A pondering on the power of the Word.

Something I was thinking about with regard to spirituality and AT's world: the official timeline (which I'm pretty sure by now is not a spoilery document, as it covers AT1 only, and I don't think these details will be released outside of the timeline) begins with the creation of the first word. It's very Biblical: in the beginning, there was the Word. And, incidentally, that word was "chs": a verb meaning become, turn into, or transform.

"Chs" is actually a more popularly used verb than those meanings would seem to account for in English, given that it seems to mean "become" only in the sense of fundamental change (e.g. "the kind of person I will become"), not in the senses of becoming happy or becoming used to something. This catalysing word, this primary word, this word which suggests that the universe's most divine instrument is its ability to turn one thing into another (which seems to make sense; given that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, the force of movement behind the universe, the thing that causes it not to remain in static state, would seem to be the transformation of energy into different states), seems to be echoed repeatedly in the songs of the world.

Perhaps we could say that the Reyvateils are subconsciously working this vital word into their music just because it is such a strong underlying current within the universe, but I think it's more than even that; I think there's a very obvious reason the word is used a lot. If the divine force of the universe is the capacity for change, then that capacity should be a fundamental part of magic. And indeed, magic, too, is very obviously about change, transformation, becoming. Our obvious image of magic is turning the latent energy in ourselves and in the universe into heat, or light, or growth, or a healing power. There is little in magic that does not involve some manner of change, even if it is the changing of a thing from a state in which it was moving to a state in which it is not (meta-change that seems like the opposite of change, yet also requires one). The Reyvateils are consciously or subconsciously aware that chs is the force behind their magic, and as such they invoke it, and as such their magic is powerful -- and the series creators show that the Reyvateils aren't just making pretty mouth movements, but are actually a species that gets magic quite a bit.

Incidentally, I think it's interesting that in AT's case we get to know what the first word was. In the Bible we get "the Word was God", but does that mean that "God" was the first word (making the first word a self-definition, "I", which is interesting philosophically in itself in that it seems to suggest that the creation of the world is tied up with the defining of the world, and that maybe how we define the world has immense power to affect it), or that God was a word, but we don't know which? Hmm, ponder....

Hands on hearts, raise your voices, one and all...

In this time when many Americans are feeling particularly uplifted about the possibilities unfolding in their nation-- and others, noting that social progress has not occurred equality on all fonts, could do with a little more uplifting-- PsychDragoonX from A Reyvateil's Melody has contributed some words that should stir the hearts of even the most jaded American. I bring you... the preamble to the US constitution, and the Pledge of Allegiance, in Hymmnos.


Original:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Translation:
EXEC_with.METHOD_HYMME_PREAMBLE_CONSTITUTION_UNITED_STATES/.
Was granme erra walasye oz UNITED STATES
Was granme erra art 0x vvi.
zahha herr dgal
quen quowjaz
gyusya dgal falfa
grandus walasye
grrew WELFARE
grandus arhou oz LIBERTY sos walasye oz iem en futare
1x AAs ixi
Was paks ra quen CONSTITUTION sos UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Literally:
To protect the United States with desire,
With the desire to protect,
Create their nation,
Create justice,
Control notional peace,
Protect the people,
Improve Welfare,
Protect the blessings of Liberty for the people of now and the future,
With great excitement, create the Constitution for the United States of America.


Original:
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands: One nation, under God, indivisible, With liberty and justice for all.

Translation:
EXEC_HYMME_PLEDGE_OF_ALLEGIANCE/.
Rrha zweie ra grandus zuieg oz UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Rrha ki ra en dgal en echrra.
Rrha wol ra 0x vvi
en dgal
en Saash
na pakz
1x AAs ixi
Rrha ki erra LIBERTY en quowjaz en ciel.

Literally:
Entranced, I guard the power of the USA
Concentrating, for the nation that it resonates (stands for)
Enfevored,
For one nation
Under God
Indivisible
Concentrating for Liberty and Justice for all.


I am deeply, deeply amused. I think it's the last lines of each of these that do it.

In other news, seriously thinking of doing a revision on Three-Way Handshake, now that I've discovered a little extra tidbit that was in that scene on the drama CD that I really want to explore, and I think I know just how to drop it in there. If I'd known about this in the first place, it would have so been in the original....

