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Book Of Thel Lyrics
The mark is on you now
The furnace sealed inside your head
Melting from the inside now
Waxy tears run down your face
The whore that never told her tale
Relives it every night with you
Far off stands the lamb and waits
For the wolf to come and end its life
Stand inside the temple
As the book of Thel is opening
The priestess stands before you
Offering her hand out, she's rising
Come the dawning of the dead
In famine and in war
Now the harlot womb of death
Spits out its rotten core
Serpent on the altar now
Has wrapped itself around your spine
So you look into its mouth
And you kiss the pearly fangs divine
Happy that your end is swift
The weeping virgin cries in bliss
The snake and priestess, they are one
The veil of flesh is ripped undone
Stand inside the temple
As the book of Thel is opening
The priestess stands before you
Offering her hand out, she's rising
Come the dawning of the dead
In famine and in war
Now the harlot womb of death
Spits out its rotten core
By the pricking of my thumbs
Something wicked this way comes
And when sleep takes you tonight
Will you wake to see the light...?
The burning sweat of poison tears
The river flowing red with blood
The cradle-robbing hand of death
Caresses every dreaming head
Waiting for the marriage hearse
To take you to the funeral pyre
So you burn the family tree
The generations burning higher
Stand inside the temple
As the book of Thel is opening
The priestess stands before you
Offering her hand out, she's rising
Come the dawning of the dead
In famine and in war
Now the harlot womb of death
Spits out its rotten core
By the pricking of my thumbs
Something wicked this way comes
And when sleep takes you tonight
Will you wake to see the light
By the dawning of the dead...
By the dawning of the dead...
By the dawning of the dead...
By the dawning of the dead...
What demon hath formed this abominable void...
This soul-shuddering vacuum?
Some said it is Urizen -
But unknown, abstracted, brooding secret
The dark power hid
The furnace sealed inside your head
Melting from the inside now
Waxy tears run down your face
Relives it every night with you
Far off stands the lamb and waits
For the wolf to come and end its life
As the book of Thel is opening
The priestess stands before you
Offering her hand out, she's rising
In famine and in war
Now the harlot womb of death
Spits out its rotten core
Has wrapped itself around your spine
So you look into its mouth
And you kiss the pearly fangs divine
The weeping virgin cries in bliss
The snake and priestess, they are one
The veil of flesh is ripped undone
As the book of Thel is opening
The priestess stands before you
Offering her hand out, she's rising
In famine and in war
Now the harlot womb of death
Spits out its rotten core
Something wicked this way comes
And when sleep takes you tonight
Will you wake to see the light...?
The river flowing red with blood
The cradle-robbing hand of death
Caresses every dreaming head
To take you to the funeral pyre
So you burn the family tree
The generations burning higher
As the book of Thel is opening
The priestess stands before you
Offering her hand out, she's rising
In famine and in war
Now the harlot womb of death
Spits out its rotten core
Something wicked this way comes
And when sleep takes you tonight
Will you wake to see the light
By the dawning of the dead...
By the dawning of the dead...
By the dawning of the dead...
This soul-shuddering vacuum?
Some said it is Urizen -
But unknown, abstracted, brooding secret
The dark power hid
Song Info
Submitted by
bruce On Apr 26, 2002
More Bruce Dickinson
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Born in '58
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Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
Based on the story by William Blake
"The Priestess stands before you , offering her hand as she's rising." I've talked to her before. She's real. Came into my bedroom calling me. "Serpent on the altar now has wrapped its way around your spine."-- Kundalini references. "Snake and Priestess they are one." Well, I know the Bride is also the Serpent,and often poems would exchange these words for one another (look up Gerald Gardner, he talks of the bride/serpent). "Harlot Womb of Death spits out its rotten core." This has to do with Babble On.. and I even think this a Kabbalistic reference.. especially because the next few lines speak of a Void/vaccuum, which is what I feel from the daath'daas sefira.
awesome!
