The Rainbow Bridge and the Shadow of the Serpent: The Rainbow Bridge and the Shadow of the Serpent

by Sergio Pereira

  Manuel de Falla was a brilliant composer and musician who, in 1876, was born in the Kingdom of the Blue Earth. He was Spanish and left a body of brilliant musical works. His most famous creation was devised at the request of the fantastic flamenco choreographer Pastora Imperio. The original version of the ballet El Amor Brujo premiered at the Teatro Lara in Madrid, on April 15, 1915, with libretto by Gregório Martínez Sierra. The text was written in Andalusian gypsy dialect and tells the story of the young gypsy Candela, who is tormented by the ghost of an old love that does not allow her to live her current passion for the gypsy Carmelo.

  Like many other works of genius, the premiere was a failure and recognition only came later, in 1925, at a second premiere in Paris with the symphonic orchestra version.

  Stefanie had a blessed moment, because while her suffering body slept, she, in spirit, was able to watch the spirit of Manuel de Falla himself conduct the orchestra of gnomes so that the Gypsy Fairies could dance the “Ritual Fire Dance”.

  They placed themselves in a circle around the fire. As soon as the first chords began, Stefanie saw herself witnessing the ballet, which was based on flamenco and gypsy culture. Nothing she had seen up to then could compare in beauty and sensuality.

  The Fairies were dancing as if they were one body, and also performed solos. Fingers, hands, shoulders, hair, arms, bellies, hips, legs and feet participated in the dance. They became the pure expression of the art of movement that a female body can have Trying to describe that choreography and interpretation would be to diminish it in grace and brilliance.

  Just two minutes later, the Fairies drew away from the fire. They remained in a circle around it. Hands and feet tapped the rhythm of the music and initiated the emanation of a powerful magic born from the elements of earth and fire.

  From the centre of the fire and in radial directions, thirty threads or tiny rivulets of fire ran along the ground of the clearing towards the Fairies who, at that moment, were dancing in the same place. When they were three metres from each Fairy, they stopped advancing.

  The music of Manuel de Falla continued and before each Fairy a new fire with no wood to feed it appeared. They were fires where just very red flames existed. They grew until they were three metres high and, in this way, were the same dimensions as the Fairy Gypsies.

  Stefanie’s eyes saw a unique event. Now the flames in synchrony mirrored the form, expression and movements of the Fairies. Soon there were sixty ballerinas. As the music grew in intensity, the Fairies raised their hands in synchrony to the skies. At the same time, the bodies of fire took off into space. They were flying faster than any missile. In all, thirty flames in the form of perfect women ascended two hundred times faster than the speed of sound. They were beautiful! But also terrifying. They were the pure expression of fury.

  They let out a spine-chilling scream of hate and aggression. When they reached the jaws and other internal parts of the Midgard Serpent in space, they changed their shape into flames with lightning bolts of up to ten metres and with temperatures of up to four thousand degrees centigrade. But what really burned more than any other flame was their female energy, incandescent with inconformity against that heinous subjugation.

  It hurt, and it hurt a lot, if pain can be defined for a serpent such as that. It burned and stung so much that it had to open its mouth and contort itself. Seconds later, it was re-composed and with yet more desire to extinguish the Kingdom of the Seven Moons once and for all. However, seconds later, a new legion of flames and tongues of fire in the form of the Fairies of Fire arrived to punish and wound the horrendous mouth of the Serpent.

  While the Dance of the Gypsy Fairies lasted, the serpent would never achieve its intent and would be seriously wounded. Stefanie felt something very hard tapping her gently in the back. It was the huge swan inviting her with its beak to mount once more. Her consciousness slipped away and, asleep, she was led back to her own body, which was still very sick and weak. Meanwhile the Fairies continued mercilessly burning the Serpent through the magic of the music El Amor Brujo

  CHAPTER XXII

  THE EYE OF TIME II

  The process of growth and improvement of the Kingdoms inhabited by humans in all the universes is always slow and painful, and does not occur in a linear manner. Although life in a physical world offers many challenges to be met, the greatest pains suffered by humanity are created by humans themselves. Wars, crimes, extreme poverty and tyrannies claim more lives than any natural catastrophe. Egoism, pride, avarice and other negative sentiments permeate and guide many individual and collective actions, in such a way that individuals and societies become executioners and, at the same time, their own victims. Man is wolf to man.

