Thomas Karlsson is a Swedish author of esoteric and occult books. As an author he concentrates in psychological, philosophical, esoteric and paranormal topics. According to Wikipedia he is one of the founders and the leader of an intellectual group called “Dragon Rouge” an “initiatory order” that focuses on the order itself, culture, philosophy, psychology and initiatory magic.
According to his website , he and the other members of the order study “Gothicism and the dark side in its different forms of expressions” ,Psychology, philosophy, theology ,religions and sacred texts, cultures ,literature, physics and other sciences and magic like Goetic Qabalah, Odinic Runosophy, tantra and Alkhemy. Some of the authors mentioned in his website are H.P Lovecraft, Hanns Heinz Ewers, bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Johannes Bureis. Georg Stierngielm, Richard Wagner, Arnold Böcklin , Caspar David Friedrich, Austic Osman Spare.Herkleitos, Plato, Plotinos, Nietzsche ,Heidegger and Henri Bergson, Stanislaf Grof, Jung, Freud, Wilhelm Reich , Salvador Dalí Max Ernst and Carlos Castaneda .
In his website it is also inferred that he was involved with Yezidic mysticism. He is also the writer of most of the songs for Therion a Swedish gothic metal band and he is also the lead vocalist of symphonic death metal band Shadowseeds. The reason for which I choose to analyze the work of Thomas Karlsson is because in my opinion fits the context of the class about something supernatural. I also admire the different lyrics in the songs of the band Therion as I believe they express cultural ideologies that I am exploring, such as psychology, philosophy and culture with expressions like myths and legends. I also find the work of the authors mentioned in his website fascinating and I am sure that the lyrics for the band Therion are largely based on them if not completely. Finally due to my first entry blog about dragons , I remembered that Thomas Karlsson wrote a lot about dragons in different aspects in some of his lyrics which influenced my decision to choose his work. Finally the lyrics that I choose to analyze are based on Sufi mysticism ,more exactly on the work of George Guerdieff a philosopher and mystic of the 20th century who studied paranormal topics and "supposedly “ taught techniques for the development of paranormal abilities like out of body experiences, lucid dreaming,etc so it fits with the course topic.
According to his website , he and the other members of the order study “Gothicism and the dark side in its different forms of expressions” ,Psychology, philosophy, theology ,religions and sacred texts, cultures ,literature, physics and other sciences and magic like Goetic Qabalah, Odinic Runosophy, tantra and Alkhemy. Some of the authors mentioned in his website are H.P Lovecraft, Hanns Heinz Ewers, bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Johannes Bureis. Georg Stierngielm, Richard Wagner, Arnold Böcklin , Caspar David Friedrich, Austic Osman Spare.Herkleitos, Plato, Plotinos, Nietzsche ,Heidegger and Henri Bergson, Stanislaf Grof, Jung, Freud, Wilhelm Reich , Salvador Dalí Max Ernst and Carlos Castaneda .
In his website it is also inferred that he was involved with Yezidic mysticism. He is also the writer of most of the songs for Therion a Swedish gothic metal band and he is also the lead vocalist of symphonic death metal band Shadowseeds. The reason for which I choose to analyze the work of Thomas Karlsson is because in my opinion fits the context of the class about something supernatural. I also admire the different lyrics in the songs of the band Therion as I believe they express cultural ideologies that I am exploring, such as psychology, philosophy and culture with expressions like myths and legends. I also find the work of the authors mentioned in his website fascinating and I am sure that the lyrics for the band Therion are largely based on them if not completely. Finally due to my first entry blog about dragons , I remembered that Thomas Karlsson wrote a lot about dragons in different aspects in some of his lyrics which influenced my decision to choose his work. Finally the lyrics that I choose to analyze are based on Sufi mysticism ,more exactly on the work of George Guerdieff a philosopher and mystic of the 20th century who studied paranormal topics and "supposedly “ taught techniques for the development of paranormal abilities like out of body experiences, lucid dreaming,etc so it fits with the course topic.
[Lyrics by Thomas Karlsson]
[Music by Christofer Johnsson/Kristian Niemann]
Walk all alone on a quest to wake up, as the day you said:
"Life is only real then, when 'I am'
When I walk on the way, of the Fourth Way"
When your jouney begins you'll meet the world
You'll see the sleep
[verse:]
Dance a Sufi dance and fall into a trance
Like a Derwish you dance
Dance with Yezidis and learn their secret lore...
