Cthulhu Christmas

by Richard Trouncer

Over the Christmas period I particularly enjoyed listening to Cthulhu Carols while playing Arkham Horror. The combination of unspeakable, mind bending horror and lovely Christmas carols takes the sting out of Cthulhu and the nauseating out of Christmas. I'd suggest listening to them while reading the rest of this blog.

For those of you unfamiliar with it, Cthulhu, and the associated mythos, was created over a century ago by H.P. Lovecraft, a horror writer. Personally, I find his style difficult to read and the stories a little repetitive, but the world of horror he created is genius. We are sitting on a thin veneer of normality, and underneath, just waiting to break through, are horrors who would consume everything in a moment, whose shadow would drive you to madness, whose existence proves everything meaningless.

Time for a non sequitur, but hang with me. Those who study the bible in universities generally accept a changing understanding of the devil within the bible. Initially the devil is not present, evil is chaos opposed by God, and the devil changes from a prosecuting angel into an opponent of God personifying moral wickedness. In many ways the former scares me more, a meaningless chaos that the Cthulhu mythos taps into. It scares me because it seems as I get older to be an increasingly rational way to view the world.

When I see natural disasters, disease and arbitrary suffering I find belief in God hard to hold onto. A world without meaning, where stuff just happens and we have little control or ability to direct even our own local environment, seems far more likely than a God suffused universe where love is the basis of existence. In comparison, an evil force wanting to destroy, sow misery and hate seems curiously reassuring - at least it can be understood.

I know suggesting God versus meaninglessness as the only two views is simplistic, that atheism and philosophy would suggest that I'm being naive. They're probably right, I've always struggled with postmodernism. But for me it feels this way sometimes. Holding onto my faith in God - love, hope and all that is best, is a struggle against meaninglessness. Against despair. Against Cthulhu and all his Christmas Carols.

Inked

This week I'm wondering what tattoos you may have that have some relation to your faith. Or what you will get if you are planning to get a faith-related tattoo? Or why you don't have one.

Some Christians think that getting tattoos is not compatible with the faith and some just don't like the whole tattooing industry, what they think tattoos say about the wearer. However, there are some that like the style and the statement it makes and want to proclaim their faith boldly in this particular way.

Tattooing is a strong part of a number of sub cultures and it is common to see people wearing ink that remembers their loved ones, promotes their favourite bands or characters, shares favourite sayings and so on. What do you think about the issue?

It's in the blood

For those of you not able to make it or who are intrigued and for those who attended that may want to revisit the experience, we have included here the details of what happened at the blood gathering. Part way through, we also watched a short video from the Royal Institute that gave some basics about blood.

See you soon, for the next gathering.

A taste of blood

Saturday went really well and we had a very interesting couple of hours talking about blood. Claire will write up her notes to share on this so you have a better idea of what went on. However, to give you a sneak preview, here's a couple of shots and Claire's recipe for drinkable blood, used as part of the service:

This is a very loose guide and you may want to alter things depending on taste and preference…

- 2 punnets of summer fruits (raspberries, blackberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants, etc) - frozen are usually slightly cheaper than fresh
- red coloured fruit juice (Claire used cranberry and raspberry)
- small pot of honey (Claire used Acacia honey, a small pot that only contains 2-3 teaspoons of honey, like you might get at a B&B breakfast)

1. Take your thawed or fresh fruit and blitz with a blender adding fruit a little at a time until it looks properly liquified
2. Pour the result through a sieve into a large bowl/jug - this may need a bit of persuading with a spoon, as the liquid will still be very thick. You should just be left with the fruit skin and seeds remaining behind in the sieve
3. Add the fruit juice to thin to a desired consistency
4. Add honey to add some sweetness and lend some blood-like viscosity

That should probably give you around 600-800 ml of 'blood'. Ours was then poured into a conical jug for a chemical-experiment feel and then distilled into test tubes for each of our SUB attendees to carry round with them and use at varying points in the afternoon. You might want to try syrup rather than honey, or different combinations of fruit and different types of fruit juice, but should end up with a slow-pouring liquid of deep red colour. Have fun turning your kitchen into a mad chemistry lab :)

Like blood from The Beloved

by Claire McDermott

Blood. The remarkable fluid that flows inside every living creature. This viscous fluid that heals and protects, sustains and drives each and every one of us. How often do you think about the billions of blood cells moving around inside your body right now and at every moment of your life?

Does the thought of a bleeding wound make you dizzy?

Do you relish the thought of eating a bloody steak?

Have you considered the danger that blood presents at spreading disease?

Can your blood type reveal more about you as a person?

Do you feel the need to say the word 'blood' like Bela Lugosi?

