Big thanks to author and industrial music scholar Nicholas Diak for his great review of Zeena's Bring Me the Head of F.W. Murnau in the latest issue of Exotica Moderna. Fans of Exotica-Industrial mixes will especially appreciate his take on Zeena's 'Tabu' track:
“Bring Me the Head of F.W. Murnau (BMTHOFWM) is the debut studio release of multimedia artist Zeena Schreck. Created in response to the theft of the skull of German director Murnau, that made the news back in 2015, BMTHOFWM is a concept EP that dives into the world of Murnau, his films and his legacy. The release proper is mostly spoken word recitations of Murnau's letters and film intertitles (such as those from his most renowned film, Nosferatu), over field recordings and minimalist industrial pulses.
Schreck's EP is of interest for fans of exotica for her track Tabu, which is an homage to Murnau's final film, Tabu: A Story of the South Seas, from 1931.
​The track begins with some old school industrial clangs and beats before it transitions to Schreck reading text from the film as the music eases into a subdued form of primitive exotica with shakers and primal drumming that evokes the likes of Martin Denny and Les Baxter. BMTHOFWM is a niche release, but it situates itself at that interesting pop culture intersection of silent film appreciation and aesthetics to the realm of Tiki and exotica. It is an excellent CD for collectors who indulge in exploring the newer forms of exotica.”
- Nicholas Diak

Bring Me the Head of F.W. Murnau CD Available on this site: HERE
Or download at Bandcamp digital download* [*This Friday Feb 5, Bandcamp will again waive it's revenue share!]
​
Exotica Moderna is a quarterly publication showcasing the latest in tiki art and culture published by House of Tabu.

​Review and Interview: Zeena Schreck and her debut Bring Me the Head of F. W. Murnau   
Tuesday, August 4, 2020 by Nicholas Diak

During the summer of 2015, the skull of German silent film director F. W. Murnau was stolen from his tomb. Remnants of wax from lit candles present at the scene spurred the hypothesis that occult work was afoot while the macabre nature of Murnau’s stolen skull drew parallels to his legendary horror output, in particular his influential expressionist film, Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922).(1)
​
    Shortly thereafter, inspired by the event, multimedia artist Zeena Schreck announced a “sequel to Radio Werewolf’s mystical, musical piece Bring Me the Head of Geraldo Rivera” that would be appropriately titled Bring Me the Head of F. W. Murnau.(2) Five years later, Bring Me the Head of F. W. Murnau (BMTHOFWM) was released in March of 2020.

   BMTHOFWM marks the first studio release proper of Zeena performing music solo. Prior to this EP, Zeena had been a part of many musical collaborations and projects, such as Radio Werewolf, and had released some of her live ritual performances, such as her appearance at Wave-Gotik-Treffen, on compilations and YouTube. Per Zeena in regard to releasing a concept album instead of an album of her ritual performances:

“I definitely have future recording plans which will be in the areas of dark ambient and ritual music. [T]his first solo release was experimental in the sense I'd never done such a precise theme as concept album like this before. I like working within specific parameters though. Even in past recordings, when it might not seem obvious, I've almost always had in mind a particular framework within which to create the music. But this album was much more of a specific theme than I would normally do.”(3)

    BMTHOFWM certainly has a thematic laser focus, concentrating on Murnau and some of his films, while capturing a certain silent film aesthetic, though paradoxically, with sound. Zeena pulls this feat off – a silent film with no images but instead with sounds – by incorporating elements of field recordings, minimalist-industrial, exotica, spoken words, and incantations, in conjunction with the brilliant German expressionist/Caligari style artwork that emblazons the release’s cover art that evokes some of the classic horror posters of the era.

    Though Murnau is the subject of the EP, the filmmaker did not have a strong influence on Zeena at the beginning of the project:

“[Murnau was] not a huge influence. It was only his films Nosferatu and Faust that I had known and really liked since childhood, when they'd play on late night TV. I knew he'd worked with the occultist artist/architect Albin Grau on the sets for Nosferatu but working with an occultist doesn't automatically make you one. There is also the tie-in of my last name being the same as the actor who played Count Orlok, Max Schreck, in Murnau's most famous film Nosferatu. I'd also remembered the scandalous rumors about his untimely death that my godfather Kenneth Anger wrote of in Hollywood Babylon, rumors which, by the way, I've since learned weren't true. But aside from these things, I hadn't much knowledge of his life prior to embarking on this project. I know far more about him now.

