Ideas About Creativity

[tannis]

"The Gurdjieff/Sufi ideas and images in her early work were probably inherited from family discussions originated by John Carder Bush, a poet, author, and seeker himself. In any person born and brought up in a Roman Catholic family some traces of that religion must remain. She had friends in the Krishna movement. I have thought to have seen in Kate's work images suggested by [blue]Golden Dawn type ritual practice[/blue], of which "Lily" is the most recent and obvious."
- gaffa.org/dreaming/E1_tid2.html

"For anyone who has read any of the end credits of the videos on The Whole Story collection, you will find that the name of the production company, curiously, is[blue] 'Golden Dawn Productions'[/blue]- of note is that the order of [blue]The Golden Dawn[/blue] was a secret society founded in Europe in the late nineteenth century, and of whom Aleister Crowley and A.B. Beardsley were members, along with W.B. Yeats. Crowley went on to become a 33rd degree Mason, and then founded Thelema, of which chapters still exist today. [blue]Kate seems to be passing along the message 'on the sly' that she is at least familiarized, if not initiated, into the occult sciences- either white witchcraft, or alchemy, perhaps?"[/blue]
- www.atforumz.com/archive/index.php/t-292258.html

[green]This chapter says...
This chapter says...
This chapter says...
You should not speak of it
You should not think it even
Because it is forbidden...[/green]

[purple]THE SINGLE FILE[/purple]

Wuthering Heights (1, *)
The Man With The Child In His Eyes (1, *)
Hammer Horror (1, *)
Wow (1, *)
Them Heavy People (1, *)
Breathing (1)
Babooshka (1)
Army Dreamers (1, 2)
Sat In Your Lap (2, 3, ^)
The Dreaming (4, 5)
Suspended In Gaffa (3, 6)
There Goes A Tenner (4, 5)

1 - Directed by Keef, A Keefcco Production; 2 - Executive production by Novercia Ltd.;
3 - Directed by Brian Wiseman; 4 - Directed by Paul Henry;
5 - [green]Produced by Golden Dawn Productions[/green]**; 6 - Produced by Novercia Ltd.

Artistic concepts and choreography throughout by Kate Bush
Babooshka costume based on an illustration by Chris Achilleos
and released by Pamela Keats. Photography by Kindlight
Package design by Assorted iMaGes
Approximate running time - 50 minutes
© 1983 Novercia Ltd., except * © 1983 EMI Records Ltd.
and ^ © 1981 Novercia Ltd.
This compilation © 1983 EMI Records Ltd.

VHS, Picture Music International, TVE 90 1430 2 / CMV 1058, 1.12.1983

[purple]THE WHOLE STORY[/purple]

Wuthering Heights
Cloudbusting
The Man With The Child In His Eyes
Breathing
Wow
Hounds Of Love
Running Up That Hill
Army Dreamers
Sat In Your Lap
Experiment IV
The Dreaming
Babooshka
The Big Sky

1, 3, 4, 12 - Directed by Keef, A Keefco Production; 2 - Directed by Julian Doyle, A Picture Music International Production; 5 - Directed by Keef, Edited by Dave Gardener; 6, 13 - Directed by Kate Bush, A Picture Music International Production; 7 - Directed by David Garfath, A Paul Weiland Films Production; 8 - Directed by Keef, A Keefco Production, Executive Production by Novercia Ltd; 9 - Directed by Brian Wiseman, Executive Production by Novercia Ltd; 10 - Directed by Kate Bush, Produced by Vicki Wallis; 11 - Directed by Paul Henry, [green]Produced by Golden Dawn Productions[/green]**
Photography: John Carder Bush
Design: Bill Smith Studio
Approx. total running time: 55 mins
This compilation © 1986 Novercia Ltd. / EMI Records Ltd.

VHS, Picture Music International, MVP 99 1143 2, 11.1986

www.katebush.pl/video.htm

** The 1982, Picture Disk, The Dreaming Interview:

I: I saw the video to The Dreaming... Where was it shot?
KB: "We shot it in [unintelligible], which is a video studio in Wandsworth."
I: Oh, that was a studio? [Surprised.]
KB: "Yeah!"
I: Crikey!
KB: "It was a very good set, wasn't it? Incredible set designers."
I: Where did you get the guys from?
KB: "We actually found those set designers through the director I was using, through their production company."
I: Who did direct it?
KB: "It was Golden Dawn Productions, a guy called Paul Henry."
I: And what's going to be the next single that you're working on?
KB: "Well, we've done the video for the next one, which is There Goes a Tenner."
gaffa.org/reaching/im82_pd.html

[tannis]

Do KT BUSH and GEORGE W. BUSH share Common Ancestry?