At SUB on 1st February we will spent time reflecting on this multi-faceted miracle of nature, considering the extent of power and horror that blood can inspire. This will be an informal gathering, but be prepared for some serious engagement. There will be blood!

Extol, a brief history

One of my favourite metal bands is Extol. Hailing from Norway, they are surrounded by amazing music, legends, history and visual wonder. Over the last few decades, Scandinavia has produced a significant number of important bands in the many flavours of the metal scene. Extol reflect this somewhat in moving from extreme / black metal beginnings through death metal into progressive and thrash metal stylings. To those unfamiliar with these nuances, it basically means that with each subsequent release you can actually understand more of their lyrics without having to refer to liner notes.

Forming in 1993, the band released their first 3-track demo, Embraced, in 1997, following that with their first album, Burial, in 1998 and presented 3 Burial track remixes as their first EP, Mesmerized, in 1999 by the Swedish industrial groups Raison D'Etre and Sanctum. During this timeframe the band have toured in Europe and the States, played festivals, shifted lineups, signed to Endtime Productions and licensed by Solid State Records (a massive Christian music label) in America and Avalon Records in Japan.

Moving into a death metal style, the new millennium brought album Undeceived and in 2001 the EP Paralysis. Breaking from Endtime in 2002, Extol signed to massive secular metal label Century Media and morphed into a slightly more thrashy style for 2003's album, Synergy. For me, this move to Century Media is significant and notable of their approach. The band members identify themselves as Christian and their music is clearly influenced by this, but they haven't hived themselves off into a Christian musical cul-de-sac. They have taken their music into the secular world to be a light in that darkness. This is exemplified by them then being able to tour Europe and the US with Opeth, one of the most significant metal bands on the planet.

In 2005 they produced the album I favour most from their collection, and arguable their most accessible, The Blueprint Dives. Blueprint was nominated for a Norwegian Grammy and placed in the top 5 albums of the year in Norwey's biggest newspaper Dagbladet (because Norwegians love metal so much they have listings in their newspapers!). Extol toured this album with Opeth again, joined this time by two more heavy-weights, Mastodon and God Forbid.

Taking a break from 2007-2012 to work on other musical projects, Extol returned with a new death metal album in 2013, Extol. Sub have featured some of their tracks in Greenbelt services past. If you don't already know them and like this kind of music, I encourage you to check them out.

What's in a word? (Part 2)

by Kolyn Amor

Over the festive season my partner went to see the Mission perform in Köln (all right for some!) and got a little too close to Mr. Hussey for my liking!

Their latest album ‘The Brightest Light’ is quite reflective in many ways and contains a track entitled ‘Litany for the Faithful’ (or ‘Litanei für die Gläubigen’ if you happen to be German!) One definition of a litany is ‘a ceremonial or liturgical form of prayer consisting of a series of invocations or supplications with responses that are the same for a number in succession’ - the repetition of words one could say, in order to evoke meaning within a community in an attempt to be part of ‘The Word.’ Perhaps this song does or doesn’t fit within that definition, but as a repetitive reflection of life I personally find it works as much as any words can.

If the word’s on the tip of your tongue(s) then maybe you could try to ‘The Word’ up...

I've sang you songs of candlelight and razor blades
I've sang you songs of being loved and betrayed
I've sang you songs of redemption and righteous crusade
I've sang you songs that made you laugh and made you cry
I've sang the blues and I've sang you lullabies
I've sang you songs of flaming one night stands and long goodbyes
I've sang you songs that rejoice and celebrate
I've sang of love by design and by fate
I've sang you songs of ache and lust and appetites to sate
I've sang you songs of the holy and divine
I've sang you songs of devils and cheap wine
I've sang you songs of fawning courtesans and concubines
I've sang you songs of sadness and of pain
I've sang you songs of the needle and the vein
I've sang the songs of the tears washed away by the rain
I've sang the songs of loss of grief and despair
I've sang the songs of destruction and repair
I've sang you songs of hope belief and faith in prayer
I've sang you songs of birth and of death
I've sang you songs of air and of breath
I've given you songs born of cocaine and crystal meth
I've sang the songs of ageing ruin and decay
I've sang you songs of the hunter and his prey
I've sang the songs of disenchantment fear and dismay
I've sang you songs of blame and accusation
I've sang you songs of shame and recrimination
I've sang you songs of regret guilt penance and salvation
I've sang you songs the words of others and made you believe they're mine
I've sang the songs of heaven of Gods and stars that shine
I've sang you songs that have touched you sent shivers down your spine
I've sang the songs that made your heart sing
That made you feel like a bird on the wing
That made you soar and sometimes roar I made you sing
But I can't bring myself to sing
Of ever leaving you

Of ever leaving