'Goddess - Cepheid' ver. RafScrap (OC AMV)

"Welcome us with your light."

-------------------------------------

ORIGINAL CREDITS
○ Song: Goddess (with lyrical adlibs from: Messenger in Flames)
○ Music & Lyrics: @xCepheid

COVER CREDITS
○ Audio Master: @GezeusQuiryst
○ Quotes/Art/Visual Help: @LyraPyon
○ Card design: Lililan

-------------------------------------

got to work on designing and creating ocs with the lovely Lyra as a birthday gift to myself. Hope everyone is having a safe and warm start to the winter season!

[azphelion]

i transcribed goddess raf's poetic prayers <3 <3 (this took a while, but it's well worth it!)
if you find any errors just let me know! and i know that there's background lyrics as well, and they're at least slightly different from the main lyrics (i heard praise sage in part of it), so if you somehow manage to get that you have too much time and please give it to me!

In bold is the lyrical (sung) phrases, whereas nonbolded is the nonlyrical (unsung) phrases.

0:00 to 0:09
*(Sol)* The pearl eye, and her many red
*(Gaia)* Upon her skin, the sickness spread
*(Luna)* All she loved were left for dead
*(Goddess)* And the blessed ruler lost her head

0:20 to 0:24
*(Sol)*
There, between the flames, lay a phoenix of white.
*(Luna)*
Raw thew and tendons strewn in a tapestry--
Man eater, they had called her.
*(Gaia)*
The fallen one spoke--
Confess to me your greatest desires,
And with this decaying body
I will bloom for you
*(Terra)*
Healer, savior of humanity--
Amidst a sea of screams
She awoke to her senses
*(Venus)*
A black diamond
Was this Lathrisian queen,
Frozen in time
From her former masters.
*(Hera)*
All who are mortal
Learn helplessness
Before God.
*(Minerva)*
The last semblance of humanity vanishes from her eye--
The Conqueror has reared its lunatic head.
*(Goddess)*
Credit to @Veroxid for figuring out that these are the symbols in alchemy & astrology for, in order from left to right; the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus. See 0:24 for the symbols.

0:26 to 0:30
(The Lover Niyan??? hard to tell but love the font)
Forgive them, prayed she,
And her skin began to rot.
Forgive me,
For I could not protect them...

0:30 to 0:37
(Cicely the Skull)
*Welcome us with your light...*
*Welcome us with your light*
*Grace the morning sky*

0:40 to 0:42
(Ara the Spider)
*Comfort Luna*
*As she waits*
*Through Terra's might*

0:42 to 0:47
(Hydra, the Serpent)
*Veiled in amber haze*
*Fueled by violent rage*

0:47 to 0:53
*Dancing, discordant*
(Amarose the Flower)
*Spinning in retrograde*

0:54 to 1:17
*Born from the sea and the waves*
*From a cosmic array...*
*Of the colors in space, *
*Nothingness erased*
*Come dance with her in the stars*
*Watch her transit afar*
*Crossing Sol's burning gaze*
*Venus sets ablaze*

1:19 to 1:28
(Sage the Conqueror)
*Sol*
*Luna*
*Gaia*
*Terra*
*Venus*
*Hera*
*Minerva*
*Goddess*

1:30 to 1:32
'The lure of the devil will ring soft and sweet.'
Be
not
tempted

1:33 to 1:42
*Welcome us with your light*

1:44 to 1:45
Ever the charmer
Ever the sinner
Ever the snake

1:45 to 1:50
I promise to protect you
with all my life...
Until I breathe my last
Forgive me

1:56
Then the serpent spoke--
Your hair looks like moonlight.

1:57 to 1:58
Messiah, Salvation
Offering the world salvation in slaughter

2:01 to 2:11
*Born from the sea and the waves*
*In a cosmic array*
*Of the colors in space, *
*Nothingness erased*

2:11 to 2:20
*Come dance with her in the stars*
*Watch her transit afar*
*Crossing Sol's burning gaze*
*Venus sets ablaze*

2:20 to 2:30
*Born from the sea and the waves*
*From a cosmic array*
*Of the colors in space, *
*Nothingness erased*

2:30 to 2:35
*Come dance with her in the stars*
*Watch her transit afar*

2:36 to 2:44
*Crossing Sol's burning gaze*
*Venus sets ablaze*

2:46 to 2:49
Pray for deliverance -
Question not the form it arrives in.