FACT...?

Date: 31 Oct 1992 07:27:50 -0500 (EST)
Subject: KT and Bush

Dear Friends,

One matter which stirred little interest when we mentioned it in HOMEGROUND some time ago was the possible family link between Kate and the other Bush (13th cousin to the Queen) that resides currently in the White House. No - seriously! In 1988 you see, at the time of George Bush's election the usual people over here did the usual genealogical research and came up with the following facts: in 1631 Reynold Bush (George's direct ancestor) emigrated to the Massachusetts colony with a group of fellow puritans.

Reynold Bush's family came from the parish of Messing in the English county of Essex (where there are records of the family name back to 1391). The village of Messing is just 8 miles from the village of Pebmarsh. Kate's direct ancestors (documented - at least according to Fred Vermorel - and in this connection I think we can trust his research - back to the 11th century) came from the village of Pebmarsh. Sadly no-one has done any research to discover if there is a common ancestor.

gaffa.org/dreaming/E1_tid2.html


FICTION...?

Date: 4 Aug 89 19:47:39 GMT
Subject: Barbara Bush: Kate fan on the sly?

This just in. Barbara Bush, wife of President Of The United States George "The Enforcer" Bush is actually a secret fan of what we here at Gaffa HQ now suspect to be her LONG LOST NIECE... none other than Britain's sultan of song, princess of piano, bellatrix of ballads and otherwise Notorious Pop Figure KATE BUSH. This information is gleaned from SPY Magazine, August 1989 issue, page 27.

A LITTLE LITERACY IS A DANGEROUS THING

Barbara Bush on Her Fight Against Illiteracy: "I always loved to read... As I grew older, I loved any book written by Emily Bronte." A Complete Catalog Of Emily Bronte's Novels: Wuthering Heights. The First Lady's Other Favorite Emily Bronte Books, According to the First Lady's Spokeswoman: Jane Eyre. - Joe Mastrianni

So, as you can see, it is clearly the awesome inspiration of what we now suspect to be Kate's AUNTIE BARBARA that provided the initial impetus for "Little Katie" (as Auntie Barbara no doubt referred to her) to write that number one pop sensation, propelling her on her way to Fame and Fortune.

Remember, LOVE-HOUNDS: We call 'em the way we see 'em, and if we don't see 'em, we make 'em up.

gaffa.org/dreaming/E1_tid.html

[rosabelbelieve]

God, I hate to think they might share common ancestry! I suppose we're all related if you go back far enough, though...

[tannis]

Yes, maybe Bertie might run for US President some day! ...


[purple]Lucifer's Children: The Grail Bloodline and the Descendants of Cain[/purple]

In certain Rabbinic lore, we come across the very interesting notion that Cain was not the son of Adam, but of Samael. It was thought that when Samael appeared to Eve as a serpent, he seduced her. The fruit of that union was Cain. Now Samael was a fallen angel, essentially the Judaic Lucifer. An alternate version of the Cain saga, equally Luciferian in its connotations, says that he was the son of Adam’s first wife, Lillith. Of the two alternate traditions concerning Cain’s parentage, both involve the Luciferian Nephilim bloodline. The name Lucifer literally means "lightbearer" (rays of light suggest a Luciferian subtext). And the descendants of Cain, who were the deified kings of Sumeria, bore the title of Ari (Ari... Ariel... Aerial?), a term which also meant "Shining Ones."

In closing, we note the fact that Cain seems to have engendered his own tradition, as evidenced in a strange Gnostic sect called the Cainites. Like the Carpocrateans, the Cainites believed that no one could be saved except by "making the journey through everything." Epiphanius describes them as a group "consecrating... lustful or illegal acts to various heavenly beings" as a sort of sacrament. Interestingly, many scholars compare them to... Satanists.

The extent to which the Merovingians knew of these alternate traditions is uncertain. Whether or not they believed in them is more uncertain still, yet it remains likely that they both knew about these traditions and took them quite seriously. To this very day, the coat of arms of the capital of the Merovingian empire, Stenay, bears an image of the devil. And the original name of Stenay was "Satanicum."

see more:
www.thevesselofgod.com/home.html

[tannis]

Kate Bush
Ari-al

MORALS and DOGMA by ALBERT PIKE

Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, prepared for the Supreme Council of the Thirty Third Degree for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States: Charleston, 1871.

