The Star of Azazel - Azazelin Tähti

It may have sounded like I was saying it's a crap show, but I've watched five seasons of it...

And yeah, it would be cool if the corpse-paint priesthood were real.

Benemal wrote: ↑Thu May 21, 2020 9:39 pm And yeah, it would be cool if the corpse-paint priesthood were real.

The Seer at Kattegat is my favourite character. Apparently a divinity in thin disguise, he epitomizes apolitical spirituality. No matter who rules in Kattegat, or who comes to consult the oracle, all are greeted in the same psychic space of suspended time. And although he be the very heart of heathen religion, he certainly is no bigoted pagan, like Floki. His insight into christian soul is effortless.

Nefastos wrote: ↑Fri May 22, 2020 1:24 pm

Smaragd wrote: ↑Thu May 21, 2020 8:36 pmthe historical facts were quite off and vast interpretative and artistic liberties were taken

A bit of a tangent along the liberties taken to the Scandi-Germanic religion & myth, if you don't mind.

I am currently watching for the first time Wagner's Ring. (Das Rheingold & Die Walküre watched in quite a lounging manner, Siegfried & Götterdämmerung yet to be watched.) Although I have known the basics & how Wagner has influenced in many ways – say – Tolkien, Jung, or the Nazis, I am flabbergasted just my tremendous the effect seems to have been. It's not always easy to point finger where the exact form endures, but the spirit really seems to linger.

I agree. Interpretative ways can actually have more vital connections to things of the past. Different times need different forms for certain spirits to manifest, because the associative settings are different. I believe the unconscious takes these things automaticly in to consideration. Still, a seer using black and white make up might be such an ”archetypal” form, not to mention how culturally emphasized it is nowadays, that it might be reasonable to judge its ”authenticity”. The ”archetypal” sort of streches the aesthetic above time and culture, while the corpsepaint association crops it down to mere cultural reference bound to a small portion of cultural history.

I saw a recording of Das Rheingold this year, and am waiting the following parts of the tetralogy to come from the same director. It was surprising how central the ring theme was and how much Tolkien must have been influenced by it.

I see Scandinavian black metal folk as modern vikings, which is a cliche. But I don't see them romantically. They're civilized barbarians, as am I. We get along. It's the archetypal that makes some aspects of the show interesting. Projecting black metal culture backwards 1200 years, would be the reverse of how I see it.

This is opening shot from The North Water

Couple of years back I started to really get into the wonderful world of wuxia films. If you are into martial arts movies, the Shaw Brothers films are essential to watch. I thought I'd share a couple of my personal favorites. I left out the usual Venom mob and 36th chamber flicks because they're not that hard to discover if you're into this kind of stuff.

The Swordsman and the Enchantress (1978)

The story revolves around various parties involved in a search for a legendary weapon called the Deer Sword. Very over the top, dance-like, wire and trampoline assisted acrobatics. Elements of fantasy with a surreal twist.

Bat Without Wings (1980)

Atmospheric thriller with crazy makeup, choreography and plot. A notorious rapist-killer (who may or may not look like Gene Simmons) murders a fiancee of a famous swordsman and frames another, causing a trio of heroes to team up to face him.

Web of Death (1976)

I have no words to describe this film. It simply needs to be witnessed. Nice colorful set and an absolutely insane plot, involving treacheries, and the most unlikely legendary weapons imaginable. A lot of (campy) horror and fantasy elements. This may be my favorite of them all.

During Christmas holidays I finally got around to watching The White Reindeer, a classic, celebrated Finnish atmospheric horror film from 1952. The plot revolves around young woman named Pirita (Mirjami Kuosmanen), who seeks the counsel of a noaidi Tsalkku-Niila, asking for a love potion to help with her marriage, but the required blood sacrifice also transforms her into a seductive, vampiric white reindeer. Mythological and sexual themes are skillfully interwoven in this peace. The main character, although villainy, and representing of a inversion of cultural norms, is portaid in manner that makes the viewer sympathetic to her cause. Personally I liked this movie a lot, me being from Lapland, and having Sámi heritage made it especially interesting watch. For people residing in Finland this movie is available to watch right now in Yle Areena.

A curiosity, that I'm surprised I'd never heard of, The Devil's Rain (1975), starring William Shatner and John Travolta, with special satanic consultant/actor Anton La Vey. The treasure chest of cinematic gold/excrement still keeps on giving its gifts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzPEGHpOOYs

There is a movie called "A Dark Song" that i think would be interesting to anyone who is interested in magic. Real magic that is, people who made this movie really did some research of how everything actually works in real life.