Originally, I'd planned that this [release] was only going to be a single; not more than a two-track novelty piece inspired by a quirky event. But then, as I began researching more about Murnau and put flesh on the bones of this project, certain metaphysical portals started opening up. More material for more tracks developed than could be narrowed down to just a single. Yet I didn't want this to be a full album either. So, the logical middle ground was to make it an EP.”(4)

    Through the process of researching Murnau, Zeena also visited the director’s home and his grave, gathering field recordings that would be incorporated into the compositions of BMTHOFWM:

“[I] intermingled various sounds from both locations in just about every track except the opening one, ‘Letter to Mother.’ Some of those field recordings were used in a straightforward manner, such as a fox barking, birds singing, the sound of some machinery or a metal gate clanging. Those can be detected fairly clearly enough. But other sounds used, I distorted in the editing to achieve certain auditory effects.

When I visited Murnau's grave, for the photo shoot to the CD, I was focused on getting the photos but hadn't intended on capturing field recordings at the same time. I'd already compiled field recordings taken at the former Murnau house in Berlin, which coincidentally happens to be right in my neighborhood. In addition to that, I'd painstakingly searched for specific samples corresponding to the exact years of Murnau's creative life and his death, such as the sound of the precise year and make of the car he was in when it crashed, leading to his death. Or a snippet of a song that would've been popular at parties in Hollywood that he may have attended. Things like that.

[Excerpted]
​
“Why I came to this CD is immediately apparent when you take a look at the artist behind this music project: Zeena Schreck. I have been following the numerous works of the polarizing Femme Fatale Infernale for years (including in the review of her book "The Zaum of Zeena") and respect the extensive creative expression that the artist was able to express in many areas (something that I absolutely recommend to everyone). Whether in the form of graphic design, writing texts, making music or also leading / accompanying / elaborating complex rituals / magical ceremonies, Zeena Schreck's creative work in and on a wide variety of media is truly varied and expressed itself in this complexity, among other things also in the works in the band "Radio Werewolf", alongside her then partner Nikolas Schreck, one of the cornerstones of the dark ambient and (ritual) industrial genres.

Within this concept album, with the interesting title ”Bring Me The Head of F.W. Murnau ”, Zeena Schreck releases her first work in the dark ambient sector after many years. In addition, this album is her first ever solo release. Zeena dedicated this album to the life and work of the legendary German film director Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau and the creepy fact that Murnau's head was actually stolen by unknown people from his grave in Stahnsdorf (near Berlin) in 2015 and has since disappeared to this day ...
​
Murnau's cinematic works, which were primarily in the horror area, are still considered pioneering and still inspire this popular genre to this day, and not just in the medium of film, but far beyond.

The Album

Zeena Schrecks ”Bring Me The Head of F.W. Murnau ” [EP] consists of six musical pieces, individual acts to a ghost story, as expressed on the album in musical form creating frightful realms and atmospheric horrors for the listener. The six pieces together have a playing time of 18 minutes 21 seconds.
The eerie start to “Bring Me The Head of F.W. Murnau” comes in the form of “ A Letter To Mother,” in which an extract from one of Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau's letters to his revered mother is recited in a really uncanny voice. In this document, which was made in Tahiti while filming Murnau's last film "Tabu" (1931), Murnau's thoughts are both about the fascination of the exotic island, but much more about the homesickness that plagues him so much.
The following "Ill Omens" bleeds a true horror atmosphere and brings to mind the moody quality of Murnau's films. For me, this song is also the quintessence of this concept album and hits the nail on the head.
The following "taboo" immediately gets to the point, which kidnaps me into damp cemetery dungeons haunted by female horror phantoms. Zeena's voice, in combination with the drums, transforms the piece more and more towards the ritual atmosphere.
Significant to the atmosphere in V "The Phantom Bridge," is Zeena's chant, which in some places whispers an ASMR mood. The fifth title is therefore rather calm and almost relaxing. In terms of content, “The Phantom Bridge“ is dedicated to F.W. Murnau's pioneering film "Nosferatu - A Symphony Of Horror" (1922), in which actor Max Schreck in the role of Count Orlok who affects and inspires the look and manner of vampires in pop culture to this day.
​[...]

