Born Of Fire

by Zone

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“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!

Born Of Fire 1st Edition CD Label

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.

Born Of Fire CD Rear Cover - Heart Of The Atom

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.
Born Of Fire 2nd Edition CD Label

Musical contributions, for this recording, were provided by both Martha Henry (vocals) and ‘Danu’ Diarmaid Hynes [R.I.P.] (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 (catalogue No.ZONE 003). 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 an 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

TRACK LISTING

PLAY SAMPLE

Beautiful Machine (11:38) | Video
Heart Of The Atom (Ground Zero) (8:12)
The Butterfly Effect (7:24) | Lyrics
Born Of Fire (8:18)
(Reprise) (3:50)

Endorsement by Jim O’Rourke
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