2:51 to 2:54
(Qiru)

2:54 to 2:59
(The Phoenix)

[xCepheid]

An outstanding cover! I love how you chose to interpret the song. GJ!

[kitsunephantom]

There's a lot of lore hidden in this video and I greatly admire it.

First thing's first - the lineup of Goddesses. Sol, Gaia, Luna, Terra, Venus, Hera, and Minerva. Two details strike me about this group.
Firstly, it's a mix of the Roman and Greek pantheons. Rome and Greece had much the same deities, with Rome taking almost directly from Greece more often than not. Interestingly, there's more Roman gods than Greek - Sol, Luna, Terra, Venus, and Minerva are all Roman; Gaia and Hera are the only Greek ones.

Secondly, we have both Gaia and Terra who are counterparts to each other - they're both goddesses of the Earth. Considering how many other goddesses have names that could have fit in either slot, I can only presume they were chosen with intent. It's likely one serves as the Goddess of the Earth and the other is more specialized, like a Goddess of Fertility or Life in general.

Each of the Goddesses has a representative of some sort - who I'm calling a Conduit - who seems to have some amount of their respective Goddess' power. Which Conduit belongs to which Goddess is never explicitly said, but we get more than enough clues to figure it out.

Diyan the Lover is the Conduit of Gaia. The outline of her disembodied head is shown during the first lineup of Goddesses under "Gaia". She's the first Conduit we see beyond this brief montage, and aside from Cecily, she's the one we see the most often throughout the video.

Cecily the Skull is the Conduit of Terra, as we see her winged form during the first lineup under Terra. She plays a major role in the story and I think we actually get to see her fall from grace. It's strongly implied that Cecily kills Diyan as at 1:38 Cecily is shown crying with blood on her hands as Diyan's disembodied head is behind her, cracks forming along the left side of her face.

Ara the Spider is the Conduit of Luna, though this isn't immediately obvious with the first lineup as the previous two. Instead, it's made clear during the first verse as she's shown in front of the full moon as "Comfort Luna" is sung. It's not clear what role she has to play in the story, but I believe at 0:45 she appears behind Hydra, appearing to comfort her as she weeps red tears. The two may have had a relationship but are no longer associated, which Hydra seems to mourn or regret.

Hydra the Serpent is the Conduit of Hera, as her unmistakable outline is shown under Hera in the first lineup. While Hydra is certainly villainous - she's shown "tempting" Cecily immediately before Cecily is shown with blood on her hands from Diyan's murder and one of Hydra's snakes impales Sage - I don't think she's the _main_ villain. While this does stem from the scene at 2:48, in which Cecily is holding Hydra as if to protect her, most of it comes from what we see of Amarose.

Amarose the Flower is the Conduit of Venus, though admittedly I only guessed this from process of elimination. She doesn't appear very much, but I believe she's the main villain of the story. Of her two appearances, she's shown with two eldritch creatures with distinct features that appear later on - she's even embracing one of them as though it were her lover.

Sage the Conqueror is the Conduit of Minerva, as she's the only one in armor. She is Hydra's main opponent and is shown actively fighting against the Serpent, only to later be killed by one of Hydra's snakes.

Qiru the Phoenix is the Conduit of Sol, only receiving a proper introduction at the very end of the song. She's likely the Main Character of the story, and is the youngest of the Conduits. She is shown to have an older form, which is the one we see during the first lineup under "Sol". She's shown to have some unsettling traits, primarily multiple eyes where they shouldn't be like her shoulder.

The Goddess we see during the chorus is an enigmatic being, but changes over the course of the song, going from a typical, beautiful being to a corrupted creature quite literally falling apart. She's never named and despite the chorus mentioning Venus, I believe this Goddess is Sol. From about 1:45 to, there's a repeated mantra - "Sol consumes, goddess will fall, fires will scorch Gaia's heart; Luna's eclipse will not forestall celestial downfall". This line is actually from another song called "Messenger in Flames" by Cepheid, who is the original artist behind "Goddess", and points directly at Sol becoming corrupt and malicious.

