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