Voyage of Gurdjieff
Learn how to live, how to use the Octave
Listen to the tale (of) The lord of Flies tonight
Nine pointed star, it will shine on your soul
And you'll find your way like a Herald of Light
Who show the way like Gurdjieff
[verse repeat]
Learn how to live, how to use the Octave
Listen to the tale (of) The lord of Flies tonight
Nine pointed star, it will shine on your soul
And you'll find your way like a Herald of Light
Who show the way like Gurdjieff
Learn how to live, how to use the Octave
On the Fourth Way the life is only real
Then, when 'I am', when I walk on the way
On the Fourth Way, like a Herald of Light and the Dark
Is there life on Earth? The Whorl will set you free
Voyage of Gurdjieff, are we like machines?
No, we can build a soul like black diamond
To examine the symbols, we can see that the octave mentioned resembles a Tone of eight degree from a given tone or a degree of range of a frequency exampling that there is more perception that just one octave. Next, we have the word "trance" meaning between world since the Sufi constantly live in the spirit world and the physical world, so they are sometimes in a partial conscious state or trance. The nine pointed star, or Enneagram, according to Kabbalistic doctrine represents the sphere of Yesod, with illusions of dreams and the boom, showing how we can transcend the illusions of life. The herald, symbolizes the announcement of something new and in the way it is presented of something good and of higher wisdom or better.Finally we have the whorl, a type of spherical, spiral ,pattern in which sufis constantly dance to get in trance.
I think the author is speaking of a "voyage" or trip into reaching the self or "soul" a perfect state the belongs to pure mind or wisdom as classic philosophy describes it the "truth “in ourselves. The author starts the phrase "Walk all alone “which means commit to something without others ,then he states “on a quest to wake up" , which could mean a quest to realize, to gain awareness of in this case life, like if we were sleeping or without awareness or limited consciousness. Then he states "Life is only real when I am" which is again a philosophical statement because when he says "when I am" infers that when he reaches the self without the malleable body, and intellect, life is real because there are no more malleable perception as there are no malleable senses but only reality, which reminds of me of the sun in Plato’s allegory of the cave. Next he states "you'll meet the world", perhaps again seeing the world as it is for real for the first time "meeting “it. The Author then finishes with the phrase "You'll see the sleep" meaning that the person that finds this "self “or "wisdom" is then awake and then realizes that people are in a state where they are not aware of this wisdom so they are "sleeping".
Then the verse starts mentioning the Sufis and their dances which are "mystical “dances in certain patterns of movement, concentration ,breathing and meditation that supposedly move the dancer into "trance" where the psyche is revealed the unconscious opens raising the awareness of the dancer, supposedly it also opens psychic supernatural abilities. Next he mentions the Yezidis a group of Kurdish speaking people with Indo-Iranian roots that have their own religion and ethnic identity, and have similar mystic dances as the Sufis and their "secret" tradition is passed on "lore “as the lyrics say. The last phrase of the verse is "Voyage of Guerdieff", Guerdieff was a mystic, philosopher who called himself a "simple dance teacher “who emphasized the search for the "self" or for what is real" so the voyage of Guerdieff is a symbolic phrase inferring a voyage we have to do like Guerdieff did to find this wisdom or understanding of reality. On the third paragraph the author wrote "learn how to live, how to use the octave" that perhaps means that the listener or reader should learn how to live to use the octave in a way of ranging a level of awareness about reality. He continues saying "on the forth way, like a herald of light and dark" the forth way according to Guerdieff was an alternative path to understand life, transcending body, emotion and mind to a fourth state of wisdom also transcending the faquir, yogi and monk, monk being the third representing the mind or intellectualism and the fourth way was the one engaging the three before it. Next he mentions "listen to the tale of lord of flies “I believe the he tries to reveal or unite the meaning of this searching with the tale of the Lord of flies. Then he passes to mention the nine pointed star or enneagram which in many traditions symbolizes aspects of the psyche that we have to transcend to find the understanding, or truth. On the same sentence he mentions "Like a a herald of light and the dark" which I’m not exactly sure what does it means but trying to infer from some of the authors Thomas Karlsoon has wrote about like Carlos Castaneda between others, I think he means to understand or transcend the duality principle in life.
After the verse repeats again he continues with "On the fourth way life is only real" "when I am" "I walk on the way" repeating the interpretation that after transcending the states of body ,emotions and mind we found ourselves , then "we are" we are in the "way" or truth. Finally in the last paragraph he mentions "is there life on earth “again with the allegory that people are "sleeping “or unaware like zombies without critical thinking or awareness. Next he mentions "the whorl will set you free”, which perhaps means a pattern used in the Sufi dances he mentions earlier or perhaps the patter of life or a way. Almost finishing he says "are we like machines" inferring that we act and react, again inferring that we are like zombies or sleepers that are trapped in their bodies, tied to their emotions and use their mind in a mechanic way of acting and reacting without deep analysis or real reason.
