Conscienceness expanding substances

[lysegicevolution]

As i'm sure many of you already know....3rd eye is very obviously about the use of consciensness expanding substances(enthogens, dissacioatives, ect.) But other thatn that the lyrics are a bit obtuse(just like every other tool song ....ever). Here is my interpretation:

The song is about the use of substances to gain a higher form of conscienceness, but i believe the song deals with some of the more negative effects of the expierience.
It starts out on a more nuetral note......

dreaming of that face again
it's bright and blue and shimmering.....ect...(you all know the lyrics)

-before the expierence begins.....
-bright blue and shimmering is referring to some hindu diety...possibly shiva(who is known to appear as blue)
-the reference to the eastern school of thought coincides with the meaning of the song.....enlightenment and higher conscienceness is the goal of almost all eastern based religions, and the 3rd eye is an extremely common image in eastern religion....it is known as the ajna chakra
-he is taking the drug to begin his spiritual journey
-he is apprehensive at first(about the "trip") but is calmed and comforted in the fact he is doing this to attain higher means

on my back and tumbeling...
down that hole and back again.....

-the expierience begins, and he's traveling down the "hole" of his mind(only he knows what is there)

rising up
and wipeing the webs and the dew from my withered eye.....

-it has been awhile since the last "journey", and this "eye" has not been used for awhile
-it is worth noting now that the psychedelic expierience can be a very dangerous thing to play with....the expierience has been known to approximate what it may be like to live with schitzophrenia...delusions, paranioa, seperation from reality, ect, ect. ect.......it has also been known to awaken latent psychotic tendencies in people who have a family history of mental illness........also users of these substances sometimes become fixated on thier expieriences, and intergrate them into thier daily lives, they may become obsessed with these ideas to the point where they are always there with the person, in the back of thier mind............ with that said........

child's ryme stuck in my head.....
said that life is but a dream.......

-may be literal.....lewis carrol(the writer of alice in wonderland, another piece of art that has been adopted by the psychedlic community, although carroll himself was not a drug user) has a poem with that line

i've spent so many years in question...
to find i've known this all along......

-the use of these substances has forever changed this person, the expieriences he has had are always with him.....
-as to what they have done to him, or shown him- that is something that only the person knows

so good to see you....
i've missed you so much...
came out to watch you play,
why are you running away,

-the person is reinformed of what knowledge he was givin before, but he has been showed something about himself that he was not ready to see, so he runs from it


shrouding all the ground around me
is this holy crow above me
black as holes within a memory
as blue as oer new second sun

-the expierience takes him over

i stick my hand into the shadow
pull the pieces from the sand
which i attempt to reassemble
to see just who i might have been
but i do not recognize the vessel
but the eyes seem so familiar
like phospherescent dessert buttons
singing one familiar song..........

-again he explains what he is doing....digging inside himself for some new insight into he he is....or who he might have been
-he dosen't even recognize himself anymore
-eyes are an extremely common visual motif in psychedelic art......for many reasons
-desert buttons are a reference to peyote- an extremely powerful psychedelic used by indian shaman to induce visionary trances- they are little round spores commonly referred to as "buttons" grown of cactus in the desert

prying open my third eye

-he's using the substance to pry open his third eye......duh!


so good to see you once again, i thought that you were hiding,
you thought that i had run away,
chasing the tail of dogma,

-he is beginning to accept the knowledge he has been givin
-as for the dogma and the smoke and mirriors, these are things he used to aid him in the denial of the truth to which he was privey to by the substance

i opened my eye and there we were

-his third eye was opened and this is what he was shown

[tempest]

Ok this isn't meant to sound harsh, but you do mean consciousness not 'conscience' as in moral sense of right and wrong.

'The so good to see you' and 'Pull the pieces from the sand' bits always remind me of coming down/out of whatever's been experienced and sort of 'finding' my body again. I always love that bit, being back with my body, my home. Almost like discovering it anew... 'I missed you so much'!

[lysegicevolution]

Ok this isn't meant to sound harsh, but you do mean consciousness not 'conscience' as in moral sense of right and wrong.

'The so good to see you' and 'Pull the pieces from the sand' bits always remind me of coming down/out of whatever's been experienced and sort of 'finding' my body again. I always love that bit, being back with my body, my home. Almost like discovering it anew... 'I missed you so much'!




yeah......sorry about the spelling......it's never been my strong point.........and yes the "so good to see you" definitly reminds me of coming down.............almost like so good to see you my sanity..........i've missed you so much

[lysegicevolution]

is there no one who has any ideas or opinions about this?

