torcs_and_timegates

https://www.tikit.net/2014%20Large/RBM/StephenBradbury.html

Finishing the theme of mountains in Stephen's art representing people, I'll talk about the crazysauce cover of 'Magnificat’.

Marc is on this cover*three* times (count ‘em).

Firstly, the mountain on the left. The left has been traditionally associated with sinister things and ‘the left-hand path’ is not the one you should travel down. We have a mountain in fiery colours looking like a seated angel with a sword he is in the process of picking up. Eek.

Now, if you are a mountain climber, would you want to climb this mountain? Nope, I would take one look at it and then back away carefully, in case it somehow spotted me. Then run, because the mountain looks like it’s about to erupt. It’s very much ‘pride before a fall’ here. Significantly, there’s no companion mountain – he’s alone here.

Next, we have Marc as the angel post-fall, kneeling with his head bowed. Everything nearby is starting to ice over, hinting at how he will be symbolised on the cover of ‘The Adversary’ as a frozen, jagged mountain that discourages climbers. He’s looking down to the water where there’s the reflection of an animal skull mounted on a stick, which is from the cover of ‘The Many Coloured Land’.

There are a couple of meanings here – Marc’s Metapsychic Rebellion that he was the leader of has failed, and he has become Death, Destroyer of Worlds. Secondly, it refers to him travelling through time to Exile with his fellow rebels.

There is a star hanging above the angel, with a serpent-figure wound around it. 'Corrupted star' is the obvious meaning here.

In the background we have Atoning Unifex, the Gandalf figure and Wise Old Man that he has / will become. Unifex in fact sent his younger, evil self through the time gate and eventually catches up with himself.

Unifex has two stars on either side to him, symbolising the four Lylmik who rule the galaxy with him. I admit I only figured out recently that 'Lylmik' means Elizabeth-Marc, with the Lylmik being their children and descendants...