship and fun.

Let’s kick things off with Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross! For our first meeting, we’ll be trying out The Square as a gathering spot. I’ll plan to get there a little early to grab a table. Synopsis: *Dear Matilda,* **I wrote.** I let the words flow for her. And when the ink dried, I gave my very heart **to the fire.** Born in the firelit domain of the under realm, Matilda is the youngest goddess of her clan, blessed with humble messenger magic she uses to carry words and letters through the realms. But the gods will kill for power, and Matilda holds a secret she must hide from even her dearest allies. And there is a mortal who dreams of her, though they have never met in the waking world. Ten years ago, Vincent of Beckett wrote to Matilda on the darkest night of his life—begging the goddess he befriended in dreams to help him. His request went unanswered, and Vincent became a hardened, irreverent lord of the river who has long forgotten Matilda . . . until she comes tumbling into his bedroom window with a letter for him. Matilda and Vincent were fated to find each other beyond dreams. But to rewrite the blood-soaked ways of the gods, Matilda will have to face something she fears even more than losing her magic: finally allowing herself to be loved.

This is a support & co-work sesh for anyone doing the scary thing of building something new (a business! substack! a pop-up shop! a website! whatever is your current calling!) on their own that want to connect, support each other, and provide compassionate accountability. This group is especially for folks seeking to imbue more life into this world and create change through their creative endeavours. We'll gather at a coffee shop, introduce ourselves and what we are working on, set small goals on what we need communal support on for the day and get co-working. Given the purpose of the group, we ask that the work you bring is related to the something you are building! We'll then get to chat about how that went for us, and celebrate our little or big progress.

In the aftermath of the Starfinder Society’s last trip to the frozen moon of Luvoth, in *[Starfinder Society Scenario #1-02: Mystery of the Frozen Moon](https://store.paizo.com/starfinder-society-scenario-1-02-mystery-of-the-frozen-moon)*, the lu-venon citizens of Luvoth have been liberated and reunited with friends and family. In the months since, they’ve attempted to reclaim their world and rebuild their crumbling society. To temper the danger of initial explorations, lu-venon leadership decided to reach out to the Starfinder Society, requesting their assistance with exploration efforts. Your first task? Explore a mysterious ice cave overflowing with psychic activity while accompanied by lu-venon researcher and Starfinder ally, Uloa Su-Tae. A Starfinder Society Scenario designed for 1st- through 2nd-level characters, playable in 2-3 hours. Written by Thomas Pugh.

When the wizard Yrdris made a deal with a devil to take possession of an infernal tower spun from shadow in exchange for his eternal soul, he expected to find a way around the contract before his demise. He was wrong. Upon his death, the tower was whisked away to Hell along with everything inside. The problem: there were four beings still within who were, for various reasons, considered the wizard’s property, and thus now Hell’s. However, if they can help find the wizard’s soul, which is somewhere in the tower, they can return home! Things Go to Hell is a short adventure for 7th-level Pathfinder characters where they take on the role of forgotten “property” of a deceased wizard caught up in the red tape of an infernal contract. The four pregenerated characters included in this adventure let you jump right into this single-session adventure!

TICKET LINK: [https://artsclubofwashington.org/events/details/?event_id=6722928](https://artsclubofwashington.org/events/details/?event_id=6722928) TIME: Doors 6:30 PM \| Show: 7:30 PM We invite you to Parlor Varieté: A Burlesque Salon, an evening that examines burlesque as an important American art form with a long, complicated, and interesting history – and provides ample demonstration of it! Performer and burlesque historian Bebe Bardeaux, ranked #19 on the Burlesque Top 50 in 2024, will deliver a brief lecture on the history and culture of burlesque from its beginnings in the 19th century up to today. A full show will follow, featuring some of the most engaging burlesque and variety performers in the DC area. After the show, attendees can participate in a talk-back conversation with Bebe Bardeaux, along with the show’s producers, award-winning performer Delilah Dentata and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey alum Jim Dandy.

When a greedy biotech corporation threatens to destroy a planet’s ecosystems and harm an endangered species, a squad of protectors known as Xenowardens deploys to stop them in Rescue on Raxil! This short adventure for 3rd-level characters puts players in the role of five guardians of nature: Stitchvine RS the mystic, Kahalara the envoy, Takkar the operative, Raluraz the witchwarper, and Xyzexius the solarian! Each character comes with complete pregenerated stats and roleplaying tips for the adventure—and they’ll need to unleash their combined powers to save the planet and the adorable endangered aliens from a sinister corporate scheme!