Conclusion

Zeena Schreck's ”Bring Me The Head of F.W. Murnau ” offers a seamless horror atmosphere, especially with suitable framework conditions (darkened room, no disturbances), and is therefore recommended to dark ambient fans but also to friends of soundtracks (regardless of whether from films, video games etc.) and anyone who wants an atmospheric musical background for suitable scenes (e.g., for Pen-&-Paper und LARP role-playing games).
And of course, the topics presented on the album would also appeal to friends of classic horror films from the 1920s and beyond, because in my opinion (at least as far as the majority of the pieces on the album are concerned) they also convey the spirit and atmosphere of these films really well.”
-- Dominik Tyroller

To read this review in original German version, click HERE.

To order the signed & numbered limited edition of this CD, go HERE. 
​

Amy Haben reviews seven bands and musicians who were also part of notorious religious cults, communes, and porn legends between the 1960s-80s, culminating with the best for last, Zeena & Radio Werewolf.
 
Read the entry for Radio Werewolf below, or go to the full article HERE: 
https://pleasekillme.com/subversive-grooves/

The below article was originally posted in San Francisco newsgroups for Halloween by Jeff Farris, who shares first-hand impressions of Zeena in early life. Farris and Zeena attended the same schools yet have never met. Many thanks to Mr. Farris for allowing us to reprint his article here! An afterword from Zeena follows his article:

In San Francisco on California Street, between 23rd and 24th Avenues in the Richmond District, there once was a house that was painted pure black long before it was fashionable or cool to do so. The home was rumored to have a real live roaring lion as well as human occupants, we were warned, who were devotees to the Prince of Darkness himself. Other than the austere and gloomy color, it was an unassuming little home just a few blocks down the road from where I grew up.
​
A typical San Francisco A-framed, 3 story Victorian, The Black House, as it was known for many years, was the official First Church of Satan and the home of Anton LeVay, aka, The Black Pope and Lucifer’s Great High Priest and author of the Satanic Bible, as well as his family, including 2 young children and his companion, the self professed sorceress and High Priestess, Diane Hegarty. An ex-carnival worker and notable chronic liar, Anton established the Church of Satan in 1966 where it had a run for about 35 years until it was eventually torn down in 2001, only to be replaced, unceremoniously, by a cheap, 4 unit apartment complex commonly known among locals as a Richmond Special. The son of Russian and Ukrainian immigrants who had arrived in the United States sometime near the turn of the 20th Century, Mr. LaVey had finally made a name for himself in the late 1960’s with his audacious ambition to create the first church of Satan ever, anywhere.
​
San Francisco, at the time, was ripe for such a plan and Anton soon found himself at the center of controversy along with much welcomed attention from the ranks of luminaries such as Hollywood elites, avant-garde artists, and rock superstars of the time. One of his first and most celebrated religious ceremonies held at The Black House was the “Baptism” of his youngest daughter, Zeena, in 1967, when she was just 3 years old.

Anyhow, as the years have transpired, I have kept my eye on the life and times of Zeena LaVey, or Zeena Schreck, which is her current last name. I wouldn’t say that I am a stalker, but I have always felt for her as one would feel towards any misunderstood outsider. I felt bad for her, actually, not that she needs my sympathy and she could probably care less of what I think, for that matter. But I’ve always believed that she was a good soul under extraordinary pressure from circumstances beyond her control. She was a San Francisco kid, caught up in those crazy times, no different than I, but definitely more complicated and dark.

As you can imagine, Zeena and her family weren’t very welcome in our working class, multicultural, mostly Catholic, and Asian, and Russian Orthodox neighborhood. In a 2012 interview with Vice Australia, she explains that she had to transcribe for the SFPD death threats left for her on her father’s answering machine wherein she was to be raped and killed. She was 11 years old at the time. She also states that her father may have haphazardly fallen into the role of The Black Pope by sheer accident and that the Church of Satan was created after a local publicist described Anton as a neighborhood eccentric and “the first priest of Satan.” Anton then seized the idea and transformed it into a religion and that it all took off from there.

To be clear, Anton’s belief system did not include an actual deity or entity that one would call Satan or Lucifer, the Angel of Light. He believed that there wasn’t a devil at all. It was an ego driven theology. Each person is a God, in essence, and the tenets of the religion are almost all selfishly motivated and self aggrandizing. It’s also important to note that the Church of Satan, for the most part, was ultimately a failed venture leaving Anton destitute by the time he died. He sold his soul for nothing more than a limited and fleeting run at popularity, poor thing.

