Showing posts with label magic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label magic. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Still working... working... working

The book is coming along.  At some point I have to stop editing, I know.  But I'm not quite comfortable with it yet.  Still.

On the other hand, it'll be soon.  Honest.  To that end I've been coming up with things I want to say to catch me an agent.  Nowadays authors can't submit to most publishers directly.  Some agents don't even take new authors.  It's complicated.

Writing a whole novel is easier than finding an agent or publisher.  Or at least it's more enjoyable for me.

Anyway, if you'd like to read the description as it exists today, CLICK HERE


If you like my writing, you might consider tipping me by becoming a Patreon supporter (a buck a month is all!).  Just a thought, not a requirement.
CLICK HERE for PATREON


Sunday, July 15, 2012

Mage Music: Magickal Interlude

Take a deep breath of enlightenment...


Mage Music 10: A Magickal Interlude

I turned on the radio while driving home from Colorado last weekend, after getting within range of a decently strong station.  I had forgotten to bring my iPod so was otherwise without music for most of the 12 hour drive as I can’t stand commercial radio, but after this many hours on the road I was getting tired and needed something to keep me going.  As usual I was listening for hints of Mage Music – it’s something I always do, though of course I rarely come across it.  Doesn't mean that the music I hear carries no hint of Magick – it could be there, it’s just that I'm not open to hearing it from those sources.  We all have favorite bands, after all!

Anyway, I'm listening hour after hour to stuff that sounds pretty much the same: That fuzzy, high-gain guitar distortion effect, the vocalists belting out lyrics that are a full stop musically, not meant for more.  Song after song, the music was so much the same that it all ended up being white noise after a while.  Truly - I was hearing the same music no matter what the song and what the band, all of it sounding like it could be one group with one big playlist, some songs marginally better than others at best.

The annoyance factor alone was keeping me awake.

Then, a couple hours into this drek, I heard the first chords of Kashmir.  It was like an electric shock. It was like the whole world stopped and took a cleansing breath.  It was clarity, precision, meaning, all there in one soaring, wide-open, no-fooling around Magickal package.  I felt like the sun had come out when I hadn't realized it was cloudy.  I felt like I could breathe again freely when I hadn't known I had been holding my breath.    I felt emotions loosen that had been wound up tightly, and a crazy grin plastered itself across my face.

I felt like I had been sucker punched in the psyche.  It felt good.

I've always loved Kashmir; even though there's no extensive Jimmy Page solos in it.  Still, the melody is based on Mr. Page’s unique and immediately identifiable chord progression, a riff so gripping that it entrances and practically pries open the soul of the willing listener to the Magick.  A riff so powerful, too, that it has been adopted by other guitarists who play it in their own songs, never realizing that that the Magick isn’t in the notes but in the soul of the Mage who conjures the music.

Physical Graffiti
album cover
I've always felt Kashmir is Led Zeppelin's best work ever, and an example of a Mage Musician's work beyond the guitar - precise and incredibly powerful orchestration and production that supports the higher-level content above the notes to produce music that is On Purpose.  Led Zeppelin expert Dave Lewis describes Kashmir as “the finest example of the sheer majesty of Zeppelin's special chemistry”.  [Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin (1994)]

"Let me take you there. Let me take you there..." Robert Plant sings.  I heard the lyrics totally differently as I drove down the road.  I realized it wasn't an offer to take me to some mythological Shangri-La at all, but rather to a much higher plane. I all but stopped my truck and let myself go.

And then it was over, the silly grin still pasted on my face as the next awful muddle of metal pedal buzz came on.  The ray of light shining through the spiritual cloud of music had been obscured again.  But I had heard.  I had been taken through both time and space for a few moments while driving down the freeway.


Direct links to Kashmir
No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded with the London Metropolitan Orchestra & Hossam Ramzy Ensemble 1994 


Sunday, July 8, 2012

Just what is Mage Music Anyway?

Just a few thoughts written from on the road...  

Mage Music 09: Just what is Mage Music anyway?

I got to thinking about it the other day as I was driving - thinking about the fact that I've been writing here about Mage Music assuming that everyone would of course know exactly what Mage Music is - but it seems that ain't necessarily so.  

But first...
Let's start from this basic premise:  Not all music is created equal.  Not only that, but not all Mage Music is going to be music that everyone likes.  And not all music that everyone likes is Mage Music.