LUCIFER, the Light-bearer! Strange and mysterious name to give to the Spirit of Darknesss! Lucifer, the Son of the Morning! Is it he who bears the Light, and with its splendors intolerable blinds feeble, sensual or selfish Souls? Doubt it not!

The Sun is the ancient symbol of the life-giving and generative power of the Deity. To the ancients, light was the cause of life; and God was the source from which all light flowed; the essence of Light, the Invisible Fire, developed as Flame manifested as light and splendour. The Sun was His manifestation and visible image; and the Sabaeans worshipping the Light--God, seemed to worship the Sun, in whom they saw the manifestation of the Deity.

The Moon was the symbol of the passive capacity of nature to produce, the female, of which the life-giving power and energy was the male. It was the symbol of Isis, Astarte, and Artemis, or Diana. The "Master of Life" was the Supreme Deity, above both, and manifested through both; Zeus, the Son of Saturn, become King of the Gods; Horus, son of Osiris and Isis, become the Master of Life; Dionusos or Bacchus, like Mithras, become the author of Light and Life and Truth.

* * * * *

The word Khairum or Khurum is a compound one. Gesenius renders Khurum by the word noble or free-born: Khur meaning white, noble. It also means the opening of a window, the socket of the eye. Khri also means white, or an opening; and Khris, the orb of the Sun, in Job viii. 13 and x. 7. Krishna is the Hindu Sun-God. Khur, the Parsi word, is the literal name of the Sun.

From Kur or Khur, the Sun, comes Khora, a name of Lower Egypt. The Sun, Bryant says in his Mythology, was called Kur; and Plutarch says that the Persians called the Sun Kuros. Kurios, Lord, in Greek, like Adonai, Lord, in Phoenician and Hebrew, was applied to the Sun. Many places were sacred to the Sun, and called Kura, Kuria, Kuropolis, Kurene, Kureschata, Kuresta, and Corusia in Scythia.

The Egyptian Deity called by the Greeks "Horus," was Her-Ra, or Har-oeris, Hor or Har, the Sun. Hari is a Hindu name of the Sun. Ari-al, Ar-es, Ar, Aryaman, Areimonios, the AR meaning Fire or Flame, are of the same kindred. Hewnes or Har-mes, (Aram, Remus, Haram, Harameias), was Kadmos, the Divine Light or Wisdom. Mar-kuri, says Movers, is Mar, the Sun.

In the Hebrew, AOOR, is Light, Fire, or the Sun. Cyrus, said Ctesias, was so named from Kuros, the Sun. Kuris, Hesychius says, was Adonis. Apollo, the Sun-god, was called Kurraios, from Kurra, a city in Phocis. The people of Kurene, originally Ethiopians or Cuthites, worshipped the Sun under the title of Achoor and Achor.

We know, through a precise testimony in the ancient annals of Tsur, that the principal festivity of Mal-karth, the incarnation of the Sun at the Winter Solstice, held at Tsur, was called his rebirth or his awakening, and that it was celebrated by means of a pyre, on which the god was supposed to regain, through the aid of fire, a new life. This festival was celebrated in the month Peritius (Barith), the second day of which corresponded to the 25th of December. KHUR-UM, King of Tyre, Movers says, first performed this ceremony. These facts we learn from Josephus, Servius on the AEneid, and the Dionysiacs of Nonnus; and through a coincidence that cannot be fortuitous, the same day was at Rome the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, the festal day of the invincible Sun. Under this title, HERCULES, HAR-acles, was worshipped at Tsur. Thus, while the temple was being erected, the death and resurrection of a Sun-God was annually represented at Tsur, by Solomon's ally, at the winter solstice, by the pyre of MAL-KARIH, the Tsurian Haracles.

AROERIS or HAR-oeris, the elder HORUS, is from the same old root that in the Hebrew has the form Aur, or, with the definite article prefixed, Haur, Light, or the Light, splendor, flame, the Sun and his rays. The hieroglyphic of the younger HORUS was the point in a circle; of the Elder, a pair of eyes; and the festival of the thirtieth day of the month Epiphi, when the sun and moon were supposed to be in the same right line with the earth, was called "The birth-day of the eyes of Horus."