[sage]

I deffinitely agree that this song has to do with mind altering drugs. I always thought the part about "...so good to see you once again, i thought that you were hiding from me, you thought that i had run away, chasing a trail of smoke and reason..." was like you said coming down off the drug. Not necessarily the comedown though, more of just finding your sanity and the order of everything. From all the hallucinogens ive done I personally feel that the majority of the time i was on them I was not in a sane state of mind (as im sure many would agree). And there is always a point in the trip/experience that i realize that i am able to think a little more clearly. Hence the comedown. All tool songs can be translated in many ways, the important think is that it makes sense to you.

[nomanirvana]

what?

[Hogpile]

As i'm sure many of you already know....3rd eye is very obviously about the use of consciensness expanding substances(enthogens, dissacioatives, ect.) But other thatn that the lyrics are a bit obtuse(just like every other tool song ....ever). Here is my interpretation:

The song is about the use of substances to gain a higher form of conscienceness, but i believe the song deals with some of the more negative effects of the expierience.
It starts out on a more nuetral note......

dreaming of that face again
it's bright and blue and shimmering.....ect...(you all know the lyrics)

-before the expierence begins.....
-bright blue and shimmering is referring to some hindu diety...possibly shiva(who is known to appear as blue)
-the reference to the eastern school of thought coincides with the meaning of the song.....enlightenment and higher conscienceness is the goal of almost all eastern based religions, and the 3rd eye is an extremely common image in eastern religion....it is known as the ajna chakra
-he is taking the drug to begin his spiritual journey
-he is apprehensive at first(about the "trip") but is calmed and comforted in the fact he is doing this to attain higher means

on my back and tumbeling...
down that hole and back again.....

-the expierience begins, and he's traveling down the "hole" of his mind(only he knows what is there)

rising up
and wipeing the webs and the dew from my withered eye.....

-it has been awhile since the last "journey", and this "eye" has not been used for awhile
-it is worth noting now that the psychedelic expierience can be a very dangerous thing to play with....the expierience has been known to approximate what it may be like to live with schitzophrenia...delusions, paranioa, seperation from reality, ect, ect. ect.......it has also been known to awaken latent psychotic tendencies in people who have a family history of mental illness........also users of these substances sometimes become fixated on thier expieriences, and intergrate them into thier daily lives, they may become obsessed with these ideas to the point where they are always there with the person, in the back of thier mind............ with that said........

child's ryme stuck in my head.....
said that life is but a dream.......

-may be literal.....lewis carrol(the writer of alice in wonderland, another piece of art that has been adopted by the psychedlic community, although carroll himself was not a drug user) has a poem with that line

i've spent so many years in question...
to find i've known this all along......

-the use of these substances has forever changed this person, the expieriences he has had are always with him.....
-as to what they have done to him, or shown him- that is something that only the person knows

so good to see you....
i've missed you so much...
came out to watch you play,
why are you running away,

-the person is reinformed of what knowledge he was givin before, but he has been showed something about himself that he was not ready to see, so he runs from it


shrouding all the ground around me
is this holy crow above me
black as holes within a memory
as blue as oer new second sun

-the expierience takes him over

i stick my hand into the shadow
pull the pieces from the sand
which i attempt to reassemble
to see just who i might have been
but i do not recognize the vessel
but the eyes seem so familiar
like phospherescent dessert buttons
singing one familiar song..........

-again he explains what he is doing....digging inside himself for some new insight into he he is....or who he might have been
-he dosen't even recognize himself anymore
-eyes are an extremely common visual motif in psychedelic art......for many reasons
-desert buttons are a reference to peyote- an extremely powerful psychedelic used by indian shaman to induce visionary trances- they are little round spores commonly referred to as "buttons" grown of cactus in the desert

prying open my third eye

-he's using the substance to pry open his third eye......duh!


so good to see you once again, i thought that you were hiding,
you thought that i had run away,
chasing the tail of dogma,

-he is beginning to accept the knowledge he has been givin
-as for the dogma and the smoke and mirriors, these are things he used to aid him in the denial of the truth to which he was privey to by the substance

i opened my eye and there we were

-his third eye was opened and this is what he was shown

Nice break down. I agree with most of it actually, and you did a nice job of explaining your views.

[lysegicevolution]

Nice break down. I agree with most of it actually, and you did a nice job of explaining your views.



thank you very much

[Hogpile]

thank you very much


You're welcome. I'm curious to see your interpretation of Eulogy, to see if it's any different from the usual, and beaten dead theories.

[paraflux]

Not gonna quote the entire post, but this is in response to the original poster.