What it is not
Mage Music is not a value judgment about music.  Just because it's Mage Music doesn't mean it's good or bad.  The term "Mage Music" is simply a description of a kind of music, music with a certain additional quality not present in other music (more on this in a moment).  Thus, the following are not qualities that make a song Mage Music:
  • You really, really love a song 
  • Everyone you know really, really loves a song
  • A song has "meaningful" lyrics
  • A song is performed by a great musician or band
  • A song is a hit, on top of the charts, goes Platinum
  • A song gets played on the radio a lot
  • A song is covered by other bands a lot
  • A song wins awards
The realities of Mage Music are that it can move your heart but it can also - even at the same time - be hard to listen to, it can be unpopular, unsuccessful, and/or unnoticed even while it is powerfully and undoubtably Mage Music.

Conversely, just because a song isn't Mage Music doesn't mean it is some kind of lesser music.  It’s OK for music to just be entertainment – in fact, that’s pretty much what music is for and what most music you listen to is.

What It Is
Mage Music contains a quality beyond the usual musical attributes such as pitch, tone, timbre, melody, brilliance, rhythm and the rest, beyond even  "meaning".  This additional quality of Mage Music is connection with the infinite, with God or the gods, with the ineffable energy of All That Is.  If there is a message conveyed in this connection, it is nothing that humans can use words to describe.  This connection is a communion with something fundamental to and greater than humanity that we instinctively seek but rarely ever know.  It is the Force, it is the Light in enlightenment.

Mage Music is music that carries Magick with it to to deliver to our souls.  Magick is another word for the energy or higher power of the Universe (which is why there is no such thing as black magic, by the way: Magick simply IS;).  All things carry some level of this energy, but some things - particularly human art - may carry more of this concentrated, pure, focused and Purposeful energy of the Universe.  Enough of the stuff in music and you have Mage Music.


Mage Music Identification
But still, how can you tell Mage Music from any other music, especially when one person so often disagrees with the next on whether a song is even good music, much less whether it carries Magick?   

Here's a list of things that can help you determine whether there's Magick in a song.  Consider this a "starter" list - some of these may not apply to you, or your  experience of Mage Music may be very different.
  • You can’t not pay attention when you hear Mage Music - it''s not possible for it to be background music; your attention is pulled to it
  • It thrills you each and every time you hear it, no matter how often you've heard it
  • You aren't quite always sure if you actually enjoy the song even as you feel compelled to listen to it
  • You experience some sort of hugeness or weight to the song beyond the music itself
  • Sometimes you can't listen to it because it's too huge or heavy
  • It doesn't matter if anyone  around you is digging the music - in fact, it might be easier if they don't even notice the song is playing
  • The Magickal part may not be – probably is not – carried in the lyrics
  • You can’t predict from the musical score, the lyrics or reviews, or anyone else's comments whether it is Mage Music – the Magick must be experienced by you personally
  • When you hear the song, you "listen" with more than your ears.  It feels like the music resonates in your heart and soul, and that your whole body is on alert and paying attention
  • When the song is over, you feel like your soul has been dazed and confused and otherwise well-used - not an entirely comfortable feeling but one you seek over and over again.
People have their own individual reactions to Mage Music.  One for me is that I get a sort of shiver up my spine when I'm hearing it.  I'd be interested in finding out how other people know it when they hear it.

And so what?
Why does it matter if music is Mage Music? Maybe not much from the musician's perspective, since carrying Magick doesn't translate directly into sales, though it can help.  From the mage’s perspective, given that music is one of the most powerful and most accessible forms of affecting human beings there is, then Mage Music is one of the most powerful tools there is for impacting certain aspects of the human soul.  The trick is, however, that not just anyone can get the Magick into the music.  You might be the worlds greatest musician, but that doesn't make you a mage.

Hmmm - that does bring up the question of what a mage is, doesn't it?

---

I'm recommending listening to Jimmy Page's solos for Thank You that he's played over the years - not because they are particularly relevant to this week's Mage Music blog topic but because I like the song very much.  Any additional links to Thank You would be appreciated.


Individual versions:


Sunday, June 17, 2012

Mage Music: Lucifer, Bringer of Light

Mage Music:  Lucifer, Bringer of Light

There is no doubt that music is a form of communication, a kind of language that is meant to convey meaning without words.  Music can convey mental images and states of emotion by learned association or, like magic, directly through the music itself.

