Bowie’s “Labyrinth” – Esoteric Analysis, pt 3

By: Jay Dyer

Previously, we saw that Jareth had a kind of attraction towards Sarah, reminiscent of the angelic attraction towards the “daughters of men” of Genesis 6. Sarah entered this mystical realm of fantasy/psyche, seeking to figure things out. What she has so far found is that the world is not really as it seems, and doesn’t operate like an adolescent thinks. So, on one level, the Labyrinth is Sarah’s psyche, and at another level, it’s her interpretation of the world as she passes from youth to adulthood. This process itself is conceived of as an alchemical transformation, since the body itself “transforms” as it grows.

This is the reason for the continual emphasis on bodily functions. As Sarah leaves the fierys, she enters the Bog of Eternal Stench. The fascination of children with bodily functions in a Freudian sense need not be mentioned, but is clearly what is at work here. The world seems simultaneously gross and appealing to Sarah, as she enters puberty.  Sarah encounters Sir Didymus, the British fox. As with Sarah’s questioning by Hoggle for the right words to enter the Labyrinth, she is here asked by Sir Didymus for the right words to pass the bridge. This may have a masonic reference to it, as Masonry asks its “seekers” for passwords and the purported “lost name.” Read more of this post

Bowie’s “Labyrinth” – Esoteric Analysis, pt. 2

By: Jay Dyer

In the first part, we saw that the Henson/Lucas/Bowie Labyrinth is itself a labyrinthine maze of Sarah’s psyche in a long journey towards something…But what? In part two we will see. We left off with Sarah entering the Labyrinth, an image of her subconscious (which is also an entry into the “spiritual” world, or other dimensions), and landing in a bizarre land of fairies, gnomes and other fantastical oddities.

Things are not as they seem – the fairies bite and the gnomes piss in the pools. This is interesting, because there is a bit of Freudianism at work here, where Sarah, in her subconscious, is immediately confronted with sexuality and bodily functions – a theme that will continue in the labyrinth.

We have already seen obelisks (images of the phallus), and Sarah is immediately confronted with bodily functions where Hoggle relieves himself in a pool as we see both obelisks and “pissing” at 4:53-5:06:

Again, this is all related to Sarah’s transition from childhood to puberty. And, bizarrely, as we move further into the “labyrinth” of sexuality, we will find some very graphic innuendos will begin to emerge in Sarah’s psyche. But before we get to that, one thing that is interesting to note is the film’s subtle racial views. Not that I so much mind speaking in terms of races and nations, but ironically, the pseudo-liberal, Kabbalistically-minded Lucas-Henson duo have no problem mocking Asians, various Europeans and blacks. Read more of this post

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