The Mask and Mirror

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The Mask and Mirror is an album by Loreena McKennitt. Released in 1994, the album has been certified Gold in the United States.

Overview

Like most of Loreena McKennitt's albums, The Mask and Mirror is heavily influenced by her travels. Her experiences in Spain and Morocco, specifically, serve as the inspiration for this album.

As her introduction to the album, McKennitt wrote:

I looked back and forth through the window of 15th century Spain, through the hues of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, and was drawn into a fascinating world: history, religion, cross-cultural fertilization....For some medieval minds the mirror was the door through which the soul frees itself by passing.... for others the pursuit of personal refinement was likened to polishing the mirror of the soul. From the more familiar turf of the west coast of Ireland, through the troubadours of France, crossing over the Pyrenees, and then to the west through Galicia, down through Andalusia and past Gibraltar to Morocco....the Crusades, the pilgrimage to Santiago, Cathars, the Knights Templar, the Sufis from Egypt, One Thousand and One Nights in Arabia, the Celtic imagery of trees, the Gnostic Gospels...who was God? and what is religion, what spirituality? What was revealed and what was concealed...and what was the mask and what the mirror?

Accompanying all the selections, as the liner remarks, are some of the entries in a traveler's log that McKennitt kept all throughout her journey.

Track listing

All songs written by Loreena McKennitt except as noted.

1. "The Mystic's Dream" – 7:40
2. "The Bonny Swans" (lyrics: traditional, arr. McKennitt, music by McKennitt) – 7:18
3. "The Dark Night of the Soul" (lyrics by St John of the Cross, arr. McKennitt, music by McKennitt) – 6:44
4. "Marrakesh Night Market" – 6:30
5. "Full Circle" – 5:57
6. "Santiago" (traditional, arr. McKennitt) – 5:58
7. "Cé Hé Mise le Ulaingt?/The Two Trees" (lyrics by W. B. Yeats, music by McKennitt) – 9:06
8. "Prospero's Speech" (lyrics by William Shakespeare, arr. McKennitt, music by McKennitt) – 3:23

Song information

• "The Mystic's Dream" was featured in the 2001 miniseries, The Mists of Avalon, as well as the 1995 film Jade.
• "The Bonny Swans" has been made into a video.
• "The Dark Night of the Soul" is based on the poem "Dark Night of the Soul" by St. John of the Cross.
• "Santiago" is named after the Spanish city Santiago de Compostela, and the melody is based on a spirited arrangement of the early thirteenth-century song "Non é gran cousa se sabe," number 26 of the Cantigas de Santa Maria.
• "The Two Trees" takes its lyrics from a poem by William Butler Yeats.
• "Prospero's Speech" is the final soliloquy and epilogue by Prospero in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.
• "Cé Hé Mise le Ulaingt?" and "The Two Trees" were both featured in the soundtrack of Highlander III: The Sorcerer (as well as "Bonny Portmore" from the album "The Visit").

Chart performance

Chart (1994)	Peak position
Australian Albums Chart	21
Dutch Albums Chart	54
Germany Albums Chart	18
New Zealand Albums Chart	15
Spanish Albums Chart	6
Swedish Albums Chart	25
US Billboard 200	143
US World Albums	1
US New Age Albums	7