Sorrows of Sophia

ELIJAH'S MANTLE
SORROWS OF SOPHIA

Artwork concept by Mark Ellis

Photography and Colouring by Daniel Faoro

Cover design by Julien Vel
from a photograph by Daniel Faoro

CD label: Detail from the chart of 'The Virgin Sophia' of the Rosicrucians.

Drum pattern on Animus Anima
by Klaus Vormehr

Acknowledgments, references and further reading

The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets
by Barbara G. Walker

The Elements of the Goddess
by Caitlín Matthews

The Secret Language of Symbols
by David Fontana

1. Medusa
2. Tellus Mater **
3. Hermaphroditus */**
4. Salomé
5. Narcissus */**
6. Our Lady of the Flowers **
7. Animus Anima

Music and Voices by MARK ELLIS
Instrumentation Engineered and Produced by KLAUS VORMEHR
* Voice Engineered by BRENDAN PERRY
at QUIVVEY CHURCH STUDIO

Voices Engineered by James Quinn and Final Mix
at J.A.M. DIGITAL STUDIOS (KELLS)

Produced by MARK ELLIS
* Baritone voice CIARÁN McGAHON
** Tenor voice CONOR O'REILLY

Digital Mastering by DENIS BLACKHAM at Porky's

With thanks once again to Brendan without whom...

"At the dawn of religion God was a Woman."
Merlin Stone

The ancient Aegean world worshipped primarily women and serpents.

A female face surrounded by serpent hair was an ancient, widely recognized symbol of divine wisdom, and equally of the 'wise blood' that supposedly gave women their divine powers.

Much Gnostic literature praised the Serpent of Eden for bringing the 'light' of knowledge to humanity, against the will of a tyrannical god who wanted to keep humans ignorant. Some Gnostic sects honoured both Eve and the Serpent for their efforts on behalf of humanity.


medusa ananta kundalini per-uatchet nehushtan seraph apep khumbaba ouroboros	Hindu serpent mother. also the inner female soul of man in serpent shape, coiled in the pelvis, induced through proper practice of yoga to uncoil and mount through the spinal chakras toward the head, bringing infinite wisdom. Egypt's archaic mother of creation was a serpent. Jewish name for the great serpent. Hebrew word for the divine fiery serpent, used to mean an earth-fertilizing lightning snake and later became an angel. Egyptian serpent god. Sumerian serpent god. name given to the serpent worshipped by medieval hermetists, as king of magic.
medusa medusa medusa medusa medusa medusa medusa medusa	la bella la maledetta l'amata la spaventata l'amara la sfortunata la solitaria la vittima	the beautiful the cursed the once loved the feared the bitter the unfortunate the alone the victim

tellus mater ad te clamamus, exules filii Evae. ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes, in hac lacrimarum valle.	mother earth to thee we cry, banished children of Eve. to thee do we sigh, groaning and weeping, in the vale of tears.
(attributed to Adhemar, Bishop of Le Puy. died 1098.)
o clemens, o pia, o dulcis Maria. tua sunt ubera vino redolentia; candor superat lac et lilia, odor flores vincit et balsama (anonymous 12th c.)	o merciful, o kind, o sweet Maria. your breasts are as fragrant as wine; their whiteness whiter than milk and lilies, their scent lovelier than flowers and balsam wood.