Corycian Fire - March 2015

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Steve in mountainous Delphi

Corycian Fire has primal roots. It was inspired by the Corycian cave in Greece, where the Delphic oracle began before Delphi existed. In ancient times god of wine, darkness and creative imagination Dionysus shared prominence at Delphi with Apollo, god of light and consciousness. The song depicts the rights of wild women invoking the rebirth of Dionysus in the Corycian cave... around the time Christians now celebrate Easter.

The Corycian Cave is off the tourist map. When Jo and I searched for it we had to stop the car on the mountainside and walk up a stoney track for well over an hour as the terrain became increasingly remote and rocky. Finally we came across ancient steps which we climbed, turned a corner and there was the gaping cave entrance. It felt like an Indiana Jones moment!

As you enter there are huge stalactites like teeth inside a mouth. Then the whole cave opens up into cathedral sized proportions as you walk down into it. The formations in there are spooky and extraordinary. They look like monsters and you see faces of all kinds everywhere. It's as if creatures in there were once turned to stone. A huge one stands between the main cavern and the darkness behind. One of them in particular looks like a huge mouth. You feel a presence in there you can't quite describe. When we went back there with our photographer friends Angéla and Maurizio a few months later, Maurizio caught a strange and distinct shadow on film that wasn't there.

This was the most important spiritual cave in mainland Greece for the ancients, and I can see why. Some called it 'the golden cave' because of the way it looked lit by hundreds of torches, and I feel the dead could easily be brought back to life in that extraordinary place. Eerie and simultaneously awe inspiring, it awakens the imagination...

The track 'Corycian Fire' begins with duduk and harp, setting the scene for the atmosphere of that strange dark place. We then follow the torch lit procession into its depths, and the ancient rites begin... Gradually building in an exotic wild and ancient dance, gaining momentum with guitar followed by orchestra and finally reaching a crescendo with choir and heavy drums as a spirit is reborn.

Steve Hackett discusses the track 'Corycian Fire'

In the caverns