Learned association:  Rossini’s The William Tell Overture is so associated with the TV show, The Lone Ranger, that it is almost impossible not to imagine the Masked Man and his sidekick, Tonto, when hearing the music.  Similarly, Wagner’s The Ride of the Vakyries brings forth the image of the helicopters of Apocalypse Now.  Who, other than students of classical music, knows that The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is a symphonic poem written in 1896-97 by the French composer Paul Dukas, and not in the 20th century by Walt Disney?   The instruments of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf are so well-dedicated to specific characters and actions that they scarcely need the words of the children’s story to tell what is happening (the links provided here and below are to a version charmingly narrated by David Bowie). Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition is a suite of ten movements that ushers the listener through an exhibition of paintings by the artist Viktor Hartmann.  Even without having images to guide the listener, the music clearly describes passage through the exhibition as well as the artworks themselves.  

Or like magic:  The potential for communication through music is vast - yet sometimes what is offered cannot be expressed at all through words, and sometimes the emotions conveyed are not the common ones of everyday life - particularly when a mage offers something from the deepest mind and soul, reaching for the infinite, embedding concepts that no language can express, opening the path to knowledge and enlightenment to the listener.

“Music is well said to be the speech of angels; in fact, nothing among the utterances allowed to man is felt to be so divine. It brings us near to the infinite.” Thomas Carlyle

Like moths to the flame, mage music pulls in all but the most spiritually deaf to transcendent realms that they otherwise might never reach on their own.  In this sense, the mage musician is a Lucifer, bringer of light, bringer of enlightenment.

Contrary to popular belief, however, Lucifer is not the devil. 


Fallen angel

The association of the unfortunate Lucifer and ultimate evil comes from relatively modern Judaic and Christian religious writing.  To the ancient Greeks, Eosphoros and Hesperus were the gods of the “star” Venus:  Eosphoros was the morning star, Hesperus the evening.  Eosphoros translates as “Dawn-Bringer”, or Bringer of Light; the ancient Roman name for that same god was Luciferus, or Lucifer, which translates as “light-bearer”.

Bringers of light have a long tradition of suffering for their efforts.  In both Vedic and Greek mythology, the theft of fire from the gods -  fire (knowledge, enlightenment) that was then given to humans who had none - was severely punished.  The Greek Prometheus, a figure representing human striving for knowledge (particularly scientific knowledge), was bound to a rock for eternity; each day Zeus’ eagle fed on the immortal’s liver, which grew back and was eaten by the eagle again the next day.  In the Garden of Eden, Eve was offered the forbidden apple from the Tree of Enlightenment by the snake, and when she took it and was then found out by God, the snake was condemned to slither on its belly for all eternity, forever the enemy of humankind.

Gustav Dore illustration for
Paradise Lost 
Although the story of Lucifer’s demotion from archangel status says that he became the devil because he dared to elevate himself to the level of God (i.e. to have the knowledge of the infinite, thus enlightenment), in fact the connection of a fallen angel with evil did not come about until approximately the first century BC in Judaic writings - and even then not about Lucifer, but some other angelic being named Satan.  Lucifer, good guy bringer of light, had existed long before the Judaic writings and was not associated with Satan until some time after the death of Christ.  It was, simply, the new Christian religion's way to take care of pesky free-thinking angels:  Combine them into one.

In human tradition, there always seems to be a steep price to be paid for the gift of knowledge and enlightenment, and it isn’t always paid by the bringer – sometimes the recipient is the one punished for daring to seek more.  Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden, forever blocked from the Tree of Life, and burdened with sin for choosing enlightenment.  It happens even in fairy tails:  Hans Christian Anderson’s Little Mermaid yearns for knowledge of the world above the sea.  A “strange child, quiet and thoughtful”, the youngest mermaid can only have an immortal soul like humans do if she chooses to give up immortal life, is willing to lose her tongue and accept that every step she takes will stab her with pain.  Even Siddhartha must give up his wealth and position as prince of the realm and suffer unto death before becoming the enlightened Buddha.

The seeking of enlightenment is obviously not in itself evil, but it does threaten the status quo and it is that threat that is labeled evil by the powers that be.  Beyond the fairy tales and mythology, many have died throughout human history, victims of religious, political and social persecution in reaction to the act of independent thinking - be it science, the arts, the quest for direct spiritual knowledge, or simply alternate lifestyle.  