[Profs and Pints Northern Virginia](https://www.profsandpints.com/washingtondc) presents: **“Dune and Messiahs,”** on word of saviors in religion and science fiction, with Peter Herman, former lecturer in theology and religious studies at Marymount University and scholar of religious and social themes in sci fi. [Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at [https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/northern-virginia-dune-messiahs](https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/northern-virginia-dune-messiahs) .] *Dune: Part Three* is scheduled for release in December, and trailers for the epic space opera film have fans of the *Dune* franchise longing for it like visitors to its desert planet Arrakis long for water. Based on the second volume of renowned science fiction novelist Frank Herbert's *Dune* saga, the movie depicts the internal and external conflicts of protagonist Paul Atreides, an emperor treated by others as a messiah while being depicted as an antihero. The film will raise intriguing questions related to the presence of redeeming figures, or messiahs, throughout both science fiction and religious texts. Among them: What exactly do we mean by the term “messiah”? Why have many religious traditions looked for a redeemer to emerge? What happens if the messiah gets it all wrong? Explore such questions—and prepare yourself to enjoy the upcoming *Dune* film at a much deeper level—with Dr. Peter Herman, who has given several excellent, thought-provoking Profs and Pints talks on the *Dune* franchise. To center *Dune* in the discussion, we’ll look at the character of Paul Atriedes as a ruler who has launched a jihad across known space to reconquer it. His prescient visions show him that although the spread of religious war is not optimal, neither is it the worst potential future for humanity, and he allows excess and violence to continue in his name out of a conviction that it’s for the greater good. Throughout the book on which the upcoming film is based, Atriedes struggles with his followers' desire to view him as a divine figure. Dr. Herman, a trained theologian, will set such themes in the broader context of religious studies by discussing messianic figures across various religious traditions. Among them, Christianity names Jesus of Nazareth as the messiah, but he is hardly the first person in the canonical Bible given that title. Mainstream Judaism does not anticipate any similar, deified figure descending from heaven, but messianic strains of Judaism have looked for the arrival of a political liberator. Islam, from which Frank Herbert borrowed terms applied to Paul Atriedes, contains reference to someone serving not as a redeemer but as a heavenly guide. All branches of Buddhism situate within each new age of their cyclical cosmology a Buddha-yet-to-come. We’ll look at the human tendency in confusing times to seek out direct, uncomplicated answers and to embrace messianism as part of apocalypticism, which foretells a straightforward sorting process in which believers, as good people, see reward while their enemies, as bad people, see punishment. *Dune* fans will feel rewarded for coming to this talk. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.) Image by Canva.

http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/2/a/9/6/600_348310902.jpeg Instructor - Crow, HPS Class fee is $30 at the door or approved exchange RSVP with Advance pay of $25 (discounted) by PayPal on the web or by contacting Enchanted Elements (614) 437-2642. Reservations made directly to Enchanted Elements will be added to the class list manually not online. Private Instruction ~ Closed to the Public ~ Initiated Members Only Please come prepared for ritual. Blessings ~ Crow

This is an in-person meeting. Did you know that unwanted emotions like loneliness, sadness, hopelessness, anger, fear, anxiety, or feelings of irritation don’t just fall on you for no reason. They are not random occurrences that simply happen to people's minds. They are definitely not chemical imbalance in your brain due to some nebulous chemical reactions by chance. Your negative emotions are the symptoms of the painful experiences that you have which are not healed, and which are still affecting you. The effects of these painful experiences are exacerbated by the pressures or difficulties of the other problems in your life. For instance, let's say you are already carrying a huge load on your back, then you cannot take on much more, but, let's say something else happens to you, such as the difficulties from the Pandemic, then the resultant combined weight on you can take you over the edge, kind of like the straw that break the camel's back. When this happens, people's attention usually goes to the straw that was added, but actually the majority of the weight had come from the huge load that were already there, holding a person down and causing a person issues. So how do you remove the huge load that was already there? How do you lighten them up? Is it possible to get rid of them? That is what this meeting will be all about. Come to our Meetup, where we can introduce you to some of the knowledge, tools and techniques of the breakthroughs in the field of the mind that we can apply to this ever important area of life. Be sure to click on the red "Attend" button below to come to this local event. We look forward to seeing you there. This group is created by the Dianetics and Scientology Life Improvement Center of Central Ohio.

Main Library, Meeting Room 2B Join us for a welcoming evening of reflection, gentle music, and meaningful conversation. We’ll begin with a short grounding moment, followed by a brief reading from spiritual or philosophical traditions, and an open reflection circle where participants can share (or simply listen). Libera Animae is an interfaith community focused on inner growth, creativity, and authentic connection. All backgrounds are welcome.