Music Collaboration Tim Price & The Rise of Mnemosyne Part-1

Posted on by Teagan Riordain Geneviene

Monday, January 13, 2025

by Teagan via Night Cafe
by Teagan via Night Cafe

Hello, everyone.  Thanks for clicking over to spend part of your day here. You’re right — this is not my usual day or time of day to post.  However, I wanted this to go out while the wolf’s winter moon is in the sky over my home.  This is a companion post to the main event at Timothy Price‘s blog, Off Center and Not Even. 

Maybe you even want to check Tim’s post first. That might make my vignette (below) more meaningful.  Click here for Tim’s post and video.

For a couple of months, Tim and I have been working on a new song.  Tim wrote the lyrics, and I came up with the melody (he made videos to go with it too, for acoustic and metal versions).  I’m excited, because the only other time I tried to “write” a song, was when I was about 14 years old.

Update

We also did a metal version of the song, and Tim made a different video.  That one is live not too. Click Here.

 

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Mnemosyne Art Gown by Resa McConaghy

About the Story

Following is a vignette from a “parallel world” science fantasy, which Tim’s lyrics helped take shape. I might do several episodes, or this might be the only one — I’m not sure right now. 

This vignette is also inspired by Resa McConaghy’s Art Gowns.  I asked Resa for gowns with “loose pleats” (a phrase in the lyrics) and she suggested one she had named Mnemosyne.  That name and gown continued the formation of the story rattling around in my brain.

If you’re familiar with fantasy novels, you know that they often begin with a prologue that explains the nature of the world.  That’s the vignette I’m sharing today. Enough of my blah-de-blah.  The words I used from Tim’s lyrics are in purple.  Here goes.

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image by Teagan via Night Cafe
Teagan via Night Cafe

Clouded Ages

The Rise of Mnemosyne 1

Darkness blanketed the desolation which was the Third Age.  That night even the stars refused to shine.

During the First Age, the Age of Enlightenment, creativity and spirituality blossomed across the world.  The gods and the humans of Gaia were blessed.  The Second Age — the Information Age was filled with knowledge.  Wisdom, memories, intentions, information, ways of learning and acquiring knowledge were prized.  Repositories of knowledge such as libraries and information banks were created all across Gaia.  The greatest of all of these was located in the Baja state of Calida, in the country known as the United Holdings of Vesputius (UHV).

The Third Age began with the subversion of language and the destruction of knowledge.  Then Gaia fell into darkness, stripping colors from hearts and minds, as Nature herself struck back at humankind for laying waste to the world.

image by Teagan via Night Cafe
Teagan via Night Cafe

The praetor maximus and his oligarchs took control of Vesputius, and in a fit of temper he destroyed Calida.  The environmental devastation of his weapons set off a chain of natural disasters that wreaked havoc across Gaia.  The world that humans once knew was swallowed up in Faith’s loose pleats.

The great fault line that ran the length of the three states of Calida caused enormous fissures that expanded until they reached across Vesputius, through its state of Arizuma and into New Azteca where it joined the Hot Springs Fault.  The abyss was more than a thousand miles long.

For weeks, a foul smell and strange vapors emanated from the great abyss, coalescing into a legion of indistinct forms.  From the malevolence of humankind, a different, nonhuman evil was unleashed on the world.  Although it was difficult to say which evil was worse.

Teagan via Night Cafe

Then, on that dark, starless night, within the Baja abyss, silver weblike filaments wove tighter.  Remnants of the knowledge and memories that had been housed there before the massive destruction merged with… something else.  It quickly grew in strength, although the collected information was tangled and confused, it developed consciousness.

From the great abyss Mnemosyne arose.

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If you aren’t familiar with “parallel world,” it means a separate universe that exist alongside our own.  Of course, there are differences in events, characters, or even the laws of physics, essentially creating alternate realities that may be similar to our world but with important variations.

As I said, I’m not sure what, if anything this story will be going forward.  I’m not going to commit myself — it might show up randomly as a series of vignettes.  I hope you’re okay with that.

Thanks for reading.  Friendly comments are welcome.  Please do visit the Tim’s blog for the song.  Hugs!

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Of course, here’s the obligatory shameless self-promotion.

A Peril in the Vines

Just released, in paperback and e-book.

Universal Purchase Links

A Peril in the Vines

e-book:  relinks.me/B0DS4G7RSD

Paperback:  relinks.me/B0DS69GJDV

A Medium’s Peril full series link: relinks.me/B0CG2SXX24

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Copyright © 2025 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene

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83 thoughts on “Music Collaboration Tim Price & The Rise of Mnemosyne Part-1”

  1. Pingback: Short Story Saturday: from the world of Mnemosyne – Teagan's Books
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  3. Pingback: Song-spiration Saturday & The Rise of Mnemosyne Part-2 – Teagan's Books

  5. HI Teagan, I’m sorry I’m late to this party. It’s been a weird week and my father is in hospital. I will go over to Tim’s place now to listen to your music and audio creation. That dress designed by Resa is wonderful. I love red. I don’t recall seeing this one before. A lovely start for a series of short stories or a serial. Thanks for this fabulous post.