Bringing enlightenment and knowledge to humans is not for the faint of heart.  Lucifer is not evil, but he pays the price for bringing light.


Pushing the musical envelope

Image from video of 1977 Page
solo with theramin & bow 
The mage musician or any artist at the mage level, like Lucifer or Prometheus, risks being persecuted and thereby associated with evil - not just for seeking personal enlightenment but for offering it to others through their art. The best art may not be the most beautiful, but rather  something that can be disturbing in ways that cannot even be pinned down.  This can be a sign of the magical.

Jimmy Page has not hidden his interest in the occult teachings of Aleister Crowley.  It would be easy - but not necessarily correct - to point to that interest as the reason that Mr. Page's work (including the music of Led Zeppelin) has been  accused of being associated with the black arts and the devil.  I believe, however, that such accusations have not been truly based on any connection with the occult - after all, the world is full of much darker stuff that is tolerated and not claimed to be the work of Satan - but because the music that Jimmy Page creates is so powerful, so full of other, that the magic cannot be hidden, and the enlightenment that it brings is feared by those who do not seek it or whose power would be threatened by it.  

From Jimmy Page's website recently:  
"Here is a section of my solo spot that features the theremin and the bow and the exploration of both. It's lengthy but gives an example of my avant garde journey with this sonic architecture."  (July 17, 1977 Seattle Kingdome with Led Zeppelin)  
Jimmy Page began experimenting with alternative sound early on:  Multiple instruments, alternate tunings, manipulation and distortion of sound - above all with sheer outrageous pushing of the musical envelope.  Some of the results are not traditionally melodic, but they sound surrealistically meaningful.  What is being created can be so outside our experience that it is hard to resist hunting for something we can hang on to, an association that makes sense of what we are hearing.  The reverberations of the bowed guitar and the theramin could be the voices of the lonely denizens of the depths, bits of captured alien communication between the stars, or perhaps fragments of restless dreams.  We have no guide; the meaning is outside our intellectual grasp.  We are forced to either allow ourselves to be enlightened or to turn away.  If we risk it, the magic will speak to hearts and soul in some way that can be frightening or disturbing - or exciting - depending on the listener’s openness to what is being offered.

The Seattle solo provides nearly 15 minutes of sound outside the normal realm of expectation.  It is in no way ordinary and it might not even be considered music at all.  It is a kind of exploration of the unknown through alchemical ritual:  A seeking, a summoning, and transformation.  It brings a clear sense of there being much more being offered than what is heard - a sense of vastness and something that is not music but is borne through the music.  Magic, bringing light.
"I may not believe in myself, but I believe in what I’m doing." Jimmy Page
Dangerous stuff, that mage music.
Rossini, William Tell Overture Finale http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7O91GDWGPU

Wagner, Ride of the Valkyries http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V92OBNsQgxU

Dukas, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbYse0gZZdU

Prokofiev , Peter and the Wolf, Narrated version by David Bowie

Mussorgsky Pictures At An Exhibition, Promenade http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5r8sa863Ts
Emerson Lake Palmer version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y1x04hAUT4

Jimmy Page, Seattle Kingdome solo with bowed guitar and theramin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtoVZ4eObg8


Sunday, June 10, 2012

Mage Music: Ritual is not Magick


A black robe with a black cat looking on, a few candles and props, a chanted spell and a pass with the wand:  Magic?  No way!  On stage, maybe - but that's not real magick at all.

The truth:  Even when they use tools, today’s occult magicians and most other reality transforming professionals don't perform rituals like they did in the olden days.  In spite of what you may have learned from Harry Potter, real magic doesn’t require wands, spells, magic potions and powders, pentangles, crystals or any other prop to make the connections with the energy that will do the heavy lifting.  Still, all those things and more can be used to create magic - even if they are just tools that make the job easier.

The need to use specific tools of magic is indirectly proportionate to the skill of the mage. What this means is that a powerful mage can use anything – or nothing at all – to bring about transformations in the world, whereas a lesser magician can become dependent upon ritual, on the use of tools in a formulaic way to focus the mind and keep the will of the magician on task.

The reason rituals and magical props are not intrinsically necessary is because rituals are not the magic itself.  The fact is, anyone can use the recommended magical tools and perform the prescribed rituals with them, but only some will get the desired magical results.  Even the most highly skilled practice of ritual can never achieve the same level of results as a gifted mage who isn’t even half trying, because magical success resides not in the ritual but in the person performing the magic.

