"Music" ((Inuyoko Mass #17))
Hello, everyone. My name is Inuyoko T’Alveni. I am a Ministress of this Shrine, and a member of its clergy since deoch 53. Last double-moon, Sister Trexie shared some experiences with us as well as a poem that she wrote, and we talked a bit about overcoming our anxieties, taking risks, and the benefits of sharing our work with others. Today, I’d like to speak to you about music, if you would indulge me. As some of you may know, I am an awarded Philosopher in the subject of music, and I think I can lend some of that expertise to a Mass in the spirit of our faith.
It feels somewhat obvious to me why music is important to our faith. Deoch is the patron god of the spark, which makes him also the god of creativity. Because what is Aislinghood if not the ability to imagine, to create, to dream? But this connection runs much deeper than simply “Music/art is creative, therefore Deoch.” Deoch is also a god of passion, and music has a unique ability to evoke passionate emotion in all sentient beings. When Kandolo first wrote about music, he stopped just short of claiming it to be its own element or category of magic. I don’t know whether it could be considered such or not, but I do know that there is a strong association of music with magic. Bards weave music into powerful skills and spells. Magic can be used to create musical tones out of thin air. But even without magical manipulation, music is a part of us and our world. The calls of birds sing to us as we walk through the quiet village. The gurgling of creeks and rivers taps out subtle rhythms as it passes over the stones. Even our normal speech carries its own pitch character. These sounds may not be intrinsically musical, but there is a force within us which all but forces us to perceive them that way.
It is true that if you look deep enough, there is an order to music. Two strings, one double the length of the first, when plucked will always produce the same musical interval between them. But is this reality of the nature of sound itself truly music? I would argue not. But by being perceived by us as music it, like the spark, becomes a force of beautiful chaos. What do I mean? Well, looking back to Kandolo’s work, he made assertions about the mood that certain musical sounds inspired. He seemed to believe that particular musics had qualities of srad, athar, creag, and sal. He asserted that there was a connection between major and minor intervals and the elements of light and darkness. He said: “In a chord, by changing the third degree one half step lower, a piece in a major, or "light", key can become like one of a minor, or "dark", key. Just as during the day one casts shadows, and during the night you can light a candle..” But is this an objective fact about these intervals, or simply how they affected him? When I was writing my own work, I kept this idea in my mind when I spoke about the tendency of Temuairian musicians to use minor keys, often resulting in a somber and “settled” tone. And it’s true that it is common for people to associate minor keys with emotions like sadness, sombreness, and melancholy. It is common for major keys to be associated with joy, brightness, and vigor. But when I then went to Medenia and started traveling through the Asilon Prairies with a group of troubadours, it became clear to me that these associations are not universal. They played for me a ballad which was most certainly in a major key…but the way that it was arranged made me feel wistful.
What this tells me is that there is a deep connection between our spark and music. For all the different manners of personality and individuality that exist in our world, there are that many interpretations of a piece of music. As a loud and percussive song is played, the athar wizard hears the cracking of thunder while the sal wizard hears the crashing of waves. Music, though built from orderly parts, is itself a chaotic force, and that is amazing. It means its capacity to inspire us is limitless, and that is a miracle that I can heartily thank Deoch for.
Mass is cast.
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