6:19 And I Know I'm Ready...

WARNING: The events described are non-fictional. They are mentioned in the exact order in which they happened. Discretion is advised.

This is where it starts, this is where it will end, here comes the Moon again...

...so say the lyrics of the opening song, "If I Was Your Vampire". Today we warp to 2007 when the album "EAT ME, DRINK ME" was released. This was one of those moments in which such a trivial event becomes a symbol of your generation, as in the tradition of bands like Nirvana, the Beatles or even Elvis Presley.

For me it all began within the realm of dreams; a place so haunting and seducing like Alice's Wonderland. For isn't it true that every Manson fan's deepest wish is to come face to face to feel surrounded by his aura of greatness? Some struggle very little to get to it, some all their lives...

Nevertheless one night the dream unfolded in the form of a devious contest; one cleverly designed by the likes of big companies to always end up empty-handed, very much like Willy Wonka's grand mystery prize. I felt as broken-hearted as Charlie did in the end. But what was about to come next would stay with me for years...

I was standing in the middle of a bar leaning against a banister, feeling down when out of nowhere someone comes and along and whispers softly,

"I believe you were expecting me."

And as I tilted my head up I saw Manson. And a tight embrace became my immediate response.

There he was looking exactly the same as in the picture you see below, in black leather, as usual. The feeling of meeting an old friend that you haven´t seen in years came to mind.

Promotional photo for EMDM, by Perou.

And he slowly looked back at me and said,

"We're friends, right?"

Of course, that's better than nothing. And so we parted ways after that; a beginning and an end. And like Alice I grew curiouser and curiouser and decided to follow this dark rabbit, only to find out that he landed in the middle of a heated discussion.

There was a young blonde girl seated in a throne made entirely of glass, her arms crossed and that terrible expression of an upset girlfriend. She got up and smashed this chair right in front of Manson and left.

..or then again the blonde girl could
have been Alice.

And how ironic it seemed that in the background a somewhat familiar song highlighted the lyrics,

"so much for my happy ending..."

 from by Avril Lavigne (it's known that Manson met Avril Lavigne in real life). And then the images faded away...

At which point did the dream end anyway? I woke up next Sunday and when I got the chance to look at the newspaper I found with the deepest of regrets that the once lavish and eccentric marriage between Manson and Dita had fallen apart. I was in shock, but most of all puzzled. Mixed feelings came about.

Then it wasn't until June 5th with no delay that the album landed into my hands. When I came across the Track 1, the eerie sound became oddly familiar and that´s when I flashbacked into yet another vision.

I was in what seemed to be a big hotel, probably from the 1930s. I walked across the many rooms that it had and along the way I felt the presence of ghosts; spectres. And then these lyrics came to mind:

"it´s 6 am, Christmas morning, no shadows, no reflections here, lying cheek to cheek in your cold embrace..."

or they could have been the memories left behind where he used to live.

One way or another dreams have tied me inexplicably to this album, like I had been a part of this experience, therefore it holds a place in my unconscious. Like some time later, Manson got up early one morning, dressed in a white suit. The breeze made the curtains seem like waves in the ocean. His house had gone empty, like moving. He had a particular attachment for antiques and still was determined to get rid of them. All but one big wooden wardrobe and a tall mirror, symbols of self?

The weird thing was that my grandfather was the one who helped him move. But, oh well.

Coincidences happen all the time, don´t they? They are related to what is known as psychic links (refer to the work of Dion Fortune, Psychic Self-Defense, 1971) and the stronger the affinity becomes the stronger the bond. I covered this subject earlier in another entry (see: The Psychic Bond )

With this supernatural introduction we dig deeper into the rabbit hole and see what more wonders EAT ME; DRINK ME have in store for us....

"No, I´ll look first," she said, "and see whether it´s marked
poison or not."

Manson Through The Looking Glass...

And who doesn´t remember the Looking Glass from the "Alice" stories? These are several pictures I stumbled upon about Manson looking through the mirror.

To dream about mirrors is also about self-identity, who am I?

















More dream analysis about mirrors! http://dreammoods.com/cgibin/dreamdictionarysearch.pl?method=exact&header=dreamsymbol&search=mirror

Bloody Hell...

This time I chose a recurring element in Marilyn Manson´s imagery which is blood, which can have different connotations, but in this case I prefer to handle it as the display of raw emotions; deep feelings or rage.