Lascaux, France paleolithicave painting

A little history
One theory of art history is that cave paintings, petrographs and petroglyphs were not art so much as summonings, blessings, and/or entreaties to the spirit world for success in the hunt.  The Lascaux cave paintings are around 17,300 years old and petroglyphs sites in Australia have been dated at 27,000 to 40,000 years old.  Undoubtedly the first human music consisted of humming, whistling, and singing; rhythm-keeping in the form of clapping or drumming must have occurred early on as well.

Music is powerful.  We don’t need science to tell us that music can evoke strong emotions and changed states of awareness (although science can, in fact, tell us how that works).  Shamanic drumming has its modern-day counterpart in trance music; a young child can tell the difference between happy and sad music; words that are used to describe music also are used to describe spiritual experience.  There has always been something magical about the application of paint to canvas or stringing one word or one musical note after another and having the end result be something that has meaning above and beyond the physical object.  For some practitioners of the various arts, the result is also magick.


Performance vs. creation

Jimmy Page is often referred to as “The Master” or “Mage”.   Magick or music - the honorifics acknowledge the quality and quantity his gift and his expression of it.  Yet performance itself, no matter how dazzling and technically excellent, does not a Master make.

Jimmy Page is definitely a master musician.  The YouTube playlist provided here includes selections of original music of Mr. Page's over a 15 year period from 1983-1998.  These songs were chosen to provide a powerful example of the skill of a musician at the level of mage.  Please note that some songs have solos that I have identified for particular consideration (also scroll down for individual links).

While any search of YouTube will yield numerous young guitarists (and some not-so-young or unknown) who have performed Jimmy Page’s tracks from various songs, none carry the magic of Mr. Page’s own work as he performs it.  Many can play the works of Jimmy Page's with technical excellence that may surpass his own technical skills, but none of it is magic.

“Music is an outburst of the soul.”  Frederick Delius

Jimmy Page, as has often been noted by his detractors, can be a sloppy guitarist and even off-pitch, yet somehow the magic is still there.  This is because ritual – musical technique – is not the magic.  You can listen to far more technically accomplished guitarists and be left cold.  Magic comes about as a result of the desire and will of the mage, not technique.  Jimmy Page plays music and makes it his own - he is always creating, not simply performing.  The music he produces is the result of focus of his desire and will; he is not merely producing a sequence of notes on his guitar that he has produced before, that anyone can produce – he is creating a new state in the world that matches his inner vision.

Each of the songs in the playlist is different, but each at its core expresses a certain Truth.  The expression of that Truth is magic.


It is highly recommended that you do not watch the videos while listening to the selections below. Concentrate on the sound for there lies the magic.


1983  Midnight Moonlight Live, ARMS concert with Paul Rogers [note particularly 3:23 – 5:15]
1988  Emerald Eyes Studio version, Outrider
1988  Writes of Winter Studio version, Outrider 
1993  Saccharin Unreleased, Coverdale/Page  [note particularly 2:50 – 3:16]
1998  Walking Into Clarksdale Live,  La Cigale Paris March 30 [note particularly 4:22 – end]

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Mage Music: Imagine This


Mage Music: Imagine This

Aubrey Beardsley
Frontispiece to The Wonderful History of
Vergilius the Sorcerer
1893 
What exactly makes a mage powerful?  Unlike what is portrayed in fiction, a mage doesn’t have to be a person in black robes, and isn’t a person who has a lot of magic stored up in amulets or who is born with magical power.  A mage doesn’t “have” magic any more than a computer “has” the internet.  Magic is like Yoda’s Force – it is the energy source of life.  Like a Jedi who masters the Force, a true mage is one who has the skill, talent and will to open to that energy and to use it to make changes in the world. 

Think of the relationship of a mage to magic the same way you do of the device you use to access the internet to the internet itself.  The internet is gigantic, so big it is for all practical purposes infinite – there’s no way your device can access it all.  Still, the more powerful the device the better it can access the internet and the more data it can process, providing it isn’t hampered by malware, poor programming or by just not having sufficient capacity.

It’s the same with a mage.  All of us access the energy of the universe without even thinking about it – it’s called being alive.  A mage, however, accesses that energy on purpose, using clarity of mind to visualize the desired outcome, and then ritual of some sort to focus the mind on the desired outcome.