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    1. Thanks very much, Jan. This story might just be an occasional, but connected thing. The rest of it is born of personal and unhappy instances… and so very depressing to write, even if the story isn’t exactly a downer. And yet the story seems to demand that I tell it. Anyway, thanks for reading and commenting. Hugs.

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  15. Intriguing, Teagan. I’m a big fan of Mnemosyne mythology and wrote several long poems about her. She was from the Titan’s age and the Romans repurposed her ultimately making her the goddess of money of all things. I like her during the Titan’s era. She also made a big appearance in Dan Simmons Hyperion Cantos of which, I decided to co-opt Hyperion as my nom de guerre and avatar on WP. I’m so glad to see Mnemosyne get more story time and who could be better than the Timothy-Resa-Teagan trifecta of perfection.

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    1. I didn’t know that, about the Roman repurposing and money. This sort of post-apocalypse story started rattling around in my head, but it’s too personal to write. Tim’s lyrics went so well with that rattling that I felt like the story needs writing, but it’s just too hard for me. I started trying to come up with setups that made it less of a commentary on my own life (and hopefully easier to write). The lyric phrase “faith’s loose pleats” caused me to think of Resa, and I asked her to suggest one of her gowns. Mnemosyne took me to the parallel world angle. If I’m able to continue the story, this… sentient remnant of computerized knowledge banks incarnation of Mnemosyne could be a narrator of sorts, and eventually an active character. Anyhow thanks for your wonderful feedback. Hugs.

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      1. I thought it intriguing and you are the best at creating the desire to explore further. I loved the connection with Resa’s Mnemosyne art gown and Tim’s lyrics. I’m a page turner. I get so wrapped up in reading that I forget to let anyone know I was there. Yes indeedy, when I discovered Mnemosyne was renamed Moneta and declared a cognate of another deity, I was angry at the Romans for dissing her like that. To make up for it, they put her in charge of “money” or commerce. So now we know the word money comes from Moneta who was once a high goddess of noble birth before the Olympians and Romans came to town. I do know that whatever you choose for your Mnemosyne, it will be worth noting. Huggles and best wishes!

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    1. Thanks so much for that great feedback, Liz. Parallel world stories can take on an eerie vibe. Other than occasional bits (similar in tone to this) to show the history of the world, (if I share more of it) the tone would be more “close up”, making it feel in the real world present, but with off kilter details. I’m delighted you enjoyed it. Thanks for visiting both posts. Big hugs.

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    1. Hi, Lavinia. Resa would love that description of her gown — some of them actually have flowers. She does amazing work.
      Piano? When people ask if I play, I usually say that I “play WITH it”. I don’t read music, and the styles in which I can play are limited. As a teen I was often asked to play for whichever country church I attended. It caused an amount of conflict because I wasn’t able to play for the choir, and people didn’t understand why. In adulthood, I’ve only played to entertain myself. Many thanks for visiting both posts. Big hugs.

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  21. Greek Geek here — I love Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory, rising from the abyss where forgotten knowledge gains sentience. Have you read PIRANESI by Susanna Clarke? https://bookshop.org/p/books/piranesi-susanna-clarke/15861178 I can’t tell you what it’s about, because anything I said would be a spoiler, but I think you’d like it. I LOVE IT. I’ve read it at least a dozen times, including listening to the audiobook over and over (it’s read by Chiwetel Ejiofor).

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    1. Wow, that’s a glowing recommendation, Marian. No, I’ve never heard of it. Her name is familiar, but I don’t recall whether I’ve read any of her work. Thanks for the link, and for the tip about the audio book. I like audio books during my lunch break or household chores. Thanks for reading and commenting. Hugs.

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    1. Marina, Resa creates the most extraordinary gowns — and they’re from recycled fabrics! Tim’s evocative lyrics created many stories in my mind. I’m delighted that you enjoyed this joint effort. Many thanks for visiting. Hugs.

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    1. Thank you, adored Ape. It keeps demanding to be told, but it doesn’t take my mind to a happy place, and it’s difficult enough to live in “me” already. It’s much like my life *feels* and how I fear it really could become. Maybe it could be an occasional thing. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t write it every week. It’s good to see you. I hope your new year is going well. Hugs.

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        1. Ha. There was new neighbor drama this weekend — caught their tweens getting ready to rob my house. Cop came out, asked what was going on. “I heard voices and the sound of a scuffle, so I opened the window to see if everything was okay.” (My side fence is 3 feet away from the window — I explained that they were trying to climb the fence. When I opened the window I heard them talking about what they were going to do.) Because of the word “voices” the cop just kept on asking me sobriety/mental-competency questions, rather than trying to investigate anything. The adult from the house gas lighted me and claimed that I was just annoyed that the children were making noise while they played. She and the cop left, with her smiling and flirting with him. Sigh…

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