Finally,
at the beginning of December the long waited Michael Ernst's
CD has been released. The title, previously supposed to be The
Excalibur Project turned into the now definite Excalibur,
while as for the music the CD has been recently remastered for
the official release.
By
now the album has been published only in Germany, but it's available
also on-line from amazon.de. In the beginning of year 2004 it
will be released also here in Italy.
Michael
and Andreja Ernst sent me two really interesting scripts, one
about the making of the album, the other about how the songs
on the album are linked with the Excalibur legend. Now you can
find these information here:
THE
STORY OF EXCALIBUR:
Michael
ERNST
Once upon a time there was ... This is how we ought to start
the story of this project and how it developed, because already
in 1983, singer and composer Michael ERNST had the idea for the
project for the first time. Actually Michael wanted to pack a
couple of songs, which he had written up to this time, into a
concept dealing with the story of the sword Excalibur, King Arthur
and the magician Merlin. These were songs hitherto meant to show
Michael's career as an artist (The title "People Shall Be
Free" was written by Michael at the age of twelve). But
things turned out differently, and it would take longer for Michael
to realize this dream. The first demos were actually recorded
in a little Viennese recording studio at the beginning of 1984
(among others the title "Time To Change"). But Michael
had dreamed of recording with an orchestra ever since. For this
reason the financial means necessary for this project could not
be provided at once. Meanwhile, however, the story was developing:
with his partner at that time, Rudi Simmer, Michael compiled
the songs, the basic concept and ideas for a possible musical.
These ideas resulted in a first stage adaptation. In 1988, the
first title of the compilation of that time was released and
soared immediately to number 4 on the Austrian Charts. Nevertheless
the recording company was not willing to finance this project
in the end.
Andreja ERNST
About the same time Andreja took over Michael's management. After
several unsuccessful attempts to get a contract with any of the
other recording companies, Michael and Andreja decided to do
something of serious consequence: they financed the production
of the album themselves hoping the money necessary to fund it
would flow back through sale from the production later on. Top
musicians from Germany and Austria (such as Bernd Cohn, Dave
King, and Robbie Musenbichler, conducted by Günter Baumgartner)
were hired to start the production at the beginning of 1990.
Richard SUTCLIFFE
Also the lyrics that have been based on Michael's ideas to this
day were adapted for the first time. Together with Richard Sutcliffe,
an English author, Michael rewrote almost all the lyrics of what
was later to become the Excalibur album.
Alan PARSONS
In April, 1990 - the production was almost completed - the finishing
touches to the songs had to be done. For this reason Andreja
simply called Alan in his studio one night and invited him to
take part in the production. Though Alan was obviously very busy
with his own projects, he came to Vienna and on this occasion
he met Michael and Andreja for the first time. But let me tell
you - first he had cancelled his participation in the production
for the time being
The day he finally arrived was a day
none of them would ever forget! At first there was the recording
studio "Hörnix" in Gettsdorf, Lower Austria. People
there had not really expected the visit from one of the world's
most famous producers and sound engineers. After realizing Alan's
potential visit, the workers got busy cleaning the studio until
it gleamed. A photographer was hired to document the legendary
visit. The tapes of the production were ready to be listened
to. Afterwards Andreja and Michael and their VIP-guest went back
to Vienna to have lunch at a typically Viennese "Gasthaus".
(A "Gasthaus" is an Austrian kind of restaurant where
you get plain cooking of the region and few national dishes like
"Wiener Schnitzel" at low or average prices - translator's
note). Michael remembered a nice "Gasthaus" where he
had been as a child with his parents. They decided to go there.
Strange enough to see, there was a lot of personnel standing
at the entrance to welcome them
They chose a table and
the menu was brought to them. It was at this point that it dawned
on Michael and Andreja that this "Gasthaus" was now
very exclusive. It was now called "Steirereck" and
was one of the most-known and most exquisite gourmet-restaurants
in Austria. The prices were accordingly
They were enjoying
a top grade menu. Alan, being the connoisseur of wine made his
recommendation. The lunch in itself was an adventure - especially
when the bill was received
Of course Michael wanted to
invite his guest, but the restaurant did not accept credit cards.
