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led zeppelin
There are very few words, or many, to describe the music given to us by Led Zeppelin, a rock band that has given us timeless music. Two songs come to mind when I hear their name: Stairway to Heaven and Kashmir.
These two songs have their own spiritual meaning that have to be discovered by the listener. No song is the same because we are not the same person twice. We change. Our cells are always changing. Cells die off and others are manufactured in their place by mitosis, cell division. The music of Led Zeppelin and other artists have uplifted entire peoples all over the world. Some have said they have given us a variety of spiritual awakenings.
But what kind of awakenings? Ministers of Christian Fundamentalist denominations have labeled Led Zeppelin Satanic. I respectfully disagree. This label has garnered attention through the years and seems so simple to me. My feeling is it doesn’t take much imagination to give a mysterious group a Satanic label. It is almost an attempt to give the impression of not to be bothered with a possible philosophic discussion on Zep’s music.
My Gnostic thinking doesn’t take the Satanic approach toward Led Zeppelin. There are too many messages that come from their music. Ideas flow through their music and Fundamentalist Christians don’t wish to attract new ideas, especially the ministers, as to lose control of the flock. One item I choose to examine is the song Stairway to Heaven. Certainly one of the greatest songs of rock music.
I feel the song is loosely based on the book The Haunted Woman. This book was written by British writer David Lindsay (1878-1945) who was looked at to be recruited by the Illuminati. Ultimately he was not recruited. His books have opened his readers to a higher reality like Led Zeppelin’s music. Lindsay lived at the same time Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) was alive and I suspect that Lindsay was influenced by him. It has long been noted that Crowley influenced Led Zeppelin. This influence is for us to study and make our own conclusions.
The Lindsay book is about a magical stairway to a higher reality. A woman and her fiance’ are interested in buying a house from an elder gentleman. The woman finds herself strangely drawn to this older man. In the house, the woman undergoes a mystical experience. A phantom staircase suddenly appears to an upper floor of the house that seems to exist in another dimension. The woman takes the stairway and finds herself more aware of her total self. She visits the house again and has a similar experience. She encounters the owner of the house, only younger and more handsome. They fall in love and when they return to the lower portion of the house, they struggle to remember what happened. They try to hang on to the passion they feel for each other downstairs but are unable to do so.
Allegorically, the upper floor represents the sublime world of the inner self. The lower floor represents the distortion we really are. Our true self is revealed in the higher world. Our tragedy is that we find it difficult to communicate with our higher self. The Old World Order, which Christian Fundamentalists are a part of, seek to keep us locked in the lower world. They don’t wish for anyone to ascend the Stairway to Heaven where we can come into communication with our higher selves.
Lindsay’s vision is that of classical Gnosticism. Only through self-discovery can we acquire the special knowledge – Gnosis – to escape from Satan’s world. Led Zeppelin’s vision is the same as Lindsay’s.
Led Zeppelin is not Satanic, but the opposite. Their music has inspired serious listeners to aspire to the higher self. To seek out fresh ideas, find new symbols and hear new messages. I invite you to listen to Zep music again and allow it to aid you to chart the path of your own journey. Ask yourself if you have been inspired by those who are fast to negatively label potential Gnosis. Do label Led Zeppelin a band for the New World Order.
