PRIOR CHAPTER

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Sacred Dance 

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all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD

with shouting, and with sound of the horn, with trumpets,

with loud-sounding cymbals, with harps and lyres. 

It happened when the ark of the covenant of the LORD

came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul

looked out of the window and saw

- 1 Chronicles 15:28 & 15:29

 

A huge bull-man with a fire inside him

- Dr. Frank Tifus

The Phoenicians and The Mayan

 

my heart

I’m on fire

- Twenty One Pilots

Tear In My Heart

 

During the erotic dance ritual,

the priestess would actually

become the Goddess

in all Her glory.

According to the ancient texts,

during the erotic dance ritual

the priestesses would achieve visionary orgasm

in which

great truths were revealed.

- https://www.teenwitch.com/MAGIC/EROTDANC.HTM

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     The assembled throng of gnomes again began to hum a droning dirge as the sacred drums continued their relentless rhythm.  The blue priestess danced ever more fervently before the golden cauldron.  Eight strong gnome priests shared its weight between them on two long staves borne upon their shoulders, their skin coated in a blue paste in the same manner as the priestess.  Louis was puzzled by the blue paste.  What is its purpose? A metallic ringing sounded from the cauldron as a gnome priest struck the cauldron’s lid with an oversized mallet.   

     TAAANNNGGG!

     A cloud of smoke puffed up from a circular opening in the center of the lid, followed by a swarm of angry, glowing embers.  A younger Louis would have smirked in disbelief at the thought of djinn or as they are known to Europeans and their cultural descendants, genies.  But when the smoke writhed as if alive and then settled like a mist, enveloping the Ark, its bearers, and all in its proximity wholly in its incense, Louis merely smiled wistful with wisdom derived from direct experience.  Tendrils of the heavenly scent tickled Louis’ olfactory sense, triggering memories of a moment long past.  He remembered that sweet stench.  He would always remember.  Always.  How could he forget her?  His mind began to drift sideways.

 

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reality twisted...

- A.E. Von Vogt

Earth Factor

 

I arrived back in the present

and, in image and reality,

I became 

- Simon Buxton

The Shamanic Way of the Bee

 

a serpent climbing and twisting

through the branches of a tree.

Her body swaying

- Simon Buxton

The Shamanic Way of the Bee

 

like a flame in a slow dance, baby

You’re driving me crazy

Come on, little honey

Come on now

 

Fire

Smoke, she is a rising fire, yeah

Smoke on the horizon

- The Cult

Fire Woman

 

Now, the flames are burning.

Now, something is happening.

 - The Very Best

Warm Heart of Africa

 

My heart’s aflame

- TV on the Radio

Wolf Like Me

 

a drum keeping time

- Beck

Heart is a Drum

 

The beating of a million drums

- Justice

Civilization

 

boom, boom, boom

- Peter Gabriel

Solsbury Hill

 

Boom boom boom,

boom boom boom

- X Ambassadors

Boom

A Fugue is a composition founded upon one subject,

announced at first in one part alone,

and subsequently imitated by all the other parts in turn,

according to certain general principles to be hereafter explained. 

The name is derived from the Latin word fuga, a flight

- www.etymonline.com/?search=fugue

 

Whenever the cloud lifted and moved,

the people of Israel journeyed onward, following it. 

But if the cloud stayed, they stayed until it moved. 

The cloud rested upon the Tabernacle during the daytime,

and at night there was fire in the cloud

so that all the people of Israel could see it.

This continued throughout all their journeys.

- The Living Bible

The end of Exodus

 

The historical basis of this account is doubtless

found in the frequently mentioned custom

of carrying fire before an army on the march,

so that the route might be indicated by day

by the rising smoke and after nightfall by the light. 

When Alexander was marching through Babylonia and Susiana

he gave the signal for his army to set out, not by trumpet,

but by means of a long pole fastened above the chief tent,

 on which a fire burned by night,

and from which smoke rose by day (Curtius, v. 2. 7). 

Thrasybulus, leading home banished men through untrodden regions,

was preceded at night by a fire

(compare Clement of Alexandria, "Stromata," ed. Colon, i. 348). 

In Arabia to-day iron vessels filled with burning wood

are carried on long poles at the heads of caravans

(compare Harmer, "Beobachtungen," i. 348; Pococke, in "Morgenland," ii. 51). 

Since Yhwh is Israel's leader, and clouds and fire signify His presence

(Ex. Iii. 2, xix. 9), smoke and fire are transformed

into cloud and firelight.