  But the path of the worlds towards the light cannot be interrupted, just as the flowing of a river towards the sea cannot be. In the Kingdom of the Blue Earth, it could not be any different. Science, philosophy, religions and mythologies, each in their own way, present fundaments and formulate answers or hypotheses on essential themes such as the beginning of the universe, the beginning of life, the reason for everything, where we came from and where and how we are going.

  Scientific and technological development enables the extraction and manipulation of an increasingly greater amount of natural resources to produce products and services. Nevertheless, no matter how developed science and technology are, they cannot by themselves meet spiritual need or solve the problems of humanity’s co-existence with itself or with the environment that sustains it. If, on the one hand, religion cannot be obscurantist, the science and philosophy that kill faith have still not evolved sufficiently.

  Up to the arrival of the master of all masters, Jesus, many missionaries had come to prepare the ground. After him, the work of the new preachers among all peoples also continued. However, whenever they have been able, the Forces of Darkness, if they can be called that, have corrupted teachings or chosen false prophets with the unfortunate intention of delaying evolution.

  Abraham, Zarathustra, Buddha, Moses and Mohammed were more than missionaries of absolute greatness. They were prophets from God, who brought the light to different peoples in the Kingdom of the Blue Earth.

  For western culture, the least known of these is Zarathustra or Zoroaster, his name in Greek. Zarathustra was born in the 7th century, BC, in ancient Persia, currently Iran. History has it that at twenty, he left his native land on a pilgrimage. He spent years meditating, and after having a vision of an angel, began his preachings. In his message, God is the only creator and the supreme lord and the universe lives a cosmic dualism related to moral dualism in which good is in eternal battle against evil. Zarathustra preached that human beings, of their own free will, should search for good words, good actions and also balance with the natural and social environment, respecting and protecting land, water, air, fire and the community.

  In the 19th century, a very controversial work entitled “Thus Spake Zarathustra”, written by the German philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, presents a fictional character with the same name as the Persian prophet. Just like the real Zarathustra, Nietzsche’s character, after meditating for ten years in the mountains, returns to civilisation to preach about his ideas or the revelations he had. The following words are his:

  “Man is a rope stretched between the animal and the Superman--a rope over an abyss.

  A dangerous crossing, a dangerous wayfaring, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous trembling and halting.

  What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not a goal: what is lovable in man is that he is an OVER-GOING and a DOWN-GOING”.

  In “Thus Spake Zarathustra”, Nietzsche presents his ideas and concepts against the various philosophers that preceded him and also against the Christianity he knew and interpreted within his own social context. He was the son of a Lutheran pastor. Nietzsche’s brilliant, restless, critical and very disturbed mind did not save him from madness and illness at the sad end of a short life. Perhaps the motivation of the German philosophe
r for choosing a leader as enlightened as Zarathustra as the name of his character was because, although rationally an atheist, his mind still felt like that of a believer.

  The isolated extract of Zarathustra’s words “a rope stretched between the animal and the Super-man or beyond the man” (in German Übermensch), can be interpreted in many ways. One of these is an evolutionist view or a process of evolution for which the human being is predestined.

  His sister, Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche, looked after him for the last years of his life and assumed the role of curator of his work. Hers is the reworking and adaptation of his writings unpublished up to then, to adulterate the convictions of the philosopher that were totally contrary to nationalism and anti-Semitism. In this way, Nietzsche was unjustly regarded as one of the thinkers and supporters of Nazi Germany.