By 1990, Zeena had renounced her father’s church and belief structure, and likewise the Church of Satan vehemently denounced Zeena, commencing a campaign to discredit her name. I don’t think she ever had contact with Anton after that. She claimed that her father was basically a charlatan and a con artist and that he never had the depth of knowledge to be a true Satanist and that it was all for show and celebrity.

Whether or not I believe her completely is predicated upon the publication of the Satanic Bible, which is still the definitive go to resource for anything Satanic. It is clear that he gave that book some thought. Nonetheless, Zeena then applied her spiritual endeavors towards the Temple of Set, which could best be described as a pre-christian, Egyptian mystery religion, but highly influenced by other ex-members of the Church of Satan and the writings of Aleister Crowley. But even here, Zeena failed to find an environment that was to her liking and she resigned from her post as High Priestess in 2002. She then formed the Sethian Liberation Movement, donned with a title that could only be conjured up by an ex-San Francisco kid who survived the citywide pandemonium that the Symbionese Liberation Army caused when they kidnapped Patty Hearst in the early 70’s.

Currently, Zeena is a self avowed Tibetan Tantric Buddhist and she offers counseling services and specifically ministers to victims of extreme circumstances, the socially stigmatized, outcasts, and those otherwise subject to prejudice. By use of yogic, meditative and shamanic exercises, she offers short-range treatment, she says, without having to become an initiate of any particular spiritual path. Like the Phoenix, she claims that she can help you rise from the ashes of difficult experiences, find your own inner mystical resources, and have a spiritual awakening towards a foundation of inner strength.
​
Personally, I believe in her and I want her to succeed. If anyone has experience of overcoming difficulties, Zeena is among those who have. It seems poetic to me that a young girl from San Francisco, without any act of her own volition, was baptized at the tender age of 3 into the milieu of post-modern sensationalized Satanism, only to come out the other side finding peace and stability from the teachings of someone as self effacing and modest as the Buddha. I sincerely hope that she ultimately finds the peace that surpasses all understanding. As a fellow San Franciscan, I am rooting for her. How about you?

– Jeff Farris
San Francisco, Halloween 2014

Thank you Jeff, wherever you are! Though it's true we never met, nor shared any words in those years, I never forget a face and knew it was you, because you still look the same, some 40 years later. You are correct that most people didn't have the guts to speak to me then in school, unless antagonistically. The same character traits usually remain on into adulthood. People who refuse to educate themselves about what they're frightened of, find comfort in remaining ignorant. So thank you for your curiosity to educate yourself, and for your candid recollections.
And, as you alluded to, I have found peace and contentment. When we have peace within ourselves and develop intrinsic happiness and relinquish hope for extrinsic sources of happiness, we have peace and joy wherever, and in whatever, situations we find ourselves. 

Wishing you [all] a fantastically Happy Halloween. 

~Ƶeena

ZEENA is an artist, activist and mystic currently living in Germany. What I find especially fascinating and inspiring about her is her ability to change and grow with the times. Born into daunting circumstances, she managed not only to rise above them, but to re-invent herself despite what I surmise might be abominable pulls toward lethargy and abject nostalgia.

​In one of her texts, “Demons of the Flesh” she explores the metaphysics of eroticism. Not simply focusing on Hermeticism and the usual occult fare, she also looks at the important contributions of French philosophy (in the form of Georges Bataille) and other, vital strands of evidence… ultimately sharing experiential knowledge and suggesting one use one’s own as guide.

Zeena Schreck is very beautiful. And her awareness of this is not simple, nor yet affected. She presents herself and her energy in a very straight-forward way which is refreshing in itself, but which, upon closer inspection, reveals the gentle touch of a survivor helping others survive. The first thing one does when confronted with the prospect of extinction, naturally, being human, is panic. When this happens to a group, the result is collective hysteria. Perhaps her experiences during the 1980’s allowed her to see such circumstance unfold around her (and their manipulation and co-opting by nefarious forces of self-interest) in such a way that she holds a tender regard for the possibility of others going through them as well, but she has a gentle touch, which belies a fierce mind and steely core.

