m y t h c o n c e p t i o n

The SMARAGD logotype

“DIGITAL JESUS”

“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us....”

“THE APOTHEOSIS OF WILLIAM HARVEY”

In the time of shattered myths
Bits scoured invisible skyways
Sound and image, application

In the time of fallen gods
Information overload
Screaming handshake in the head

Barriers tumbled, cultures mixed
Formed a perfect united sludge
Which we praised as an improvement

(instr)

Knowledge becomes certain
Discard mystical nonsense
We only need the proven

Nonsense is of no use
Discredit childish tales
Only facts are useful

Gods and illusions fell slain
Along with metaphors

Science proves them false

(instrumental break)

In the time of shattered myths
Science declared final victory
In the war against the mystics

“STIGMA”

In brightly lit streets full of crackling drone
One flesh among the robots, Krist walked alone
Among solemn and knowing minds of hardened steel
Among people of clear logic, an inferior who could feel

Forbidden books of nonsense which had long been proven false
Alone in the feeling that there was something else
Beyond the cold hard facts, beyond the world of mind
Tales no longer told, truths we’d left behind

“They would crucify me if they knew the things I feel.” (doubled, lower voice)
So he kept the knowledge buried, to the Knowers he would kneel
Playing the required role, he wore a face of steel
Knew better than to speak of gods, or demonstrate that he could feel

In brightly lit streets full of crackling drone
One flesh among the robots,
Krist walked alone.

“PALINGENSIA”

Well the sun is rising
It breaks the night
While the stars are swallowed
By the morning light
They fade away
Yeah, they're fading away

Dewdrops trickle
Toward the windowsill
A single bird breaks
The heavy still
Of the dawn
The darkest night is gone

The darkness lingers in my soul
Balanced by the light
Making me whole
In shades of grey
It's all shades of grey

The balance is achieved and I am freed
From the prison cell of excessive need
And I am awake
And I am alive

(instrumental)

I remain unmoved by desire or fear
The Sacred Place is always here
Inside of me
Centered in me

I live in the present
Today and now
Released from the past
To myself I vow
To escape the cycle

Ooh, palingensia

“SARAH IN THE GARDEN”

In the orchard he saw her walking alone
Dark-haired, grey-eyed and mysterious
She reached up among the leafy green branches
She plucked a ripe red apple and polished it on her thigh.

Her eyes met his and he turned to stone
Consumed by and afraid of her power
“Take a bite,” said Krist, “taste the fruit.”
But Sarah shook just her head, she smiled, and held the fruit out to him.

One bite—and he was hers
One bite—and she was his
One bite—and he was hers
One bite—and he swam in the sea of passion

Together they walked though the garden each day
But soon the air turned chill and the leaves turned crisp and brown
He struggled to tell her of his illogical faith
But she furrowed her brow and looked at him strangely

“The nail that sticks up gets pounded down,” she warned,
“You’re a strange man, but I’m sure you’ll outgrow this.”
He asked, “Can’t you see truth is independent of fact?”
But Knower Sarah assured him that there is no difference.

One bite—and he was frustrated
One bite—and she was confused
In a world where all passion was pantomime
He alone lived it out

And there’s nothing—nothing he’ll forget about
And there’s nothing—nothing she’ll forget about
And there’s nothing—nothing he’ll forget about
And there’s nothing—nothing she’ll forget about

And there’s nothing—nothing you forget about
And there’s nothing—nothing you forget about
And there’s nothing—nothing you forget about
And there’s nothing—nothing you forget about

“THE DECISION”

“a. The Frustration of Krist”

( instrumental, seguing to...)

“b. Blasphemy”

I alone can bring fire from the mountain
I alone can carry fire back across the threshold
I alone remember the value of mystery and myth
I alone can put fire back into their hearts

And I must not do it for myself—
I must do it for them—
And for her.

