Wednesday, April 23, 2025

"Sophia Speaks" by The Veil (2002)




Here is something that came to my mind today.  "Sophia Speaks" by The Veil.  I first heard this piece when I was living in the Bay Area, and creating a ritual theatre piece at the Black Box Theatre in Oakland in 2003.  We used it in the Performance, and the Performance was created in part to ask for Peace, on the advent of the invasion of Iraq.  

The Veil draws on ancient mythic texts (Nag Hammadi Gospels?) from early Gnostic Christianity, when "God had a Wife, and Her Name was Sophia".  The Sophia was very important in the early days of Christianity - the great Basilica of Istanbul was named for Her,  "Hagia Sophia", Holy Sophia.  

 https://youtu.be/8Cy0AKVkMKM?si=Eka6Ow1YziOJaaVv

The Veil

Mark Ungar and Deirdre McCarthy had spent years exploring  Irish and English folk music. In The Veil, They decided to pursue a project in which music suitable for  ritual would be created. Margarita Kovats brings her  prophetic writing skills to the mix and a mesmeric, evocative narrative voice to the recordings. Scott Irwin lends his expertise on drum, and Cat Taylor adds her sinuous electric violin.

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