The beginning of May 1995 saw the release of the first solo project by Rodney Orpheus, charismatic leader of influential band The Cassandra Complex – the album Sun God. He was assisted on the recording by Patricia Nigiani, inspiration behind the band Aurora Sutra and formerly vocalist with successful German hard electronic group Project Pitchfork; and Marcus Giltjes, the percussion force behind many of Europe’s best independent bands, such as Girls Under Glass and Pink Turns Blue.
This is not a normal album – the whole record is based on Voudou symbols and ideas. The music is an incredible combination of ethnic rhythms, Gothic atmosphere, industrial sampling, and ambient sounds; coupled with the unique voices of two of the most important singers in the European Electro/Gothic scene at the time. Recorded at the legendary Wooden Horse Studios in Hamburg, the album has a powerful, unique sound that never fails to send shivers up the spine of all who hear it.
The record was originally released on CD on Rodney Orpheus’ Original Artists label. After being out of print for some years a fully remastered version is now once more being made available via digital distribution.
Shortly after the release of the Sun God album Rodney and Patricia embarked on a series of festival shows in Europe, including the Matzen Festival in Vienna, Austria, the Sauerland festival in Olpe, Germany, and the Moonchild Gothic festival in Leipzig, Germany. Their live show was incredibly powerful and exciting, featuring several live drummers and a bizarre ritual atmosphere. It was not uncommon for the audience to get so carried away at their concerts that they become possessed or begin making love during the show!
In 1998 the band were also featured in the cult German vampire movie “Kiss My Blood” which was shown at film festivals across Europe.
Credits
- Rodney Orpheus: vocals, instruments
- Marcus Giltjes: percussion
- Patricia Nigiani: additional vocals
- Emily Bradshaw: viola
- Caroline Gross: flute
- Tom Crowe: Gnostic chant
Production by Rodney Orpheus & Marcus Giltjes at Wooden Horse Studio, Hamburg
Artwork and photography by H-U Sondhuss
Original Album Sleeve Notes
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
This is not a normal album. Whereas most records are made primarily for the purpose of entertainment, this one has been inspired by the invocation of the Loa, the spirits of the Voudou religion.
The word religion has been long debased in Western culture. To many of us, religion is something that priests and old people do in church on Sunday. But in so-called primitive cultures religion is an everyday occurrence, a continual celebration of life and nature. We in the West are encouraged to think of this behaviour as stupid or ignorant, and the spirits that are worshipped as somehow not as evolved as the “God” of the Christian or Moslem faiths. Nothing could be further from the truth. The gods of Voudou are deeper and wiser than those of most other belief systems.
Voudou is a fascinating religion. It is at once very ancient and also totally modern. It is based on early African ritual, brought to the West by slaves. These slaves, forbidden to practice their beliefs by their masters, altered the outer form of their religion, keeping the inner mysteries intact. Thus now in America we have Voudou, Santeria, and many other forms of African magick, all springing from a common source.
The spirits are inside all things, in all people and all cultures. I’ve been asked before how a white European like me can possibly relate to Voudou. The answer is simple: I am from Africa. We are all from Africa. The human race was born there, and buried deep in our genetic inheritance is a connection to and an understanding of the Loa. We have not lost the connection our ancestors made – it is still there, beneath the surface of our consciousness.
Magick is within us and around us every day of our lives, we have but to recognise it. That recognition of the power of magick comes when we invoke the gods during ritual. Invocation means to call the gods down from their home to the earth. This is the great power of the human voice – to bring magick into the world. It is what this record is all about.
When I first had the idea of making this album, quite honestly I didn’t even know where to begin. We got about halfway through recording the first song and then found ourselves stuck. After days and nights of working on it and getting nowhere, I fell asleep in the afternoon and drifted into a dream. In that dream the Loa Legba appeared and began to talk to me. He described how we should continue the recording and even told me the lyrics that I should sing. I woke up and knew from that moment on how this record should sound. This pattern was repeated throughout the making of the entire album. In a very real sense this record is a product of the Loa themselves as much as it comes from me, and for that I am grateful to them.
While you listen to this record, bear in mind what I have said here. Feel the energy of the spirits inside you reflected in what we have made. Become part of the sound, let the Loa ride in on the rhythm of the drums. I guarantee that it will leave you changed forever.
