Atra Hora
Témenos
1. The Mistake of Creation
We came from somebody's mind
We're the crown of creation, his Magnum Opus
We’ve forgotten his name – Deus Otiosus
Making up new ones from time to time
Of chaos he created this world
We keep its seed inside
Restoring the primordial order
We sow it around
We worship the heaven’s luminaries
The forces of nature, our defeated brethren
We, the children of gods
In our veins runs their blood
In the endless existential dance
Our paths diverge, it seems evermore
Time leaves its marks on us
Decorating each one with his flaw
Epoch will pass
We’ll become stronger!
Epochs will pass, we’ll become smarter
We’ll master our brand new tools
To overcome the distance between us
To become the Masters of the Universe
"Hunting [...] should be used
not only against wild beasts
but also against those humans
who are naturally suited to be ruled
but unwilling to be,
on the supposition that this sort of warfare
is by nature just." Aristotle, Politics.
We’ll rush towards each other
Through mountains and oceans we'll break
Reveling in our power
We’ll fix the Creators mistake
Drinking blood and destroying worlds
We aren't driven with desire to kill
We’re creating a New Order
According to our will
2. The Source
Awake!
God came to me in my dream
He told
How wicked people became
Heed!
He'll wipe them all from the face of Earth
But we shall survive...
Since we are righteous among them
We haven't invited the wrath of God
The whole world soon will be covered with flood
We should build an ark!
He assigned mission to both of us
We must re-create the human race
When the Deed is done, when the Flood is gone...
Pyrrha! It's the end of the Bronze Age!
Our roots go deep into the past
Not into the Moist Mother Earth
God of the living, not of the dead
Thou walkedst among us as a mortal man
Innocently slaughtered, then returned
We all must appear before thy court
The Greatest man and a son of God
Thy virtues will always inspire us
Thy kingdom come and Thy will be done
I exalt Thee... Osiris
Our roots go deep into the past
Not into the Moist Mother Earth
In the chain of deaths and births
We're neither last nor first
There's a source of High Wisdom ahead
Easily accessible to everyone who needs it
You've got a choice: to block the path,
To assign it, to drain it or pollute it with feces
Hypocrites!
Sharing shrines with enemies
Steeped in self-deception
War will last
Until you find power
To confess your misconception
3. Dedication to Mnemosyne
The world has changed
The time of honor and pride
Was left behind
We have forgotten
Our heroic past
Our ancestors were
The guardians of their land
And we must
Be worthy of it,
Be worthy of their meritorious deeds,
But we can only satisfy,
Satisfy, satisfy, satisfy our needs!
Defeating the enemy
They drove him homeward
The deed must be
Completed
He who lives by the sword,
Dies by the sword!
Ceterum censeo
Carthaginem delendam esse!
Unto enemy women –
To be murdered or raped
Unto their children –
To be enslaved
Those who'd been here before us
Truly believed in their God (or Gods)
They had an unwavering faith
We must punish apostates
For their souls to be saved
Death for beliefs
Is a supreme grace
No matter if it's yours
Or any other living being's
To sit on throne
Is a privilege of a chosen one
This power is from God
Serving people
And ruling them
At the same time
The authority inflames
Passions and minds
It is inherited from your father
If you’re his blue-eyed boy
Or by slaying your brothers
Also pretending to the throne
4. Orison
We’ve always been looking for knowledge
And the price was too high
The world around
Was beautiful yet dangerous
Nature’s poisoned gifts,
Fangs of wild beasts,
The lifetime isn’t enough
To stop feeling like a stranger
The best of us know that they know nothing
Does the way have its end?
Science is never enough,
Myth is always a fairytale
To learn from others’ mistakes
Is a first rule to stay alive
Otherwise you have a chance
To become an example for smarter ones
We don't keep memory of those
Who sacrificed their lives at the altar of cognition
But they should have done it
Their mission justifies their death
God forbid that we should repeat their fate
Someone has to die for others to live
And everything we know is a gift
Unintentionally presented by them
Should we feel sorry for those whom we use?
How else can we learn to treat diseases?
We did not want but we had to choose
Their destiny and you should believe us
The area of the unknown increases
The more we know
The circle is closed
We had recognized it long ago
Young Man!
A torch in thy hand went out
I understand:
This means my time has come
We’ve always been
Paying for knowledge with lives...
Receive this sacrifice
And open my eyes at last
5. The Negative Confession
Judges:
So let it be done!
We are ready to listen.
Remind you, mortal, entering this hall
You're obliged to tell the truth.
Be careful. We won't tolerate lies!
Defendant:
Hail, Usekh-nemmt,
Who comest forth from Anu,
I have not committed sin.
Hail, Hept'khet,
Who comest forth from Khcr-aha,
I have not committed robbery with violence.
Hail, Fenti,
Who comest forth from Khemenu,
I have not stolen.
Hail, Am-khaibit,
Who comest forth from Qemet,
I have not slain men and women.
Judges:
The blood of thousands is on your hands
There is no war without death,
Did not you know?
And what about the one you had slain
To get power and the throne?
Defendant:
By the interests of my land I was guided,
Not by my own
And weren't that you
Who appointed me as king
To do your will on Earth?
And for heaven's sake,
How can I be judged
By the court of the mortals?
Judges:
Enough! The court is the same for everyone
Your iniquities challenge to gods
Feeling the stench of your crimes
Apophis is already waking up
Tremble before his abysmal eyes
You'll be swallowed by his horrible maw
Prepare to meet what is worse than death
Do you feel his breath...so cold?
