This chant is relatively simple in melody but challenging in several ways. “If thou” is a pickup and “wilt” is beat one; almost every stanza has pickups, so you need to understand where beat one falls and the pickups leading into it. It is in 3/4 with an eighth-note pulse, different from 6/8 chants like I Am the Bubble. That 3/4 eighth-note feel is rare; other examples are They Have Heard Thy Name and the second half of Blue Lotus Feet. The sheer length—eight different stanzas—and the fact that some lyrics in different stanzas are very similar, means it requires deep study and memorization to learn all the lyrics correctly and render them in the proper sequence. Because the melody is relatively monotonous, the chant is made compelling by rendering it at a very steady pulse with deep concentration and devotion.

Song Form

1A If thou wilt see opal flame, drive darkness ever more,

1B searing thy silence with the sword of pranayam. x2

2A Through the star in opal eye, see the Christ ev'rywhere,

2B sleeping in ev'ry atom, in protons, electrons. x2

3A Golden, misty aureole adorns the opal door;

3B through the star in the blue, meet the Christ ev'rywhere. x2

4A Starry dove with wings of rays alights on forehead,

4B showing you the throne of Christ in the peace of ev'ry heart. x2

5A Make thine eyes a single flame to see the starry gate;

5B thy body will be Light, illum'ning all space. x2

6A By wise inspiration, Follow the starry eye,

6B to see the Christ born in thy soul anew. x2

7A Starry dove with wings of flame, baptize me in thy Light,

7B spreading my soul with Christ in the bliss ev'rywhere. x2

8A Shining op'ning in hall of matter, O star! I peep through thee

8B into the land of astral light that kindles life in ev'rything. x2

Notes

• Each stanza's first line is 4 bars in 3/4 and its second line is 4 bars sung x2, so each stanza is 12 bars and the length of the form is 96 bars.

• A good way to do it is to do the whole thing twice, then center in on a stanza that is particularly meaningful and repeat that one extra times; or do, say, the first stanza and then skip to the seventh, which is a very potent one; and end on the second half of the seventh stanza, “spreading my soul with Christ in the bliss ev'rywhere.”

• If repeating the entire chant multiple times, it can help to start in a moderate tempo, slightly speed up for the next iteration, and then consider slowing down to a stable moderate tempo again for the ending.

Listen to SRF Recordings

Audio Recordings

• Opal Flame, from the album In the Temple of My Heart
  Spotify · Apple Music · Tidal