1. |
Dread Grove
03:53
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DREAD GROVE
There stood a grove
Which, from the earliest time no hand of man
Had dared to violate; hidden from the sun1
Its chill recesses; matted boughs entwined
Prisoned the air within. No sylvan nymphs
Here found a home, nor Pan, but savage rites
And barbarous worship, altars horrible
On massive stones upreared; sacred with blood
Of men was every tree. If faith be given
To ancient myth, no fowl has ever dared
To rest upon those branches, and no beast
Has made his lair beneath: no tempest falls,
Nor lightnings flash upon it from the cloud.
Stagnant the air, unmoving, yet the leaves
Filled with mysterious trembling; dripped the streams
From coal-black fountains; effigies of gods
Crude, scarcely fashioned from some fallen trunk
Held the mid space: and, pallid with decay,
Their rotting shapes struck terror. Thus do men
Dread most the god unknown. 'Twas said that caves
Rumbled with earthquakes, that the prostrate yew
Rose up again; that fiery tongues of flame
Gleamed in the forest depths, yet were the trees
Unkindled; and that snakes in frequent folds
Were coiled around the trunks. Men flee the spot
Nor dare to worship near: and e'en the priest
Or when bright Phoebus holds the height, or when
Dark night controls the heavens, in anxious dread
Draws near the grove and fears to find its lord.
Lucan, Pharsalia. Book 3, 399.
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2. |
Virgo Infernus
05:11
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VIRGO INFERNUS
Ride, ride, Prince of the Plain
Hearken to your ancient name
Rise, rise, Lord of the Pines
In viridian flame
Hail to the Deathless God
Howling, savage, lightning-shod
I seek to drink your verdant blood
I seek both blessing and bane
I invoke the Gods of Old
And all the Spirits of the Grove
Green is my heart, green are bones
I am the blight on the grain
Ride, ride, Horned One
May shadows bind the hateful Sun
Rise, rise, venomous vine
Drink from my Stygian Veins
I am the Witch, the Nymph, the Maid
I exalt the Woodland Shade
Roots to bones, grove to grave
I am a Daughter of Cain
Moon-wise ‘round the Spirit Tree
Propitious, come! Speak to me
Infernal One, I conjure thee
To this temple, most profane
I invoke the Gods of Old
And all the Spirits of the Grove
Green is my heart, green are bones
I am the blight on the grain
I am the Witch, the Nymph, the Maid
I exalt the Woodland Shade
Roots to bones, grove to grave
I am a Daughter of Cain
Whoever among men has seen these Mysteries is blessed,
But whoever is uninitiated and has not received his share of the Rite
He shall not have the same lot as the others
Once he is dead and dwells in the mold where the Sun goes down
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3. |
Taxus Baccata
07:43
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TAXUS BACCATA
Roots that bind the pallid bones
Leaves that kiss the dreamless head
Old Yew, who shades the ancient stones
That name the Mighty Dead
Infernal boughs, ignite my spirit
Astral fire, open the graves
I burn through the Outer Limits
Beneath the Yew tree’s shade
I call the Devil in the Tree
Father, come! I pray thee!
In the name of the Cursing Moon
Open wide the tomb!
Sing, sing, sing, sing
I sing to the seed in the chalice
Ring, ring, ring, ring
Red bells of Death and malice
Devouring the restless damned
You feast on poisonous flesh
From Immemorial Darkness
You guard the South and the West
I call the Devil in the Tree
Satan, fix your eye on me!
I conjure by the Dismal Moon
A thousand years of gloom
Crowned with Terrors of the Pit
With serpents at my beckoning
I enact the foul desires of She who demands reckoning
Slithering between the roots
Upon the Tree of Suffering
My wicked tongue seeks the blood
That she has bled in offering
Volt by volt
The witch’s song curses the False King
Volt by volt
The vermin shall be crushed between my wings
The ire of her vitriol
Draws me from the Dark
To impart my blessing:
May her hatred meet its mark!
I call the Devil in the Tree
Father, come! I pray thee!
In the name of the Cursing Moon
Open wide the tomb!
Shelter me within your Grove
Witch and Devil - we are One
Funeral vapours rise and move
Awakened by the setting Sun
I call the Devil in the Tree
Satan, fix your eye on me!
