The Ministry Album Commonly Known As "Psalm 69"
John Searcy
I have a few questions regarding the 1992 Ministry album which is
almost universally refered to as "Psalm 69". First of all: why do they
call it that? How did it start? Nowhere on the album is "Psalm 69"
given as a title, only as the name of a song. Instead, the title, both
on the cover and on the spine, is a cryptic Greek word, which,
according to the pronunciation guide in my Webster's English
Dictionary, would be prounounced something like "Keph-al-eeksth" and
anglicized as "Kephalexth". This, apparently, is the "real" title of
the album, and I am curious to know why no one uses it. It's not THAT
hard to pronounce.
Also: does anybody have any idea what this word means? I don't have a
Greek dictionary handy, so I can't just go look it up, but I thought
it conceivable that some hardcore Ministry fan might have gone and
done just that. So does anyone have any insight as to what this word
means, or if it is even a real word at all? Any help would be greatly
appreciated, and since I'll probably forget to look here for a reply,
it would be even more greatly appreciated if you were nice enough to
send me an email.
Thanks,
John "Kephalexth" Searcy
----------------------------------
DON'T COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS YET.
http://rampages.onramp.net/~searcy
Leah DeVun
there is a very easy answer to this. go to your friendly neighbourhood
occult shop (or big cool bookstore) and find a copy of
"the book of lies" crowley, aleister. (nice cheap readily available
paperback edition, with commentary, samuel weiser usa. isbn 0-87728-516)
now go to chapter / psalm 69 (in this edition it's on page 148) and that
nice mr. crowley will explain it all to you. well, sorta.
"Plunge from the height, O Man, and interlock with Beast!"
sweet dreams
jessica
(not leah)
Rex
> I have a few questions regarding the 1992 Ministry album which is
>almost universally refered to as "Psalm 69". First of all: why do they
>call it that? How did it start? Nowhere on the album is "Psalm 69"
>given as a title, only as the name of a song.
1. "Psalm 69" is taken directly from Aleister Crowley's The Book of Lies,
wherein the 69th chapter is subtitled "The Way to Succeed -- and the Way
to Suck Eggs!" Crowley's book uses the Greek, therefore Ministry used the
Greek.
2. The word "Psalm" is used for the title instead of "Chapter" due to the
artist's intent... as you mentioned, the song on the album is called
"Psalm 69," not "Chapter 69." Both "Psalm 69" and "The Way to Succeed..."
are said aloud in the song, as well.
3. Look at a brand-new copy of the album in a store, the security
stickers that cover the top edge of the jewel box all say, "Ministry --
Psalm 69."
Gee, that doesn't leave a lot of room for deliberation over the usage of
the title.
--
REX -- mgul...@facstaff.wisc.edu -- "I am the fly in the ointment."
Taylor McLaren
John Searcy (sea...@onramp.net) wrote:
: I have a few questions regarding the 1992 Ministry album which is
: almost universally refered to as "Psalm 69". First of all: why do they
: call it that? How did it start? Nowhere on the album is "Psalm 69"
: on the cover and on the spine, is a cryptic Greek word, which,
: according to the pronunciation guide in my Webster's English
: Dictionary, would be prounounced something like "Keph-al-eeksth" and
: anglicized as "Kephalexth". This, apparently, is the "real" title of
: the album, and I am curious to know why no one uses it. It's not THAT
: hard to pronounce.
that it's very likely that the article I'm quoting will have expired in
most places by the time this followup circulates at all.
From what I understand, _Psalm 69_ was one of several working titles for
the album in question (during the period in which it was delayed time and
again... sound familiar?); the entire thing is a joke involving Aleister
Crowley (I'm fairly sure I spelled that right... feel free to nuke me if
I didn't...), his _Books of Lies_, and a stupid Greek pun.
The word (which I've seen translated and Anglicized as "kefala" in a
couple of places... that's only a bit more bastardized than the
translation above...) apparently means "head"; Crowley's _Book of Lies_
featured a chapter entitled "Psalm 69 - The Way to Succeed and the Way to
Suck Eggs", which is a fairly crude reference to oral sex ("suck seed"...
get it? Yeah, I laughed almost as hard...). Al took the joke one step
further and used the Greek translation of the word "head" as the final
title for the album and... yeah, I laughed almost as hard at that one,
too. Anyhow, instead of referring to the album in a foreign language, it
seems that most people have chosen to call it _Psalm 69_, since that's
what the title/joke/whatever is about.
I would have sent this to you as e-mail, but I suck (HA!) and forgot to
do so at first... sorry.
-me
--
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This account has been reclaimed by its rightful owner, so if you're trying
to find Aaron, he's dead. I ate him and mailed his remains to Peru. You
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Bones
Well, Rex pretty much said it all. Of interest to note is also that in an
interview four years ago, Paul Barker admitted that the greek was a little
misspelled, but it does mean "Chapter 69." I kinda shrugged it off until one
day. I have the letters written on my biker jacket and I was tixin around
when this older man comes up to me and asks me what the letters mean. I
explained and told him that they were a little misspelled. He said, "Yeah,
they are. I'm greek and I noticed this. Actually, it literally says 'Head
69' but you can loosely translate 'Head' as 'Chapter' as in the head of the
story. I was just curious as to why it was on your jacket."
Wow. Enlightenment. next I'm gonna put those weird letterings on the
Mission's "carved in Sand" album on my socks and go walking through Stonehenge
or something...
boNes
Andrew Clegg
In article <4nm954$m...@nntp.onramp.net>, John Searcy <sea...@onramp.net>
writes
> Also: does anybody have any idea what this word means?
According to a Greek guy in my physics class who saw it on the back of
my t-shirt, it means 'head'. Which ties in nicely with the 'way to suck
seed and the way to suck eggs' pun and the whole '69' symbolism.
Andrew.
"What's the matter, Eddie, does it frighten you?"
"Frighten me? No, Frank, I think 'startle' is a better word."