Awesome song. The whole album Chemical Wedding is set to have a theme taking place in medieval times, and songs like this really add to that feeling.
Chemical Wedding's theme was actually a mix between a concept world created by William Blake and alchemy.
does this album have anything to do with aleister crowley...cause thats what the movie chemical wedding is about
its weird i actually think some of bruces stuff is better than maidens stuff, especially this song
The mark is on you now The furnace sealed inside your head Melting from the inside now Waxy tears run down your face
The mark of the beast.
The whore that never told her tale Relives it every night with you Far off stands the lamb and waits For the wolf to come and end its life
Mother Mary, or perhaps Babylon. If you note from the Maiden song, Moonchild, Babylon is referred to as 'the scarlet whore'. The lamb and wolf is the lamb of God and the wolf of Satan. I find The Chemical Wedding to be Blake and Alchemy influenced, but Blake himself was an Occultic mastermind, and Alchemy is not only turning lead into gold, but if you actually know Alchemy, it's about alteration of the natural world, and very occultic as well. It's all Satanic.
Stand inside the temple As the book of Thel is opening The priestess stands before you Offering her hand out, she's rising
Of course, the priestess of Thel, The Virgin. Offering her hand out to take you into the 'hidden air', the scarlet vale. I think The Virgin is reminiscent of Babylon, too, in a metaphorical sense.
Come the dawning of the dead In famine and in war Now the harlot womb of death Spits out its rotten core
Self-explanatory. Near the end of the world, the dawning of the walking dead, the Demons of Hell.
Serpent on the altar now Has wrapped itself around your spine So you look into its mouth And you kiss the pearly fangs divine
On the altar of the Book of Thel, the serpent rises. You kiss the pearly fangs of sin.
Happy that your end is swift The weeping virgin cries in bliss The snake and priestess, they are one The veil of flesh is ripped undone
The weeping virgin is again, The Virgin from Book of Thel. The veil of flesh escapes me. I'm sure it has to do with the veils of blood, pestilence, war, and darkness that Dickinson also relates to.
Stand inside the temple As the book of Thel is opening The priestess stands before you Offering her hand out, she's rising
See above.
Come the dawning of the dead In famine and in war Now the harlot womb of death Spits out its rotten core
See above.
By the pricking of my thumbs Something wicked this way comes And when sleep takes you tonight Will you wake to see the light...?
The old 'witches' trick, to know when danger is arising. Pricking the thumb. When you fall asleep, will you live through the night, or will Death caress your dreaming head? Will you awake to see the hooded gaze of Satan and be dragged into the legions of Hell?
The burning sweat of poison tears The river flowing red with blood The cradle-robbing hand of death Caresses every dreaming head
The river may refer to the river from Book of Thel, maybe the river of life.
Waiting for the marriage hearse To take you to the funeral pyre So you burn the family tree The generations burning higher
Burning of the world. The marriage hearse is odd, though. Perhaps you're marrying the sin from the pearly fangs you kissed.
Stand inside the temple As the book of Thel is opening The priestess stands before you Offering her hand out, she's rising
See above.
Come the dawning of the dead In famine and in war Now the harlot womb of death Spits out its rotten core
See above.
By the pricking of my thumbs Something wicked this way comes And when sleep takes you tonight Will you wake to see the light
See above.
By the dawning of the dead... By the dawning of the dead... By the dawning of the dead... By the dawning of the dead...
What demon hath formed this abominable void... This soul-shuddering vacuum? Some said it is Urizen - But unknown, abstracted, brooding secret The dark power hid
The 'hidden air', the dark powers of Urizen, the Crimson Fortress rising from the void of blackness within Urizen. All-in-all, it's an evil song, and Dickinson is one evil mother fucker. I love it.
