Iron Maiden – Revelations Lyrics | 14 years ago |
This song is about spiritual alchemy, from the Hermetic/Golden Dawn/Aleister Crowley tradition. It starts out talking about the tragedy of the human condition, then explains the method to achieve Illumination and rise above it. "A clever path for the fools who know the Secret of the Hanged Man-the smile on his lips." This refers to two keys from the Tarot - Key 0, "The Fool" and Key XII, "The Hanged Man". The Fool in this context represents the spiritual seeker ready to take a leap of faith in his quest for enlightenment. The Hanged Man refers to the 23rd path on the Qabalistic Tree Of Life, and represents the reversal of consciousness or suspension of the mind that is the object of transcendental meditation. Achieving a state of suspended mind is required as part of this technique for awakening Kundalini energy within the body, which rises up the spine through the body's energy centers. When this energy is raised sufficiently it creates elevated states of consciousness that bring on higher spiritual awareness and a sense of transcendence. The second verse and chorus refer to this process: "She came to me with a serpent's kiss, As the Eye of the Sun Rose on her lips" Kundalini Shakti is the female Goddess-personification of this energy and is often depicted as a serpent coiled around the base of the spine. This refers to the Kundalini rising and the blinding spiritual states that accompany it. "The light of the Blind-you'll see," promise of the enlightened state that can be achieved. "The venom that tears my spine," - again, the rising Kundalini energy as it coils around the spine. "The Eyes of the Nile are opening-you'll see." - As the Kundalini reaches the 3rd eye and crown chakras, a new sense of vision emerges - the enlightened state. This is represented in ancient Egyptian art by the figure of the cobra (for Kundalini energy) emerging from the center of the Pharaoh's forehead. The last verse is about the benefits of the completion of this process, and the exalted state the seeker achieves, with a reminder that this is achieved by closing one's eyes and moving inward to meditative states of consciousness. |
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