100 Years

100 years since the signing of the Armistice.

100 years of silence and bells.

100 years since the end of World War 1.

The years that made our world what it is. The years that changed so much, that shaped so much. How to approach such a day?

With solemnity. With gratitude. With honoring. With remembering.

To the Warrior and Military Dead who sacrificed all they had to give.

To the Warriors and Military personnel who gave all they had to give.

To the families who never saw their loved ones again.

To the families that did.

To the lands that still bear countless scars of trenches and powder, artillery and countless bullets and the blood of all the Dead.

100 years and so many lives have passed that a great forgetting is coming over the nations.

We honor in remembering. In remembering the Dead live.

78. Cattle die, | and kinsmen die,
And so one dies one’s self;
One thing now | that never dies,
The fame of a dead man’s deeds.

Havamol, translated by Henry Adam Bellows

Some resources:

Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History: Blueprint for Armgageddon

Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI

BBC Four: The First World War

BBC 26 Part Documentary on World War 1

A Tribute to Blackstar

I had just ran into David Bowie’s music full stop last week. I’d heard him sing in Labyrinth, but nothing from any of his albums. Blackstar and Lazarus hit me over the fucking head, and it was like…echoes from Odin. So I went back and forth on writing something for him. Then, I read Sannion and Galina were going to go to SoHo to lay down offerings for him.

I finally just broke down, sat down and wrote this for Blackstar. I hope he enjoys this and it is a worthy tribute.  I have made a recording of it here.

I know not if Runes had touched your tongue;
If you had drunk from Suttung’s well
But I know that I felt sadness
When the elder Blackstar fell

I know not if Bragi blessed you
With a voice of silk or gold
For I saw you in your end
In Olmen burning bold

I know not if Odin blessed you
With wisdom deep and harsh
But I know my soul was touched
By the darkness of Blackstar

I know not if Loki blessed you
With shifting form and face
But I know you touched the generations
With what you shared in grace

I know not what you saw
In your button cloth-bound eyes
But I know Who you recalled to me
The God known as Twice Blind

I know not what you were
Priest, prophet, saint, or star
But I know you shaped whenever you were
By being who you are

I know not what you are
Apotheosis ascended or inspiration in the Earth
But I know your mark was made
Before I knew my breath or birth

I know not what you will be
A God? A Guide?  A Guest?
But I know you will be welcome whenever
At altar, stage, and desk

I know not if you would know me
In Helheim walking well
But I thank you for sharing, anyway
With all of us, your spells