DESPERATE LANDS
This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes again
Can you picture what will be?
So limitless and free
Desperately in need
Of some stranger's hand
In a desperate land
Jim Morrison, The End (1967)
Caspar David Friedrich - Abtei im Eichwald
(The Abbey In The Oakwood) (1809-10)
X OF SWORDS : Ignoring fear is the same as running from it. It’s still there. Often the thing we fear is a distraction from going deeper and listening to our inner spirit. The only way to be free from needless suffering is to surrender. You aren’t surrendering to fear, you are surrendering the fear. Surrender to feeling the fear and then let it go.
This card represents the final collapse of a thought pattern, identity, or mental framework. Everything you tried to hold together has fallen apart. But the sunrise insists that what follows devastation is renewal. Letting go of who you thought you were makes room for who you’re becoming. The breakthrough isn't gentle, but it's clarifying. What couldn't be seen while you were propping up the old structure becomes obvious once it falls.
Tomb submerged in a travertine pool in Hierapolis; Pamukkale, Turkey
Reynold Mainse
I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past me,
I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
Frank Herbert, Litany Against Fear
from DUNE (1965)
CREDITS
Desperate Lands bowed guitar improvisation based on The End by The Doors (1967). Originally recorded on November 29th, 2013, during the sessions for Raagnarök but remained unreleased. Remixed in 2024 by Sébastien Dumontier, mastered by Laurent Roussel.
Bowed acoustic guitar, electric guitars, bass guitar & shamanic drum played by Finrod Artîwelë.