Electronic music composer and modular synthesist Bart Hawkins’ dedication to inner sonic exploration began in the early ’80s when his practice of Zen Meditation and love of the Berlin School style of electronic music launched him into a world of musical landscapes, sonic textures, and silence, sparking a spiritual awakening into the power of sound. His time as a professional film & video producer and cinematographer soon led to experiments with tape loops, delays, re-recording techniques, and the mixing of ambient sounds to create visual listening experiences. Now, diving headlong into the world of modular synthesis, Bart’s sonic creations guide listeners through an electric universe of sound, vision, and consciousness.

Entering The Axis Mundi, picks up where its predecessor Vision of Eden left off, continuing a sonic retelling of a creation myth. This time, instead of the book of Genesis, Hawkins drew inspiration from the concept of axis mundi, meaning “cosmic axis”— the core of existence where time and space are nonlinear and all history convergent. The innovative album releases worldwide on January 20 in a variety of digital formats, and on all streaming platforms.

The “axis mundi” (also cosmic axis, world axis, world tree, world pillar, columna cerului, etc.) is a point described as the center of the world, the connection between earth and heaven, the belly button of the earth, the gateway to Shambhala. A common shamanic concept, and a universally told story, is that of the healer traversing the axis mundi to bring back knowledge from the other world. This vertical axis represents an “ascent” or “descent” into spiritual or material realms and is thought to exist in any number of locales at once. In astronomy, axis mundi is the Latin term for the axis of Earth between the celestial poles, the axis of rotation of the planetary sphere within the classical geocentric model of the cosmos.

You, intrepid constant listener, might just find yourself starting at the end, then go soaring on the back of a huge ancient flying lizard, be propelled to Cosmos Redshift 7, meet Parisa And Miriam, experience an owl dreaming of Bart (you will hear what that sounds like), you will actually enter the axis mundi, then ride to Atlantis, contemplate the magical number 33.3, and finally your ears will step up into the core of existence where time and space are nonlinear and all history convergent. Are you ready?

Behold : ENTERING THE AXIS MUNDI from Bart Hawkins, on Spotted Peccary Music

Entering The Axis Mundi is inspired by the mystical source or center where all things exist at the same time. Each of these tracks, in my imagination, are sound events that could be going on forever, the listener experiences approaching the phenomenon, achieving full submersion, and then after a good visit, moving along into other realms after the end of the track. A circle begins and ultimately returns to the start, and you have gained all of the experience of the textures, and silence, sparking a spiritual awakening into the power of sound of the journey around the form.

The first track is “A Joyous Return” (8:00), I hear sparkling layers of tiny sounds swirling, I see an interlocking of the heavens with mountain peaks, with currents blending into a rich cloud. Bart speaks of a joyous return as a state of grace from which you never left. All problems are simultaneously solved by a sweet surrender to what cannot be seen with the physical eyes. Bart says that this process is transformational and it is no different in life. Listening without your ears and seeing without your eyes will transform your life completely. Prepare yourself. This next track involves strapping yourself onto a frisky flying dinosaur. You might want to make your peace with the world before you commit… TOO LATE!

“To Ride A Pterodactyl” (10:20) is a real thrill. Bart says that a Quetzalcoatlus Northropi, which lived 67 million years ago, had a wingspan of 36 feet. The fossilized skulls of adult Pterodactyl are long and thin, with about 90 narrow and conical teeth. The teeth extend back from the tips of both jaws, and become smaller further away from the jaw tips. Based on the shape, size, and arrangement of its teeth, Pterodactylus has long been recognized as a carnivore specializing in small animals. You’re not a small animal, are you? No worries. Use your headphones.

A Moog Theremin evokes this insane ride, pulling up to 5 Gs. Be sure and steady mounting the flying reptile ‘winged finger’ and while gaining altitude. The rhythm of the wings are formed by a skin and muscle membrane stretching from its elongated fourth finger to its hind limbs, hence the winged finger, or Pterodactyl. Feel the throbbing as the beast soars and we ride and learn to hang on through all the surprises.

According to the sagely factual insight inspired by Lord Google, Galaxy Cosmos Redshift 7 contains old Population II (metal-poor) and possibly Population III (stars with extremely poor metallicity), as reported by some astronomers, and is three times brighter than the brightest distant galaxies (redshift, z > 6) detected up to the time of its discovery. Here then is the track “Race To Cosmos Redshift 7 Galaxy” (7:24). The redshift observations of Hubble, in which galaxies appear to be moving away from us at a rate proportional to their distance from us, are now understood to be a result of the metric expansion of space. This is the increase of the distance between two distant parts of the Universe with time, and is an intrinsic expansion whereby the scale of space itself changes. As Hubble theorized, all observers anywhere in the Universe will observe a similar effect, a high-redshift Lyman-alpha emitter galaxy observed as it was about 800 million years after the Big Bang, during the epoch of reionization. Bart says that Cosmos Redshift 7 is a restricted Galaxy. So it takes a few outlaws that will risk everything to reach this “new world.”

The Prophetess Miriam, Star of the Sea, is the sister of Moses in Persian mythology. Parisa is described to be of a race of beautiful and benevolent supernatural fairy beings. Miriam meets Parisa just as she leads the women out of Egypt. Parisa gives Miriam the secrets of the universe. Cycles and patterns form and fade after lingering and alternating, upholding the heavens even as its rhythmically repeating segments invite the listener to climb somehow higher and higher. I hear the strings in electronics, I feel the hall of mirrors, repeating into infinity, I think of Frippertonics, and I know that this is something new, modular synth style. “Parisa And Miriam” (6:27).

