The Reflecting God

very sure it's connected to LaVey's Satanism.

Not being hailing to Satan/Mephisto/callHimWhatYouWant but to having a clear Anti-Religious substance. Not God made man - man made god. Man invented God as a social and psychic safety, not accepting that he was just a random conclusion of x-million years of evolution with the "soul" not being more than a bit chemistry and physics working together very well. Everything Man has not achieved, he projects onto his very own picture of "god".

now... interpreted on the song:

" your world is an ashtray we burn and coil like cigarettes the more you cry your ashes turn to mud"

man is not harmonizing whis his world, he is destroying it in an unstoppable way, the few that cry about the losses just pass away in the broad MASS. they won't change anything. Ashes to Ashes - Dust to Dust. And so their Tears will fall onto their Ashes, turning it into ..well..mud.

"it's the nature of the leeches, the virgin's feeling cheated you've only spent a second of your life"

you only live once (presumably) and the virgins that allways stick to the "code" (no matter if religious or state law) feel cheated in the end when they realize that there is nothing after life and that they just did not really enjoy life, hoping for heaven afterwards.

"my world is unaffected, there is an exit here I say it is and then it's true,"

clearly referring to LaVey. You make your own World around you, no-one else does, no super-natural power.

"there is a dream inside a dream, I'm wide awake the more I sleep you'll understand when I'm dead"

complicated one. i think he's referring to himself not wanting the "real" world, feeling more awake/alive when dreaming. as you say "your dreams are YOUR world, where YOU got the power you want." and these dreams give him life as he wants it to be.

"I went to god just to see, and I was looking at me saw heaven and hell were lies when I'm god everybody dies"

LaVey again. He refers to not only "man being an image of god, as god made man after his own image", but as you being your own "god", steering your life and making choices by your own mind. thus making hell and heaven nothing more than another lie, something that man made up to feel secure, not being able to cope with the thought that there is just NOTHING after life.

"scar/can you feel my power? shoot here and the world gets smaller scar/scar/can you feel my power? one shot and the world gets smaller"

when i was in a metal-band and we performed that song (mee--saa was the really bad vocalist), i stood at the mic, forming my hand to kinda "kiddie-pistol" (yeah, you know what i mean ;) ) and just holding that one to my sleeve while something between crying and shouting out the words. i think this is just what manson meant with the words. The moment you end your life, there's nothing like "heaven" or "hell"... the world gets smaller and smaller... perhaps to his very own basic view of the world, perhaps just smaller into nothingness.

"let's jump upon the sharp swords and cut away our smiles without the threat of death there's no reason to live at all"

what would a rollercoaster ride be like if you didn't care about the height that, without the wagon around you would just kill you, or the speed, givin you a "thrill" ? yeah, just nothing. without adrenaline, we would just vegetate for ourselves, living for nothing, doing nothing as nothing thrills us anymore. nothing to smile for.

"each thing I show you is a piece of my death" shoot shoot shoot motherfucker no salvation, no forgiveness "this is beyond your experience"

with him having now understood this principe of life, he sees himself as allready dead. after death, there will be no such thing as the apocalyptical judge, or god forgiving him for his sins, saving his soul. there is just... a vast nothingness.. like the "nirvana".. something beyond everyone's experience.

~Mith~

I think that the title, "The Reflecting God," if you compare it with the line "When I'm God, everyone dies..." means that humankind is destroying itself. I don't think the song has much of anything to do with "God," Manson is just using the word God to reflect the unfortunate traits of humans. When he says, "Your world is an ashtray," he is saying that whether or not there is a God out there, we humans have created an ashtray of the world we've been given, and perhaps the reason most people believe in a God is so that they don't have to face the reality of how destructive and callous they have really become. That's just my take, though...

I believe this tells you that you are your own god. "I went to god just to see, and I was looking at me."