As a result, Michael apologized and left the restaurant to obtain
the cash needed. In view of the financial situation - the production-budget
was totally consumed - a risky undertaking. Would the cash dispenser
spit out what was needed, and would it spit out the card, as
well?! It got rather thrilling, when Michael placed his card
into the cash dispenser. But the sound of "counting banknotes"
in the automat calmed Michael. Consequently, he was able to pay
the bill. This was to be the first of many meetings (in England
and in Austria) between Andreja, Michael and Alan. At their second
meeting at "The Grange" - Alan's recording studio in
Kent (where among other things "Gaudi" was produced),
Alan held out a prospect of producing the song "A Long Long
Time Ago". As an example he played another song to Michael
to show him how he could imagine the arrangement of "A Long
Long Time Ago". But Michael, in his uncompromising way did
not make use of the offer for the time being. In 1996, after
further meetings and discussions, Alan promised his contribution
to "Excalibur" as a co-producer for the entire album.
This was now definite! Hard years would however follow, because
none of the sought after recording companies and publishers were
willing to publish the work in its original fashion. At least
at the time, Michael and Andreja were doing privately well. In
October, 1990, they got married and Andreja moved over to Michael's
with her four children. Their daughter Virginia was born in the
beginning of 1991.
Chris THOMPSON
In 1994, Andreja and Michael met Chris THOMPSON at an Alan PARSONS
concert in Munich for the first time. Before this, Chris had
been in contact with Andreja and so the after-show party was
the ideal place to get acquainted with each other. They had a
conversation in which Michael (in jest) said that he would like
to write a song for Chris. Chris gave a smile and then retorted
"I write my own songs." This he had proven very well
with the John Farnham-song "You're The Voice." He did
not need a song or further more a songwriter, or did he?! When
leaving, he turned around and said "But who knows, never
say never." and off he went.
WELTMUSIK
In the end of 1994, for the first time a publisher in Vienna
(Weltmusik) was willing to invest in the project. The vocals
were redone and a new rough-mix was made. This improved mix was
handed over to Chris by Andreja during a Manfred Mann-concert.
She asked him, if he could imagine singing one or two songs as
a guest-singer. After a couple of weeks Chris answered and said
yes. He would like to sing the titles "Time To Change"
and "Goodbye", but he wanted to rewrite the lyrics.
What followed then was that Chris rewrote almost all of the songs
and sang half the titles on the album.
In 1996, there was another important meeting, namely with
Ronnie SEUNIG
By an old friend Michael's attention was drawn to "Excalibur
City" situated at the Austrian-Czech border. The owner,
Ronnie Seunig, had earned a fortune in the duty-free business
and was obviously investing in things that had to do with the
Arthur Legend. This Michael would later find out. At first Andreja
sent a fax to Ronnie's company without any expectation. There
was no response! After a couple of weeks she phoned them as a
matter of routine and asked them, if they had received the fax
at all. Finally, one of Ronnie's staff members made an appointment
for Ronnie and Michael. When Michael came to "Excalibur
City" for the first time, he was stricken to see a huge
limousine - a quite unusual type of car in our part of the world
- that stood beside a shed full of old timers, sports cars and
classy cars. With a big question mark in his mind, Michael went
to the appointment. Ronnie being very sceptical was already awaiting
him. Michael then presented his concept to Ronnie. The atmosphere
that had been somewhat overwrought at first had gotten better
as time passed. Ronnie's expectation was that Michael was someone
who only wanted to make money very quickly. He was also afraid
of a lawsuit concerning the copyright of the solicited project
(Excalibur). He thought this might happen due to Michael's visit.
This was all based on the fact that Ronnie had commissioned another
composer to write a musical with the same title (Excalibur) a
couple of months earlier. But when he heard how long Michael
had been working on this idea and that Michael's main interest
was on the album and not on the musical, the ice broke! Ronnie
made the first move by investing in the project. He subsequently
bore the total costs of the entire album-production. The production
was now underway.