Bart tells us that it is one thing to dream of an owl, but is quite another to be in an owl’s dream. Nature is dreaming of you, as you are dreaming up nature. I would imagine an owl in a forest or dark setting, here the sound is light hearted and free bubbling, an easy shuffle beat, a rolling sphere that glitters, “An Owl’s Dream Of Me” (7:44). Bart and the owl get along very well, the sound is playful and upbeat with a mystical framework. The song goes on and on, the dynamics shift and modulate within the melodic pattern, the constant listener can just float free while the experience lasts. The music makes me think of a bright place, with passive and elaborate decorations.

Now we come to the title track, “Entering The Axis Mundi” (7:13). Outside the boundaries of the microcosm lie foreign realms representing chaos, death, or night, the earthly, heavenly, and the sub-earthly, the underworld, as in the Ancient Greek, Incan, Mayan, and Ancient Egyptian religious systems. The sequencers guide the way. Melodics chatter and work up a strong form, then the velocity continues building, getting bigger and closer. Various elements revolve and new arrivals flash and linger, and then dissolve.

Many have wondered, is the advanced prehistoric lost civilization of Atlantis real or just a story in Plato’s head? The sleeping prophet Edgar Cayce declared that he was able to give detailed descriptions of Atlantis. So just sit right back and hear a tale (with no words), relax, you are now on the “River Boat To Atlantis” (8:17). Here I hear familiar stringed instruments, plucked and bowed, and transmitted through the water. Looking down at gigantic ancient man-made stepped monoliths, I see huge pyramids, castles, roads, monuments, and a stadium, some tall platforms, or ziggurats, featuring staircases leading up towards heaven. We are submerged and reflecting, the way is down, and further down, deeper into the depths. The mood is easy and calm with constantly evolving patterns that emerge, laced with sound samples, a creaking door, seagulls, electronic laughing seagulls on top of caves or subterranean springs, which must be openings to the underworld.

What to do if you repeatedly see the number 333? Consider the track “The Secret Of 33.3” (8:49). Angel numbers are not explicit, says Bart. They are guides that can be listened to or ignored. Some introspection is required for you to truly understand the messages. If you don’t put meaning to these numbers, then they are just coincidences. But if you let them mean something to you, then they will guide you to growth in mind, body, and spirit.

33 is a mysterious number that evokes a certain sense of the mystical. The human spine is made of 33 vertebrae. Jesus was 33 years old when he was crucified. Islamic prayer beads are arranged in 3 sets of 33. The divine name Elohim appears 33 times in the story of Genesis. There are 33 deities in ancient Hinduism, and in Buddhism the second level of heaven belongs to the thirty-three gods. In 2019 Andrew Booker solved a mathematical mystery of 33 that has been going on since the 3rd century AD. He was assisted by a supercomputer that executed an algorithm for three solid weeks. Now we have to solve The Secret of 33.3, listen carefully.

Some numbers make patterns with infinity as the background, 3:33 is pushing you to find the balance, the missing piece, that you need, the study of the spiritual significance of numbers. I hear shimmering patterns that revolve and open into unexpected territories, a symbolic and mathematical exploration of lots of activity in the higher frequency sounds, tinkling bells and ringing metal.

The difference between coincidence and synchronicity is within your perception. There are many signs from the universe around you. Sometimes these signs come in the form of numbers or sequences of numbers that are messages, if you’re repeatedly seeing 3:33 (or variations) everywhere, like on a clock, addresses, or prices, it’s said to be a message from your spirit guides. Try to get the lottery numbers.

Psychologist Carl Jung first described the concept of synchronicity as meaning applied to patterns that may at first seem coincidental, defining it as “meaningful coincidence of two or more events where something other than the probability of chance is involved.” This final track, “Blessed Under Your Feet” (8:09) takes us through and beyond, and beyond beyond. Hail the goer.

From the album’s liner notes, on each foot there are over 7,000 nerve endings that correspond to every organ and system within your body. So please slow down, walk barefoot when possible and focus on the earth coming up to support your every step. You are light, so light up the world with each step you take.

Let us conclude our meditation on Entering the Axis Mundi with some more reflections from Bart. Regarding the conceptual origins of this musical adventure, “I approached this album a bit differently from my previous albums. It was a process of unlearning the modular signal pathways and looking at it with fresh eyes, entering not knowing how. This taught me the importance of approaching creativity irrationally, to create original artwork from a place that is ‘hidden’ from rational thought. The modular synth is such a great teacher of irrational creativity. The more I let go of thinking my way into music, the more the music emerges.

“I do not use any keyboards in my music, everything you hear is created from the modular system. There is an organic intimacy that happens between you and the modular when a keyboard is not hooked up. It is very liberating. And I hope I can capture some of that and pass it to my listeners.”

Romanian religious historian Mircea Eliade might have said (in Romanian) “Every microcosm, every inhabited region, has a Centre; that is to say, a place that is sacred above all.” The sound of Entering the Axis Mundi provides a world, the center must exist somewhere, you can hear all the details. The center of the Universe is a concept that lacks a coherent definition in modern astronomy; according to standard cosmological theories on the shape of the universe, it has no center. The Axis Mundi is a mystical musical place of connection between heavenly and the earthly realms, from the depths of hell to celestial paradise. Hang on for your dear life…

TRACKS
1 A Joyous Return
2 To Ride A Pterodactyl
3 Race To Cosmos Redshift 7 Galaxy
4 Parisa And Miriam
5 An Owl’s Dream Of Me
6 Entering The Axis Mundi
7 River Boat To Atlantis
8 The Secret Of 33.3
9 Blessed Under Your Feet