In a papyrus published by Champollion, this god is tyled "Haroeri, Lord of the Solar Spirits, the beneficent eye of the Sun." Plutarch calls him "Har-pocrates," but there is no trace of the latter part of the name in the hieroglyphic legends. He is the son of OSIRIS and Isrs; and is represented sitting on a throne supported by lions; the same word, in Egyptian, meaning Lion and Sun. So Solomon made a great throne of ivory, plated with gold, with six steps, at each arm of which was a lion, and one on each side to each step, making seven on each side.

Again, the Hebrewword Khi, means "living;" and ram, "was, or shall be, raised or lifted up." The latter is the same as room, aroom, harum, whence Aram, for Syria, or Aramoea, High-land. Khairum, therefore, would mean "was raised up to life, or living."

So, in Arabic, hrm, an unused root, meant, "was high," "made great," "exalted;" and Hirm means an ox, the symbol of the Sun in Taurus, at the Vernal Equinox.

KHURUM, therefore, improperly called Hiram, is KHUR-OM, the same as Her-ra, Hermes, and Her-acles, the "Heracles Tyrius Invictus," the personification of Light and the Son, the Mediator, Redeemer, and Saviour. From the Egyptian word Ra came the Coptic Ouro, and the Hebrew Aur, Light. Har-oeri, is Hor or Har, the chief or master. Hor is also heat; and hora, season or hour; and hence in several African dialects, as names of the Sun, Airo, Ayero, eer, uiro, ghurrah, and the like. The royal name rendered Pharaoh, was PHRA, that is, Pai-ra, the Sun.

The legend of the contest between Hor-ra and Set, or Set-nu-bi, the same as Bar or Bal, is older than that of the strife between Osiris and Typhon; as old, at least, as the nineteenth dynasty. It is called in the Book of the Dead, "The day of the battle between Horus and Set." The later myth connects itself with Phoenicia and Syria. The body of OSIRIS went ashore at Gebal or Byblos, sixty miles above Tsur. You will not fail to notice that in the name of each murderer of Khurum, that of the Evil God Bal is found.

* * * * *


see more:
MORALS and DOGMA by ALBERT PIKE
www.illuminati-news.com/e-books/morals-dogma/apike.htm

[tannis]

"Masonry, like all the Religions, all the Mysteries, Hermeticism and Alchemy, conceals its secrets from all except the Adepts and Sages, or the Elect, and uses false explanations and misinterpretations of its symbols to mislead those who deserve only to be misled..."
MORALS and DOGMA by ALBERT PIKE.

"I think quotes are very dangerous things!"
Kate Bush.

[tannis]

"All the Masters in Alchemy who have written of the Great Work, have employed symbolic and figurative expressions; being constrained to do so, as well to repel the profane from a work that would be dangerous for them, as to be well understood by Adepts, in revealing to them the whole world of analogies governed by the single and sovereign dogma of Hermes... The Dove, the Raven, and the Phoenix are striking Symbols of Good and Evil, Light and Darkness, and the Beauty resulting from the equilibrium of the two..."
MORALS and DOGMA by ALBERT PIKE.

"The Dove, the Raven, and the Phoenix..."
...artwork to Prelude, Sunset & Nocturn/Aerial...?

see more:
katebush.proboards6.com/index.cgi?board=parttwo
MORALS and DOGMA by ALBERT PIKE
www.nwowatcher.com/ebooks/Morals%20And%20Dogma%20-%20By%20Albert%20Pike.pdf

[Al Truest]

tannis said:

"All the Masters in Alchemy who have written of the Great Work, have employed symbolic and figurative expressions; being constrained to do so, as well to repel the profane from a work that would be dangerous for them, as to be well understood by Adepts, in revealing to them the whole world of analogies governed by the single and sovereign dogma of Hermes... The Dove, the Raven, and the Phoenix are striking Symbols of Good and Evil, Light and Darkness, and the Beauty resulting from the equilibrium of the two..."
MORALS and DOGMA by ALBERT PIKE.

Through consensus and tradition, iconography becomes synonymous with, and a trigger for, collective consciousness. Therein such icons and secret symbols represent the whole of a movement or ideology in a distilled form. e.g. The Crucifix or conversely the Swastika. When we define with conviction and subsequently imbue our moral instruction into a singular form; it becomes a groundswell of power and direction. Good or Evil will rise to the forefront based on the appeal and affect of the message. Sin or (bad) Karma for example may be a self imposed reality as a result of defying the power of collective will. Grace and (good) Karma conversely may result from a perception of riding the wave.

