Road to Victory

The Brewing of Soma is the Whittier poem (1872) from which the hymn Dear Lord and Father of Mankind is taken. Soma was a sacred ritual drink in Vedic religion, going back to Proto-Indo-Iranian times (ca. 2000 BC), possibly with hallucinogenic properties.

The storyline is of Vedic priests brewing and drinking Soma in an attempt to experience divinity. It describes the whole population getting drunk on Soma. It compares this to some Christians' use of "music, incense, vigils drear, And trance, to bring the skies more near, Or lift men up to heaven!" But all in vain—it is mere intoxication.

Whittier ends by describing the true method for contact with the divine, as practised by Quakers: Sober lives dedicated to doing God's will, seeking silence and selflessness in order to hear the "still, small voice" described in I Kings 19:11-13 as the authentic voice of God, rather than earthquake, wind or fire.

The poem opens with a quote from the Rigveda, attributed to Vasishtha:


These libations mixed with milk have been prepared for Indra:
 offer Soma to the drinker of Soma. (Rv. vii. 32, trans. Max Müller).[


The Brewing Of Soma

Half-conscious (for El-Viola)

Luctus (2006)

The other side of Hunt's door

Playlist: 

00.09: Tenn lys/Det lyser i stille grender/Nå tennes tusen julelys (arr Eiliv Herikstad)
01.49: God Jul (Eiliv Herikstad)
04.25: Jingle Bells
05.34: Let it snow! (arr.Morgan Juel Stavik)
08.28: O, jul med din glede (arr Haakon Dahlstrøm)
09.40: Santa Clause is coming to town (arr.Morgan Juel Stavik)
11.46: The Christmas song
13.57: New-born Hope (Morgan Juel Stavik)
16.38: Glade jul/Et barn er født i Betlehem/Her kommer dine arme små (arr Haakon Dahlstrøm)
19.47: Rudolph (arr.Eiliv Herikstad)
21.53 Somewhere in my memory (arr Morgan Juel Stavik)
23.51: Julekveldsvisa (arr.Eiliv Herikstad)
25.56: Mitt hjerte alltid vanker (arr. Eiliv Herikstad)
29.34: Vi tenner våre lykter (arr. Morgan Juel Stavik)
31.10: Deilig er jorden (arr Haakon Dahlstrøm)

Askimtorget
2012-12-22

morganjs

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