It did take me a while to figure this one out; the element of blood is recurrent, as you can see it in the album cover of Eat Me, Drink Me; the walls are decorated in red, very much like the scene of a crime or a horror movie. From another perspective, think about the circumstances that were surrounding Manson at the time; breakups, personal issues, etc. All of these can be interpreted in the bleeding...

On an additional note, the front cover shows a rip, like a torn picture, like the ones couples usually tear up when they break up.





The "M´s" are in a way simulating bleeding:



Here´s another example taken from the "Heart-Shaped Glasses" video where there´s the scene of Evan covered in blood on a bed. Here the concept changes slightly. It can also mean that this girl is full of life, as in a new relationship.



Now observe this watercolor "Everyday It Hurts To Wake Up". Already this is covering the subject of blood and the bed. This can be referring to heavy stress of emotional drain to the point that it wears out.



Compare also to this video still of "Apple of Sodom". The mannequin bleeds from her left side as she falls.



Recently "Running To The Edge Of The World" also included a blonde model drenched in blood, but this time the circumstances were different. There was rage and the desire to kill. Another tormented relationship?





"Blood-stained sheets in the shape of your heart, this is where it starts, this is where it will end..."

This is also a list of Manson songs that mention the word "blood"

"Son of Man": "blood and family"
"Negative 3": "give me your blood, your teeth"
"Let Your Ego Die": "and her pen is bleeding"
"Misery Machine": "blood is pavement"
"Eye": "I come, I bleed enough"
"User Friendly": "I've bled just to have your touch"
"Coma White": "Just bleeding like a polaroid that Lost all her dolls"
"Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes": "violence for the people they always eat the hand that bleeds"
"Lamb of God": "there was blood on the pavement"
"Coma Black": "my heart's a tiny bloodclot" and "Her heart's a bloodstained egg"
"Diamonds & Pollen": "America bled to death"
"Redeemer": "For the blood of man"
"The Bright Young Things": "So sharp, I'm bleeding From my Judas Hole"
"Doppelherz": "I'm a canvas that bleeds"
"Mind of a Lunatic": "The sight of blood excites me" and "Sit down, and watch you bleed to death"
"If I Was Your Vampire": "Blood-stained sheets"
"Just a Car Crash Away": "And the mouth-marks bled down my eye"
"EAT ME, DRINK ME": "The trees in the courtyard are painted in blood"
"Devour": "you're not crying this is blood all over me"
"Wight Spider": "and they can all drown in our blood"

(source: MansonWiki.com)

Your turn, what do you think blood means here?

Deer Hunting

This next topic I chose is the one where we see a deer as a relevant character. So let's see how much these paintings are alike...



In Frida's painting "The Wounded Deer" (La Venadita Herida) symbolizes a significant period after a surgery performed in New York upon 1946 where she hoped she would get rid of her back pain, consequence of her spine accident.

The painting has several interpretations; the deer shape was inspired from her pet deer "Granizo", however here she has the head of a woman. It could represent her wounded by arrows and tied to an inevitable fate, even though there is a lit sky upon the distance. It could also represent her womanhood being challenged again and again. In dreams a deer symbolizes grace, gentleness and natural beauty.

photo by Joseph Cultice

In the case of Manson's deer however, it's actually a fawn. The interpretation varies, it comes from a series of pictures where the animal is either placed on his lap or beside him. One interpretation could be that is a representation of the lost childhood vs the present self which appears to be perverse. The other can also be a piece of fragility or purity that's not completely separated from the darker side. Likewise, most of the time it stands for innocence that Manson wants to walk away from.

As in the video "Tourniquet" and several others the fragile creature could have later turned into a woman and it falls to pieces every time it comes into Manson's life.

"Just another funeral, just another girl left in tears..." (from Eat Me, Drink Me "They Say That's Hell's Not Hot").

Although the meaning of deer differs in both images we can still find lot of visual parallels, can you?

Jawbreaker...

Some amazing coincidences between these three images. One is a recent painting by Marilyn Manson provisionally named "Everyone Has A Blue Period", the poster art of "Final Destination 4" whose face is rumored to be Manson as well and the front cover of "Holywood: In the Shadow Of The Valley of Death".

Notice how they all focus on the jaw. This could probably refer to as the lack of self-expression, or freedom of speech. Like a caged bird unable to be heard...

Also notice that these were done in different periods of his life, around 2000, 2009 and 2010. What was that he couldn´t say?