album ‘as above, so below’ (2024)

Power through adaptation
Draws me to your perfection
Unique soul, no other resemblance
But the one that makes me dance

The ultimate guide to my reflection
Like my deepest inspection
Like an arrow shot so far
At the end of my precious path

As above, so below
As within, so without
As the universe, so the soul

As above, so below
As within, so without
As the universe, so the soul

In the middle lane
I accelerate, then stretch
In receptive inaction
I receive your divine unction

My strength is the fruit of weakness
My weakness is the seed of strength
“Why?”, to the very depths of my fate
Then the necessary movement takes shape

As above, so below
As within, so without
As the universe, so the soul

As above, so below
As within, so without
As the universe, so the soul

Receive my trusting devotion
You are the mother, the daughter, the sister
She who worked all weapons
Tears long since blessed
Like a waterfall on her soul
She is one of my dead
She who wept all the woe

She who wept all the woe
She who wept all the woe
She who wept all the woe
She who wept all the woe

As above, so below
As within, so without
As the universe, so the soul

As above, so below
As within, so without
As the universe, so the soul

I’ve imagined my future self, after death, filled with happiness, joy and serenity. I ask her for advice on how to make the most aligned choices. I connect with the light of the alchemical vision that is within me and beyond.

Through the crackling light
I realize my vibrant immersion
From my shell to my sight
I release its powerful action

The card sprang from the deck
The better to meet me
Like a worthy old friend
Like a gust of a new spring

Who scratches the surface
And weeps blessed tears
Touches the hidden depths
Crosses the highest peaks!

Beware of the dark
That looks into your eyes
Walk through the fire!
That which stagnates is a liar!

Is a liar!

It glides through my soul
From droplets to streams
It sparkles on my vessels
Dazzling is my dream

Like a blur on troubled water
Or the mirror of a still lake
Here comes the moonmaker
Her hand is crossing the gate

Who scratches the surface
And weeps blessed tears
Touches the hidden depths
Crosses the highest peaks!

Beware of the dark
That looks into your eyes
Walk through the fire!
That which stagnates is a liar!

Is a liar!

That which stagnates is a liar!
That which stagnates is a liar!
That which stagnates is a liar!

To the rhythm of a life that must move
To the truth of a heart that must feel
Life is enough for those who know how to pour
Life is enough for those who know how to fill

Who scratches the surface
And weeps blessed tears
Touches the hidden depths
Crosses the highest peaks!

Beware of the dark
That looks into your eyes
Walk through the fire!
That which stagnates is a liar!

Is a liar!
Is a liar!
Is a liar!

When I don’t understand myself and the emotions remains stagnant, I draw cards from the ‘Tarot de Marseille’ or an oracle to visualise what I’m missing. I then let this new wisdom build up in my actions, so that it becomes incarnate in me.

From the planets to the earth
From the core to the universe
Energy is everywhere
Of magic you’re the heir

Make your own justice
Influence the scales
Without any malice
Perceive beyond the veil

Become god of your tower
For your greater glory
You are the burning fire
Magic to victory
Like ascending thunder
You will crack the sky
To walk further and further
Beyond the Land of the Star

Let your vision be clear
Like the eyes of the Eagle
The first death you must not fear
May success be royal

Transfer to lightning
Your ardent desires
Induce fare reality
Beware the blind shelter

Become god of your tower
For your greater glory
You are the burning fire
Magic to victory
Like ascending thunder
You will crack the sky
To walk further and further
Beyond the Land of the Star

Hail to Hugin
Hail to Mugin
Hail to Hugin
Hail to Mugin
Hail to Hugin
Hail to Mugin
Hail to Hugin
Seize your weapon
Pierce the Dragon

Become god of your tower
For your greater glory
You are the burning fire
Magic to victory
Like ascending thunder
You will crack the sky
To walk further and further
Beyond the Land of the Star

So many things are out of my control, and when I feel it’s right, I use magic and affirmative visualisation to influence my future. In my inner and outer pilgrimage, I help the power to germinate and the dross left behind dies, just as the road to Compostela leads to the “Prima Materia” that must be pierced by light to become the philosopher’s stone.

The quintessence embalms forever
For the rose that bloomed on earth
Solve et Coagula operates
It’s the dusk of the Dead Head!

The subtle is detached from the vulgar
Mercury and Sulfur remain
The body is ready for dissection
Calcination takes place

One burns the petals
The other the bones
They are bound, they are bound by an oath

They’re the Red King and the White Queen together, allying
Glorious in a perfect wedding
Order substance, sublimate spirit, balancing

This is Nature, and its generous gift of a being
Like a drop of infinite power
Life, character and body bound to eternity

Salt shimmers with a thousand crystals
Water reveals the envelope
It communes with spirit and quicksilver
It ends like a scarlet birth!

It heals all cracks, resurrects the universe
For the glory of mankind
The Opus Magnum comes to fruition
Nourished by the celestial fire

The golden egg
Is in gestation stage, in gestation
For an embodied marriage

They’re the Red King and the White Queen together, allying
Glorious in a perfect wedding
Order substance, sublimate spirit, balancing

They’re the Red King and the White Queen together, allying
Glorious in a perfect wedding
Order substance, sublimate spirit, balancing

This is Nature, and its generous gift of a being
Like a drop of infinite power
Life, character and body bound to eternity

Working at the fire of the Athanor is a profound change. I started alchemy by making a spagyric elixir guided by new and old treaties. I felt that the plant and I were going through the same process of calcination, purification and reunion in a present filled with simplicity.