That interpretation, mr. Ironed Maidens, is very childish. You fail into recognizing many of the beautiful metaphores of Sir Dickinson. There's nothing "satanic" on this song, which is about "Sacred Coitum" or "Hieros Gamos", a magick sexual intercourse between the main character and the priestess (which is presumably his Initiator, as it should be according to Left Hand Path, that asumes that the female polarity, negative, receptive, restrictive, is the door to the initiation).
That interpretation, mr. Ironed Maidens, is very childish. You fail into recognizing many of the beautiful metaphores of Sir Dickinson. There's nothing "satanic" on this song, which is about "Sacred Coitum" or "Hieros Gamos", a magick sexual intercourse between the main character and the priestess (which is presumably his Initiator, as it should be according to Left Hand Path, that asumes that the female polarity, negative, receptive, restrictive, is the door to the initiation).
The virgin/whore duality is an attribute of Binah, the third Sephira of the Cabalistic Tree of Life, associated to the...
The virgin/whore duality is an attribute of Binah, the third Sephira of the Cabalistic Tree of Life, associated to the Virgin Mary and the Misteries of the Conception. The Sacred Prostitute, although giving birth, remains always a virgin for not interfering with her concept, releasing the newborn to the world after delivery. It is said that a virgin queen always represent her because it's receptive to all mages that dare to pass the abyss and reach it.
That said, let's dive into the music:
lamb an wolf not necessarily means God and Satan, because Alchemy doesn’t play well with the believe that Satan is anything other than a polarity, one of God’s aspects, as lead is to gold, or cold is the opposite of heat.
“if you actually know Alchemy, it's about alteration of the natural world, and very occultic as well. It's all Satanic” > you seem to be fantasizing about Alchemy. Throughout his angels, God alters the natural world all the time… perhaps God is a bit satanic too :cP
Stand inside the temple As the book of Thel is opening The priestess stands before you Offering her hand out, she's rising
“Of course, the priestess of Thel, The Virgin. Offering her hand out to take you into the 'hidden air', the scarlet vale. I think The Virgin is reminiscent of Babylon, too, in a metaphorical sense” Is that so hard to imagine a woman’s pair of legs as the book cover, spreading out to reveal its content? The ‘hidden air’ refers to the hollow cavity known as vagina*. ‘Stand inside the temple’ = take the first step towards initiation, and enter the atrium, that seppares the profane world from the sacred one (just like the outer and inner labia resemble the double doors on a regular temple, like a church, a synagogue or a mosque). There’s so much correlation between the female genitalia and a religious building that I won’t spoil the fun of discovery. Just know that both have a structure named “vestibulum
*not sure if you’ve already seen a real one, but you can browse the web, it’s full of illustrative pics. If you’re under 18, there’s some nice educational shots on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulva that are neither explicit or require your parental advisory.
“Near the end of the world, the dawning of the walking dead, the Demons of Hell” > there’s no such thing as “end of the world”, just a turn of aeons. The “harlot woomb of death” means that the same womb that gives birth, also gives death (one starts to die the minute he inhales the first breath). We’re all rotten cores, a biological time-bomb, just flesh jackets for our spirits. The body must perish for the soul regain its freedom. Again, there’s nothing “all satanic” here.
Serpent = Kundalini, as stated by user lawofthetrapezoid. It’s the magic force unleashed on ritual sex magic (when done right) or through meditation, extenuation, extasis, etc.
“The weeping virgin is again, The Virgin from Book of Thel. The veil of flesh escapes me. I'm sure it has to do with the veils of blood, pestilence, war, and darkness that Dickinson also relates to” There’s an easy explanation for the ‘veil of flesh’. That veil is the hymenal membrane.
By the pricking of my thumbs Something wicked this way comes And when sleep takes you tonight Will you wake to see the light...?
‘Burning of the world. The marriage hearse is odd, though. Perhaps you're marrying the sin from the pearly fangs you kissed.’
I’ll let anyone here guess what’s wrong with it. And use the examples above as tools to do the interpretation without seeing the devil hidden behind every dot and every comma