The clarity both comes from and results in enlightenment – literally aligning with the energy of the universe.  The most proficient use of the energy comes through focus.  The actual process is not truly important – alignment with the energy of the universe can be equally achieved through magick, meditation, the sciences, art or, in the case of Jimmy Page, through music.  The product of true enlightenment is readily apparent to anyone who sees experiences it. 

It can be easily seen why Jimmy Page is considered a mage:  He engages purposeful clarity of vision, and focuses through the ritual of the music on a desired outcome.  Music is the ritual of his magic.

Jimmy Page is well known for his attention to detail and his control of all aspects of his vision.  Thus when comparing the John Lennon/Yoko Ono 1972 film, Imagine,  to the Jimmy Page acoustic segment deleted from the 2008 video It Might Get Loud, we must wonder what Mr. Page’s choices meant in the context of the music he was playing.

It would be very hard to believe that Jimmy Page had never seen the Lennon/Ono film, if not when it first came out then sometime over the next thirty-something years, when Mr. Page makes a video of himself playing an unnamed acoustic guitar piece in a room so identical to the one in the Lennon/Ono film that one might only tell the difference by checking out the scenery through the windows and details of the rooms.

A white empty room; a white chair for Jimmy Page, a white piano for John Lennon:  We must believe Jimmy Page didn’t just “happen” to choose that room to be filmed in or that his chair placement, in basically the same location as John Lennon’s piano, was accidental.  We must believe that the video starts and ends with visual focus on a reflection in the floor rather than the guitarist for a reason.  We must believe that there is purpose for everything in this video because control of detail has always been in Jimmy Page’s nature.  He is, after all, a master mage – he is performing ritual - but it is for his own purposes and it is up to us to take meaning from it.

The music
John Lennon’s song is very different from Jimmy Page’s.  Lennon’s is finished and polished.  It has lyrics that carry the meaning; the music is support for the lyrics.  Jimmy Page’s song sounds raw and unfinished.  It doesn’t even seem like it was meant for an acoustic guitar; it sounds very much like he was hearing an electric guitar in his head along with support instruments.  It has no need for lyrics because the music itself carries the meaning.

The visuals
While each song is being played, the music is the focus.  But before and after each song, the visuals are the focus. 

At the beginning of Imagine, Yoko Ono and John Lennon walk together to the room where the music will take place.  At the end they look at each other, then kiss – excluding the viewer and, in making the video be about the two of them, leaving the message of the song behind.  The song is over.

At the beginning of the Jimmy Page acoustic video the camera focuses on the reflective floor before panning to the musician.  At the end, Jimmy Page sits back and looks out the window, redirecting focus out to the world before turning to look at the camera, which then pans to the reflective floor.  The music has been given to the world, and then to the viewer, and then… the reflection.  Has the song, or more importantly the message, actually ended?

This brings us to the message, the intent of the work of the ritual.

The message
No one can read the mind of the artist or the mage, or presume to know what the meaning of a work is.  The inner vision is the artist’s alone and each person brings to a work his or her own life experience, which acts as a filter and framework for interpretation.

Nevertheless, we can make some statements about the message of Jimmy Page’s video.  The setting is meant to evoke another setting.  The beginning and end focus on a reflective surface:  This video is meant to reflect something else.  There are no lyrics, so the music and the video itself convey the message.  Jimmy Page’s song and video have no name, but reflects the Lennon/Ono film and song:  Imagine.  To me the message is just that:  Imagine what this song of Jimmy Page’s - still in process, still more in his head than in the world – will be.  Imagine, because there is so much more than what is seen and heard there.


Of course there is no way to know if any of this interpretation was meant by Jimmy Page. Sometimes, perhaps often, the creator doesn't actually know what the work means - he or she only knows that it must be created.  Still... keep in mind what Albert Einstein said:  “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”  Technology can come in many forms, can't it?  Science or art, video or music - whatever it is, advanced enough and it is indistinguishable from magic.  

Sunday, May 20, 2012

The Music and The Magic

Mage Music: The Music and The Magic
What I’m listening to as I write: Ten Years Gone
Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti
Led Zeppelin Atlanta 1977
Led Zeppelin Seattle 1977
Led Zeppelin California 1977
Led Zeppelin MSG New York 1977
Led Zeppelin Knebworth 1979
Led Zeppelin Cleveland 1979
Page & Plant Rehearsal 1996
Page & Plant Japan 1996
The Black Crowes with Jimmy Page New York 2000

Jimmy Page is often referred to as a Mage or Magus. A mage is a person who performs a paranormal kind of magic as opposed to magical tricks like a stage illusionist in Las Vegas. It's likely the label originally reflected Mr. Page's interest in the occult teachings of Aleister Crowley, although today it holds true for a different reason: Jimmy Page's uncanny musical ability.