I believe Amarose is the one behind Sol's corruption with the aid of her eldritch companions and possibly at their behest. It's unknown what their end goal is, if Sol's corruption itself wasn't their end goal, and it's clear this has an impact on Qiru, who develops unnatural features similar to her Goddess.

There's some more snippets around each character to further tell their story, but I'm out of spoons lmfao

[Lilieae-Rose]

I can't believe I just realized this now
between 1:43- 2:00 Raf is actually saying lyrics form Cepheid's other song 'Messenger in flames', which is also Cepheid's third song about planets. The lyrics,
"Sol will consume"
"Goddess will fall, Fires will scorch Gaia's heart"
repeat until 1:57 were
"Luna's eclipse, will not forestall celestial downfall"
is sung. Took me a while to realize this since it was sung in a different tone and more rapid beat.
Kudos to you Raf for sneaking in the lyrics

[darkkittybells]

in all honesty you could totally make a tarot card set just out of the characters in this video and im living for it. you could have the entire major arcana just from this video and you could even make the suits using the art style and imagery like :O!!

[callmeyugen]

It's five seconds in and I already feel like I have ascended. Another beautiful cover as always, and if you excuse me I will play this on repeat for the next hour.

[mspotato]

Lyrics to read/sing along

Welcome us with your light
Grace the morning sky
Comfort Luna as she wanes from Terra's might
Veiled in amber haze
Fueled by violent rage
Dancing, discordant, spinning in retrograde

Born from the sea and the waves
From a cosmic array
Of the colours in space
Nothingness erased
Come dance with her in the stars
Watch her transit afar
Crossing Sol's burning gaze
Venus sets ablaze

Welcome us with your light

Born from the sea and the waves
From a cosmic array
Of the colours in space
Nothingness erased
Come dance with her in the stars
Watch her transit afar
Crossing Sol's burning gaze
Venus sets a...

Born from the sea and the waves
From a cosmic array
Of the colours in space
Nothingness erased
Come dance with her in the stars
Watch her transit afar
Crossing Sol's burning gaze
Venus sets ablaze

😊

[thedarkassasin]

Truly a goddess has graced us with her heavenly voice and spectacular art. Your singing was absolutely delightful to listen to. And th animation and all the art. I am just speechless. Everything is so well made detailed and done. The colours were outstanding and the imagery was just perfect. Thank you for always providing high quality masterpieces and for the free hand sign lesson on these different things. This is most appreciated

[RainbowEssence-cw]

Oh boy, another thing for me to overanalyze! 😂Okay so here's my interpretation based on this video and the transcription generously provided by Azphelion (plus a bit of research):

There is a religion consisting of 6 goddesses (Sol, Luna, Gaia, Terra, Venus, Hera, and Minerva). There is also a 7th goddess, simply called "Goddess" who is the primary goddess and ruler of the pantheon. There are also 6 oracles (I dunno if they're really called "oracles" or not but that's what I'm calling them), one for each Goddess. Niyan (the Lover) is the Oracle of Gaia, represented by the earth symbol. Cicely (the Skull) is the Oracle of Terra, also represented by the earth symbol. It's interesting that both goddesses and oracles are represented by the same alchemical symbol. Terra and Gaia are also both names for the Earth. Maybe Terra and Gaia are two sides of the same goddess? In any case, Ara (the Spider) is the Oracle of Luna, represented by the moon symbol (obviously). Hydra (the Serpent) pretends to be the Oracle of Hera, represented by the Jupiter symbol. He/She (can't tell what gender) is actually the corrupter, the Fallen One's avatar/oracle that drags each of the other oracles down into sin. Amarose (the Flower) is the Oracle of Venus, represented by, well, the Venus symbol. Sage (the Conquerer) is the Oracle of Minerva, represented by the Saturn symbol. She also appears to be a knight or perhaps even a queen, fighting for some fictional country or maybe religion? For some reason Mercury, Mars, and Uranus don't appear to have associated goddesses or oracles. Sol aka the Sun is one of the goddesses but there is no oracle for her for some reason. Maybe there never was or maybe she died? It's interesting to note, too, that the symbol that keeps appearing (for example at 0:48 and again at 1:52) is one of two symbols for Pluto. I had to look this one up lol. Pluto is the Roman god of the Underworld and Wealth, associated with death and the afterlife.