I conjure by the Dismal Moon
A thousand years of gloom
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4. |
Hex Shrine
09:49
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HEX SHRINE
We are many, and you are nothing
By tooth and by claw I will see your eyes opened
We are many, and you are nothing
In this place of Time beyond Time
I journey to the Hexing Shrine
I offer my blood; Stygian Wine
Poured out for the Nameless Gods
A ring of serpents around my head
I cast this curse of Endless Dread
Carried by the Furious Dead
And my Masters’ Shadow
A noxious noose in my left hand
Between the ancient yews I stand
Upon his soul I sear a brand
Of Darkness, Hatred and Death
Children of Eternal Night
Arise! In hateful, baneful flight
Furies! Cast your spectral blight
Upon the fool who has crossed me
Black Miasma, Erinyes
I summon thee:
One! Two! And three!
Tisiphone! Destroy him
Megaera! Claim him
Alecto! Un-name him
We are many, and you are nothing
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5. |
Icantare
05:11
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INCANTARE
Come, Selene! Shine clear and fair
For softly, Goddess, to thee will I sing
Maiden-bearer of the mystic vessel
My magic wheel, draw home to me the man I love
And to Hekate of Hell
The very whelps shiver before her
As she fares through black blood
And across the barrows of the dead
She moves through blood and darkness
My magic wheel, draw home to me the man I love
Hail, awful Hekate
To the end be thou of our company
And make this venomous draught of mine
No weaker than the spells of Circe or Medea,
Or of Perimede of the golden hair
My magic wheel, draw home to me the man I love
As whirs this brazen wheel,
So restless under Aphrodites spell
May he turn and turn out my doors
My magic wheel, draw home to me the man I love
Now will I burn the husks
And thou, oh Artemis
Hast power to move Hell’s adamantine gates
My magic wheel, draw home to me the man I love
The Goddess stands where the three ways meet
Hasten, and clash the brazen cymbals
My magic wheel, draw home to me the man I love
Lo, silent is he deep, and silent the winds
But never silent the torment in my breast
My magic wheel, draw home to me the man I love
Three times do I pour libation
And thrice my Lady Moon, I speak this spell
My magic wheel, draw home to me the man I love
Oh, torturing love
Why clingest thou to me like leech to the fen
And drainest all the black blood from my body?
My magic wheel, draw home to me the man I love
Now with magic rites I sill strive to bind him
But if still he vexes me, he shall beat,
By the Fates I vow it, at the Gate of Hell
Evil medicines I store against him
My magic wheel, draw home to me the man I love
Farewell, Selene bright and fair
Farewell ye other stars
That follow the wheels of quiet Night
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6. |
Whirling the Iynx
08:53
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WHIRLING THE IYNX
I call upon Night, oldest of all.
O’ Nyx, Mother of Mysteries,
And all ye golden Astra
Who, with Luna, succeed the fires of day,
And thou, divine three-formed Hekate,
Who knowest all my enterprises
And dost fortify the Arts of Magic.
I howl Her name by Night
Where the roads cross thrice
And a black wind moans
Under her mantle I rise in flight
Veiled in Darkness
Shrouded in Shadow
Night-Wandering Nymph
Pernicious Mist
Argent Enchantress
The Eye in the Rift
Invincible Moon
Nocturnal Bride
Awaken to the sound
Of blows upon the ox-hide
I drink the ichor of Phōsphoros
My eyes ablaze with the light of Eos
Come, Maiden! Join in the dance
Anassa Eneroi
Foe of Radiance
Mistress of Beasts
Coiled with Snakes
Destroyer, She-Dragon
Who Throws Down the Gates
Hundred-Handed Torchbearer
Ghost of the Shore
Daughter of Dread
Inspiring awe
I drink the ichor of Phōsphoros
My eyes ablaze with the light of Eos
Come, Maiden! Join in the dance
Anassa Eneroi
Foe of Radiance
Seirious, Blood-Drinker,
Eater of Filth
Who tears the meat from the mouth of the wolf
Night-Wandering Nymph,
Pernicious Mist
Corruptor, Protector
The Eye in the Rift
Saffron-Cloaked Bride
Who Speaks from Below
Fire-Walker, Flesh Eater
Buthios, Brimo
Invincible Queen
Guardian and Guide
Awaken to the sound of blows upon the ox-hide
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7. |
Chryssolakkos
09:08
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Vocals, synth & composition: Chthonia
_____________________________________________
Mixed & mastered at Opus Magnum Studio by Déhà, Brussels, MMXXIII
https://deha.bandcamp.com
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8. |
Chthonia New Zealand
CHTHONIA is a one-woman audio-visual project, channeling infernal witch-hymns of solemn invocation and ecstatic veneration, expressed through the vessel and voice of the Stygian Nymph.
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