“COYOTE—BRINGER OF FIRE”

Krist left her in bed at four minutes past midnight
And he walked long hours under the stars and moon
Until the sky glowed with finger-traces of misty pink dawn
And the streets began to bustle with morning traffic

He caught a pair of passers by,
“Please, let me tell you something I’ve heard.”
They paused and turned, confused and puzzled
Then they just stood cold and rigid as he spoke:

“In ancient times man had no warmth in the winter
Coyote felt compassion for their cold starvation
So Coyote sneaked up the mountain
Where the Fire Beings guarded a flame

“Coyote snatched a glowing ember in his mouth
And raced down the mountainside, Fire Beings screaming behind him
But they touched only the tip of his tail, turning it white
So Coyote put the fire safely into wood and told men the secret to getting it out.”

The two stranger shook their heads,
“You’re out of your mind,” one cautioned Krist sternly.
“The tail of a coyote is white by genetics,
And the lies you tell will only bring you trouble.”

Krist stood defeated as the strangers left
He shook his head in regret that they hadn’t understood
Then he turned and spoke to the next two strangers he saw,
“Please, let me tell you something I’ve heard....”

“THE LONG DAY OF GAMAYUN”

Idun’s basket of golden apples
Siddhartha beneath the Bodhi tree
Percival and the elusive grail
Essaugatuh Emmissee, master of breath

The sun rose higher
And Krist was on fire
Strangers came and went,
All blank stares and warnings

Tristan and Isolde in a lovers’ cave
Tiamat and Marduk locked in battle
Peredur and his little dog
The dismembered body of Osiris

(instr)

The sun sank down
And the sky grew dim
Strangers came and went,
All blank stares and warnings

Lovely Aila, maiden of Northland
Mother Snake Dreamtime walkabout
Beautiful blue-skinned lover Krishna
Persephone imprisoned in the underworld

The last trace of daylight
Faded to velvet night
Secure in certain knowledge
They remained untouched by fire

“ARREST”

He returned to her in bed at four minutes past midnight
Slipped under the covers and touched her soft shoulder
Felt her chest rise and fall as she soundly slept
He held her close, yet felt so alone

A crash at the door jolted them both from sleep
The scuffle of boots down the hall
“They’ve come for me,” he whispered as she threw on a robe
And the Knowers burst in, guns in hand

They jerked him to his feet, spun him around
Bound his hands in electrarrest bands
“For heresy against knowledge and treason against fact,
You are under arrest.”

“I love you, you fool!” Sarah groaned through her tears
“But how could you be so stupid?”
He strained to kiss her goodbye as they dragged him away
Sarah screamed his name and fell down sobbing

(lamenting instrumental)

“CRUCIFIXION IN THE GARDEN”

(Very short sample of my demo of the music for this is here.)

There is no trial for those with great vision
And the guts to try to explain
There is no trial for bleeding hearts and artists
Who use stories to sort out our pain

The Knowers brought Krist to the garden
To the foot of a tall steel cross
They bound up his feet and unbound his hands
And stuffed his mouth full of moss

Against the steel cross they lifted Krist up
Pulled his arms out and stretched them wide.
They impaled both his wrists with electrified bolts
As he screamed and then slumped and just cried

For nine days and nine nights he hung on the cross
His will to live slipping away
While Sarah hid locked in her apartment
Afraid to visit him by day

She stole out each night and wept at his feet
Glancing sideways for fear the she might be seen
But on the ninth day at four minutes past noon
She thought, “How weak I have been!”

She walked out the door in the broad light of day
And walked through the street, turning heads
Arrived at the garden as Knowers whispered and stared
Then she looked up and saw Krist was dead

Sarah dropped to her knees and sobbed and wailed
Until she felt cold, empty and dry
Then she turned her eyes up to the body of Krist
And realized he had chosen to die

With a rustle of branches and a soft bump
An apple fell down in the night.
Sarah picked it up and contemplated it carefully,
Polished it on her thigh—
And took a bite.

“MYTHOGENESIS”

“...And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.”