Song Meaning

The lyrics present a ritualistic invocation, centering on a cyclical transformation through fire. The narrator conjures a "fire of reversion" and "profanation," initiating a process where fire becomes a snake, the snake a lion, and the lion returns to fire. This tripartite transformation repeats, establishing a core motif of cyclical change and powerful, almost alchemical, metamorphosis. The central tension lies in the duality of creation and destruction, purity and corruption. The path of ascent is marked by "ashes and bone," leading to the "sinistral eye" and the blackening of the "virgin-born," while the path of descent is traced by "blood and fire," involving the "dextral eye" and the "soul's graveyard." This suggests a deliberate embrace of the profane and the monstrous as means of transformation, a "heresy of fleshly abnegation" where the narrator both creates and desecrates. The most striking craft element is the stark contrast between sacred and profane imagery, particularly in the descriptions of the paths and the resulting transformations. The "sinistral eye" and "monstrous" forms are juxtaposed with the "dextral eye" and "saints," indicating that the ritualistic fire transcends conventional morality. The repeated cycle of "Fire vnto snake, Snake vnto lion, Lion vnto fire" acts as a mantra, reinforcing the idea that these transformations are not linear but part of an eternal, self-sustaining loop. These lyrics resonate through their evocation of primal forces and the deliberate subversion of traditional notions of purity. The narrator's assertion, "by the body I create (and) by the body I desecrate," encapsulates the core of this powerful, unsettling message. It’s a declaration of agency over one's own spiritual and physical being, achieved through a radical embrace of the forbidden and the cyclical nature of existence.