The law is above everything
No matter who you are
Get ready to pay for your sins
Before the face of Gods
Choir:
The darkest hour is passing
The sun will rise from the Great River
The blue lotus flowers are closing
Nothing has ever happened here
Defendant:
What kind of place is it, full of suffering?
I don't remember myself...why am I here?
The net of fear entangles me...
I had a brother, I don't remember his name...
Oh, these eyes... glowing in different colors
Why do they look in different directions?
Some creepy shadows are surrounding
Don't let them touch me!..
6. Forgotten God's Sanctuary
Delphic Paean by Athenaios Athenaiou
1. Κέκλυθ᾽ Ἑλικῶνα βαθύδενδρον αἳ λάχετε, Διὸς ἐριβρόμου θύγατρες εὐώλενοι, μόλετε, συνόμαιμον ἵνα Φοῖβονὠιδαῖσι μέλψητε χρυσεοκόμαν, ὃς ἀνὰ δικόρυμβα Παρνασσίδος τᾶσδε πετέρας ἕδραν’ ἅμ’ ἀγακλυταῖς Δελφίσιν Κασταλίδος εὐΰδρου νάματ’ ἐπινίσεται, Δελφὸν ἀνὰ πρῶνα μαντεῖον ἐφέπων πάγον.
2. ἢν κλυτὰ μεγαλόπολις Ἀθθὶς, εὐχαῖσι φερόπλοιο ναίουσα Τριτωνίδος δάπεδον ἄθραυστον· ἁγίοις δὲ βωμοῖσιν Ἅφαῖστος αἴθει νέων μῆρα ταύρων· ὁμοῦ δέ νιν Ἄραψ ἀτμὸς ἐς Ὄλυμπον ἀνακίδναται· λιγὺ δὲ λωτὸς βρέμων αἰόλοις μ̣έλεσιν ὠιδαὰν κρέκει· χρυσέα δ’ ἀδύθρους κίθαρις ὕμνοισιν ἀναμέλπεται.
3. ὁ δὲ τεχνιτῶν πρόπας ἐσμὸς Ἀθθίδα λαχὼν ἀγλαίζει κλυτὸν παῖδα μεγάλου Διὸς, σοὶ γὰρ ἔπορ’ ἀκρονιφῆ τόνδε πάγον, ἄμβροτ’ ἀψευδέ’οὗ πᾶσι θνατοῖς προφαίνεις λόγια, τρίποδα μαντεῖον ὡς εἴλες, ὃν μέγας ἐφρούρει δράκων, ὅτε τέκος Γᾶς ἀπέστησας αἰόλον ἑλικτὰν φυάν, ἔσθ’ ὁ θὴρ πυκνὰ συρίγμαθ’ ἱεὶς ἀθώπευτ’ ἀπέπνευσ’ ὁμῶς· ὡς δὲ Γαλατᾶν ἄρης βάρβαρος, τάνδ᾽ ὃς επὶ γαῖαν ἐπέρασ’ ἀσέπτως χιόνος ὤλεθ᾽ ὑγραῖς χοαῖς.
7. Herostratus Affair
In those ancient times
The forest was our house
We were looking for a night shelter
Under tree crowns
In gurgling brooks and in rustling leaves
We heard the voice of nymphs
We were looking for signs in the flight of birds
And felt equal to wild beasts
In dwellings made with our hands
And under artificial light
Supernatural seems like our make-believe
But we still are afraid of night
With fire we come
Dispelling darkness it sears
Our deepest fears
It illuminates our path
It purifies and wipes away
For enemies nothing remains
Where we had been
Therefore with fire we leave
He that killeth an ox
Is as if he slew a man
Well, no, upon every beast of the Earth
Shall be the fear of you and the dread
Go ye into all the world
And spread the good word
About Father’s mercy to His beloved sons
What a delight! God is with us!
I stand still
In the centre of the cycle of time
Centuries
Are passing me by
I saw cities growing
And been destroyed
Empires been created
And thrown into void
I stand still
Aghast with what I see
Surrounded with hell-fire of the Siberian taiga
My lungs arc bounded with soot
It’s hard and painful to see
The burning trees,
Nests, horns, hair and hooves
The wind raises ashes
And fills my mouth
Covers my head
The haze covers my mind...
The dust of my children burned alive!
You’ve paid the highest price...
8. Temenos
Dissolve completely into Darkness,
Which is thick and dense
Sweep over the bends of rivers
Over centuries-old boundless groves
The Stone keeps the Primordial light
From the Worlds very first days
Bestowed upon us from above
Hidden from view, unfathomable
Carved by the wind in the rock
Where no mortal has entered
The temple shows a sacred unity
Of alive and inanimate
A groundwater source
Clears with its single drop
That whose thoughts are pure
The sea is not enough for the rest of you
And ways will be scary
A silver cord will break
The temple of immortals is open
For the one who knows himself
The words of the wise are like nails
The sacred flame
Does not grant eternity
But shows the way
A temple with no god,
A body with no soul
Oblivion as a symbol
Abyss to fall into...
Spewing dots of blood
Drunken from deep wounds
Rush away from here;
I just got everything 1 ever needed
There is nothing new below the sun
In the Dark Air's spawning
We can neither bring with us
Nor take anything away
Waters of forgetfulness bring you
Not only to timeless silence;
To Resurrection you're also
Leaden by dying
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