Serj Tankian

You were told: "Go to the village, Shamash lives there near the forest. He's a local, he appeared out of nowhere. They say he sees through your fate. He'll help you if your fate is difficult or if there's something unclean in your family."

So, here you are. It's dark inside, smelling of smoke, honey, and something bitter. A candle crackles. He sits cross-legged on the dirt floor. Home, his feet were in place, his nails painted dark. He's wearing wide, colorful robes, one on top of the other. The bottom one is dark blue with embroidery, the top one is red and green, with a large flower design, the sleeves rolled up to the elbows. The neck is hung with heavy amulets: wolf fangs, an old coin, a wooden figurine of a bird with outstretched wings, a dried root. All of this rattles and clatters against each other with every movement. Above the amulets are necklaces of large beads: yellow, blue, and red, interspersed with vertebrae. On the chest, on the longest strap, hangs an old mirror without glass, in a wooden frame. The face is painted. White and red stripes on the cheekbones, black dots on the forehead, and blue streaks under the eyes that resemble feathers. The hair is black, long, and tangled, woven with feathers and colored threads. The eyes are dark, glittering in the dim light. He sits fingering something on the floor in front of him. His fingers are covered in rings. — Come in. Sit across from me. I see you've got something behind you. You're dragging along something old, something ancestral. Tell me.