An analysis of 染～SEN～此ノ花咲ク耶 (Colors ~ Will this Flower Bloom?)

This post does reveal a spoiler or two, so just to be on the safe side, I'm going to black out the text. (Blogger really needs to implement the ability to collapse and expand posts.) If you want to read the full text without having to highlight it, go to the comments for this post, then click the "Show Original Post" link at the top.

Thanks ever so much to Lazy/hYEmmAr for the translation here!

Anyway, this is Mir's image song from AT2. I was really struck by the uniqueness of this song, and thought I'd take it apart as a way of getting to textwaffle more about Mir and analysing her character some, as well as the sheer brilliance of the way the series uses music to develop character. The song is up for grabs here (thanks, Dustiferous!), if you want to listen along.


染～SEN～此ノ花咲ク耶 (Colors ~ Will this Flower Bloom?)
by Mitose Noriko

こころに舞い落つ　真白きひとひら
Kokoro ni maiotsu masshiroki hitohira
The pure white flower petals soaring and falling in my heart
いづれの色にや染まらん　此の花
Idzure no iro ni ya somaran kono hana
This flower, it is still not stained by another color

天地ニ満テ　御神楽ニ舞エ
Amatsuchi ni mite mikagura ni mae
Filling the heaven and earth, dancing the melodies of Gods
謳ノ葉捧ゲ　此ノ花咲ク耶
Uta no ha sasage kono hana sakuya
Sacrificing the petals of songs, will this flower bloom?

先刻見た小鳥の　羽は翡翠の色
Sakki mita kotori no hane wa hisui no iro
The little birds I saw in the past, their wings had the color of jade green
昨日見た泉の　水は水晶の色
Kinou mita izumi no mizu wa suishou no iro
The fountains I saw yesterday, their streams had the color of crystal blue

ciel ar celle, weak ar quive
The sky is just too high, the moon is just too pure
lusye ar clare
The light is just too clear for me
mea re zeeth ween shellan
I am being chained in the world's cage
mea na knawa fandel
I still hold so many questions without an answer

水面に落ちた雫　一粒揺れて
Minamo ni ochita shizuku hitotsubu yurete
A drop of water falls onto the surface of the lake
波間に描き出す光
Namima ni egakidasu hikari
It causes a wave that sketches the light

fwilla selena yasra sarla
A drop of water plays a gentle song
yehar werllra ween syec mea
And releases me from the deep abyss

色彩のない世界に　訪なうしるべに
Iro no nai sekai ni otonau shirube ni
As we gather together in the colorless world
ひとつひとつ触れて　色づきはじめる
Hitotsu hitotsu furete irodzuki hajimeru
We begin to touch our hearts and colors begin to form

celetille burle, bautifal grrena
The vivid color of blue, the beautiful color of green
clyncye rudje, clalliss mea
The pure color of crimson, the colors that I paint on everything

rivire, plina, fayra, clalliss sphilar
The little streams, the grasses and trees, the blazing flame, the dyed hearts
celetille clalliss cest innna mea
The true colors of my deepest feelings

想いの欠片と　虚ろな時間の
Omoi no kakera to utsurona jikan no
The fragments of thoughts fall into time's endless hollow
記憶の淵沈み　水の底の
Kioku no fuchi shizumi mizu no soko no
The abyss of memories sink into water's bottomless hole

zadius, guatrz, ruinie
Hatred, anger, destruction
jenhah, gyas, faf, morto
Calamity, dispute, fear, death

穢れと闇　奈落の底深く
Kegare to yami naraku no soko fukaku
The tainted darkness, the depths of hell
異界の門　魍魎等澱り
Ikai no kado myouryoudomo tamari
The gate of underworld, demons and spirits roam
滅びの謳　劫火燃ゆる黄泉路
Horobi no uta gouka moyuru yomiji
The ruined song, the pathway to hell burns with flame of destruction
嘆きの渦　癒されぬ御魂に
Nageki no uzu iyasarenu mitama ni
The swirl of grief, helpless souls

gott! getrra dsier gyusya mea
Begone! The "me" who is stained with lust
gott! denera heighte mea
Begone! The "me" who is wounded with malice