After the "opening", at 0:32, we see and hear a male figure that looks suspiciously like Hydra. This is the only male-sung line in the entire song near as I can tell. Judging by the voice I'm guess that's Gezeus Quiryst lol. There are hands that look like claws reaching towards him, likely the hands of the fallen oracles. The rest of the song tells how they all fell. He sings "Welcome us with your light" which is then echoed by Cicely and followed by "grace the morning sky". I assume this is a common prayer/hymn within this fictional religion. We then see Amarose kissing and hugging Hydra from behind and the Venus symbol change to Pluto symbolizing her corruption by him. The lines "dancing, discordant" and "spinning in retrograde" further suggest corruption and chaos because in astrology when a planet is in retrograde, it is said that there is a lot of chaos and confusion. It also creates chaos and confusion in whichever house/zodiac sign the planet is in. Presumably he either kills her and absorbs her into his body or they somehow fuse? I'll explain why I think this later.

Another interesting thing to note, at 1:05 we see Goddess surrounded by many hands, almost like a halo. The hands are all forming different symbols representing the different goddesses which makes sense if she is the main goddess. But it also reminds me a bit of the cherubim in Islam who throng the throne of God, and the Hecatoncheires ("Hundred-Handed Ones") who were the children of Uranus and Gaia and helped to overthrow the Titans. The lines "born from sea and the waves" I think alludes to how Venus was born from the seafoam of (I kid you not) Neptune's balls.The part about "crossing Sol's burning gaze/Venus sets ablaze" makes me think her story somehow ties into Sol's and being set ablaze could be literal (like she was burnt alive, maybe even on a pyre for heresy) or metaphorical because of how she became corrupted by "the devil" who is traditionally associated with fire (as in, the fires of Hell). It could also be an allusion to Icarus, who flew too close to the sun and it melted his wax wings and made him fall into the ocean. The words accompanying the Oracle of Venus in the beginning "A black diamond/Was this Lathrisian queen" suggests she might've been a queen at some point? Not sure where Lathrisia is though or if it even exists?

Next we see Sage the Conqueror, the Oracle of Minerva (goddess of wisdom) wearing armor looking like she's plotting something or staring down an enemy. She is surrounded by swords and what appears to be a dragon crest in blood appears in front of her. Not certain of the meaning of this, apart from making her intimidating and like a knight. Then we see the Oracle of Terra with Hydra kneeling and smiling before her. The words "The lure of the devil will ring soft and sweet. Be not tempted" appear on screen as a warning (presumably for followers of this faith) to beware "the devil" aka Hydra. Hydra is a wolf in sheep's clothing, as shown by how in the next frame his hand and mouth are bloodied and he is frowning with a halo of daggers around his head and pool of blood at his feet. Then we see Cicely kneeling as if in prayer, crying and in the next shot with blood on her hands and the smiling head of Niyan in the background, cracked like a porcelain doll and her head appears to have been torn off her body. Perhaps Cicely murdered her on Hydra's suggestion and feels guilty? Then we see Sage with some others in the background, brandishing weapons towards Hydra. Sage swears to protect "you" with all her life then begs for forgiveness. Perhaps either because she failed to protect that person/her people or perhaps because she succumbed to temptation?