ZEENA’s art is fascinating. Maintaining a lucid awareness between the mediated roles of artist and academic, theorist and practitioner, her art is yet generous enough to question such ambiguity. Her piece “Ladders” questions not only Euclidian Geometry, but the formalist expansion of Western Metaphysics it stands for. How is one to “rise” in a society based upon questionable heirarchies, where, for instance, Social Justice and Reform is not necessarily based upon the injuries sustained by victims but sometimes just as likely the power of the accused? Recalling Feudal Warfare - Caste System Dynamics and other illusory states of “Maya” the piece is yet presented in soothing tones and inviting poetics of space. It’s as if ZEENA were leaving behind an Easter Egg, something someone could enjoy at whatever level of development they had attained to in dealing with it, yet something which also continued to reward dilligent and patient effort.

The future for ZEENA will hopefully contain more expansion. It will be very lucky for the Artist community and every other group or individual she manages to touch with her sincere and powerfully articulated grace if she continues to thrive and generously shine upon us!
​
-STANLEY GEMMELL
* * * * * * *
Gallery contacts and for commissioned art by Zeena contact:   info@zeena.eu

Original post can be seen at
Stanley Gemmell's writings blog: ​http://stanleygemmell.tumblr.com/post/94193114815/zeena-is-an-artist-activist-and-mystic-currently

A Message From Zeena:

"In celebration of Harvest Season and the coming Autumn Equinox, I am very happy to share with you a newly created fine art portrait of me as the Angel of Death by the very talented artist and friend Fabiano Gagliano.
All of Gagliano's works are timeless depictions of feminine beauty at its highest spiritual ideal (a phenomenon I've coined in my book Demons of the Flesh as “the Feminine Daemonic”). His style has been honed over decades and is refreshingly free of any distractions, distortions or irritations of modern art trends or references. The minimalist, streamlined presentation and choice of colors is confident yet sensitive and beautifully classical without clichés.  

"Aside from our mutual appreciation for the same aesthetics in traditional art, and our similar histories as graphic artists for publications and band art, Gagliano is also a long-time accomplished musician and has traversed a kindred musical path as I; it's through oblique music connections from our past bands that we came to know each other. So when he asked to do a new rendition of an established photo-portrait of me, I knew that in his case it was a perfect suggestion. Based on his art education, experience, intuition and instinct, he understood not only my personal tastes but the significance and layers of the symbolism in the portrait he proposed, as it relates to my life's work.

The Augustinian quote he chose to include in the portrait, says it all:
Noli foras ire, in te ipsum redi. In interiore homine habitat veritas.
'Don't lose yourself with the outside; return within. Truth dwells inside the human heart.' (loosely translated)

This scripture could also be understood as the Method which leads to spiritual Enlightenment, known in many mystical traditions variously as: Primoridial Wisdom (Vajrayana Buddhism), the Gnostics understanding of Sophia, the Quest for the Holy Grail and the process of Internal Alchemy.


Thanks to Fabiano for his inner wisdom to “see” what many cannot see, and to hopefully inspire others to “see,” with all senses, the magic of feminine beauty in all of his works - and all of life as well...

~Omnia Vincit Amor~

~Zeena     "
___________
To see more of Fabiano Gagliano's work, visit his online sites at:
www.fabianogagliano.com 
https://www.instagram.com/fabiano_gagliano/
https://www.facebook.com/FabianoGaglianoArtPage/?pnref=lhc  
https://it.pinterest.com/fabiano777/ 

CLASSIC ROCK online magazine has listed RADIO WEREWOLF as #4 weirdest band of all time, topping other such notorious groups as Roky Erickson, Father Yod & Yahowha 13, The Monks, and the '60s topless all girl band The Ladybirds!
Classic Rock describes Radio Werewolf as:

Read the full article and list here ​http://teamrock.com/feature/2016-06-28/the-25-weirdest-bands-of-all-time

Noise Receptor Issue #4 features an amazing in-depth archival interview with John Murphy from 2002 featuring lead photo by Zeena. You can pre-order this issue at the link below.
While you're at the Noise Receptor site, be sure to check out their excellent review of The Epicurean music label's John Murphy memorial compilation "All My Sins Remembered: the Sonic Worlds of John Murphy," a 3CD set featuring, among many contributions from diversified and noteworthy artists, a live track from Zeena's 2015 WGT concert with John.
Cover portrait of John to the CD booklet is by Zeena as well. 