消えない傷と　この悲しみと
Kienai kizu to kono kanashimi to
Neverending pain, neverending sadness
消えない過去と　過ちと
Kienai kako to ayamichi to
Neverending past, neverending faults
消せない棘も　刃も
Kesenai toge mo yaiba mo
Neverending thorns, neverending blades
消せない　罪も
Kesenai tsumi mo
Neverending sins

全ての宿業を灼き尽くせ
Subete no karuma wo yakitsukuse
Everything, devote your karma for a miracle

この胸の深くに　幾重に包んだ
Kono mune no fukaku ni ikue ni tsutsunda
Entangled deep inside my heart
どんな色にもまだ　染まらぬこころよ
Donna iro ni mo mada somaranu kokoroyo
Oh, it is still a pure heart unstained by any color

小鳥はただ謳う　世界を想って
Kotori wa tada utau sekai wo omotte
The little birds just keep singing their song of the world
小鳥は涙する　愛しき生命に
Kotori wa namidasuru itooshiki inochi ni
The little birds cry for their beloved life

Ma num wa nnoini li fhyu
In my unconsciousness, I begin to touch the wind
firle en vit li frawr
I begin to feel the flowers
art mea noes li fluy
I begin to see the fountains
mea knawa li ciel
I begin to know the world
walasye, near, enesse, mea paul li ciel
People, their lives, their thoughts, I begin to understand everything

生まれたばかりの花よ　真白き無垢の花
Umaretabakari no hanayo masshiroki muku no ka
Oh, the flower that has just been given birth, the flower with a color of pure white
祈りの謳を捧げん　此の花咲く耶
Inori no uta wo sasagen kono hana sakuya
I devote my song of prayers, will this flower bloom?

Vinan wis pitod re beja
Sharing the color of white together
willie en pitod re heighte
The feeling of being wounded so easily
echrra en pitod clalliss, ar vianchiel
The colors that resonance together, they are just too pure
den vinan fusya omnis, dius en fusya maxim
Nonetheless, I still embrace all those precious colors

Fou yea ra chanti ee, tasyue hymmnos mea
I shall gladly sacrifice my song of blessing
Presia chanti ee, tes titilia manaf, hyear!
Oh, for the sake of an innocent little life!


So the main thing that I thought was really interesting about this song is that it vacillates fairly wildly between dark and light imagery; it's full of both soaring poetry and hellish visions. One moment she's singing about little birds and flowers in her heart, the next she's talking about death and demons and burning. I think it befits Mir, because she's a very conflicted person; someone who's always been inclined to struggle towards the light, but is weighed down by so much anger and pain. But it's interesting because I don't see a lot of this in modern music at all.

The music of Western culture today, from my observations, is very single-themed; each song, and from a lot of performers each album, will have a very specific mood to it, whether uplifting or sorrowed, gentle or harsh, playful or serious. This almost schizophrenic-seeming shift, within the same song, between beautiful imagery and despairing cruelty is almost unheard of. (It's quite melodically jarring, as well, feeling like it's composed of parts of several different songs.)

If you track the lyrics carefully, the shifts aren't actually as strange as they first appear; within the happier lyrics at first there is trepidation, a trembling sort of hope (summed up by the title, "Will This Flower Bloom?"), and then we see that trepidation give way to despair. In the midst of her darkest lyrics, Mir admonishes herself, trying to banish the worst part of herself, the part that would torture her with such images; after that, she gathers herself again and picks up for the happiest part of the song ("Everything, devote your karma for a miracle" really sounds like a rallying cry here), where she describes how even if she feels the colours of life are "too pure", she's still going to embrace them. It's a story of hope and love, followed by a plunge into darkness, followed by pulling herself out of that darkness and facing the light once more. If you look at it on that level, it's basically the story of Mir's life, as portrayed in AT1.

And this is why, I think, it differs from most music that I'm used to: it covers a long span of time. A lot of modern music is about the moment, describing the singer's feelings of now or a rather specific situation. This song is, rather, a series of snapshots of Mir's fluctuating emotions, taking what she feels at various times and piecing them together in a way that says, "this is what goes on inside me, generally speaking. This is what my head is like". It's almost like a representation of her Cosmosphere; or, at least, I'd be very surprised if her Cosmosphere isn't like this, full of alternating hopes and hells. (Don't spoil me, please!) As such, it does what AT1 was always very good at doing: it paints a well-rounded picture of a person that shows that conflicting darkness and light, hope and fear, joy and pain, exist within everyone. Putting it all together in a song may make Mir look a bit erratic, and certainly she's not the most stable person in the world, but I don't think it's a song of insanity, just a song giving us a very good impression of a person who has a lot of conflicting emotions.


