Re: GD: Best & Worst Album Covers.....

On Mar 3, 8:58 pm, brew ziggins <osm...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

but I always thought the cover of 'Live/Dead' was pretty idiotic.

RE: Live/Dead Cover art.

From:

http://ben-fairhall.blogspot.com/2007/01/psychedelic-alchemy-part-one-co.html

A bare-breasted goddess, draped in blue and green, emerges from a
tomb. She carries in her left hand a sovereign's orb- a symbol of
imperial authority- like the one held in the talons of the black eagle
on the Prussian coat of arms. (See below.) The use of this symbol was
granted to the Teutonic Knights by the Holy Roman Emperor, following
their invasion of Prussia in the thirteenth century; this association
with Rome is significant, because of the high esteem held for its
'republic' by the French revolutionaries, who appropriated to their
cause one of Rome's key mother goddesses: Cybele. Closely associated
with the Egyptian Isis, Cybele- in her incarnation as 'Liberty'- was
frequently depicted as bare-breasted and carrying the tri-colour
standard, as in the famous painting by Eugene Delacroix of 'Liberty
Leading the People.' In addition to her role as 'Liberty', the
revolutionaries knew her as 'Reason' (or 'the Goddess [who we call]
Reason') in which guise she continues to be revered by Freemasons
today.

Interestingly, the use of an orb as a sign of royal power could have
its origins in the ancient symbol of the pomegranate- closely
associated in the classical period with the Olympian Hera. As the
queen of the Olympian deities, it is appropriate that the orb should
now be associated with Queen Elizabeth, an important member of the
Imperial Council of Princes and Counts of Germany and Europe, whom
conspiracy researcher John Coleman has placed at the head of the supra-
elite Committee of 300, 'also known as the "Olympians."

We have looked before at the importance of 'the Goddess [who we call]
Reason.' 'The Age of Reason' was the rallying cry of the French
revolution, a sentiment propogated at least in part through the medium
of Freemasonry. Zbigniew Brezenski described Marxism as 'the victory
of reason over belief'- whilst 'rationalism' continues to exert a
powerful influence over important movements for secular reform, such
as humanism and the new 'science-based' religions. The New Age
movement, for example- or a related mystery donor- has given us the
Georgia Guidestones, a megalthic-style monument containing ten future
commandments for a new 'Age of Reason.' Right across this apparently
broad spectrum of beliefs is a shared prominence afforded to human
intellect- and a noted antipathy for orthodox religion.

This gives us an insight into the intended meanings signalled by the
band in their selection of symbols. (Robert Hunter, in particular,
shows in his lyrics a keen understanding of semiotics: how signs and
symbols construct meaning.) Of these, perhaps the connection to the
Georgia Guidestones is the most pressing, because of the construction
of that monument by the mysterious 'R C Christian'- clearly a
pseudonym masking (not very effectively) the involvement of an occult,
presumably Rosicrucian, society. The rose is a feature in several
Grateful Dead covers as we shall see; Rosicrucian themes are also
greatly in evidence in the Live/Dead cover reproduced above.

The most obvious of these is the presence of the empty tomb. Christian
Rosenkreutz, the legendary founder of the Rosicrucian brotherhood, is
said to have died at the age of 106 in the year 1484, and to have been
bured in a secret vault inside a mountain. This secret location was
discovered 120 years later by a group of Rosicrucian brethren, along
with a cache of sacred mystery writings- possibly the Emerald Tablet
of Hermes. With this discovery, the leader- whose body had remained
'pure and unconsumed' for the 120 years since his ostensible death-
was born anew, and the brothers took off to spread the news through a
series of anonymously published tracts: Fama Fraternitatis in 1614,
Confessio Fraternitatis in 1615 and the Chymical Wedding of Christian
Rosenkreutz in 1616. This legend is why members of the Hermetic Order
of the Golden Dawn reenact a cermony in which the Chief Adept plays
the role of the dead Rosenkreutz who is resurrected at the height of
the ritual.

According to the Golden Dawn ceremony, Christian Rosenkreutz's tomb is
covered with emblems on each side: as can be seen in the Live/Dead
cover art. Looking closely at that drawing, we can just about make out
the form of the emblem on the far right, partly occluded by the shadow
thrown by the lid of the tomb. It is the rose surmounted upon an
equilateral cross: the supreme symbol of Rosicrucianism; and possibly
another version of the imperial orb discussed above.

We know that the orb (and sceptre) are important symbols within
Rosicrucian art: as the above drawing illustrates. It depicts the
mountain inside which Rosenkreutz's tomb was discovered, and as such
is a representation of the 'world mountain' that stands at the central
point of the Earth in countless mythologies, as well as being a
pictogram of the inner journey of initiation.

This symbol, which dates back at least as far as the Neolithic
revolution, is most commonly used to represent the solar sun and the
calendrical divisions of the year; but the countless legends of a
second and black sun mean that this definition is by no means
absolute. Which sun does the rose-cross and orb relate to?