We oppose or own moral compass at our own peril. What we truly believe is represented by our intent and actions not in what we think. A good idea must be embodied (made into a "value") before change takes place. IMHO As a result justice only has context if the power of collective consciousness is in accord. This 'justice' will not always be truly morally correct. Nonetheless it will rule the day until truth evolves to a wider share of the human and spiritual community.

Some will keep ignorance, fear and vengeance as the foremost tools to retain power and enforce tradition. Change, like philosophical thought, takes courage and conviction.

Peace may be more a personal journey than a state of physical reality. We all can find it - and do - in our most exhaulted and noble moments. I believe this state is where we can aspire to in an everlasting dream state when this 'physical' proving ground has run its course for us.

In order to promote peace on Earth and goodwill to men, I believe we must profess our own ignorance and be willing to share ideas. My piece of the puzzle will only fit - and reveal another part of the big picture - if it meshes with yours and many others. The audacity of certainty and intolerance can make any religion just as or more evil than the good that may arise in some who hold the tenants true and dear. If we allow each other freedom of thought and an extended hand then we form a more complete circle.

I dont claim to know it all. But I know enough to find purpose and some wonderful gifts from the rest of humanity... And through my own experience I can profess that sacrifice, balance and grace promote spiritual, physical, mental and emotional health

I'm just saying...think about it.

[rosabelbelieve]

You know, it's really wonderful to see how this thread has evolved since it's beginning. Thank you guys for sharing your pieces of the puzzle.

[tannis]

rosabelbelieve said:

Kate Bush 'You Want Alchemy'

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-IwI1melPM

I'd never heard this song before today, and I think it's really lovely. The lyrics are wonderful, and I love how she says, 'You want alchemy ?!' And the whole idea of alchemy, and a beekeeper and honey reminds me so much of Aerial.

Date: Tue, 26 Apr 1994 15:07:42 GMT
Subject: You want Alchemy
Has anyone mentioned yet that the classical composition which "You want Alchemy" reminds you of is Claude Debussy's piano work "Clair de lune" (Moonlight)?
- gaffa.org/moments/2_2k.html

Moonlight... Moon... Artemis... The Archer Goddess... 'ONE FOR THE ARCHERS'...

see more:
Apollo, Artemis, and The Red Shoes 'run-out' message
katebush.proboards6.com/index.cgi?board=theredshoes&action=display&n=1&thread=1752&page=3


YOU WANT ALCHEMY

And we came up on a bee-keeper...
"I'm very busy with the hives"...
"When's my cloud of bees coming home?"

In Freemasonry the Beehive is a very important symbol - claimed to be derived from the traditional heraldic symbol for industry. The Beehive is "symbolic of the lodge itself as only the bees in the hive are aware of the activities inside. … under the guidance of the queen bee, the worker bees cheerfully and industriously perform their duties." Bees and the beehive are perfect symbols for the collusion of a secret society. The allegory of the beehive can be traced back to the Eleusinian cult: "In Classical Greece honey was deemed to be divine: the priestesses of Eleusis were called melissa (bees) and their temple was known as the 'beehive'."

see more:
Freemasonry & bees
freemasonry.bcy.ca/symbolism/bees.html
The Red Shoes and Freemasonry
katebush.proboards6.com/index.cgi?board=theredshoes&action=display&n=1&thread=1749


HOUNDS OF LOVE

Take my shoes off
And throw them in the lake
And I'll be
Two steps on the water

THE SHOE: The Shoe was ever an emblem of significance in Freemasonry. To remove the Shoe, as Moses was commanded to do before the Burning Bush, and as Joshua was commanded before Jericho, was a token of reverence. The High-Priest in the Temple went barefoot, as a mark of Divine respect. The removal of the Shoe was also a token of humiliation and subjection, as when David fled before Absalom, and Isaiah walked barefoot for three years, and Ezekiel walked barefoot upon a certain occasion. Hence, the expression in Psalm cviii [9], "Over Edom will I cast out my shoe," imports the subjugation of the country over which the shoe is cast.
'Masonic Ladder' by John Sherer


So maybe masonic and golden dawn alchemy play their part in KT's ideas about creativity? ...