Love is the law, love under will.
Rodney Orpheus
Should you desire more information on Voudou and Santeria, I recommend these books for study:
- Divine Horsemen – Maya Deren
- Walking with the Night – Raul Canizares
- Vodou Visions: An Encounter With Divine Mystery – Sallie Ann Glassman
The Songs
LEGBA
Legba is the god of magick, of words, of communication. It is he who opens the way between the world of humanity and the world of the loa. For this reason he is always the first loa called in every Voudou ceremony. Without Legba there can be no magick. Legba has many faces and personalities. Sometimes he is an old man telling stories, sometimes a young man full of creative power, sometimes a child full of mischief. He can be whatever he wills to be, reality is his to manipulate.
His vever (symbol) is the sign of the cross-roads, representing the place where two worlds meet, with his magick wand beside it.
Legba
Father of time
Come to me
Legba
Cross the bridge
Open the gate
Mount me
Ride me
Ride me
Legba
I am your horse
I am your horse
Ride me
Ride me
Legba
Ride me
Ride me
Ride me
Open the gates
Open the gates
Make me strong
Make me crawl
Open the gate
Open the gate
Make me burn
Legba
The word is Life
The word is Life
Legba
Burn me
Hold me
Fuck me
Legba
Burn me
Hold me
Fuck me
Legba
Burn me
Hold me
Fuck me
Legba
OYA
Oya is not normally a part of the pantheon of Voudou loa, she belongs to the Santeria religion, where she is the goddess orisha of storms, wind, and thunder. But as we made this album she insisted that she be included, to represent the other traditions of African magick. While we were recording her song, outside the studio a huge storm blew up, thunder and lightning flashing all around us as she came into our hearts.
Oya
Let the rain fall
Let the wind blow
Let the lightning strike me as I wait for you
Oya
AYIZAN
Ayizan is the goddess of initiation. Like initiation she is mysterious to those who have not experienced her fully, but full of inspiration to those who know her. She is the light within the darkness, the spark of the divine that is within us that we do not see until she shows us. She is the loa of rebirth, birth into the new life beyond the merely human.
Her vever represents the unification of the two worlds, of the human and the divine.
Ayizan
I come before you
In the dark
In the heat
The sun is rising
My hands are tied
And you are waiting
Ayizan
I hear the drums
I hear the drums
I’m walking
Walking
Walking
Walking
And I sink down
Into the dark waters
You cover my face
Hide me from the light
And I feel my breath
Ayizan
I feel the earth move beneath me
I feel the earth move beneath me
And I emerge
Into a new world
Into a new world
Into a new world
Ayizan
DAMBALLAH & AYIDA WEDO
Damballah & Ayida Wedo are the basic principles of creation, male and female. They are the fertile forces that combine to form all things in our universe. They are symbolised as twin serpents, and when they appear in a Voudou ceremony, the worshippers who are possessed by them will writhe around like snakes, often trying to climb up the centre pole of the temple or trying to dive into a large basin of water to swim.
Their vever shows snakes coiled around a pole.
[Translation of the Gnostic Chant:]
Io Io Io IAO Sabao, Lord Abrasax, Lord Meithras, Lord Phallos.
Io Pan, Io Pan Pan, Io Mighty One, Io Deathless One, Io Immortal One, Io IAO.
Hail Phallus, Hail All-Devourer, Hail All-Begetter.
Holy, Holy, Holy, IAO.
SIMBI
Simbi is a god of magick. He is the snake that glides through the world and sees all things. He is a source of great wisdom and understanding, but he is very quiet and shy and often has to be called carefully into the temple.
His vever is in the form of a rose and cross.
Do not wait outside Simbi
Do not stay outside Simbi
Simbi
Weave your spells around me Simbi
Simbi
Cross between the worlds Simbi
Come between the worlds Simbi
Right now
I am the Snake that gives Knowledge & Delight
I am Life, and the giver of Life, yet therefore is the knowledge of me the knowledge of death
Simbi
I see the world
I see the things that you will never see
I see the world of the Invisibles
I see the world inside the world
I see, I see
Simbi
GUEDE
Guede is the Lord of Death. His domain is the Underworld, the Nightside of our existence. Unlike modern European conceptions of Death, Guide is not slow and serious – completely the opposite in fact. He is full of life and joy, for all life eventually comes to him. When he appears in a ceremony he will often call for some fast dance music and start to leap around joking with all the people. He likes to wear sunglasses when he appears, since I suppose it is normally much darker in his usual domain! He is also very sexual in nature, for sex and death are always closely linked.