Christian KOLONOVITS
Before the appointment with Ronnie, it was Christian who had
promised to complete the album, but - things did not turn out
as expected. One evening, in April 1997, Michael and Andreja's
car was packed and they had just left for another trip to England.
The appointment for the production-meeting with Alan and Chris
in London was fixed for the following week. Christian's ticket
for the flight to London was booked. However, for weeks, Michael
was unable to contact Christian. When they were at the exit from
Vienna, Christian phoned saying that he had a problem with the
appointment in London. Michael turned the car and a half an hour
later he met Christian at the studio in Vienna. In short: Christian
told him that he had to forego on his commitment to the project.
He recommended his long-standing partner Johnny Bertl.
Johnny BERTL
Still on the same evening, on their way to the appointment in
London, Michael and Johnny met each other for the first time.
Michael spontaneously decided to entrust Johnny with the music
production. This was the most artistic part of the production
with the greatest amount of responsibility. Michael then invited
him to visit England. After a successful meeting with Alan and
Chris, Johnny introduced Manfred SCHWENG and Albin JANOSKA (who
were programmers and arrangers) to Michael. It was out of the
question for Johnny to use the old tapes of 1990 to carry on
with, so he prepared a completely new recording. The estimated
time for recording was a couple of months however; due to Johnny
and Michael's artistic accuracy it resulted in a production time
of an additional two years.
The PRODUCTION
At first the title "Dreams Can Come True" was worked
out. From this song the general guidelines for the entire production
was to be outlined. (Only from this song one might take three
completely different mixes, because it has got such a lot of
sounds and tonal differences). During this phase, Chris was in
Vienna from time to time and as such a friendship developed within
the team. After two nights in a hotel, Chris decided to move
into Michael's studio. The studio was situated directly above
Andreja and Michael's apartment. This created a better working
atmosphere by day and it also gave room for those philosophical
talks by night. As already mentioned, Chris was rewriting almost
all of the lyrics and he sang half of the titles on the album.
Due to the fact that Chris is one of the world's best rock-singers,
Michael was able to profit a lot by doing the vocal work with
him for hours on end. Chris was a vocal coach of special class.
But also Alan took part more than expected. For instance, he
spontaneously played a tambourine and a cymbal to the song "Goodbye",
again providing his never ending abilities. Originally it was
planned that he should only do the end-mixes, but eventually
he recorded Michael's voice with the titles "On The Run"
and "Dreams Can Come True." He also did some special
sound effects (for example, the word "Excalibur" in
the end of the chorus, spoken in a deep voice). With "Stop"
he sang the choir section of the chorus and he was present at
all orchestra-recordings and end-mixes. Over and above that he
wrote the introductory words in the title "King Of Swords"
and closely supervised the production with his long-standing
expertise. But this was only a handful of examples of his involvement.
Well, you scarcely can imagine a better adviser than him. Also
Johnny and especially Manfred Schweng were responsible for special
sound effects that were out of the ordinary. The title "Time
To Change", for instance, was recorded without drums. The
complete rhythm was programmed by Manfred with specially sampled
sounds. Instead of using the kick-drum Manfred sampled a punch
against an old cardboard box and the opening of a beer bottle.
He recorded the sound of the bottle cap which can be heard popping
off in this title every few bars and therefore is perpetuated
now. Instead of beating the snare, he simply hit two stones against
each other. In order to arrange the beginning of the titles properly,
the water-butt from Manfred's garden was simply turned upside
down and played. For the sound "forging the sword"
with the title "King Of Swords" iron girders were lugged
into the studio and hammered on until the proper sound was obtained.
The sound of "hardening the sword" was also produced
and recorded on the spot, in the studio. For this purpose hot
water was poured into a bucket (with cold water the sizzling
went far too fast during the process of hardening) and the iron
that had been made to glow was then immersed into the water.
For the title "Magic" he had thought up something special:
he cracked a nut and the crumbling off of the shell pieces followed
the cracking. This can be heard in the verses by attentive listeners.