- Jewish Encyclopedia 1906

 

After humans had learned to respect fire's destructive nature

and to enjoy the benefits of harnessing its power,

but before they had learned how to create fire,

they were forced to find a means

to transport the fire as they travelled. 

Humans at this stage were nomadic or semi-nomadic,

and fire had to be transported during tribal/family migrations. 

Fire, of course, also had to be transported back

to the temporary hearth from the site of its harvesting,

from a wildfire caused by a lightning strike

or from a nearby volcano. 

At first, sticks or crude torches were used,

but the persons tasked with the sacred duty

quickly realized the need for a environment-resistant container.   

Animal and human skulls caked in earth

evolved into pottery and the first primitive metal cauldrons. 

The technological prowess required to create these artifacts,

combined with their multi-purpose functionality,

resulted in these items becoming

the tribe's most treasured possession. 

Within it, they carried their god,

the bringer of life and death,

the son of the sun.  

- Professor Thomas Mal’Akh’I

Private interview with W. H. Kidder 5/5/2005

 

Parfitt, 63, is a professor at the University of London's prestigious school

of Oriental and African Studies.  His new book, The Lost Ark of the Covenant:

Solving the 2,500 Year Mystery of the Fabled Biblical Ark (HarperOne)

along with a History Channel special scheduled for March 2

would appear to risk a fine academic reputation

on what might be called a shaggy Ark story.

But the professor has been right before,

and his Ark fixation stems from his greatest coup. 

In the 1980s Parfitt lived with a Southern African clan

called the Lemba,

who claimed to be a lost tribe of Israel. 

Colleagues laughed at him for backing the claim;

in 1999, a genetic marker specific

to descendents of Judaism's Temple priests (cohens)

was found to appear as frequently among the Lemba's priestly caste

as in Jews named Cohen. 

The Lemba – and Parfitt – made global news. 

Parfitt started wondering about another aspect

of the Lemba's now-credible oral history:

a drumlike obgect called the ngoma lungundu

The ngoma, according to the Lemba, was near-divine,

used to store ritual objects, and borne on poles inserted into rings. 

It was too holy to touch the ground

or be touched by non-priests,

and it emitted a "fire of God"

that killed enemies and, occasionally, Lemba.

- David Van Biema

www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1715337,00.html

 

Gonna need a spark to ignite

- Fallout Boy

My Songs Know What You Did In the Dark

 

the fuse

You think it’s fictional?

Mystical?  Maybe.

Spiritual

Hero who appears in you

 

like a phoenix

- Fallout Boy

The Phoenix

 

aflame

- TV on the Radio

Wolf Like Me

 

whose wings beat

- Blue Oyster Cult

The Old Gods Return

 

with everyone

Going beat, beat, beat,

- Beck

Heart is a Drum

 

boom, boom, boom

- Peter Gabriel

Solsbury Hill

 

The beating of a million drums

The fire

- Justice

Civiliziation

 

that burns in the all-seeing eye…

- Justice

Civilization

 

The mother of a million sons

- Justice

Civilization

 

a hundred million golden sparks

- Simon Buxton

The Shamanic Way of the Bee

 

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The smoke danced in the air around him like angels dancing to ethereal music. Louis couldn’t help but dance along. The gnome priests shifted in and out of the smokey tendrils, twirling and spinning through the swirling mist. Their movements were hazily familiar, and Louis struggled to remember where he had seen them. Then he did. This was the scene depicted in the rock art Apa Apa had shown him. Louis wished he had understood more of what the elder had tried to teach him.  The gnome had struggled desperately to educate him, but the language barrier had prohibited the transmission of any detailed information.  Basic words, symbols, pantomime and the resultant need for mental acuity had led to some intriguing hints.  Now, in Louis’ imagination, those hints were seeds planted in his mind that had sprouted, grown, and now had begun to bear fruit not like that produced by the real burning bush.  Science and magic embraced in his mind, coquettishly, hiding their tryst lest either be accused of betraying their own nature. 

 

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Now, something is happening.

- The Very Best

Warm Heart of Africa

 

This must be a strange deception

By celestial intervention

Leavin’ me the recollection

Of your heavenly 

- Eurythmics (& Stevie Wonder)

There must be an angel

 

name,

Miss Honey 

let's go

up in flames 

- Missio 

Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea

 

We realize it was a prophecy

Yeah the old gods laugh, it amuses them

The old gods laugh

- Blue Oyster Cult

The Old Gods Return

 

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