My good friend, the artist Setken, has directed a mini-documentary about the Egyptian praying mantis god, Abyt. Setken asked me to compose some music for the film, and I was very happy to oblige. I’m also happy to announce that Setken’s film has been selected by the Anatolian Short Film Festival for September 2020. Follow the link below to watch the documentary and vote for the film!
And if you enjoy the music in the film, you can also stream or download it for free by clicking the image below:
We sincerely hope that everyone enjoys this work – especially Abyt Himself! Dua Abyt!
Track 6 from my new album, Summer’s End, coming this October 1, 2020 to gbmarian.bandcamp.com! Listen to the complete track at:
This one might require some explanation, as I’m sure people will wonder why I wrote a song about the third letter of the Elder Futhark for a Halloween-themed album.
The answer is 1995’s Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (known affectionately to fans as “Halloween 6” or “H6”), in which our favorite silent masked assassin is ostensibly “controlled” by worshipers of a demon called “Thorn.” The symbol for Thorn is actually Thurisaz, and much is claimed in the film about ancient Druids worshiping this demon and sacrificing their own families to it (hence Michael’s “family vendetta”).
First of all, Thurisaz is not a “Celtic” rune; it belongs to the Vikings, not to the Druids. Second of all, it does not represent “evil” or “human sacrifice.” Thurisaz represents the thunder god Thor and his battles with the primordial frost giants of Norse mythology. Specifically it is keyed to Thor’s hammer, Mjollnir, which he uses to beat the shit out of chaos monsters. It represents violence, pain and destruction, but only in a defensive context, in the sense of warding off evil influences. In fact I think there is a very strong parallel between Thor and Mjollnir on the one hand, and Set and Khepesh (the Big Dipper) on the other.
That being said, Halloween 6 might be goofier than shit, but seeing the film was a major step in my coming to Paganism as a teenager, because I found all this stuff about runes fascinating, and it got me reading and learning about this stuff. Also, my favorite actor, Donald Pleasence (who plays Dr. Loomis in the original Halloween series), sadly joined the ancestors right after they completed filming. It was a very sad day for all of us who loved watching that feisty old man go Boogeyman-hunting every year. So this song is dedicated to Donald Pleasence; hope you enjoy this offering, good sir! 🎃