[rosabelbelieve]

The more I listen to this song, the more I love it. Thank you for the information on the symbolism of bees. I think I would add that maybe they could be a symbol of transformation and healing, and of course alchemy. Honey has come up a lot in Kate's work on Aerial, and it seems to me that it often used to convey a sort of perfect transcendence and bliss- a sea of honey and a sky of honey both unified by the mystical alchemist's gold.

Creativity is kind of like alchemy, isn't it? The creation of gold, of inspiration, from the base metals of quotidian experience, I think.

[tannis]

Honey, the alchemy of bees, is indeed associated with transformation, bliss, and personal transcendence...

Could be honeycomb
In a sea of honey
A sky of honey...

HONEY: Primeval nourishment, both food and drink, like MILK, with which it is so often association, honey is first and foremost a rich symbol of wealth, fullness and especially of sweetness. It stands in sharp contrast with the bitterness of gall, and it differs from sugar as those things which Nature offers to mankind differ from those which she keep hidden. Every Promised Land flows with milk and honey as did all those primeval lands from which mankind was driven. Both Eastern and Western sacred writings associate them and extol them in very similar terms, and often give the symbol a distinctly erotic one. The land of Canaan may be a land of milk and honey, but it is also the honey of immortal love in the Song of Solomon: 'Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue' (4:11), and (5:1) "I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk.' Isaiah prophesies (7:14-15): 'Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know how to refuse the evil, and choose the good.'

In the Rig-Veda too, honey is praised as a fecundating principle, a source of life and of immortality, like milk and SOMA. 'The wave of honey arose out of the ocean; mingling with the [soma] stalk, it became the elixir of immortality' (VEDR p.126).

In Celtic tradition, honey is the basic ingredient of mead, the beverage of immortality which flows in rivers in the Underworld. However, honied sweetness can be dangerously seductive, like the honey dripping from the courtesan's lips (Proverbs), flattery and the fly-trap.

Greek tradition maintained that Pythagoras only ate honey throughout his life. Honey might well denote religious culture, mystic knowledge, spiritual benefits or revelations to the initiate. Virgil was to call honey 'the heavenly gift of dew', dew being, itself, a symbol of initiation. Honey was also to come to denote the peak of SPIRITUAL BLISS and the state of Nirvana. As a symbol of all that is sweet, it made the annihilation of pain a reality. In the mystical Shi'ite brotherhood of Bektashi Dervishes, honey denotes haqq, transcendental reality, the goal of all spiritual pilgrimage where the individual melts into the godhead.

Honey was a symbol of wisdom in Orphic tradition, while Buddhist countries associate it with teaching. 'My teaching is like eating honey: sweet to start with, sweet in the middle and sweet at the end.' So perfect is honey that it was easy to make it a powerful propitiatory offering, the symbol of protection and appeasement. The Athenians used to offer honey-cakes to the Great Serpent, to keep him in his cave.

When Greek religion stated that honey was 'the symbol of death and life, of sluggishness - it was claimed that it caused deep and dreamless sleep - and of clear sight', surely this slyly alludes to the key-words in rites of initiation - darkness and light, death and rebirth. In the Eleusinian Mysteries, honey was given to the higher grade of initiate as a sign of new life.

In Psychoanalytic thought honey, 'taken to be the end result of a process of distillation', may become 'the symbol of the Higher Ego, or Self, in so far as the latter is the end-result of internal working upon the self'. Being the product of the TRANSFORMATION of short-lived pollen-powder into the succulent food of immortality, honey symbolizes the transformation effected by initiation, the conversion of the soul and the ultimate integration of the personality.

[rosabelbelieve]

^This fits perfectly with Aerial and You Want Alchemy, I think. Thank you so much for all the information.

[tannis]

As I read The Laughing Gnostic, I was struck by the number of names and phrases that I have come across in my KB reading. So I thought I'd post an extract...

KB: "I was sitting in my bath, submerged in bubbles, when I heard David Bowie for the first time..."

The Laughing Gnostic: David Bowie and the Occult

I'm closer to the Golden Dawn
Immersed in Crowley's uniform...

The Cabbala combines several factors: the analytical and linguistic aspects of it have certainly proved of interest to the erudite side of Bowie's character, while another part of him has been drawn to the meditative Cabbala, "where one immerses oneself in the Divine attributes of words and numbers to ascend spiritually". There is also a physical way of Cabbalistic working, the 'Ecstatic Cabbala', which involves exercises in breathing and movement, as well as chanting and singing.

