“It all pulls
together into an admirable spiritual severity on an invisible thread that binds
the Byzantine monastery represented on the front cover of the package with the
Atomic Bomb Memorial Dome on the back. Don’t be afraid of the sacred fire of
Zone, listen and absorb what is communicated.”
Simply the best of endorsements. Listen to
the words of Jim O'Rourke after
listening to an advance copy of 'Born Of Fire', back in 1990. Thanks Jim!
The name 'Born
Of Fire' was taken from
Jamil Dehlavi's film of the same name, staring
Suzanne Crowley,
Peter Firth,
Stefan Kalipha and
Nabil Shaban. The name was chosen simply because there was a clear sense of
synchronicity between both the name and the raw subject matter of this film
and much of Zone's idea's at that time. Also, only a few weeks prior to seeing
the film for the first time, Andrew had visited many of the locations, where the
film was shot, while touring Turkey, with
The Beshara Trust,
and attending the Sema
ritual, of the Mevlevi Order,
in
Konya.
Originally released jointly between Potentia Records and Luciano Dari's
Italian record label
Musica Maxima Magnetica (catalogue No.ZONE 003/eee 005) the recording
appeared during February 1991 in CD format only, as an initial edition of 1000
copies. The CD was distributed through People Who Can't Distribution, now World Serpent
Distribution.
The front cover photo was taken by Andrew in 1988 and is of a mosaic
depicting the
Christian Nativity scene, to be found in one of the domes at the Byzantine
Kariye Monastery (Church
of St.Saviour in Chora) in Istanbul, Turkey. The back cover photo
(§) is the view looking through the
Atomic
Bomb Memorial Dome, located very near to the heart of the Atom Bomb
explosion (Ground Zero), in Hiroshima, Japan.
In
addition to English the CD booklet text was reproduced in both Italian and
Japanese, this was chosen because of the
Musica Maxima Magnetica connection and the references to Hiroshima, Japan,
both in the rear cover photo
and the theme of the second track 'Heart Of The Atom (Ground Zero)'.
The CD itself was
plainly printed with black lettering on the CD disk.
The image entitled 'Beautiful
Machine' was printed within the CD booklet having been reproduced from
Zone's book of the same name. Two sections
of inspirational text were reproduced within the CD booklet.
The first was written by the
George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff
and taken from the book 'In
Search Of The Miraculous' by
P.D.Ouspensky:-
"The fire by means of which fusion is attained is
produced by ‘friction’, which in its turn is produced in man by the struggle
between ‘yes’ and ‘no’. If a man gives way to all his desires, or panders to
them, there will be no inner struggle in him, no ‘friction’, no fire. But if,
for the sake of attaining a definite aim, he struggles with desires that hinder
him, he will then create a fire which will gradually transform his inner world
into a single whole."
The second was written by 13th Century Turkish Sufi,
Jelaluddin Rumi (Mevlana),
and was taken from his most celebrated and lengthy poem 'The Mathnawi':-
"Listen to the reed how it tells a tale
complaining of separations-...
This noise of the reed is fire, it is not wind:
whoso hath not this fire, may he be naught!
'Tis the fire of Love that is in the reed..."
The project
logo for 'Born Of Fire' is a calligraphy of the 112th Surah of the
Holy Qur'an and is known as 'lkhlas'
('The
Unity'), which translated reads:-
In the name of Allah,
the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Say: He, Allah, is One.
Allah is He on Whom all depend.
He begets not, nor is He begotten.
And none is like Him.
Musical
contributions, for this recording, were provided by both
Martha Henry
(vocals) and 'Danno' Diarmaid Hynes (vocals and acoustic guitar) on the song
'The Butterfly Effect', the lyrics of which were written by Andrew and
reproduced within the CD booklet.
The CD was reissued on Potentia Records in 1994 in a further edition of 1000
copies. The CD booklet and inlay underwent a few minor changes, such as the
typesetting being improved and various logo changes. The CD itself had a
completely new print depicting an ancient Japanese ceremony.
The credits to 'Born Of Fire' offer an "Extra special thanks to
Muhyiddin
Ibn 'Arabi who provided the direction and
The Beshara Trust who provided and opening". The depth of gratitude owed can never
be underestimated, no matter how much time and distance may appear to alter
one's perception of things.
§ - © National Geographic Society
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