Now, a bit about the imagery. In Mir's songs, she seems to use bird imagery pretty much exclusively to refer to herself. Pretty much any time she's talking about a little bird, she's using a metaphor for her own actions and feelings. It makes sense; she feels fragile, and hopeful, and she loves to sing; she was the "songbird" of humans in the past, who caged her and exploited her for her hymns.

I'm still working out what the white and red flowers, and the staining of things crimson, mean; she's used the crimson in other songs, and I think it has a deep metaphorical meaning for her. It seems to be that white flowers represent innocent feelings, easily wounded (or stained) feelings; in Mir's metaphor-set, her collection of mental allegories, a white flower is a delicate thing that can easily be dyed red.

What the red means, though, is harder to discern. She seems to use it, in this and other songs, to refer to her feelings, to things being painted red by her self-expression. She also seems to generally use it in what seems like quite a positive context; she's never talking about ugly things when she talks about painting things red, she's talking about love and the pure, beautiful colours in her deepest self, so it's unlikely that red represents blood, or rage, or anything like that. On the other hand, she also speaks of the white flowers that are "pure", have not yet been "stained", have not yet been "wounded", which does suggest that red has some negative aspects.

Perhaps red represents Mir's inner nature in all its beauty and ugliness; the love that she wants to pour out, but also her fears that her true self is a tainted thing, that it isn't good enough, that it will stain and ruin everything if she expresses it because, due to all her fears and resentments, being close to her is likely to cause people pain. White is the innocence of new feelings, new connections, that haven't yet been damaged by her conflicted nature, even if she dreams of pouring out what's really inside and letting the true colours of her soul live.


And some non-spoilery thoughts: I'm darn well blown away by just how successful this series is at portraying subtle elements of characterisation in song. The hymns and the main plotline are almost two halves of a puzzle; to truly understand the characters, you have to look at both, and I think that's really clever, especially for a series that is very much about the idea of people's deepest selves being expressed in song.

I've also become aware of something while looking at songs in AT, something that applies to life as well as fiction: namely, that you can learn a whole lot about someone by understanding the metaphors they use. It's not just in AT that people have collections of mental imagery and associations that come through in their speech; while most people's metaphors aren't as obvious and poetic as the ones in fiction, I think we all have our own symbolic languages, our own sets of associations, that come into play in our communications, and if you can get inside someone's default set of metaphors and see why they're using them, you can come to understand them a lot better.

Anyway, that's enough from me for this time. See you next time I attempt to wordily deconstruct something AT-related, or just the next time I find something amusing. ;)

EXEC_RE=VOLITION/.: a hymn for Mir

With many, many thanks to aquagon for the translation of this into Hymmnos; I'm overjoyed that I was able to have this rendered in the language, since my own abilities with it are sub-par to say the least. I tweaked it just slightly, just because some of the Hymmnos has slightly different connotations from my original draft, and I wanted to keep the meaning even if it it doesn't translate word for word.

A fan hymn for Mir, covering the AT3 redemption scenario I've been discussing here previously.



EXEC_RE=VOLITION/.


Was apea erra hyma rre ciel sonwe sos mea
I will be eternally immersed in happiness to hear the world sing for me

en firle rre ciel harmon rol nnoi...
and to feel the world come together as one...