Bowie was reading Madame Blavatsky and Gurdjieff, he met the Crowleyite Kenneth Anger, and soon would develop a new alter ego: the emotionless Aryan superhuman called The Thin White Duke.

Angie Bowie recalled a good deal of occult activity during the subsequent LA period in 1975-76; it was also clear that Bowie was vulnerable to the influence of sycophants and hangers-on while he was heavily into cocaine. It has been alleged that at this time he scribbled frantic cabbalistic calculations on his own correspondence, stored his own urine in a fridge, and was obsessed about preventing anyone else getting hold of his nail-clippings and hair-trimmings - as Marianne Faithfull saw. This sort of voodoo superstition - a fear that bodily waste could be used for evil purposes by occult enemies - may also be found in Crowley's more secret teachings.

The 1976 track 'Station to Station' is a fine example of Bowie's use of occult symbolism. Not only does he refer to Aleister Crowley's book of pornographic poems when he sings of "making sure White Stains", the 'stations' of the title refer to the ten stations of a cabalistic diagram called the 'Tree of Life', where the transcendent aspect of God becomes manifest through ten emanations or spheres (called 'Sefiroth' in Hebrew) from the highest 'Kether' (the crown), to the lowest 'Malkuth' (the kingdom).

Occultists who use the Cabbala make their reality transcendent by means of seeing Cabbalistic images all around them in the world - every thing and incident is interpreted in correspondence with the Tree of Life, as somehow a direct dealing with God - and sometimes also through the use of sex. They travel the paths and spheres of the Tree; to travel in "one magical movement" from "Kether to Malkuth" "lost in my [magical?] circle" (as Bowie sings) equates with the descent of the transcendent God to the immanent physical level, thus making man one with the Divine. And vice-versa, going from "Malkuth to Kether" could signify employing sex, and rising during orgasm from the physical level to become God. But which God was Bowie trying to reach? "Does my prayer fit in with your scheme of things?" he asked 'God' in the track 'Word on a Wing' on the same album, in 1976. Also in 'Station to Station' he was "flashing no colour" which hints at his experimentation with the hindu Tattva system which advocates 'colour-flashing' in order to enter the several astral planes contributed to the 5 elements.

In 'Station to Station' there is the line "throwing darts in lovers' eyes". In Crowley's system, the dart or arrow is a symbol of direction, and shows the dynamic of True Will - which is not being but going, not individual but universal. The arrow pierces all points simultaneously in a perpetual orgasm; it is tipped with poison, an alkahest capable of dissolving the illusion of separateness.

In Crowley's 'Thoth' Tarot cards, the complementary card to 'The Lovers' is called 'Art', which depicts the flight of this arrow beyond its disintegrative stage. The two figures in 'The Lovers' are now resolved into their synthesis, which is Perfection. The arrow is soaring Beyond, piercing the rainbow. There is no goal, only the dynamic of the flight. The flight is towards Perfection. The House of God is smitten by the Lightning Flash of Illumination, the impact of the Holy Guardian Angel and the Flaming Sword of the Energy that proceeds from Kether to Malkuth. Thence are cast forth two figures representing by their attitude the Hebrew letter Ayin: these are the twins (Horus and Harpocrates) born at the breaking open of the Womb of the Mother (the second aspect of the House of God (or Tarot card 'Tower': symbolic of the ego in its phallic aspect) as "a spring shut up, a fountain sealed").

In public perception, both the Golden Dawn and the Ordo Templi Orientis are pseudo-masonic organisations where the aspirant (or member) goes through stages of ceremonial initiation wearing semi-Egyptian costumes - like the one Bowie wore for a photo session with Brian Ward in 1969. (See, for example, "David Bowie Black Book" by Miles, London 1980, p. 40, where Bowie is shown giving the occult sign of "as above so below" - otherwise the symbol of 'Baphomet', the old Knight Templar's idol. Or in the photo on the inner sleeve of the CD version of 'Space Oddity' Bowie portrays the Sphinx, an important occult symbol; also on the cover of the bootleg CD 'The Shadow Man'). [And see the black and white Lord Litchfield photo of KATE from the book 'Most Beautiful Women', etc.]