Ordering info for Noise Receptor #4  @ https://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/physicality/noise-receptor-journal-issue-no-4/
Ordering info for The Epicurean's "All My Sins Remembered: the Sonic Worlds of John Murphy" @ http://www.transformed.de/theepicurean.html
Review: https://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2016/06/02/various-artists-all-my-sins-remembered-the-sonic-worlds-of-john-murphy/

Images below by: Noise Receptor & Andrew King

A Collection of Interviews, Essays,
Quotes and Images
by
Zeena Schreck
Edited by Frank Haines
Published by HEINZFELLER NILEISIST
New Review of The Zaum of Zeena 
by Luca Piccolo below in this post.
[La versione in lingua italiana di questa recensione si trova sotto il testo in inglese.]
This fine art zine was presented especially for the 10th annual
NY Art Book Fair 2015, at MOMA/PS1, Sept. 17-20, 2015
From the original Premiere Limited Edition of 50 -
Only 23 copies are left of the original first printing.  

KPOPSTARZ Reports:  
"Legendary Magic Practitioner Zeena Schreck Returns To European Music Scene For First Time In 24 Years This Saturday, May 23
"Mystic and avant-garde musician Zeena Schreck will make her first appearance on the European music scene for the first time in 24 years this Saturday, May 23, 2015, at 7 p.m.  Zeena will perform a unique ritual soundscape in Leipzig's Egyptian Museum.
"Zeena, 51, was a composer, vocalist, musician and graphic designer for the sonic magical music project Radio Werewolf from 1988 to 1993. She is also High Priestess of Seth and leader of the Sethian Liberation Movement, making the sacred, magically charged ancient artifacts housed in Leipzig's Egyptian Museum an ideal venue to present ancient Egyptian aspects of the artist's spiritual practices.
"This is the second in a series of ritual musical installments inaugurated with the 2013 performance-art Performa 13 event "Frank Haines presents Zeena Schreck: Live from the Eye of the Storm," in New York City.
[...]
"As former co-director of the magical resistance circle The Werewolf Order from 1988-1999, Zeena's musical compositions are featured on the Radio Werewolf recordings "The Lightning and the Sun," "Songs for the End of the World," "Bring Me the Head of Geraldo Rivera!," "Love Conquers All, and Witchcraft/Boots: A Tribute to the Sinatras,"
[...]
"Because of limited seating at Zeena's upcoming WGT event, there will be an autograph signing after the concert which will also be open to those who exceeded the seating capacity but who stay for an in-person autograph.
"After the performance, Zeena will sign her own creations,  which means  she will not "sign any copies of 'The Satanic Bible,' Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,' 'The Book of the Law' or 'The Joy of Cooking.'"
Read more at:
http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/203000/20150519/zeena-schreck-new-music.htm

ZEENA'S  Wave-Gotik-Treffen PERFORMANCE LISTED in this WEEKEND'S HIGHLIGHTS
MDR [Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk] Kultur Seiten Reports:

Klang-Ritual und Spiritualität

Im Ägyptischen Museum hat sich die in Berlin lebende Amerikanerin Zeena Schreck angekündigt, deren Klang-Performance "ein akustischer Samen für die spirituelle Befreiung und Erleuchtung des geneigten Publikums" darstellen soll, wie es auf ihrer Facebook-Seite heißt. Die Tochter der Church-of-Satan-Gründer und Ex-Frontfrau der Band "Radio Werewolf" leitet heute eine spirituelle Bewegung, die sich an einer ägyptischen Gottheit orientiert, und gibt Tantra-Kurse.

Saturday, 23rd May 2015 Ägyptisches Museum - Egyptian Museum
07:30 p.m. (admission: 07:00 p.m.)
Concert: Zeena Schreck - „A Typhonian Tantric Ritual Soundscape“ 

"24 long years her followers had to wait to see her make a public appearance in Germany. This year, the time has come: Zeena Schreck returns with a magic-sound „performance“, a truly historic event and far more than a pure secular music experience - rather a divine blessing incarnate, an acoustic seed for spiritual liberation and enlightenment for the audience, given by one of the most colorful and distinctive personalities of modern magic and mysticism - and not to forget, visually framed by the collection of sacred artifacts of the Egyptian Museum Leipzig."