On the other hand the title "Goodbye" was recorded
completely conventionally. Chris came into the studio, Christian
Kolonovits sat down at the piano and they got going! After a
few hours the song was finished. Johnny was alternately working
with the two arrangers Manfred and Albin. He was carefully supervising
all the musicians in order to guarantee the highest quality of
production. Also guitarist Andi Cutic and the great Joni Madden
with her rock-voice experienced Johnny's accuracy. He conducted
the recording with a great deal of sensitivity. He made them
repeat each take as long as it took until it was (nearly) perfect.
Each member who was involved was pushed to almost exceed the
bounds of his/her capability. Each detail was weighed and rendered
as precisely as possible. The same goes for the orchestra arrangements
that were all written by Johnny himself. He spared no pain in
order to achieve perfection. Again and again he would work the
whole night through and would turn up to the second the next
morning to conduct the orchestra, and was always in high spirits!
But also Albin, the second arranger, was fantastic. At the age
of 23 at that time, he was playing his parts with so much sensitivity
that Alan even asked him during the recording of "A Part
Of Me, A Part Of You", if he would like to go on tour with
him in the future. By the way, also this title was played by
all musicians at the time. On the other hand programming was
on the forefront along with some of the other titles. For example,
the "groove" with "Excalibur" was done by
sounds of swords sampled for this purpose.
Martin BÖHM
During the last part of the production-time, Martin BÖHM
joined the team. He was so to speak the last counterbalance.
It was Martin's job to mix the titles together with Alan respectively
to do the orchestra recordings. For the time being he did not
know the songs or their arrangements and as such, he was able
to differentiate incredibly well between the things that were
essential to the production and the things that did not pertain
to the mixing-process. At once he grasped what every title was
about and he made the arrangement accordingly. Even Alan was
impressed with Martin's work.
Elmar OTTENTHAL
Finally, in the beginning of 1999, the production was almost
completed. Ronnie, having always been provided with the last
versions of the titles, one day had an appointment with the director
(at the time) for the "Theater des Westens"/ Berlin,
Elmar Ottenthal. While they were meeting, the music of "Excalibur"
could be heard in the background. Elmar asked Ronnie who the
music was from. Ronnie played one title after another to him.
Elmar was enthusiastic about what he had heard. He recognized
at once that the titles were very suitable for a musical or a
movie. It was music originating moods and pictures with the listener
and that was exactly what he was looking for. A couple of weeks
later he came to Vienna with his staff. There he met Michael,
Johnny and Alan in the studio when the title "Every Dream
Will Have It's Day" was getting mixed ready. Everything
seemed perfect and consequently, the first-night of "Excalibur"
at "Theater des Westens" was fixed. Of course, the
album was not to be released yet, but was meant to be presented
together with the musical. In a press conference of the "Theater
des Westens" in April 1999, the musical concepts of "Excalibur"
and other plays were presented to the German press. First planning
led to the conclusion that the first performance would be in
autumn, 2000, and thus the release of the album was postponed.
The date was further postponed twice until 2002. In spring 2001
the castings started at "Theater des Westens". Michael's
dream to present this project to the public (above all the CD)
seemed to be nearing reality. But then something quite unexpected
happened: The City of Berlin had to sell the "Theater des
Westens" for financial reasons and thus the unforeseen occurred:
In the beginning of 2002, two months before the presentation,
the opening night was cancelled. Michael, who hardly had worked
on the release of the concept album at the time decided to go
back to his roots. After all he was a singer and composer and
initially he had intended to release the album first and foremost.
The musical would follow in any case, it did not matter when.
Therefore, he did what he should have done in the first place.
He again started looking for the proper partner for the album.
POINT MUSIC
In August 2002, the album landed on the desk of Point Music,
an independent label with much experience in concept albums of
this kind. But then it took almost one year until Michael learned
of the avid interest of this company. Finally, in the middle
of July 2003 there was the first meeting with Point Music. The
informal atmosphere and the common interest in "Excalibur"
rendered it feasible to come to an agreement fast and thus the
necessary matters for a release became sooner clear.
