INNER TEMPLE
“ The very cave you are afraid to enter
turns out to be the source of
what you are looking for.
The damned thing in the cave
that was so dreaded
has become the center.”
― Joseph Campbell
.png)
THE HIGH PRIESTESS : The High Priestess is the guardian of the subconscious mind and the teacher of sacred knowledge and hidden mysteries. Sitting at the threshold of the conscious and subconscious mind, The High Priestess has an innate ability to travel between these realms effortlessly. She teaches you that the world is not always as it seems and more profound influences are often at play. She ushers you through the thin veil of awareness, offering you a deep, intuitive understanding of the Universe and a heightened awareness of secret or hidden information. She shows up in your Tarot readings when the veil between you and the underworld is thin, and you have the opportunity to access the knowledge deep within your soul. Now is the time to be still so you can tune in to your intuition. The answers you are seeking will come from within.
Nicola Samori - In principio era la fine
By Symbol Reader
“In Man and His Symbols, Jung referred to caves as “a place of meditation and of the mystery of transformation from the earthly to the heavenly, from the carnal to the spiritual.” For Jung the cave was an alchemical vessel, a symbol of the unconscious, where transformative processes can brew in peace and concealment from the unwanted eye. The unconscious is a dark place, where our daylight orientation methods become unreliable. Entering a cave has been traditionally associated with incubation and introspection for the depths of the unconscious psyche are indeed cavernous. [...]
Especially fascinating was the role caves played in Egyptian cosmology. Cave-like spaces were constructed there because the area lacked natural caves. Egyptian temples incorporated the imagery of the underworld through construction of restricted dark “caves.” Similarly, so many Catholic churches, not only house crypts, were sometimes built near a cave; Lourdes being a prominent example. Black Madonna statues are often to be found in these hidden recesses of the Christian temples. Caves, where prominent teachers would meditate, were also frequent foundational elements of Tibetan temples and monasteries such as Potala Palace."
Zdzisław Beksiński - untitled (1978)
CELESTA or CELESTE (derived from the word caelestis, meaning heavenly or of the sky) is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. Originating in France in 1886, the celesta was designed to create sounds that evoke celestial imagery—hence its name. Its structure consists primarily of graduated steel plates struck by hammers activated through a keyboard mechanism. Imagine playing a piano where each key sends tiny hammers dancing across these metal bars to produce soft chimes rather than traditional notes.
Edmund Dulac - Man entering subterranean doorway (1909)
· The temple is the architectural embodiment of the cosmic mountain. The cosmic mountain represents the primordial hillock, the place which first emerged from the waters that covered the earth during the creative process. In Egypt, for example, all temples are seen as representing the primordial hillock.
· The temple is often associated with the waters of life which flow from a spring within the building itself-or rather the temple is viewed as incorporating within itself such a spring, or as having been built upon the spring. The reason that such springs exist in temples is that they were perceived as the primeval waters of creation, Nun in Egypt, abzu in Mesopotamia, tehom in Israel. The temple is thus founded upon and stands in contact with the waters of creation. These waters carry the dual symbolism of the chaotic waters that were organized during the creation and of the life-giving, saving nature of the waters of life. [...]
· The temple is associated with the realm of the dead, the underworld, the afterlife, the grave. The unifying features here are the rites and worship of ancestors. Tombs can be, and in Egypt and elsewhere are, essentially temples (compare the cosmic orientation, texts written on tomb walls which guide the deceased into the afterlife, and so on). The unifying principle between temple and tomb is resurrection. Tombs and sarcophagi are “sacred places,” sites of resurrection. In Egyptian religion the sky goddess Nut is depicted on the coffin cover, symbolizing the cosmic orientation. The temple is the link between this world and the next.
· The temple and its ritual are enshrouded in secrecy. This secrecy relates to the sacredness of the temple precinct and the strict division in ancient times between sacred and profane space.
John M. Lundquist, Temple Symbolism in Isaiah
in Isaiah and the Prophets : Inspired Voices from the Old Testament (1984)
The Nei Jing Tu (Chart of the Inner Landscape) was found in 1886 by a priest named Liu Chengying, in the library of a mountain temple, painted on an old silk scroll. It is a Taoist depiction of the human body as a microcosm of the universe, in which fundamental forces, ancient spirits and celestial bodies all have their place. The follower of the Tao (natural order) must gently try to bring themselves into closer harmony with it through meditation, breathing exercises, feng shui and other practices. Then the body may become as it is also figured in the chart — an alchemical furnace capable of producing the elixir of life. The chart is designed to help the Taoist “prolong longevity” and, the ultimate goal, “attain immortality and Buddhahood”.
CREDITS
Inner Temple original celesta improv recorded on March 24th, 2019. Originally created as the introduction for the play On est bien peu de choses by Les satellites, adapting The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. First released on the Exil EP (2019). Remixed in 2024 by Sébastien Dumontier, mastered by Laurent Roussel.
Ambient guitars, bass guitar, percussions, synth theremin, organ & Mellotron played by Finrod Artîwelë. Bowed cymbals played by Lari Mevimann.