[BOOK REVIEW by ZEENA]
 Today I received a review copy of a new German book I'm featured in: 'Mythos Wewelsburg: Fakten und Legenden' (The Wewelsburg Myth: Facts and Legends) – sent directly from the Kreismusum Wewelsburg.

The authors, Daniela Siepe and Kirsten John-Stucke provide an excellent historical overview, and leave no stone unturned, in exploring all of the legends and realities surrounding the notorious and mysterious Wewelsburg castle. For German speakers who have an interest in this strange and misunderstood edifice, its history and cultural influence, I highly recommend this volume. Comprehensively researched with detailed notes and historical context, this volume includes so many obscure facts and references that even those well versed in the Wewelsburg legend would be surprised to learn yet more.

For those who are not familiar with the Wewelsburg, it is a 9th century German castle that first came to world-wide attention as the “Grail Castle” of the Nazi SS. Purported to be a mystical location chosen personally by Heinrich Himmler (Reichsführer-SS), it was to become an SS leadership school and the headquarters for what Himmler believed would be a German equivalent of the Arthurian 'Nights of the Round Table,' or the stage for a living Parsifal epic.

Following the end of WWII, countless legends arose surrounding this edifice, many having to do with secret cult rites and the structure having a supernatural energy, comparable to Externsteine or Stonehenge. Such legends sparked the imaginations of many authors, filmmakers, musicians, artists, political extremists, UFO fanatics, conspiracy theorists and occultists.

At a time in my life when I was questioning the inconsistencies of the philosophical and religious framework within which I was raised, I began my own ardent spiritual quest. I needed to find the roots of, and truth behind, many of the figures, legends, and nomenclature which my father misappropriated for his newly created pseudo-religion. So, in 1992, I organized a personal pilgrimage throughout Germany to many sacred sites which I'd learned of early in life. I documented my journey along the way in a video-poem entitled Germania: The Theory of Ruins. One of the target sites of my journey was the Wewelsburg, where I conducted a private ceremony and oracular magical Working. The purpose of the rite was to attain insight into the reason this castle was so strongly associated with the Grail Quest, and to learn what a 'Grail Quest,' – or more specifically, what The Grail – truly is. Slipping through the bars of the iron gate to the legendary crypt, I was prepared to take on this heavy philosophical question in a spontaneous meditation.

Author Daniela Siepe summarized our in-person conversation about this private magical ritual in 'Mythos Wewelsburg: Fakten und Legenden.'. I share with you the email follow-up to our in-person interview; the information in my message was incorporated into the book:

Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2013 5:21 PM
Subject: Re: Grail Ritual
Dear Daniela~

About the Grail ritual itself: You mentioned some points which I think might have come from things Nikolas talked about during our interview, as well as combining it with your thoughts on our EP "Bring Me the Head of Geraldo Rivera" (Lucifer's Court track). I can clarify some of that.

During our interview, it was Nikolas who mentioned his interest in the legend of the Grail being the Emerald that fell from the crown of Lucifer during the battle with Michael and the angels. That was the connecting thread to Otto Rahn. But this was not my reason or point of interest in wanting to find "What Is the Grail" during my Wewelsburg working.

Our use of the title Lucifer's Court on our recording occurred while we were still representing satanism (I was still the Church of Satan's High Priestess and spokesperson) and using it on that recording reflected where we were at that point in time. But that was three years before my Wewelsburg working.

By the time we broke with the Church of Satan (in 1990) and began exploring more deeply into these references and figures, I realized that I was really more drawn to the same ancient legends which inspired the personalities we were researching while living in Vienna. All my life I've been driven by such things as fairy tales, sagas, mythology, folk legends, etc. Therefore it wasn't the humans involved in these various Teutonic occult orders and societies that interested me. What interested me was the same eternal phenomena which those people also explored.

It wasn't long into our research of these 19th century European occult figures (Rahn, von List, Sebbotendorf, Weistor/Wiligut, von Liebenfels etc.) that I found the same reactionary, misogynistic and fundamentally subjective fantasy role-playing (albeit on a more intellectual level) as was with the occult world of satanism I'd just left. So, metaphorically speaking, if a house of cards is built on a weak foundation of sand, how valid can one regard the entire philosophies of such people?

