Elucidations

Athanor, noun:

a type of furnace used by alchemists, able to maintain a steady heat for long periods.

origin: late 15th century: from Arabic at-tannūr, from al- 'the' + tannūr 'baker's oven'

Further reading: Alchemical Traditions: From Antiquity to the Avant-Garde

From 'Seidways' by Jan Fries, p.45:

"As the dance continues, the heat increases. Heat is a basic ingredient of this rite. The fire in the centre, the fire of the singing and the fire of Num all blend to work this magick. 'Num' is a San word describing what we might call 'transcendental energy'. Like the sun, and like their 'great god', Num is a 'death-thing' to the San, meaning that they treat it with great respect. To the San, Num is the power behind all magic and healing. Without Num, ritual or spiritual activity are thought impossible. Num, they say, was given to them by the gods. Num has a physical abode, in the human body it is usually found at the base of the spine, the hips, the belly and the flanks. When a healer dances and sweats the Num awakens and makes the healer tremble and shake. As the body vibrates and shudders, the Num heats up, churns around and finally turns to steam. This steam, the San say, rises upwards until it enters the head, and a consciousness called 'Kia' sets in. It is probably just one of those coincidences that the San 'Kia'-state closely resembles what Austin Spare independently described as 'Kia', or 'the atmospheric self." (Further info on Spare's 'Zos' and 'Kia' here)

In Ovid's Metamorphoses, the formation of man is followed by a succession of the four ages of the world. The first is the Golden Age, during which Innocence and Justice alone govern the world. In the Silver Age, men begin not to be so just, nor, consequently, so happy, as in the Golden Age. In the Brazen Age, which succeeds, they become yet less virtuous; but their wickedness does not rise to its highest pitch until the Iron Age, when it makes its appearance in all its deformity.

Words attributed to 'Fulcanelli', alleged alchemist:

"The secret of alchemy is this: there is a way of manipulating matter and energy so as to produce what modern scientists call 'a field of force'. The field acts on the observer and puts him in a privileged position vis-à-vis the Universe. From this position he has access to the realities which are ordinarily hidden from us by time and space, matter and energy. This is what we call the Great Work."

The workings of the Athanor elicit a recapitulation of the evolution of human consciousness through the ages, reuniting those inhabiting modernity with their birthright: the wisdom of the ancestors, encoded in sound. A past-life regression of sorts.

IRON

Cosey Tutti Void, DAF, Esplendor Geometrico, Front 242*, Front Line Assembly*, Gerehtigkeits Liga, Godflesh*, Haus Arafna, In Slaughter Natives*, In Trance 95, Laibach*, Nocturnal Emissions*, Nox, Puissance, Raksha Mancham, Skinny Puppy*, SPK, Test Dept, Throbbing Gristle

BRONZE

Absolute Body Control, Bauhaus, Cabaret Voltaire, Click Click, Cocteau Twins*, Das Ding, Dead Can Dance, Fever Ray, Grazhdanskaya Oborona, Joy Division, Killing Joke, Kraftwerk, Magazine, Samhain, Siekiera, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sisters of Mercy, Trisomie 21, Virgin Prunes, Xmal Deutschland

SILVER

16 Horsepower, Antic Clay, Art Abscons, Bohren und der Club of Gore, Camerata Mediolanese, Der Blutharsch, Darkwood, Fire + Ice, Jay Munly, Kinit Her, Of the Wand and the Moon, Ousewoudt, Rome, Sonne Hagal, Solblot, Strydwolf, The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath a Cloud, The Sterling Sisters

GOLD

Arcana, Burdon, Daemonia Nymphe, Dahabraha, Falkenstein, Garmarna, Jordi Savall, Kapela ze Wsi Warszawa*, Kulgrinda, Moon Far Away, Sangre Cavallum, Sturmpercht, The Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus, Trio Medieval, Vedan Kolod, Waldteufel, Wardruna

* = Denotes preference for earlier output of said formation.