Ingo ERTL
Ingo ERTL, the graphic designer proposed by Point Music, who
was entrusted with the project, got going. He made an artwork
in the typical style of the big concept albums out of the photo-materials
he had been given by Andreja and Michael. After having roughly
discussed the cover at their first meeting, Michael and Ingo
continued to work via phone day and night. Finally the result
was a completed artwork in their hands! Obviously Ingo had gotten
fully what Michael wanted and he was successful in impressively
illustrating the stream of time that has been passed through
by the sword Excalibur. It is only due to Ingo's great ideas
that the artwork illustrates the content and the concept of the
production. On one side - among other things - you will find
parts of the legend in the booklet, on the other side information
and photographs of the substantially involved individuals can
be found.
Peter ROSZENICH
Peter ROSZENICH is the photographer who had been documenting
the various steps throughout the entire production. Above all
his pictures were used, as they were suitable for the Excalibur
project. Peter had been spending many hours shooting the historical
reproductions, such as the sword, the crystal ball of Merlin,
different shields, armours and antique hour-glasses. All this
had been collected by Ronnie for years. The reproduction of the
"Round Table" portrays the central element of the artwork,
since it does stand for community and friendship. But the last
photographs were shot by Andreja directly on the scene where
everything had taken place, namely on the English coast in Cornwall.
"Tintagle" was the little legendary village where the
original legends surrounding King Arthur arose. Andreja took
great pictures of the landscape, especially one showing a rock
shaped like a head with the features of a sleeper ("Sleeping
Merlin"). This natural rock was immortalized in the booklet
twice.
Thomas WOLLNER
Before even completing the "master-CD", it was Thomas
Wollner's responsibility to put the finishing touches for the
sound of each and every song! With rigorous attention to detail
he polished up the sound by refining and perfecting it. At last,
the final artistic chapter of Excalibur was completed.
Well,
there are still some questions of importance left:
How will people react to the project? How will the songs be interpreted
by the public? But so much is now certain: "The Excalibur
Project" is unique, and will continue to be so, no matter
what happens to it in the future
.
HOW
SONGS AND LEGEND ARE LINKED TOGETHER:
The Legend:
Who
does not know the legend of King Arthur who reigned over Britannia
with his sword Excalibur, which he had pulled from the stone
with the help of Merlin (the Magician). Together with his Knights
of the Round Table, he united the country against the enemies.
But not only his knights stood by his side - first and foremost
Lancelot - but also Ginevra (Gwenhwyfar), his beautiful wife.
At Camelot Castle, the centre of the empire at that time, there
was the legendary Round Table, where the liegemen gathered. Here
all decisions were made commonly and in this place the knights
made up their minds to seek for the Holy Grail. But the priestess
Morgaine (Morgan le Fay), once Merlin's disciple, thwarted a
successful search at that time.
Preface:
Since
the beginning of time, Excalibur has stood for one of mankind's
foremost purposes, namely power. The one who has got this power
in his hands is able to use it in any way he pleases. That really
means that power is something absolutely neutral, gaining significance
only by its possessor. Inquiring as to what is right or wrong
and deciding to display power for good or evil solely depends
on the one holding and being capable to employ it - perhaps merely
for a short time.
The
songs:
The
King Of Swords (LEGEND) / Excalibur (POWER)
The
sword Excalibur, initially moulded by the tears and hopes of
cultures long gone, has been preserved to this day by the Lady
Of The Lake. It is moulded for the one worth possessing it. Once
it was given to Merlin, the Magician, for a short time. He bestowed
it on King Utha believing he was the right one. However, Utha
failed and sank the sword into a stone, which merged with it.
There it was waiting patiently for the right one to come. But
aren't we all to a certain degree the right one? Being able purely
and simply to make up his mind for himself whether he is employing
the power he possesses properly? And is it not true that an individual's
potential of power is decreasing or increasing in proportion
to his ability to distinguish between good and evil? Thus the
one who employs his power for impure purposes quite automatically
decreases his sphere of action. Then, very soon - and seemingly
by chance - the power will be violently seized by another person.
Now this one may prove whether he is worth it or not. From the
wise use of Excalibur something of which people have been dreaming
of can develop: a legend like the one of King Arthur and his
Round Table standing for justice, pride and hope. Arthur embodies
the one who knew how to use Excalibur properly. To this day he
is an ideal with regards to virtues such as honour, faithfulness
and magnanimity.