Finally he says "No, we can build a soul like black diamond "perhaps meaning that we can wake up or create this wisdom that is unique and valuable. All and all , the author was inspired by Guerdieff teachings and wanted to express its understanding of them with the song. The song meaning a voyage to wisdom, to reality to the self or what is beyond "normal" understanding. The author also implied that for him Sufism and yezidism are mystical traditions that can help in this process with their "dances and lore’s".
References:
- Karlsson, Thomas. Article bibiography .en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Karlsson
- http://www.metrolyrics.com/voyage-of-gurdjieff-the-fourth-way-lyrics-therion.html
- http://dictionary.reference.com/
Then the verse starts mentioning the Sufis and their dances which are "mystical “dances in certain patterns of movement, concentration ,breathing and meditation that supposedly move the dancer into "trance" where the psyche is revealed the unconscious opens raising the awareness of the dancer, supposedly it also opens psychic supernatural abilities. Next he mentions the Yezidis a group of Kurdish speaking people with Indo-Iranian roots that have their own religion and ethnic identity, and have similar mystic dances as the Sufis and their "secret" tradition is passed on "lore “as the lyrics say. The last phrase of the verse is "Voyage of Guerdieff", Guerdieff was a mystic, philosopher who called himself a "simple dance teacher “who emphasized the search for the "self" or for what is real" so the voyage of Guerdieff is a symbolic phrase inferring a voyage we have to do like Guerdieff did to find this wisdom or understanding of reality. On the third paragraph the author wrote "learn how to live, how to use the octave" that perhaps means that the listener or reader should learn how to live to use the octave in a way of ranging a level of awareness about reality. He continues saying "on the forth way, like a herald of light and dark" the forth way according to Guerdieff was an alternative path to understand life, transcending body, emotion and mind to a fourth state of wisdom also transcending the faquir, yogi and monk, monk being the third representing the mind or intellectualism and the fourth way was the one engaging the three before it. Next he mentions "listen to the tale of lord of flies “I believe the he tries to reveal or unite the meaning of this searching with the tale of the Lord of flies. Then he passes to mention the nine pointed star or enneagram which in many traditions symbolizes aspects of the psyche that we have to transcend to find the understanding, or truth. On the same sentence he mentions "Like a a herald of light and the dark" which I’m not exactly sure what does it means but trying to infer from some of the authors Thomas Karlsoon has wrote about like Carlos Castaneda between others, I think he means to understand or transcend the duality principle in life.
After the verse repeats again he continues with "On the fourth way life is only real" "when I am" "I walk on the way" repeating the interpretation that after transcending the states of body ,emotions and mind we found ourselves , then "we are" we are in the "way" or truth. Finally in the last paragraph he mentions "is there life on earth “again with the allegory that people are "sleeping “or unaware like zombies without critical thinking or awareness. Next he mentions "the whorl will set you free”, which perhaps means a pattern used in the Sufi dances he mentions earlier or perhaps the patter of life or a way. Almost finishing he says "are we like machines" inferring that we act and react, again inferring that we are like zombies or sleepers that are trapped in their bodies, tied to their emotions and use their mind in a mechanic way of acting and reacting without deep analysis or real reason.
Finally he says "No, we can build a soul like black diamond "perhaps meaning that we can wake up or create this wisdom that is unique and valuable. All and all , the author was inspired by Guerdieff teachings and wanted to express its understanding of them with the song. The song meaning a voyage to wisdom, to reality to the self or what is beyond "normal" understanding. The author also implied that for him Sufism and yezidism are mystical traditions that can help in this process with their "dances and lore’s".
References:
- Karlsson, Thomas. Article bibiography .en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Karlsson
- http://www.metrolyrics.com/voyage-of-gurdjieff-the-fourth-way-lyrics-therion.html
- http://dictionary.reference.com/
I am the sun who has risen in the west. Through unas i had concured death as he sat her in my belly my enemies heads i kept down and on thier arogant pride and cries did i feast filling my belly deep. In the the 3rd and 4th months i recreated the heavens as i tried to save the masses. Only when i ceased, was i crowned only to be a king to vulgar beast that hate in the name of thier savior. Oh how i have felt more compassion in death and hades that what these creatures have shown on to me. Where in this kingdom will i find comfort as a king to shells?
ReplyDeleterecreated the heavens as i tried to save the masses from the terror of oblivion only to be crowned a king to vulgar beast that hate in the name of thier savior. OH How i felt more in death and in hadies that what these creatures have shown on to me. Blasted by my own creation how beautiful it was to sleep here ignorance was bliss. What sorrow has imortal knowledge brought me. Where has the ultraviolet darkness fled oh eternal mother. Where will i ever find comfort in this kingdom of shells?