There is a place
Deep in the chest
Isolated from the rest
Unlike any other nest

There is a flame
Unique in its essence
Full of loneliness
Encircled by darkness

Let your fangs bite in the night
Your furious thirst for life!
Let them tear enemy flesh to pieces
Who wants to cross the wolf’s territory

Let the crows paint the twilight
With their bloodthirsty desires
Let the lint that pollutes things
Fall from the highest cliff!

At this stage
No point of reference
No reassuring laws
There’s only one freedom

There is only this sentence
This ultimate adage
I’m doing it for me
Now and eternally!

Let your fangs bite in the night
Your furious thirst for life!
Let them tear enemy flesh to pieces
Who wants to cross the wolf’s territory

Let the crows paint the twilight
With their bloodthirsty desires
Let the lint that pollutes things
Fall from the highest cliff!

Are you ready to take the blow?
To create your ideal?
Are you ready to be selfish?
To overcome the animal?

Are you ready for the lead role?
To give shape to what you feel?
Are you ready to clench your fist?
To overcome the spirit that is your own?

I felt that, when it came to defending myself or creating, I had no reference point except the voice of my heart. And that voice can’t rely on others; it’s me alone in the world, the only judge of my rights. It is also in my three principles, Mercury, Sulphur and Salt, that the changes will take place when working on physical matter.

Once upon a time
There was a King without a Queen
His crooked fingers ripped all the hearts
So he dreamed for a strong one

And his dreams carry him
To the soul of a moon girl
Cause night is a feast
And the feast now unfurls

The graves are dark for little people
But the King adores them
And beneath his mantle
A child’s heart is hiding

And upon these graves
Was born a Garden
Deep in this land
He comes to caress his dreams

And what a joy to see
That the heart does not bleed
Under his innocent claw
Under his pale hand

And he and the girl from the moon
They wander towards heaven
They nurture the Garden
To reach the full bloom

The people have a bitter glance
See how they cry for vengeance!
Cause they don’t understand the lily flower
The people take torches and pitchforks
The people are afraid because they hear the abyss

So much light creates shadows to hide
Unclean hands knocking on the gates of the castle
Where the King crowned the girl as his Queen
And they watch the rain from their garden in the sky

The Garden in the Heart

The rain that falls on these hateful eyes
The people from down there, people, rats
And their groans of beasts
Suffocate before the blood flowers
Bringing down a divine hope

And then they pray, they pray
They pray that never burns their Garden
They pray, they pray
They pray that never burns their Garden

They pray, they pray
They pray that never burns their Garden
They pray, they pray
They pray that never burns their Garden

They pray, they pray
They pray that never burns their Garden
They pray, they pray
They pray that never burns their Garden

Adrien D. wrote the lyrics of this song. He wanted to speak about the chemical wedding in a fairy tale like way. The song romanticizes the two alchemical figures, the Red King and the White Queen, who represent a perfect balance between feminine and masculine energy. It is also telling about the fear and reject of society toward this culture of esotericism that is however deeply rooted in our occidental legacy. 

The Fool climbs the ladder
Leaning against the laurels
Of the woman and her four colors
The stick, the coin, the cup and the sword

I cannot betray my calling
To my hermetic veil I cling
Working too much with the devil
It will crush the vulnerable

The eagle flies over the grey mists
The sky shines, silent radiance
The walled garden of power is built
Solitude is dressed with a thousand plants
And nature unfolds once again

By the breath of the Great Work
I take the path of the tarot
Each step embodies an illustration
That carries me and lightens my burden

I reign as a warrior over my lands
As number six of the revealed Honours
I forge with my mirror tower
A brighter life beyond the end

The eagle flies over the grey mists
The sky shines, silent radiance
The walled garden of power is built
Solitude is dressed with a thousand plants
And nature unfolds once again

The broken herd dies
With a thousand narcotic eyes
I contemplate the rain
And my thoughts are starting again
I’d forgotten its silver filaments

The eagle flies over the grey mists
The sky shines, silent radiance
The walled garden of power is built
Solitude is dressed with a thousand plants
And nature unfolds once again

The Magnum Opus is also regaining back the capacity to contemplate the most simple things of nature with marvel. I need to get away from the frenzy of the world to rediscover my creative fire. My ideas need the slow pulse of nature to blossom. If the Fool is the inspiration, and the fulfilment of my desires, my needs, my heart and my thoughts are the goal, then I let myself be forged by Love.

All life begins in the dark
Raw skin and blind eyes
Pierced in all sides by waves
Fist clenched beneath the cape

I screamed at the top of my lungs
I spat out my first slag
The light burned my world
In the folds of a lost past

Between the stars are the marks
Free are the facts I create
From my clay I shape the lines
To sharpen my own lance

I’m the diamond that is born
And the master must give form
To a substance chained by time
Which must perfect its chime
As all life begins in the dark

Narrow molds infest
Towers and their owners
This misery must be repaired
By their laws, heart is broken

The wheel of fortune turned
I tumbled, my back to the unknown
In other words I found wisdom
My hands in truth burned

Between the stars are the marks
Free are the facts I create
From my clay I shape the lines
To sharpen my own lance

I’m the diamond that is born
And the master must give form
To a substance chained by time
Which must perfect its chime
As all life begins in the dark

Dum pendebat, dum pendebat filius

To the quest I devote my fight
I savor the earthly bite
I let the clock tame me
At last I can breathe
At last I can breathe

Between the stars are the marks
Free are the facts I create
From my clay I shape the lines
To sharpen my own lance

I’m the diamond that is born
And the master must give form
To a substance chained by time
Which must perfect its chime
As all life begins in the dark

As all life begins in the dark

I deeply felt the pain of being born and having to go through life without any wise key to open the door to happiness. Later, I realised that my vocation was to be human, in other words to be a bridge that must be crossed, living life with a light joy, as Nietzsche would say, in order to embody the truth of my immortal soul, as alchemy would say.