The FEAST of VALHALLA
PART IV & FINAL
{Being the Fool Parzival's Discovery & Union of the Holy Grail & The Spear of Destiny}
(Photographs by Adrian and Video Stills selected by Orryelle from the footage of Soncha, Zya and Ci Orse)
(This Page is Image-laden. You may have to hit 'Refresh' to load them all...)
Upon the little death of Parzival, Klingsor (right) appears inviting those in-it-I-Ates who have wearied of the indulgences of Valhalla to come down to the Dungeon for an Underworld initiation with Frau Hela.
Several put their names on his list and sign the Underworld Contract he presents.
After some time Parzival- now in Baphomet beast-skin- (right) from his shedding by Babalon, signs up for this journey.
As with other Underworld in-it-I-ates, he steps through the Well of reMembrance from Le Pendu, into the Dungeon, where he is blindfold and led in spirals by the Goddess Hel.
He is then bound to a Gebo(gift-rune)-shaped cross, where Hel alternately carresses and jolts him with Her electrified feather.
Meanwhile up above in the Feasting Hall, Dessert is served:
(Click on Image above for short lo-res Quicktime Video -music by Kestral, footage by Zya Arkane)
To dramatic bells and gongs, the Apple Woman is carried out upon a litter by four warriors...
She is Iduna, whose Golden Apples keep the Gods forever young in the immortal Halls of Valhalla.
She is the Queen of Pentacles (below) upon Her giant platter, which is the Ace of Pentacles, one of the four elemental Hallows of the Grail mythos.
There is a Norse myth that Iduna went to Hel, and the Gods began to age and wither in Her absence. At these Imbolc festivities this represents Winter, and Her return the abundance of Spring.
Iduna and the Valkyries distribute the fruits from Her platter, sensuously draping grapes and offering apples to the in-it-I-ates at the Feast
Live Musickal performances then follow, from Kestral (left), Lightning Wolf, and Wendy Rule (right)
The Feasting-Hall rings with revelry, and the Valkyries dance upon the table-tops.
Then Parzival dances out ringing his bell, his Fool's sack swinging from its stick upon his shoulder.
He sighs that he cannot seem to find the Holy Grail (which he thought he had found in Babalon, but where was She now?) nor the Spear of Destiny: '...Is it my destiny, then, to ever be this Fool with this bell and this sack on this stick... my destiny to... my... Destiny!?!'
With a flash of inspiration he takes the sack off his staff, raising it vertically: '...My Destiny... The Spear of Destiny! I had it all along! It is my Destiny...'
He then turns his fool's bell upside-down, and realizes it is, '...The Holy Grail. I had it all along! It is a part of me...'
As culmination of the night's entertainment, Parzival takes the stage as the strange sounds of ORCHESTRA-ted ChAOS -An eclectic collection of masterful musicians improvising together on a diverse range of instruments from classical strings and orchestral percussion to didgeridoo, sitar and synth- begin to swell behind his final verse, which begins spoken and becomes sung:
Parzival:
As the Graal of Musick
The Chalice is the sacred Bell
And as the lightning-flash of the Logos
The Spear is the Vajra Sceptre
And Hela comes up through the Well
A withered and wintry ethereal specter
(Hel who has come up from the dungeon appears in the front of the stage, the decaying side of Her facing the audience)
As the Spear of Destiny comes
Forth to intercept Her
Stirred into waking by the Staff of Action
The Chalice of Dreams now full-filled
The Graal of Vision, In holy Union
Is pierced by the Spear of True Will
Parzival brings together the Spear and the Grail.
Hel tears away her decaying skin and from hunched crone straightens to beautiful maiden, becoming Brigid again...
Musick is vivified with the Logos
And from this Hieros Gamos
As a snake sloughs its old skin
Crone becomes maiden ag'in
As winter gives way to the spring
Parzival passes the Grail through Brigid's yoni-shaped root-staff, while with their other arms he penetrates her chalice with the Spear of Destiny in the more traditional manner...
The Flower-Maidens from the Garden scene come up and bedeck Brigid in wreathes, throwing flowers out to the in-it-I-ates...
Parzival: 'Oh Brigid O Babalon
O Kundry unveiled from your dreams
Oh lady of Fire we hail your desire
To rekindle this Imbolc eve...
Amprodias steps up to the front of the stage, bent in pain.
Parzival touches his side gently where he was speared and he straightens, casting off his blood-stained robe...
'Twas the Spear of Will that wounded you,
And so tis the Spear of Intent that cures you too
Like the venom of Medusa's twin locks
Which both heal and wound
For the harsh Word that pierces and divides
With the Chalice of the tune unites
And is softened into song...
So revive oh Amfortas, Fisher King
O Nightside Fool Amprodias
Arise to the light and the warmth of the Spring; and then...
With a spring in your step
You may dance again, and play
Over the Cliff and awaaaaayyyyyyyyyy....
Parzival passes the Spear over the shoulder of Amprodias, and puts the sack back on its feathered tip...
Amprodias dances off with the sack on stick over his shoulder, and ORCHESTRA-ted ChAOS begins a circling riff as Parzival sings...:
'...the continuing tale of the Snake which eats its own tail
'The continuing tale of the Snake which eats its own tail
Oroboros, Oroboros, oroboros, oroboros...
The continuing tale of the Snake which eats its own tail...'
An edited full-length DVD from the FEAST of VALHALLA will be available soon from INSPIRALink. Multimedia PRESS. If interested please email [email protected]
Iduna: Bex Hexabranchus
Skuld, Urd: Danielle
Grail Maiden, Urd, Skuld, Brigid-Babalon, Hela: Tesssa Watson
Verdanthi: Yoka
Valkyries: Heidi, Kara, Tash, Yoka, Bex
Flower-maidens: Kara, Tash, Lydia
Parzival, Odin, Heimdall, Ardhanarishvara-An: Orryelle
Klingsor, installations, lights: Amordios Gobblyn-Smyth
Hugin: Dorryn
Munin: Evan Flux
Amfortas: Shae
Faun: Allis Maun
Extra Musicians (besides cast above): George Akl, Ben Dickson, Kestral, Sha
Barbarian: Adam
Crew: Ra'en, Mat, Jimmy, Peter
Cooks: Bianna & Joanie
Many Thanks to All!
This Event was a Part of the RAINBOW BRIDGE/\RAINBOW SERPENT Performance Project,
connecting Norse and Australian Dreaming...
Orryelle's BOOK of KAOS Tarot -the deck the Theatre at this event was based upon
METAMORPHIC RITUAL THEATRE Co. -Intent, Images and Synopses of past and imminent opera-tions