  On March 14, 1804, in beautiful Vienna, the capital of Austria, Johann Strauss 1 was born, deservedly considered the “Father of the Waltz”. A romantic composer, his most famous piece is the Radetzky March”, and it was the French composer Louis Hector Berlioz himself, composer of such classics as Symphonie Fantastique and the Requiem Mass, who honoured him, saying that “Vienna without Strauss is like Austria without the Danube.”

  Johann Strauss II was also born in Vienna, in 1825. Son of Strauss 1 and brother of the composers Josef Strauss and Eduard Strauss, he wrote more than 500 waltzes, polkas, marches, quadrilles and even an operetta entitled “The Bat”. The extension and significance of his work was such that he received the title of “The Waltz King”. His most famous creation is “The Blue Danube”.

  Another celebrated musical genius, composer and conductor also bore the name Strauss, though he was no relation to the other Strausses. Richard Georg Strauss was born in Munich on June 11, 1864. He is one of the most important representatives of western music at the end of the Romantic Era and the first half of the 20th century. He is well known for operas like “Salome”, and for such symphonic poems as “Thus Spake Zarathustra”, and his great orchestral work “Metamorphosen”.

  The opening of the 1886 symphonic poem “This Spake Zarathustra” is performed with just three notes on the trumpet. However, it is eternal and proves what the greatest genius of his time and almost all eras, inventor, artist, painter, anatomist etc, Leonardo da Vinci, said: simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

  Strauss was inspired by and honoured Nietzsche, composing an uninterrupted movement, though divided into nine small sections, each one of them with the name of a chapter from Nietzsche’s book. The following are his words:

  “I did not intend to write philosophical music or to portray in music Nietzsche’s great work. I wished to convey by means of music an idea of the development of the human race from its origin, through the various phases of its development, religious and scientific, up to Nietzsche’s idea of the Superman.”

  In Strauss’s symphonic poem, there is a constant conflict between two tonalities – C, which in his work represents the universe and B, which represents humanity. What is incredible is that they are the notes closest to each other yet the most distant in terms of harmony. These are also his words:

  “I only wanted to show that it is impossible to bring B minor and C major together. The entire piece demonstrates all possible attempts, but it does not work. That is everything!”

  CHAPTER XXIII

  SYMPHONY OF LIGHT

  A ball of toxic pitch full of enslaved notes perforated the protective shield. It splattered against the wall near the window where Violet and Joaquina were standing. The crash was very loud and it alarmed them.

  The siege towers continued, together with the tanks, catapults and pianolas, with their heavy artillery. In the heavens, the battle raged fiercely.

  - What can we do to help?

  - For the moment, just wait for instructions and don’t get in the way.

  That was Joaquina’s reply to her friend.

  - My God, this is getting ugly.

  The Guardians of the Towers were hammering their tuning forks more and more vigorously. The Castle defenders were responding to the enemy fire. In space, the Serpent was contorting in pain. However, it was determined to close its mouth of death once and for all. It was a question of time before it succumbed to the magic of the Gypsy Fairies.

  - It is time. Everyone together with me.

  The Fairy Queen of Occidental Music raised her battle cry, flying above the Castle’s internal walls, mounted on her eagle.

  Two thousand trumpets were raised into the air. They were made of gold. The balls of light emitted by the tuning forks of the Castle Towers were reflected in them. In the centre of the largest inner Castle garden an orchestra of five-thousand musicians stood at the ready. The three trumpet notes signalling the opening of the symphonic poem “Thus Spake Zarathustra” soared with such vigour that even the distant mountains echoed in joyous resonance.

  The sound spread through the valley. It rose into space. It overcame the lack of atmosphere. It hit the Serpent, whose mouth was wide open. It almost tore the reptile’s mouth in two. This didn’t happen only because the snake gave up trying to close it at that moment.

  - No!!!!!!! Damn you!!!!!!!!!