His vever features the cross and the coffin.
Hey, hey, hey!
Time for Guede to have some fun now, yeah!
Guede want to dance
Guede want to dance now
Let’s go
Papa Guede he’s a fine fellow
Papa Guede he’s a fine fellow
Just right for you baby
Hey Guede!
Dance with Death, dance with Death
Dance with Death, dance with Death
Dance
Hey, hey, hey, here come Guede
Guede
Crawling over your skin like the insects
Crawling over your skin and inside you with all my life
Give me your life my pretty, pretty one
Give me your life my pretty, pretty one
Give me your life
Guede come to get it right now, yes!
Guede give you life
Feel my body baby
Oh, feel my body my little, little, little one
Guede coming inside you now
Guede always there
Guede
We’re going to have some fun tonight…
AGWE
Agwe is the loa of the sea. He sails his boat over the water through wind and waves. His is the strength of natural forces, and the strength of those who overcome them. All our life comes from the sea, and Agwe is the fisherman who brings it to us, the sailor bringing treasures from foreign lands.
His vever is formed from a picture of a boat.
Agwe, Agwe, Agwe
Fire your cannon
Over the sea
Let your lightning strike me
Agwe, Agwe, Agwe
Cina
Cina, Cina, Cina
Dogwe sang, cina lo-ge
Agwe Arroyo protect your children
Care for your little ones
Cina dogwe sang
Cina lo-ge
Agwe, Agwe, Agwe
Fire your cannon
Over the waves
The sea in your hand
Wash me, wash me Agwe
Wash me in your tears
Wash me in your tears
Salt crusting my skin
I ride in your boat
I ride in your boat
Across the stars
Across the stars
Agwe, Agwe, Agwe
Arroyo
Protect your children
Care for your little ones
Take me away from this world
GRAN IBO
Gran Ibo is the wise old woman of the swamp, who sits quietly alone, but sees all and knows all. She possesses all the knowledge of nature and all the experience of old age. Listening to her stories we can learn much about the ancient ways of the earth, about the currents of energy that flow secretly around us, about the powers within the plants and the animals.
Gran Ibo
I sit beside you
Ibo
I walk beside you
Like I always do
To the secret place where life begins
Ibo
Give me your hand
Lay your hands on my head
Bless me
Ibo
Whisper your secrets in my ear
ERZULIE
Erzulie is the goddess of love. She is beautiful, young, vain and tragic. When she appears during a Voudou ceremony she flirts with all the men present, teasing them and laughing with them. But as the ceremony progresses her face begins to fall, and she starts to weep for all her old loves that she will never see again. For love is a fleeting thing and will always end in sadness.
Her vever is in the shape of a heart, for reasons which should be obvious.
Cry for me Erzulie, cry for me
Come into my life and set me free
You are my virgin, you are my bride
Come to me like the ocean tide
Erzulie
All the things you wanted you never had
And all the things you got turned bad
So now you cry as you come to me
My lover, my bride, my Erzulie
Erzulie
Erzulie Freda Dahomey
Yemaya, Yemaya, Yemaya, Yemaya
THE ANCESTORS
The Ancestors are those who have come before us; they are the ones who have passed down life & knowledge from generation to generation. All that we are comes originally from them, and all that we create we pass down to those who will come after us. Voudou ceremonies take great care to understand and remember the Ancestors, not only those direct genetic ancestors who have shaped our bodies, but also all those whose ideas have shaped our existence, the magicians and artists of the past whose vision has become the reality by which we live.
In Grandma’s house
The figures sit silent
Chocolate brown
Dreaming of Guinee
And when they shall return
Grandma teaches me
From the side of Death
Teaches me to understand
Understand the dreams she sends
In Grandma’s house
Everything is silent
Silent like the grave
Silent like the night
Like the night
Like the grave
The clock keeps on ticking
Everything is silent
Like the grave
Like the night
Grandma, Grandma…
All lyrics ©Rodney Orpheus 1995