Magic
(MAGIC)
It
was Merlin who stood by the young kings side whenever his advice
was needed. But also Merlin was vulnerable and Morgaine, the
black priestess, was finally able to banish him into the underworld.
Merlin stood for magic, something almost forgotten in our days.
He was one of the last Druids who were experts at handling the
energies of the universe. He was only attacked by those who were
not able to understand him or who considered him a danger to
themselves. Until today, people who do not fit into social norms
are excluded and fought against by those with limited imagination.
Merlin did not know he was vulnerable to Morgaine´s intrigues
and evil purposes. She and the likes of her stirred up animosity
within others against people like Merlin who had a far superior
spiritual potential than most people. This was strategically
done in order to have people disown them. Being scaremongers
and appealing to the imaginary fears of small-minded people accomplished
this. For this reason Merlin had disappeared into the underground
sleeping for hundreds, almost thousands of years to this day
A
Long Long Time Ago (INFINITY)
Coming
from around the Mists of Avalon again, Merlin gets back into
our world once more conceiving the closeness of the past, present
and future. Aren't there things from the past we are burdened
with in present time and that influence the future? Thus, he
remembers the time when the Round Table was still untouched,
the time when all began and was working well. But he also remembers
the later problems yet to be resolved, such as betrayal and hatred.
He remembers the Holy Grail, which was expected to give the longed-for
answer to the question of existence. The Grail is the symbol
of "truth" having been sought after by so many religions
for eons. Merlin realizes that his task has not yet been performed.
For this reason he returns to present time, he returns to today!
Back
Again (RETURN)
Merlin
starts seeking for the beings who were knights in the past, the
heroes of the legend, to reunite them and get them together at
one table. It is not easy for him to find the chosen ones and
to convince them once more to tackle the heavy task without repeating
the mistakes of the past. Merely by switching off their so-called
"mechanism of forgetting" he is successful in demonstrating
the past identity and the task of every single protagonist of
the legend. Leisure is over and finally Merlin finds one being
after the other in a new body and in a new life. However, still
burdened with the problems of the past, Merlin points out to
each one which trials he will have to undergo in the future.
Stop
(DISILLUSION)
But
also Morgaine, the priestess of the underworld, comes around.
She remembers her deeds and so she starts the fight once again
in order to realize her purpose. Treason and betrayal have been
part of our civilization ever since. Isn't there always betrayal
in the very beginning of an argument and a war over and over
again? Therein lies the cause for a break-up in a partnership
or friendship - as Lanzelot could not help his desire for Ginevra,
King Arthur's wife, and because of that he committed a serious
breach of trust towards his best friend.
On
The Run (ESCAPE)
And
Ginevra, instead of trying to face the problem, she escaped into
a world of illusion: she doped herself with a drink that consisted
of roots and deadly nightshades hoping this would help her to
suppress reality. Also today there are means of all kinds - drugs
- taken to withdraw from reality and to suppress the experiences
one might come across. It is true, you do feel better for a short
time in the beginning and seemingly you do get a grasp of all
your problems. However, finally the rude awakening always happens
on a level far below any former experience. Afterwards the deadly
cycle starts over: you will need more and more of the drug and
you will sink lower and lower. In actuality, nobody can ever
steal away from himself, from his life and his problems.
Dreams
can come true / Now It's Up To You (HOPE)
But
it would not be our life if there was no hope, and if there was
no chance to turn the wrong into right and the bad to good. It
would not be Merlin, if he did not open a new gateway to help
Ginevra. As in present time the past is threatening to recur.
But it is more up to oneself to take one's course. Help is only
for the one who seeks it and who accepts it. Therefore it is
Ginevra's first step to decide and take matters at hand and not
to hope that others will handle everything. Even set-backs cannot
keep Ginevra from following Merlin's advice. There is no such
thing as failure; there is only an inconsistency to follow through.
This bears fruit when applied. In spite of all losses this was
definitely one of the main principles of the knights around King
Arthur, because they never gave up!
