Crossing the Night Sea
The aim of the PH2T3R project has been to inspire and create new solar culture, so a few months ago I commissioned tattoo artist and musician Tod Janeczek to develop music for solar meditations.
The end result is a three-movement ambient meditation soundtrack, titled “Crossing the Night Sea.” You can listen to it and purchase it on the PH2T3R Bandcamp site.
This project explores the psychological space of The Father in Darkness, as explained in Fire in the Dark. It was inspired by the mythic theme of the sun traveling through darkness and chaos when it is invisible at night — typified by the nocturnal journey of Ra, the ancient Egyptian sun god who crosses the night sea on a solar barge.
I see it as a metaphor for confusion and chaos that The Father, as leader of himself and others, has to sort out behind closed doors, so that he can lead with decisively and with confidence. It applies to meditation in the sense of exploring the darkness and chaos of the unconscious inner world, and bringing the whole self into order and congruity.
Each of us, as we meditate, becomes something of a solar “avatar.”
The first track is meant to induce a meditative headspace, and it is titled “Golden Hour” — that hour of golden light before sunset.
Here are the notes I gave to Todd to set the scene:
During the Golden Hour, the Avatar of the Solar Father proceeds across the beach toward the dead sea and the setting sun, hauling his Solar Barge, followed by his attendant priests. The priests chant *sóh₂wl̥, (PIE: sun) in low voices. One carries the solar sphere, while the other plays a monotonous beat on a primal skin drum. They are accompanied by otherworldly drones from unseen sources above and beyond the clouds. When the procession reaches the water, the priests paint the Avatar with solar symbols from across time to protect him during his journey across the dead sea into darkness and the void. As the sun sets, the Avatar prepares to board the solar barge and mounts the solar sphere on its bow. Incense is burned, and they whisper the prayer that invokes the Solar Father:
Pátér, Dyéus Pátér (Father, Shining Father)
Egoh hésmi wihrósyo séhwōl, (I am a man of the Sun)
gwem hésmi ménjos woghós. (Be my charioteer)
The Avatar climbs aboard the barge and the attendant priests assist him as he pushes off and begins his night journey, slipping off as a silhouette into the darkness.
I performed the solar prayer, and hired James R. Basterd, a professional throat singer, to chant *sóh₂wl̥, and Clinton J. McMillan, my occasional ritual collaborator and the new owner of the Waldgang ritual space in the Pacific Northwest, provided additional chanting and throat singing in Proto-Indo-European.
The second track, titled “The Solar Barge,” was the first track that Todd produced, and is meant to capture the idea of the solar barge floating on the night sea, as the solar avatar moves deeper into darkness and the chaos of the inner world.
The third track is titled “Blue Hour and Ascension,” and it is meant to evoke the continuation of the solar journey, the “blue hour” before dawn, and ultimately the emergence of the unconquerable sun.
I hope to create more collaborative projects based on solar themes in the future, and hope you all enjoy this work.
For more of Todd Janeczek’s work, visit https://witheringoflight.com/
For more about Solar Meditation, watch this video from our YouTube Channel.