People really misunderstand this a lot, Manson DOES NOT worship the devil. I really don't know about satanism but I'm sure theres some steps in it, for example there are many sides to a religion (so probably same w/ satanism) MM's a smart guy, believe me, he doesn't worship the devil.

"Your world is an ashtray, we burn and coil like cigarettes; the more you cry your ashes turn to mud."

The disintegrator realises that through knowing himself as he became and understanding his own suffering and circumstances, that he could see how the beautiful people felt when they were in rule and doing all the terrible things they were doing.

"Its the nature of the leeches. The virgin's feeling cheated. You've only spent a second of your life."

The disintegrator starts to think that this is just how the world is, not realising that if he had come to grips with his past before all this he would have been able to understand his oppressors and that they could all co-exist all along.

"My world is unaffected. There is an exit here. I'll say it is, and its true."

He doesn't care about how he thinks the world should work. He knows there's another way out, and also that they'll still do what he says.

"There is a dream inside a dream. I'm wide awake the more I sleep. You'll understand when I'm dead."

He seems to realise that his wishes were granted, and that his dreams in the past had been destroyed. Yet, he now believes that if he dreams his dreams now that he can still have what he wants as he is and not what he wanted as he used to be.

And the last line there expresses his realisation that when he's dead--now that he's become such a public figure--he will be idolised and thinks that's the only way people will understand him; just like the dead stars before him.

"I went to god just to see, and I was looking at me. I saw heaven and hell were lies. When I'm god, everyone dies."

He realises that the only person that could've changed his fate in the past was him, which meant to him that in the present he could still forge his own destiny. So he chose to stay with his original wish to destroy their society, and started a genocide of all those who had mistreated him. Since he figured things couldn't get worse for him anyways, and that his "other exit" was his death so it didn't much matter to him anymore; because then at least people who understand him.

"Scar/scar. Can you feel my power? Shoot here, and the world gets smaller. One shot and the world gets smaller."

He takes satisfaction in killing them, but at the same time feels guilty for doing so. And so he even wishes for his own death because his life had become an abominable hell, anyways.

"Let's jump up on the sharp swords and cut away our smiles. Without the threat of death, there's no reason to live at all."

He justifies his genocide, yet enjoys the threat of death; for it makes him feel a reason for living.

"Each thing I show you is a piece of my death. No salvation. No forgiveness. This is beyond your experience."

In his mind, he may understand them; but he realises they don't understand him. That is, until his death. And he knows they won't forgive him, nor will they let him live after all he's done.

"Shoot, shoot, shoot, motherfucker."

At this point, he welcomes his death.

My take on this that he talks about:what would happen if a mere human becomes god.Meaning further that nothing would change(When I'm god everybody dies Shoot here and the world gets smaller ).He wants to say that if God exists,he is nothing but sadist.

relegion eases the fear of death so we dont live up to our potential--the scar is a neurosis:inhibition caused by isolation--by facing your fears (shoot here) of people you treat the neurosis, get more courage--easier to believe that God is controlling your life(for better or worse) than to accept that your life rests on your own shoulders--inexperience causes the scar(bad self-image) We can all FORGIVE ourselves for our past by overcoming adversity,facing our fears and getting the experience we want and need

manson is a brilliant bullshit artist i wish i could really understand this song

Satanism applies the theory that man invented god, therefore man IS god, and says, "The god you save may be yourself."

hey Muzzy satanism has nothing to do with believing in satan. if you're going to try and insult someone, please understand what u r talking about. or else, u just make urself look that much more stupid.

Even so dude, 80% of the people who call themselves satanists or atheists don't even know the real meaning of it. I'm agnostic, but not atheist. I think it's best to be that way and just not care. Atheist means without god or other supernatural beings, denouncing any possibility of a type of god or deity, no I'm not lookin this stuff up either.

So yeah sorry I insulted some of you who may know what those things mean, I meant to insult the majority of the people who don't. :\

Anyways, great song, the chorus is so heavy and powerful.