  The Tyrant Fairy Queen and her dragon turned towards where the Fairy Queen of Easy Fame was conducting.

  - Conduct properly, you incompetent fool.

  - But. but!

  - But nothing!

  She pushed her aside. She received in return a veiled look of disdain. She took over the conducting of the Twilight Symphony. She sought inspiration in the malign heart of the Infernal Kingdom where the Serpent had come from. The rhythm and profundity of the Twilight Symphony were intensified.

  On noticing the connection made and that the eyes of the Tyrant Fairy Queen were blazing, the Fairy Queen of Easy Fame looked at her in astonishment. Now she was the one fearing for her own safety. She had never seen her mistress so furious!

  The macabre music from the Darkness reinvigorated the Serpent. Once again, it prepared to swallow the Kingdom of the Seven Moons. In the valley, the battle raged savagely. In the air, no matter how many dragons and baboons the butterflies, eagles and Valkyries tore to pieces, others appeared. It was as if the doors of Hell had been opened.

  Then the Fairy Queen of Music’s orchestra played louder. The Fairies of Gypsy Music also danced the Ritual Fire Dance from El Amor Brujo with more intensity. Even so, now with the help of the energy and inspiration from the Infernal Kingdom, the Forces of Oppressive Music began regained the advantage. The Serpent had become increasingly stronger. At this crucial moment and without interfering with the vertiginous speed of events, time began to move so slowly that it was as if it had stopped. In other words, if that war were observed from another spatial reference, it would seem to be eternal. From each one of the Seven Moons, a bright light supplanted the natural reflected luminosity of the sun that each heavenly body, be it a planet, satellite or even an asteroid, generates.

  This new light was also a unique colour for each Moon. The intensity grew so much that they could all be seen from the surface of the planet in the midday sun.

  The most incredible magic yet witnessed happened. A rainbow more than twenty kilometres wide formed. It was not a normal rainbow, neither for its size nor its form. It began three thousand metres high, right above the Castle, and went to the direction of the skies. It went far beyond the orbital limits of the Seven Moons. It was not confined to within that planetary system. It ended in a blessed, happy place, after running for infinity.

  The luminous bright arc in the atmosphere did actually resemble a natural rainbow. But in sidereal space it obeyed the curvature of the universe and of space-time.

  If Vikings had existed in the Kingdom of the Seven Moons, they would have said it was the Rainbow Bridge known in their religion by the name Bifrost, which connects the Kingdom of the Blue Earth to the home of the gods, known as Asgard.

  At an altitude of more or less four thousand metres, very well-lit s
tages were forming in the rainbow itself and in the different bands of colours and altitudes. In the principal, largest one, the spirit of the greatest musician and composer of all times, Johann Sebastian Bach, was conducting the most impressive orchestra of all times. His army consisted of many of the geniuses who, after his death, drank from the fount of his knowledge. With him in that orchestra were the main composers and musicians who transformed the world with their works. Respected as no one else, no vulgar music or enslaved note approached or touched them. Georg Friedrich Handel and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart were among them.

  As soon as the Fairy Queen of Fame saw them arriving from a distance and felt the presence of their works entering into combat, she muttered:

  - Oh nooooooooooooooooooooooo!

  On other stages formed in the rainbow bridge, hitherto unheard bands and some inconceivable choirs organized on others were performing incredible shows. Opera, jazz singers, sambistas and musicians from all times who had helped the trajectory of music in the Kingdom of the Blue Earth and who were unhampered by other lives or tasks, had come to do battle.

  The “Little Train of the Caipira” appeared running along the green band of the rainbow. It brought with it not only the invisible orchestra, but also other geniuses of music made in Brazilian lands. Among those leaving the carriages and going onstage were Carlos Gomes, Chiquinha Gonzaga, Ernesto Nazareth, Lorenzo Fernandez, Francisco Mignone, Camargo Guarnieri, Guerra Peixe, Osvaldo Lacerda etc.