I find myself somewhat in agreement, although not totally. I dont see anything in Third Eye as dealing with negative experiences of any kind. And I dont think it is necessarily saying that hallucinogens are the only way to get to where we are going. I do have a problem with your interpretation of the two lines "Spent so many years in question to find I've known this all along..." Once you are experiencing higher planes, some serious self-examination takes place. Upon examining yourself from this new perspective, you discover that you have not learned anything new, but you just remember something that you forgot. So much, that you want to kick yourself in the head repeatedly for not remembering it sooner. Those two lines to me do not reflect drug use of any kind, in fact, once you get past the first minute of the song, I think the concept of drugs takes a back seat to the experience.

Otherwise I think its pretty good. I just wish people would stop thinking about drugs being the shortcut to ascension so much. Valuable, perhaps. But it is possible to attain anything at all without their use.

[hoodling1229]

As i'm sure many of you already know....3rd eye is very obviously about the use of consciensness expanding substances

Really? I didn't think that. Why would he say "PRYING open my third eye" if it were about drugs. I think it's about not becoming dependant on drugs, and reaching a higher state of mind without drugs. But people have already said this a lot...

[paraflux]

But people have already said this a lot...

Until it sinks in, though, perhaps it cant be said enough.

[lysegicevolution]

Not gonna quote the entire post, but this is in response to the original poster.

I find myself somewhat in agreement, although not totally. I dont see anything in Third Eye as dealing with negative experiences of any kind. And I dont think it is necessarily saying that hallucinogens are the only way to get to where we are going. I do have a problem with your interpretation of the two lines "Spent so many years in question to find I've known this all along..." Once you are experiencing higher planes, some serious self-examination takes place. Upon examining yourself from this new perspective, you discover that you have not learned anything new, but you just remember something that you forgot. So much, that you want to kick yourself in the head repeatedly for not remembering it sooner. Those two lines to me do not reflect drug use of any kind, in fact, once you get past the first minute of the song, I think the concept of drugs takes a back seat to the experience.

Otherwise I think its pretty good. I just wish people would stop thinking about drugs being the shortcut to ascension so much. Valuable, perhaps. But it is possible to attain anything at all without their use.





you are taking this completely the wrong way. i never said drugs were the only way, the safest way, or even the most productive way, to expand conciousness in this post. this is just my interpretation of the song.... this song is not about achieving a higher state through transcendental meditation, or some other natural means, it's about achieving it with drugs. in no way do i think that drugs are the only means of exploreing conciousness, i just believe that's what the song is about.(although you might want to check out my interpretation of the parabola video, as i believe this is symbolic of forsaking drugs for a more natural means of conciousness expansion.) as for you're ideas on the "to find out i've known this all along" line, yes serious introspective expierences are produced by such 'higher states of being', and to say that the revalation is that there is no revalation is almost blasphemous to me(just to avoid a long line of idiots making stupid comments, i just want to point out the last line is meant as joke, and that i am not placing any type of dogmatic law on the psychedelic expierence.) if you have never been aided in finding out something about yourself from a state of higher conciousness, than i hate to say it man, but you're doing something wrong.

as for my interpretation on the line 'to find i've known this all along'.........
it all goes back to my interpretation....about being shown something that you actually already knew, deep inside, all along,and that you're not ready to accept, or are not capable of dealing with (hence the negative expierience, if something is brought from you're subconcious to the surface, and you try to deny it, supress it, or turn you're back on it, than man, you're in for a world of hurt.) but i do agree with you about how the drugs take a back seat to the expierience, afterall, the song isn't about the drug, it's about the expierence produced by the drug.

[Hogpile]

Really? I didn't think that. Why would he say "PRYING open my third eye" if it were about drugs. I think it's about not becoming dependant on drugs, and reaching a higher state of mind without drugs. But people have already said this a lot...

Yeah, that's the thing: Everyone says it. Problem is, most folks on here don't bother to explain themselves correctly, on why, or how, the song means this. This guy did, and if you ask me, he did a damn good job of it. In fact, I think this is the best drawn-out post about Third Eye with good examples of what most people on this board think the song is about but don't bother to give, with actual quotes from the song, an outline, and the shit is in order. While not everyone will agree that this is what the song is about, I think this guy did a really good job on painting his picture with this thread.

[lysegicevolution]

Yeah, that's the thing: Everyone says it. Problem is, most folks on here don't bother to explain themselves correctly, on why, or how, the song means this. This guy did, and if you ask me, he did a damn good job of it. In fact, I think this is the best drawn-out post about Third Eye with good examples of what most people on this board think the song is about but don't bother to give, with actual quotes from the song, an outline, and the shit is in order. While not everyone will agree that this is what the song is about, I think this guy did a really good job on painting his picture with this thread.


thank you very much.......it's nice to know someone is on the same wave length.
as for my interpretation of eulogy...you'd probably be dissapointed....i always thought it was about bill hicks, but with a little hint of obsessive behavior to it....like he viewed bill hicks almost like a psychedelic jesus or something.......like an unhealthy fan obsession, exassberated by drug use.....convinced they where connected by the drugs and the expieriences...