It was clear that, despite their interest in ancient legends, they were missing a big piece of the puzzle in their mystical portrayals and projections. Only when I made my first pilgrimages to the same mystical locations that were to hold such significance to these men, did I experience first-hand that visceral, intuitive feeling that they were "missing something". But I, myself, didn't yet know exactly what the "Something" was.

Hence, my ritual at Wewelsburg and the documentation of many of the other places I and Nikolas made spiritual pilgrimages to in Germany and Austria in our quest for deeper answers. So when I performed the ritual at Wewelsburg, for me, it had nothing to do with the Emerald from Lucifer's Crown.

You asked, "So, during your Grail ritual you were standing in the middle of the Crypt with your arms raised high. – Was this a symbolic gesture – such as the sign of the Ka? Or just a gesture which enabled you to take a deep breath?"

The position was mostly for the following two reasons:

1. To become the grail, from which I was summoning answers, I needed to take the form of the grail as we know it, in a chalice-like shape (i.e., sympathetic magic, for example if you wish to know the mystery of the Sphinx, it helps to take the position of and embody that energy).

2. The body in this position/asana becomes like a musical tuning fork and is more sensitive to a wider range of subtle to greater vibrations. I had been practicing tantra for two years by that time. So I was sensitive to how the body should be held to promote energy flow for certain purposes. When you begin in this position you raise your head upwards and slowly bring it down to find the proper alignment with the spine. This enables the best, unblocked flow of energy rising upwards through all the chakras, through the central channel and out the top of the head. It also promotes even, smooth breath flow. In order to open yourself up for the answers you seek, it's very important to clear everything out of your head and have even energy flow throughout your body.

You asked, "Is it correct to say that you made a humming sound (German: Summen)? And then you sensed the vibrations of the sound in your chest – while you focused (sich konzentrieren auf, meditieren) on the question “What is the grail?” "

That's correct. The sound must be with the mouth open (not closed as in a hum). The particular syllable sound I made helps to clear the chakras but must be done with the mouth open. There is only one part at the end where the mouth closes to finish the mantra.

The sensations, or vibrations, felt were throughout the body, not only the chest. The feeling began in the heart area and gradually spread ever outwards throughout the whole body. A very open, wide and expansive feeling.

Secondly, while I'm opening myself up as I'm standing in that central spot, it's important to not think anything. The purpose for the working, "What is the Grail", is well established in focused attention directly before beginning the ritual. Once in the ritual, that thought must be dropped and no thought can enter but rather one should be very aware of what is experienced, without expectations.

Using this method, the mind will be best prepared to receive signs and answers. The innate wisdom of the mind must not be forced, steered, clouded or manipulated into any predictable, or accidental, direction by the subjective wishes, interests or preferences of the individual's personality.

You asked, "In this moment you realized that the grail is no tangible object, but a part of a human being himself. You cannot look for the Grail on the outside, you have to become the grail yourself (meaning you have to feel your own strength?, rely on your spiritual side which has access to a primordial wisdom??)"

Yes, this is all correct as it happened (in a brief description).

To make the wording more precise, I'd say it like this:

"In this moment you realized that the grail is no tangible object, but a part of a human being himself. You cannot look for the Grail on the outside, you have to become the grail yourself (meaning you have to awaken to your spiritual side which has access to your primordial wisdom."

We all have this potential, but don't always know how to use it or access it. This is why the legend of the Grail is always a quest, whether interpreted or experienced as the spiritual inner quest or written about and described in stories and legends as an outer physical quest.

They are two levels of understanding, one esoteric (feminine-based and directly receiving the wisdom, i.e., left-hand path in practice), the other exoteric (male-based and documenting the wisdom, i.e., right-hand path in practice). When I use these terms left-hand path and right-hand path it should be clarified that it is in the authentic tantric meaning - not the Western occult definition.

I hope this helps to give a little more detail to that experience. I'd be happy to talk with you by phone or Skype if there's anything else you'd like to ask or clarify.

Wishing you the best of Life, Strength, Health and Happiness!

Zeena
[END]
More information on Wewelsburg or 'Mythos Wewelsburg: Fakten und Legenden'  

Read the full Heathen Harvest article at: http://heathenharvest.org/2015/04/18/zeena-schreck-performs-a-typhonian-tantric-ritual-soundscape-at-the-egyptian-museum-leipzig/