Idea of what the last page of the booklet represents.

[Typx]

As the booklet seems to be a breakdown of the human body, I was thinking that the last page (with the cross and wave pattern flowing out from it) could be a artistic rendering of the soul, bare and pure.

[abefrohmn]

Hmm, I agree, but I think it probably represents something more. Like something that manifests simultaneously in us all

[nietzschepants]

I think I've got it. Or at the very least, a suggestion. While reading Jung's Mandala Symbolism, I came across a very similar cross, which was a manifestation of the quaternity that is almost everywhere in art, architecture and society. Jung emphasized that four was somehow a sacred number in almost all cultures, no matter how disparate and distant. So maybe the cross is a symbol of the collective unconscious? I think that would fit with the place (root of the being, back of the mind) and with the rays (he is transmitting, helping to further the collective unconscious merely by existing) and the actual album (the song "reflection" which states "we are all one mind") Any thoughts?

[sugarfreetheory]

It's actually a "Double Dorje" the "Great seal of bliss and emptiness--the ultimate symbol of enlightenment." Or so it says on the back of the Buddhist meditation card I have. It's also the same symbol that's on one of the Lateralus t-shirts, isn't it?

[paraflux]

I agree with the soul bare and pure. Also the collective unconscious, or the electric network as i like to call it. The same thing Tricky becomes a part of in Parabol/a.

[sugarfreetheory]

I like that idea as well. It really is a beautiful image. I also love the blue version of it on the back of the CD case. Too bad there aren't any poster prints of it.

[Typx]

This reminded me of something I was wondering if anyone knew what the significance of the placement of the 4 third eyes and the spiral on the first page is.
Seems to me that the one by the head could be a straight representation of the third eye. The one on the chest could be a representation of the soul with the spiral to show its placing beyond the body... the other ones I have no clue. I think I'm really stretching here, any ideas?

Overall I think that the booklet is probably the most amazing ever made.

[Typx]

On the back page, maybe it is a representation of some sort of interconnected web. The red balls representing the individual consciousness', while the 'rays' representing the interconnection of us all with the cross representing that which holds it all together, some sort of God.

[reedc33]

This figure looks like a yantra that practicioners of Tantra use. A yantra is a 'tool' for meditation. It represents the guarded gateway to the Divine. A mandala is a complex form of a yantra but they can be very simple forms with four points or gates surrounding a point, though the point doesn't need to be visible. A 'double dorje', also...I have an almost identical form on a box of Tibetan ritual incense. Tibetans practice Tantra, but not the wild sex and orgy variety. Check out SivaSakti.com to see more or learn more about Tantra, Mantra and Yantra...

There is only One Mind, One Reality from beginingless time you have been It...only a few people know it, though, and it is a secret, so ...shhhh...

[diogenes]

I remember reading an article that says Alex Grey got the idea for this piece of art while tripping on LSD. I've been reading a Timothy Leary book recently, (Leary is a pro-lsd harvard professor, dead now) and he describes the stages of an LSD trip. I don't fully remember them, but I think his description said you became aware of your body at the cellular level, then molecular and downwards until you realize that everybody is made of energy and we are all one, yada yada. I think thats what the last page represents, but a clearer connection can be drawn from the video, where the man starts pulsing with energy then dissolves into this big matrix of energy.

[joeyt17]

I am going to go with it being a double dorje as previously mentioned in this post. it is used in many buddhist and tibeten practices to keep evil away. heres a link to a picture of a double dorje...seems right on to the actual picture in the liner notes

http://www.kharmakhameleon.com/kk_item_dtl.cfm?q_iid=312

[carpe.noctem]

i'm going with the double dorje. also known as a crossed vajra. It goes along with the whole idea of enlightenment, god being inside ourselves.......Isn't that the whole message here? In the music, the artwork? it makes sense.

[eyemaware]

I thought the white spiral was the spirit of an individual.

[cainecrawford]

Say for instance you are looking down on the creation cycle. Where the Morning Star(or dogstar) gathers the 3 elelments of sulfer salt and mercury. The fusion of the 4 in the actual building of the process will give off a vibrational pattern. In this pattern you find a artistic onlay of pattern cycling back to the center. Thus gettting smaller as you get closer to the center and larger as you get to the outter barrier.

I case your wondering on the cereation cycle. You can find the tent of Abraham in here as well. The 3,10 torus know is what you will need to find.

http://www.meru.org

[random_1]

in relation to the post about alex grey and lsd..

yeah have u seen his other work, its all the same, the guy dus the most detailed pictures, and they can all relate to tool i think, there all about the spirtual soul and the body that carrys it. they must do the same meditation or some thing.
maby alex grey practise's merkbata or astalprojection.
go to his gallery. very impressive stuff.
this could also link to merkbata. um maynard has done his homework. the images on the cd and the skin of the cd case seem to link to every song on the cd aswell.
to much to think about

[yllwcrystlstr]

Originally posted by Typx
This reminded me of something I was wondering if anyone knew what the significance of the placement of the 4 third eyes and the spiral on the first page is.
Seems to me that the one by the head could be a straight representation of the third eye. The one on the chest could be a representation of the soul with the spiral to show its placing beyond the body... the other ones I have no clue. I think I'm really stretching here, any ideas?

Overall I think that the booklet is probably the most amazing ever made.

they're chakras, centers of energy...crown, heart, throat

[Merkaba]

Originally posted by diogenes
I remember reading an article that says Alex Grey got the idea for this piece of art while tripping on LSD. I've been reading a Timothy Leary book recently, (Leary is a pro-lsd harvard professor, dead now) and he describes the stages of an LSD trip. I don't fully remember them, but I think his description said you became aware of your body at the cellular level, then molecular and downwards until you realize that everybody is made of energy and we are all one, yada yada. I think thats what the last page represents, but a clearer connection can be drawn from the video, where the man starts pulsing with energy then dissolves into this big matrix of energy.

it wouldnt happen to be the manual on the tibetan book of the dead would it? i have that, havent finished it all though, gets a little complex for the mind of a fourteen year old.

[lachral growth]

Originally posted by yllwcrystlstr
they're chakras, centers of energy...crown, heart, throat

i believe that spiral that comes down to the heart chakra. would respresent the 7th chakra. it said to be the gateway for complete dive enlightment, also known for its infinite pedals. notice how it runs down the spine, to the heart chakra. the heart chakra is the energy center for compassion and knowledge of all...just an observation.

7th chakra info - http://www.solarraven.com/chakra7.htm