Goodbye
(GONE)
At
any time - then as well as today, it is hard to lose something
or to separate from somebody important to oneself who you love
more than anything. Whether by death or by other circumstances
- losing is always omnipresent as is pleasure and happiness.
Often it is hard on both sides - it is not only the one who has
to leave that suffers, but also the one who remains. How many
friends of the Round Table left it and did not return? And how
many people had to go at the wrong moment, as did Lancelot and
Arthur himself finally
But the future is yet again in the
hands of the Gods, and as such nothing is definite or final.
For the time being it is only a matter of impeding the recourse
of the past.
People
Shall Be Free (FREEDOM)
The
greatest wish of mankind is to be free. Free from false rulers,
free from hostile attacks, but also free from their own compulsions
and their own prejudices. Freedom, security and prosperity, Arthur
had provided all this for the people in his empire. Thus he himself
and Camelot became a symbol for these values. Freedom - the greatest
good worth fighting for. This is why it is one of the most satisfying
tasks to help others freeing themselves. Fringe groups, people
thinking differently, even whole races have been damned and deprived
of their freedom more than once. Race, skin colour, religion,
belief and gender have always been the false motivators for slandering
and hatred. Even after King Arthur's time, no better motives
have been used as a pretext for persecution and warfare. It was
one of the avowed purposes of the whole movement around King
Arthur to bring peace and secure it. This also meant seeking
for the Grail and - with that - to seek for and find "the
truth". Finally this would have brought everlasting peace
to everyone in the world.
Time
To Change (RESPONSIBILITY)
It
is not easy for everyone to take this heavy burden of responsibility
for what happened. Nevertheless, it is up to each of us to start
changing things in our environment for the positive. The alluring
materialistic prosperity enjoyed by our society is treacherously
covering up decline like a non-transparent curtain. It is only
with a common effort that we will concur and put an end to our
wastefulness and begin to recognize our moral values again. While
Camelot was flourishing, it was already doomed. People forgot
what prosperity had provided them with and simply began to give
up their great ideas of moral and their decency. Combined with
wastefulness and without appreciation for what they were given
by nature, the end was only a matter of time. But today we know
about it: we know how King Arthur's Empire was destroyed and
we know how the thousand year old Roman Empire vanished as many
other empires did before. Merlin has very consciously chosen
the present time to come back, in order to break the eternal
cycle of harm on earth. Definitely! Merlin, however, has got
opponents, the Powers of Evil, in the form of Morgaine who with
well tried deceitfulness and temptation, strives to slander everything
that can help. But Merlin has learned to discern the evil; he
has learned not to trust without looking, but to be cautious.
And he has learned to distinguish the human failings of his friends
from the deadly poison of a Morgaine who is full with hatred,
and who seeks to disguise her real purposes as best she can.
Part
Of Me, Part Of You (LOVE)
There
is hatred, but there is also love. And man and woman are only
complete, when they make up a couple. Like two halves of an apple
cut apart in its centre. Eventually they become an entity after
having been put together again. Love between two people has always
been the source of our civilization. From it our children emerge
and our families grow, thus it is the pillars of our society
and the foundation of our future. Once having found the proper
partner and knowing how to love him honestly in spite of his
faults, temptations will not become a real danger to this partnership.
Now Arthur has found a woman who really suits him and Lancelot
is able to meet Ginevra, the love of his life, without the old
burdens. Once more, it was Merlin who helped them with making
the lies of the past vanish through communication and - maybe
- a little magic
Every
Dream Will Have It's Day (REALIZATION)
Even
though there are as many different experiences as there are men,
we should remember that the world is the same for every one of
us. For some, it is dull and cold, but for others it is sunny
and warm. Many problems seem to be already resolved, however
many of them we have yet to encounter. But the community is once
again brought into existence, to complete its original purpose.
It is their day again and barriers and problems of the past are
remedied. It is true, Morgaine is not defeated yet and the process
of making peace is far from being achieved, but the "Round
Table" is united again ready to encounter new adventures
together. Seeking for the Grail can be taken up again - and seeking
for it is of definite importance to us all
You
can reach the new Michael Ernst website at the following address:
http://www.michaelernst.net |