After that, it's very quick and difficult to see, but the body of Ara is shown hanging limply from a spiderweb, and there are butterflies upon her perhaps symbolizing how she is like a butterfly that was caught in Hydra's web. Then there's Amarose, who is lying with her arms spread out surrounded by blood, either having burnt to death on a stake or being killed in some other way. In the beginning it almost looked like she was chained, so maybe she was chained and then killed? Then there's the severed head of Niyan, the silhouette of Cicely surrounded by spider lilies (which in Asia are associated with death iirc) and Hydra with his snakes wrapped around her saying "your hair looks like moonlight". Then there are the words "Messiah, Salvation/Offering the world salvation through slaughter" which suggests he has built up some sort of cult that involves killing people? It then shows what looks like a young boy with white hair, possibly Hydra before he became corrupt? He looks a little like him, and he's holding a heart with an eye on it. The Goddess with a hole in her chest also has an eye there, maybe he stole the Goddess's heart and that is how he became corrupted? I think that's the Goddess behind him, at least. She has the Sol symbol on her chest, maybe she was the original Oracle of Sol? She also has those eyes on her body like the Phoenix earlier and later on? Finally Hydra manages to kill (and presumably absorb) Sage, stabbing her through the chest. Interestingly she seems to have a lily theme going on throughout the song and there's a couple plus on on her eye here. Lilies symbolize purity, but they are also often associated with funerals (at least in Japan). The snake stabs Sage through the heart (I'm sensing a pattern here), staining the white lilies red.

The Goddess is shown again but she is disfigured now, a horrific abomination, perhaps because she too has been corrupted or perhaps it is the final form of Hydra plus all the Oracles combined? Maybe the Goddess was all of them before she separated into different deities? But now Hydra has forcefully reunited them, becoming the Goddess but in a very nightmarish form. His/Her right index and ring fingers are severed, as well as her right hand. Her head has been cut off, and her left hand is sliced in half. The right index finger and ring finger, in some cultures, are the fingers that wedding rings go on, so them being severed could be symbolic of a union gone awry or perhaps literal. Maybe Hydra's followers or the Goddess's remaining faithful followers rallied together and killed/dismembered Hydra-Goddess? At the end we see Cicely again, crying and holding Hydra (unclear whether he is dead or not). She says to "pray for deliverance, question not the form it arrives in" insinuating that the new Hydra-Goddess is the ruler of the pantheon and regardless of right or wrong, he/she is the only path to salvation. That or Cicely is trying to convince others of this. Qiru appears to be the younger version of Hydra, maybe that was his real name? The Phoenix might be the reborn Hydra/Qiru, the ascended corrupt God he/she has become. Maybe he/she didn't become the Goddess? Maybe they became the Phoenix? My brain hurts.
😭

[nita]

Ah yes, a goddess singing about being a goddess, very fitting and truly a blessing to us puny mortals

[adra_moth]

From the Goddess' to the alchemical symbols, there is so much to unpack here just from a visual view point! Not to mention the sung lyrics hold their own story, I am unable to focus on both as I keep trying to dig into understanding each piece. The art is magnificent and the music is just amazing! I've had to just listen to this a few times on repeat when you first released it. I do look forward to understanding the OC's story!

[devilsixiyeah]

What a masterpiece of art. Unforgettable vocals. It makes me feel warm. Thank you for this wonderful work. Have a amazing day. Love you to the core🖤

[Starrdustt-..]

this one has SUCH a darker vibe than the og, i love the og and was so hyped when this came out heck man raf never disappoints

[THExRISER]

Never seen a cover that got this creative with the source material, the art, the vocals, this is incredible!

[augustmadsen]

holy hell, this is probably the best cover I've heard of one of Cepheid's songs, absolutely incredible, the vocals, the visuals, the feeling of the music, mhmm! hauntingly beautiful.

[lucyelcille]

i wish i had the brain cells to understand the story here because i'm sure it would be incredible

[mei]

It's too early for this, Raf... This is breathtaking, even for my sleepless self. I have goosebumps from this. My goddess blessing my ears ❤️

[oliviatipton]

OH MY GOD I CANT BELIEVE THIS. I’ve been listening to Cepheid for 3 years now, never did I ever think I’d hear you cover one of their songs!! All hail the goddess Raph ❤️❤️❤️

[gannawalidibrahim]

i swear you always top your last video everytime, this one was just DIVINE

the imagery, the song, the VOICE it all just melded together to create this MAGNIFICENT EXPERIENCE
just absolutely knocked it outta the park raf!

[GabrielDesmond]

It'd take all day and a good few thousand words to give due praise to every part of this production from the sheer amount of great work that went into it. I don't even know what to single out for a comment; it's excellent in every single aspect. Maybe flexing on the whole planet with that many well drawn hands, the gesture circles were a very cool detail. Outstanding stuff, I've got to share this around.