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METAGEUM '07
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Conference presentation: ReTurning in the Hypogeum
Concert with Julie Wolf and Renzo Spiteri
Conference presentation: Discussion with Paul Devereux and Thomas Anderson
Book now for whole or part of the Metageum event. |
About Jennifer Berezan
Jennifer Berezan has a unique relationship with the Megalithic heritage of Malta, through her recording in the 6000-year-old underground temple, the hypogeum of Hal Saflieni.
In 1999, before the hypogeum was opened to the public after extensive resroration and access works, Jennifer made a remarkable recording of chant-like singing in the Oracle chamber of the hypogeum. It was the first time this had ever been done.
See her web site, www.edgeofwonder.com for details of that and other recordings, and the Women's Sacred Pilgrimage to Malta that she runs with Joan Marler.
At Metageum '07
Jennifer will be performing in an end-of-conference concert on the evening of Saturday 10th November, at the Caraffa Stores. She will bring with her from California the keyboardist &and vocalist Julie Wolf, who is an amazing musician and will create some beautiful ambient sounds. She will be joined by legendary Maltese percussionist Renzo Spiteri (See www.renzospiteri.com.)
Jennifer will also be giving a talk about the recording that she made in the hypogeum, and how she experienced the place and imagined into the minds of the ancient peoples.
About ReTurning
Recorded in the Oracle Chamber in the Hypogeum at Hal Saflieni, Malta. With Linda Tillery and Sharon Burch. The following text is reproduced, with kind permission, from the sleeve notes of the CD ReTurning:
Jennifer Berezan:
"I began traveling to Malta in 1992, searching for answers to some questions that had been with me for many years.
"Living in a modern culture characterised by violence, injustice, and alienation, I wanted to know if this state of affairs was inevitable -- a part of human nature throughout time -- or whether a different way of living had once existed.
"The quest led me to the work of the great archaeologist Marija Gimbutas and a study of the Neolithic period in human history. I became especially interested in the ancient sacred sites and cities of the Mediterranean and Aegean areas. It was in journeying to those places that I became aware of the profounc remnants of Neolithic civilizations in which people lived in harmony in highly artistic, egalitarian and peaceful societies organized around the Mother Goddess. The islands of Malta were the pinnacle of this discovery for me. When I first had the opportunity to visit the Hypogeum at Hal Saflieni I realized that one of the chambers was created for its remarkable acoustics, no doubt used in the past for oracles, song, and prophecies. Having the chance to sing in that extraordinary place, I caught on fire with the desire to return and record there. With the generous permission of the National Museum of Archaeology and the help of many Maltese friends, we spent three glorious days recording in the oracle chamber, under a roof of red tree of life designs, still visible after six thousand years. If you listen closely (preferably with headphones), you can hear the music of the waterdrops falling from the ceiling in the resonant chambers.
"We brought the tapes home to Berkeley, California, and added a rich mix of voices and instruments. This was truly a collaboration of the spirit and I thank all of the guest musicians who graced this project with their unique sounds and diverse cultural traditions. My deepest gratitude is to the ancient people who left us these awe-inspiring temples. These sacred places serve to remind us of the possibility of creating a world that honours the earth and all beings and celebrates the sacred mysteries of birth, death, and renewal."
Joan Marler:
"The Hypogeum in the Hal Saflieni district of Paola is an elaborate subterranean temple or tomb used for ritual activity and communal burials by the Neolithic people of Malta. This three-level labyrinth of thirty-three chambers, stairs, and passageways was hewn from solid limestone with stone, flint, and antler tools. Begun in the early fourth millennium, it was continually expanded until 2500 BCE when the temple period came to an end.
"The main ritual chambers, 5.25 meters below the surface, were carefully carved to resemble the complex interiors of a megalithic (large stone) temple. Within these elegantly curved spaces, ceremonies took place to honor the cyclic mysteries of life, death, and regeneration creating a continuity between the living community and the realm of the ancestors.
"The concepts of the tomb as a symbolic womb for rebirth was widespread throughout the Mediterranean world. In the Hypogeum, the dead were interred in chambers filled with red field soil. After a sufficient period, the bones were gathered and placed together in niches where the disarticulated skeletons of at least 7000 individuals were found. Rebirth is symbolised by egg-shaped rooms, the liberal use of red ochre (as the blood of life) and red painted spirals within curved, womb-like enclosures. Sculptures of 'Sleeping Ladies' found therein suggest the practice of ritual incubation -- dreaming in the underworld, the womb of the Goddess -- for visions, healing and spiritual rebirth.
Most of this album was recorded in the Oracle Room, named for its phenomenal acoustics. Its curved ceiling is elborately decorated with serpentine 'tree of life' forms. When the human voice is intoned through a special aperture, the Hypogeum resonates like a sensitive instrument. This extraordinary sound, heard through the sacred darkness, echoes as the voice of the ancestors who have returned to the Mother of us all."