Bowie was spouting occult keywords far and wide without any apparent fear of being publicly condemned. "That whole dark and rather fearsome never-world of the wrong side of the brain" as he later called Aleister Crowley's field, was - and is - expressed in complicated wording, as we've seen in the previous analysis of the lyrics in 'Station to Station'.

So were you involved in actual devil worship?
"Not devil worship, no, it was pure straighforward, old-fashioned magic."
The Aleister Crowley variety?
"No, I always thought Crowley was a charlatan. But there was a guy called Edward Waite who was terribly important to me at the time. And another called Dion Fortune who wrote a book called " Psychic self defence". You had to run around the room getting bits of string and old crayons and draw funny things on the wall, and I took it all most seriously, ha ha ha ! I drew gateways into different dimensions, and I'm quite sure that , for myself, I really walked into other worlds. I drew things on walls and just walked trough them, and saw what was on the other side!"
DRUM'N'BASS ODDITY, New Musical Express, February 1997, By Jay Mathews

At this stage Bowie also distanced himself from any taint of fascism - three years before, in 1976 he had been photographed giving something that looked suspiciously like a Nazi salute, and had been overheard muttering "I am the only alternative for Premier in England. I believe Britain could benefit from a Fascist leader. After all, Fascism is really nationalism". It had been reported that Bowie had a strong interest in the saga of King Arthur ("I had this morbid obession with the so-called 'mysticism' of the Third Reich" in the 1970's. "The side of it that fascinated me was the apocryphal tales of the SS coming to England and searching through Glastonbury for the Holy Grail"). Now those Knights had been sent off on a quest for the Holy Grail. In magickal and sex-magical interpretations, this grail is the vagina containing semen and vaginal fluids. Consuming this elixir (the Elixir of Life, as it is called, or "psychosexual fluids") gives rise to the Homo Superior, the God in Man, and the Man in God ("the Golden Ones" (Warriors) in 'Oh! You Pretty Things', 1971).

Glastonbury had a history of mystical connotations going back ages. Allegedly, Christ was there—or at least the cup from the Last Supper, the Holy Grail containing Christ’s blood. St. Patrick is supposed to be buried in Glastonbury, and King Arthur lived nearby. In the 1950s and 60s, many books dealt with the quest of extratererrestrials or Atlanteans for cosmic power at the site of the ruined Benedictine Abbey, i.e. Glastonbury. In 1971, a serial of Glastonbury festivals began. Of course, Bowie sang there, to thousands: “Where all were minds in uni-thought / Power weird by mystics taught.” ('The Supermen.') Angie Bowie had this to say: “Arthur? He wasn’t fxated on Arthur, he never even mentioned him. Grail? Well, he hung out with Ken Pitt who loved dressing up as a [***]. Maybe he liked the rakish slant of the offcer’s hat or the feel of a lash on the thigh, who knows? I wasn’t there. Before my time. Ken Pitt was interested in [***] dress-up and things occult! There are only twenty or thirty international legends; to what or which was he supposed to attach his new belief system if not Arthur? [It’s] the only distinct legend which features the English doing something apart from running around covered in Wode or empire building.”

So when Bowie put a 'For Sale' sign at his front gate during the 1980's, who or what moved in? Bowie's live performance of 'Time' on the 1987 Glass Spider video shows that he now used the Tarot Card 'The Hanged Man' to represent himself as the 'Redeemed Redeemer', a key figure in occultism, which hints at Baphomet, the central idol of the Knights Templar and the Ordo Templi Orientis. [KATE BUSH adopts THE MAGICIAN pose on the RUTH COVER.] Bowie was hanging on a rope as he let himself down from the huge Glass Spider that overshadowed the stage, his legs crossed mimicking the pose of the 'Hanged Man' Tarot card - at the same time referring to the Hindu creation-myth of the universe being spewed out of a giant spider's bowels. 'Baphomet' was also one of the magical names of Aleister Crowley who identified himself with the Antichrist, the Beast 666, or an erect phallus.

The Prince's Trust sent out plain white masks to over 1000 public figures in late 1996. Bowie's design consisted of a simple "666" stencilled on the forehead, complemented by the handwritten annotation "Your pretty face is going to hell."

from The Laughing Gnostic: David Bowie and the Occult (Koenig)
user.cyberlink.ch/~koenig/bowie.htm
my.opera.com/skunks/blog/david-bowie-and-occult-2

[rosabelbelieve]

^ I've never heard much of David Bowie's work... I probably should try to, I guess. Interesting piece, though.