A Small Structural Change for The Living Dark
Dear Living Dark readers,
For the past while, I’ve kept this newsletter entirely free while more recently experimenting with external donation options through Stripe and PayPal for those who have asked for this option. Now I’ve realized that it’s cleaner and more coherent simply to use Substack’s built-in subscription system to help with some of this. So I’m reactivating paid subscriptions.
Nothing is being taken away. All new posts will remain free to read, along with the large majority of the archive. But paid subscribers will now:
Gain access to the complete Living Dark archive, including posts in the “Selected Essays” section.
Receive occasional “Living Dark Reader” PDFs, curated for slow, reflective offline reading. This is a brand new feature that I’m currently developing and will say more about soon.
Support independent writing at the crossroads of creativity and awakening.
I also realized it was slightly absurd to leave a body of past paid writing (those Selected Essays) essentially sealed away in amber where only a group of former paid subscribers could see it. Making the archive whole again by offering a way for newly interested readers to access those essays simply makes sense.
If you’ve ever wanted to support this work in a sustained way, this is now the simplest way to do it. One-time support options will also remain available. And if you prefer to remain a free subscriber, nothing changes. The Living Dark remains open.
In whatever form feels natural to you, thank you for continuing to read, write, and live into the dark with me.
Warm regards,
Since 2025, all new writing at The Living Dark is free to read.
If you find value here, a paid subscription or one-time donation helps sustain the work.
Thank you for reading.
Published in December:
“[An] intimate journey into the mystery of creativity and spirit… Cardin weaves practical methods, personal stories, literary references, and mystical insights into a lyrical meditation on what it means to create from the depths of the soul… both deeply personal and universally resonant.”
— BookLife review (Publishers Weekly)“A guide for writers who welcome the dark and hunger for meaning.
— Joanna Penn, author of Writing the Shadow“I can’t think of any [other books] that link the creative act so uniquely or persuasively with spirituality.”
— Victoria Nelson, author of On Writer’s Block and The Secret Life of Puppets“A meditation on the silence and darkness out of which all creative acts emerge....A guide for writers unlike any other.”
— J. F. Martel, author of Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice and co-host of Weird Studies“Important to any writer ready to see through the self illusion and realize the freedom this brings to any creative work.”
— Katrijn van Oudheusden, author of Seeing No Self