According to researcher Andy Lloyd, 'The symbols of the Rose and the
Cross are themselves deeply suggestive of Nibiru which was often
depicted in the form of a cross by the ancients... The earliest symbol
of Nibiru was a cross, and this seems inextricably linked to its later
Messianic symbolism during the Graeco-Roman era.' This association of
the rose with Nibiru is further strengthened, according to Lloyd, by
dint of the planet's 'red countenance'- a factor emphasised in the
above drawing.(2)

Nibiru (a name which approximates to 'ferryman') is the planet long
hypothesised by part of the astronomical community to account for the
outer solar system's many anomalies. The renowned scholar Zechariah
Sitchin has posited a 3,600 year elliptical orbit for this 'Dark Star'
that takes it between Jupiter and Mars and then out into far space
beyond Pluto. It was a collision, he believes, between this planet and
its moon that threw the large chunk of planetary mass that would
eventually become the Earth into its now familiar orbit. These and
similar themes are popular discussion points within the New Age as
well as the scientific community, many of whom are convinced of the
imminent reappearance of Nibiru; and with it, the very real
possibility of human extinction. (Indeed, these concerns were
apparently shared by Dean Warwick, the messianically-inclined
fantasist from New Zealand who attained a degree of posthumous
notoriety after dying on stage at a UFO conference in 2006. See Fear
and Loathing in St. Annes.)

Do certain Rosicrucian brotherhoods carry the knowledge of these
planetary movements, and is it conceivable that Robert Hunter- or his
colleagues- were hip to them, possibly as initiates themselves? Is
that what the proliferation of esoteric symbols and lyrics such as
'Dark Star' are pointing towards? The Live/Dead image is certainly
loaded with hermetic significance; but the tomb is not that of
Christian Rosenkreutz, whose casket is usually portrayed as
heptagonal.

There is a long and ancient pedigree of dying-and-rising gods/
goddesses. In Freemasonry the formula is present in the character of
Hiram Abiff, the principal architect of Solomon's Temple, who is
murdered (by 'the Jewes') for failing to disclose the secrets of his
craft. Hiram Abiff has been associated with Osiris: a vegetation god
who, like the dress of the Live/Dead goddess, was frequently depicted
as green. Some researchers have seized upon this fact as evidence that
Osiris was an alien, but a more plausible explanation is that the
colour reveals Osiris's true identity to be the planet Venus: whose
blue-green mien would have been a familar sight in the ancient world.

Judging from the cryptic references found in art and literature, Venus
behaved very differently then compared with today. Some have concluded
that she was part of an alignment of three planets in stacked
formation: a grouping which, viewed from below, would explain why a
common hieroglyphic was the star encircled by a ring, or variations on
the theme (including our very own Eye of Horus- see above.(3)) This
symbol, so closely associated with the 'Illuminati', is basically a
dot within a circle; and as such may originally have been intended to
signal Venus, entering the eclipse of another body.(4) Researchers who
adopt this line observe that the commonly accepted interpretations of
ancient symbols and texts assume a consonance with present reality,
whereas an entirely different astronomical order pertained a mere six
thousand years ago. Could the symbols and poetry of the ancient world
point to a far more distant epoch, when the skies contained things
entirely unfamilar to us moderns?

Velikovsky believed that the body we now call Venus started life as a
hulk of planetary debris hurled into the gravitational field of the
Earth, whose subsequent close passes around our planet (and the
ensuing devastation) were responsible for the geological and climatic
conditions of our presently-ordered life.(5) Is the blue and green of
the woman's dress a subtle indication that the Goddess is none other
than Venus herself? This would entirely fit the hermetic themes of the
image: a similar story is related in The Chymical Wedding of Christian
Rosenkreutz, in which the titular character discovers the tomb (and
undecayed body) of Lady Venus, an occult progenitor of the Sleeping
Beauty fairy story.(6)

In this sense, although Venus represents the destructive principle,
she receives great veneration amongst those who intuitively recognise
that evolution is impossible minus a catalysing brush with disaster.
This, according to the occult schools, is the real history of the
human race: disaster preceding advance, in an endless cycle. It might
take the form of a natural cataclysm: a comet, or a flood- an event so
tumultuous it effectively reduces the planet to a tabula rasa upon
whom a higher kind of survivor can ultimately be etched. Or it might
be (or might already have been) of an alien variety- via the
intervention of higher intelligence: the basis for all those 'ancient
astronaut' theories. It is the macrocosmic manifestation of the
principle which, on the level of the individual, underlies the basis
of all true occult initiation.'It is a common place aphorism in
Occultism that 'Nature unaided fails'. That is to say that the natural
life, if left to itself, and isolated from the impact of a higher type
of life or consciousness, can only produce a commonplace thing of the
natural life...' writes Israel Regardie.

Venus, as Mary Lucifer, carrying her (meteoric) orb
As such, Venus is the light-bringer- enshrined in the Christian
tradition as Mary Lucifer: often shown as red-haired and bedecked in
green. She is a symbol of the Holy Spirit- the descent of the astral
light- whose impact on the individual (and the collective) is
frequently as disturbing to normal functioning as the cataclysmic
event to which she ultimately harks back. To the members of the
Grateful Dead- and others of their generation- one such Venusian
initiation, another 'meteoric' moment in human evolution- was the
revelation of LSD: as we will consider in the next installment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

****Just so's ya 'know****

: )

Thanks Ben!

.