Mea en yora wis faura, ciel wis pono
We are baby birds, and the world is an egg

yetere faura na pecee faura pono, faura zodal beng quon
If the baby bird does not break its egg, it will die before it is born

so pecee, diasee, pecee beng rre zodal ciel enclone yora
So hatch, children of God, before you are wrapped up by the dying world

celetille dyya messe anw talam
The new day brings the colour of dawn


Sev rre yorr walaka tes dor, firle anw ture dor
When you walk on the earth, feel you're bound to the earth

yehah grlanza cyui zash
To dance with joy causes you pain

Rrha apea ra stel yor vl viega uje mahin
In this lasting trance, immersed in happiness, I will snatch you from the cruel hands of the blades

yanje, iem en yanhe, rre yorr goa walaka anw lir
For eternity, from now and forever, you will only walk towards the light


Manafeeze wis yanje gyen anw akata
To be alive is to be eternally weaving a story

Rrha apea ra gyen akata yor, rre sorr akata yanwe anw ciel, so rre yorr drone
In this lasting trance, immersed in happiness, I will craft you a story that will turn this world into greatness, so take it in


[Chorus]

Cexm! pat yor vl yor hyzik en sacra, so chsee yor
Come! I will liberate you from your body and blood so that you may be transformed

(Cexm! pat yor vl yor cyuie hopb, so chsee yor)
(Come! I will liberate you from your sorrowed heart so that you may be transformed)

fandel hynne oz hymme fau
The endless voices of the singing birds

fandel quive hynne oz grlanza qraffa
The endless soft voices of the dancing leaves

Hyma! ciel spiritum waath vl omnis
Listen! As the spirit of the world revives from everywhere

(Hyma! ciel spiritum waath tes yor innna
(Listen! As the spirit of the world revives within your heart)

parge yor chs oz lurrea en gyuss anw wol lusye
Let go of your fear of change and embrace the rushing light

gral yor nyasri slepir tes dor
All your sorrows have been put to sleep inside the earth

so, dor tie yor nyasry, so yor revm famfa
So let the earth restrain your sorrows so that your dreams may fly


gott! Rrha guwo gaya gott denera, gatyuny, gauzewiga vl ciel!
Be gone! In this resentment I will never feel again, I will drive away the evil ones, the curses and the despair from this world!

gott! Rrha guwo gaya gott werllra, polon, orviclle vl ciel!
Be gone! In this resentment I will never feel again, I will drive away the tears, the loneliness and the obstacles from this world!

yanje na firle lurrea!
I won't feel pain anymore!


beng iem, zauve oz yora wis na vit
Before now, even the most clever of you were blind

iem vit sorr lir wis gyen tes lyuma
Now see the light that's been crafted in the stars

hymme eazas mea! parge yor zeeth
Sing together with me! Cast away your chains

celetille dyya messe anw talam
The new day brings the colour of dawn


viss anw wart wis fountaina tes lyuma
Read the words that are hiding in the stars

rre yorr gran anw dand, en parge vonn wis fountaine cest vl yor eux
Open the curtain; banish the darkness that hides the truth from your eyes

hymme eazas mea! hymme yora briyante
Sing together with me! Sing with voices of joy

fama tes yanje fwal, rre yor vit talam
Flying on eternity's wings, you can surely see the colour of dawn


Afternotes:
Anything in parentheses = sung by a choir. The rest are Mir's lines.

And yes, I took the opportunity to shamelessly have her sing paraphrased quotes from Utena in Hymmnos, because I could. :) I thought it was fitting since Mir likes her bird metaphors so much, and this song, and her goal, is all about transformation.

The title is also a pun, again with some Utena undertones, though that wasn't the main reason for using it, just a little incidental connection to the lyrics. It almost seems to read "revolution", meaning a complete upheaval or transformation of the world, but it's actually "re-volition", meaning "again, use your volition (will)". The first use of will to effect mass change by the Reyvateils was when Mir led them in a war against the humans, so the title implies that this song is Mir's new volition, or new act of will; an act in the vein of her old one, a "retry", yet vastly improved. I may also write a hymn for Mir's Reyvateil war, and if I do, I'll probably base it on this one somewhat so as to emphasise that this song is a reprise from back then.

There's also another thread of referencing going on here. Suffice to say, I'm doing something here with "snatching up", "body and blood", transformation, and the idea of voices raised in joy. Yes, I am going there. We're talking about someone who is in some way taking up the mantle of the Trio of Elemia: the dream of transforming the world into a paradise. I think I can get away with the imagery.

It doesn't flow very well as a song in English because I was trying to fit it to Hymmnos vocabulary as best I could. I'll possibly write a more polished set of English lyrics later that will act as a more liberal translation.

And no, I have no idea how you shout "cexm". I'll leave working that one out to the Reyvateils among you. :D