PSYCHOMANTEUM by OBSIDIAN MIRROR

Recorded at Zond Studios, St. Ignatius, Montana, January, 2022.

All instruments and vocals by Rashid Abdel Ghafur.

Photography and graphic design by Julie Tompkins.

In the Late Postclassic period, 1200 – 1521, obsidian came to be the stone of preference for fashioning mirrors in Central Mexico. Obsidian mirrors were used ritually and spiritually to access the Aztec underworld and communicate with the realm of the dead. The name of the important Aztec deity Tezcatlipoca means "Smoking Mirror" and he was apparently the supernatural embodiment of a polished obsidian mirror. The deity observed everything that happened in the world through this mirror.

In ancient Greece Psychomanteums were oracles of the dead, who it was believed could consult with the spirits of the deceased. After fasting and certain other preparatory rituals, a vision of the departed was evoked by the seeker’s staring into a pool or pan of water. In parapsychology and spiritualism, a Psychomanteum is a small, enclosed area set up with a comfortable chair, dim lighting, and a mirror angled so as not to reflect anything but darkness intended to communicate with spirits of the dead.

Experimental Black Metal, Doom Metal, Dark Folk, Space Ambient and Experimental Electronics.

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