A mage can also be referred to as an enchanter, wizard, magus, thaumaturgist, or simply magician. Each term has a subtly different meaning - some more negative than others - but all terms that refer to the occult kind of magic revolve around the manipulation of reality through supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws.

Magic is similar to religion in many ways. Although magic is generally more result-oriented and religion more worship-oriented, both (ideally) are about spiritual growth. And, as with religion, magic may take different approaches: That of the holographic or sympathetic universe (the practitioner's actions cause a parallel effect elsewhere), or that of collaboration (the practitioner gets supernatural beings to cause the effect).

In some ways all meanings apply to Jimmy Page as magus, especially since he, himself, described his life as “a fusion of magick and music” (Guitar World, January 2008). (Note the alternate spelling: magick. Crowley chose the spelling with “k” at the end to differentiate between occult vs. stage illusionist practice).

Rituals are sets of symbolic actions, performed in a certain order. Almost all religions and magic use rituals in their practice, however those more "purely" spiritual are seen as being able to practice without need of ritual. For most practitioners, pure or otherwise, ritual is a tool that serves as a means of settling the mind into the right frame to achieve the transformation desired.

The specific ritual used in magic depends on the type of magician and his/her approach to the practice, but the purpose for using ritual for all practitioners is the same: To create a focus of the will (focused desire) of the mage in order to bring about the desired transformations and to focus and unify the other participants in the ceremony (ceremonial participants are generally a source of power for the magician).

It would be easy to simply say that Jimmy Page’s musical work is magical because it is so very good, but that says nothing much at all.

It would be more accurate to say that Jimmy Page’s musical work is magical because it is about manipulation of reality through music and, in my opinion, because it is also for purposes of spiritual growth.
In his own words and actions, Mr. Page shows that his music speaks for him in a magical way. In a 1973 interview he stated that “We're all still seeking for truth - the search goes on", and “…at those times when I've hit it [when performing], it's just like I'm a vehicle for some greater force."

Of course, people grow, people change. The beliefs of the young are tempered by age. The Jimmy Page of 1973 is not the Jimmy Page of today, yet in 2010 Mr. Page still believed in the power of music: “ I think it’s got to be all part of our DNA, this mass communication through music” (The Scotsman interview).

Pure magic, the transformation of the world, is achieved almost every time that Jimmy Page performs. Mr. Page has been dismissed by critics for his sloppy playing, for not always staying in tune – basically for lack of perfection - but even on his worst, most tuneless, sloppy days, his music conveys an extra layer of meaning, a communication that makes the manner in which it is performed almost irrelevant. It is magic coming through, as Jimmy Page says about Embryo, a work in progress that he plays in the movie It Might Get Loud.

It is what we, the participants in the ritualistic ceremony of the music of Jimmy Page, understand is the guitar alchemy of a powerful mage.

Monday, May 7, 2012

MAGE MUSIC

I'm curious about music - why it works, why it generates the responses it does.  I'm not educated in music theory, but I want to know more about music than just that I like it or that it seems powerful.  I want to know why.  I'm hoping you do, too.

There's lots of pages devoted to Jimmy Page as guitarist, solo, with Led Zeppelin and others.  There's discussion of the lyrics of the songs, and there's lots about Mr. Page's guitars and techniques too.  There's not so much out there about the music itself, though.

I'm curious about the music.  About why it is so magical, how someone with no classical music education could compose the way Mr. Page does, about what works, what doesn't.  About the influences - both on Mr. Page and that of his music on others.

With the help of thinking people everywhere who admire Jimmy Page and his work, this blog is dedicated to serious (and maybe not-so-serious) analysis of his awesome music.

Be advised that it is this blogmaster's opinion that Jimmy Page is truly The Rock God; nevertheless we understand that there are other musicians and music of value.  Thus, all music can be discussed with reference to Mr. Page's work as long as it is done in a respectful manner, and with insight that will allow us all to learn.

PS - we will NOT beg Jimmy Page to reunite Led Zeppelin on this blog, OK?