[eonbluekarma]

Really? I didn't think that. Why would he say "PRYING open my third eye" if it were about drugs. I think it's about not becoming dependant on drugs, and reaching a higher state of mind without drugs. But people have already said this a lot...


this song may not be about drugs but its obvious that drugs is associated with the song. If we are blind that drugs doesnt help us in some ways then what have we gained from them. I am not an advocate of drug abuse but i have done mushrooms and i dont think it was a negative experiance for me. Third Eye is something positive that can come from expanding your thought to the metaphysical world, something that only a small majority of the world does.

[eonbluekarma]

but i do see the negative in drug use when people become slaves to them, but those are the weak minded that it happens to.

[Hogpile]

....i always thought it was about bill hicks, but with a little hint of obsessive behavior to it....like he viewed bill hicks almost like a psychedelic jesus or something......

Not a disappointment. I think it's about jesus. Heh. The only problem I see with it being about Bill Hicks is that it's a very mocking song, and Tool had a lot of respect for Bill. So I think it's aimed at someone who viewed themself as a matryr, or that the public made into one. Someone who's death meant more than their life.

[Fractal]

There are so many quotes I would like to put down, but not enough room. So good job, these are some great ideas.
-------------------------------------------------------------
---SYNOPSIS (if you don't wanna read everything I put below):----
My main point is that I believe the song is much involved with Terrance McKenna, Tim Leary, and Bill Hicks philosophies on drugs and reality. Also, many people have pondered whether the drug they were on actually 'fucked them up' or just brought them into reality for the first time. But remember, it's still a drug. It's safer to do chakra meditation and raise your kundalini to Ajna. Becuase if you get freaked out you can always open your eyes--you can on drugs but it is harder. But when your third eye opens, you'll know. Things look different.
------------------------------------------------
-"We all need to squeegy our third eye...I think that a healthy dose of psylocibin(sic) mushrooms is in store...."--Rant in E minor, Bill Hicks. It's always been my belief that psychedelics help us becuase they erase our hangups and false interpretations of the world in most people. Opening the Ajna chakra (indigo in color) can have the same effects. The same thing is presented in one of the Hicks' clips in the begining:"Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there's no such thing as death life is a dream and we are the imagination of ourselves...". If anyone has done acid, they know analysis runs deep and far. This is interesting, but may lead to confusion which is one of the signs that the energy flow to and from Ajna is malfunctioning (tap the point between your eye brows that is above where your knows meets the forehead; or hold for a minute).
-This brings me to smoke and mirrors. Luckily, the song is vague. Dogma, Smoke and mirrors are magician tools. Dogma is just an idea that a magician or preacher uses to make us believe a rabbit actually came out of a hat or if we are bad we go to hell/some other bad place. His idea that is imposed on us states he has other-wordly-powers. When in the midst of a trip, you can be lead away by confusion and upset due to ideas. The ideas are augmented by the 'smoke a mirrors' effects of drugs. They alter our normal perception of reality, but IN reality it's merely a chemical that is in you and you need only ride it out. Some people believe they are having a bad experience when all you need to do is sit down for a few minutes with a buddy and relax and tell some jokes and keep your mind on better happy things. But I don't think that's what the smoke and mirrors is in the song. I think it is about wieghing what is really important in this world. Money, entertainment, tv, even music are commodities that suck us in and think for us. Your reality changed. When we free ourselves from these IDEAS, we are free to move about. "So good to see you, I missed you so much...I opened my eye, and they you were". You see things from YOUR eyes and they take on a much different perspective. Opening Ajna can have this effect.
-Think for yourself, question authority. It's pretty relavent with what I posted above. When I saw Tool a couple years back they played the clip from "How to operate your brain" on the big screens and then the Bill Hicks clips. It could be about doing drugs, but it seems to focus more on interpretation and thinking above 'Dogma' and 'Smoke and Mirrors/Reason'. I've read in many places MJK said it's about legalizing drugs. Bill Hicks said this "It's not a war on drugs, it's a war on personal freedom...keep that in mind at all times, thank you." Personal Freedom=Thinking for yourself.

[bluefire]

Has anyone heard the (approximately) 2 minute intro to this song? Drugs are definantly involved in the making of both this song and the album. I can't believe that this is even being questioned. Still dont believe me, open up the insert that came with the CD, and it tells you how to properly take Ketamine for introspective purposes.