The following article constitutes a point-by-point analysis and interpretation of Tool's esoteric-themed music video for “Parabol/Parabola”, as well as a commentary on the messages contained in the songs’ lyrics.

Video Content and Commentary

The video is viewable in full here: Parabola Video by Tool

0:15 The video begins with a view of strange geometric and fractal-like formations which may be structures found within organs of the human body. A reference to esoteric anatomy and a hint of what is to come.

1:10 We segue into a scene depicting sacred space : a sanctum with an altar. This is our inner temple – our Consciousness within (and beyond) our body and mind.

1:51 The magician stands before the altar and makes a sweeping motion with his hand over his chest before approaching any closer. This is a symbolic cleansing, wiping away the dust of ordinary reality, and opening the heart.

2:10 He sets a mysterious bag on top of the altar. Symbolic of the magician’s “bag of tricks” or "crane bag" - hidden secrets and magickal powers.

2:23 He presents an object wrapped in a purple cloth. Purple, often associated with the crown chakra, is symbolic of spirituality, higher consciousness, and union with the divine.

2:38 He unwraps the cloth to reveal a knife, possibly a magickal athame (ritual dagger). This is an extension of the True Will and power of the magician. It is also likely to be a reference to the Sword of Spirit / Sword of Truth.

2:45 He presents a blue apple. This is a direct reference to the Merovingian mythos and the strange legacy left behind by Bérenger Saunière at Rennes-le-Chateau in France. This legacy seems to be pointing to the transmutation of darkness into Light, reconciliation and union of dualities, and the secrets of sacred geometry and the human pineal gland.

The Blue Apple is also a veiled reference to the Garden of Eden with its sacred Tree of Life, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the serpent which tempted Eve. The Tree (which is the two trees emerging from the same root) is our spine, and the serpent is kundalini. The temptation was ejaculatory coitus as humanity knows it today, which resulted in the Fall and removal of humanity from the Garden of Eden - a state of bliss and unity with the divine, which can be regained through tantra. The forbidden fruit is often depicted as an apple because -

2:55 The magician cuts the apple laterally through the center, revealing the hidden pentagram. The 5-pointed star, among many other associations, is connected with Venus the Morningstar, also known as Lucifer (the Light-bearer) and the Goddess of Love. It is also symbolic of the union of the microcosm (humanity) with the macrocosm (the cosmos). The apple further illustrates the fact that humanity has a choice of Love and Light, or to remain within a world of suffering and illusion, in a “fallen” state. The magician reveals Love upon the altar.

3:05 More occult symbolism and sacred geometry. The pentagram transitions visually into a 6-pointed star (the hexagram) and then a 7-pointed star (the septagram). The hexagram, otherwise known as the familiar “Star of David” symbolizes harmony, the heart chakra, the union and balance of the four elements (resulting in the quintessence, Spirit) and the Gnostic union of dualities. The hexagram is also worn upon the breast of the Hindu god Murugan, son of Shiva, who rides upon a peacock. Western occultists connect him with Lucifer and Jesus Christ. Finally, we reach the septagram, which indicates spirituality, perfection, heaven, synthesis, the seven chakras, and the universal patterns of Creation. The septagram, while unclear, may also be a Star of Babalon, Aleister Crowley’s Thelemic symbol for the Scarlet Woman – the magician’s tantric lover.

3:21 The magician holds up his hand, and a flame emerges from the tip of his middle finger (ruled by Saturn, the god of humanity’s last Golden Age). The flame is the Holy Fire of kundalini from within himself, which lifts him up and grants him his power,

3:49 The altar is revealed to be a Cubic Stone. The cubic stone is the Masonic Keystone, Axis Mundi, the center of the universe, the Tree of Life, the stone of Saturn. It is also the Christ, the Cornerstone upon which the temple is built. Unfold a cube, and you find the cross of Jesus. The Cubic Stone is the means to attain the Philosopher’s Stone of alchemy.

4:02 The magicians proceed to “square the circle.” Squaring the circle is alchemical symbolism for the creation of the Philosopher’s Stone, uniting heaven with earth, the divine with the manifest, the spiritual with the physical, and the masculine with the feminine. It is the tantric embrace, the gift of sexual alchemy. It is the Elixir of Life.

4:06 The magicians join hands, creating a sacred geometric star which they launch into the universe. This is Unity Consciousness and infinite expansion.

4:12 A heavy stone swings back and forth like a pendulum. This is the dance of polarities and the earthly/shadow aspect of the Stone of Saturn : the burden of matter and dual material existence which can weigh us down or swing us wildly back and forth between extremes.

4:19 A small, dark, monster-like creature emerges. This is the ego and the uncontrolled mind. Its darkness also hints at its connection with the Shadow Self, which is the receiver of the pain sand torment that the egoic mind creates and maintains. Throughout the next section, this shadowy figure haunts our sad protagonist, taunting him with his incessant chattering and distraction.

4:21 The ego-monster moves and talks relentlessly – the restless mind that never stops thinking, wandering, and chattering.

4:29 The swinging burden-stone is caught and held, stilled by magician’s Will.

4:38 A rockslide - Inner turmoil and the transitory nature of material form. Possibly the cubic stone shattered, symbolic of the Fall.

4:40 A glimpse at our strange protagonist. Are these burns, or scarification upon his head and spine? Atavistic scales that have emerged? The feelers on each side of his head are symbolic of ida and pingala, the main energy channels which surround the spine.

4:46 The magician breaks the heavy rock on purpose - transcending material forms and earthly limitations. The shards are blown away like the illusion that they are. We look into our protagonist’s eyes, where all of these events are happening, within himself.

5:05 He attempts to remain still, within the silence, but the pieces of the materialistic burden return to surround him, and the egoic mind keeps chattering away and mocking him.

5:07 Here we see a tree-like structure, with barren branches. This is the Tree of Life and Death, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The branches form a slightly discomforting face, possibly reminiscent of the inner demons which our protagonist is facing, possibly reminiscent of the Horned Lord, or Baphomet, who holds the secrets of alchemy and the sexual force.

5:14 He hesitantly touches the Tree, and his feelers move (energy and knowledge moves through him)

5:21 He continues to be in contact with the Tree, moving upwards.

5:27 Ego distracts our protagonist once again.

5:36 He approaches a new altar, a new cubic stone. Centered and silent within his inner sacred space, while ego waits for another chance.

5:51 Laying his head within a cubic structure, we see into his brain, where movement is taking place. This is referring to the pineal gland within the center of the brain, which releases the “spirit molecule” DMT when it vibrates (this is achieved most strikingly by means of the kundalini). He turns to see something new emerge into his reality.

6:07 He touches a spinning, floating sphere, symbolizing inner unity. A fertilized cosmic egg… a new beginning? In some mythologies, the divine Creator emerges from this Egg, from formless and silent transcendence into creative form, who then speaks the Word (Logos) that brings the new world into Being.

6:17 Ego returns yet again!

6:22 The sphere has multiplied, like an embryo.

6:28 Our protagonist looks through the portal to see a glimpse into the the First Forest. This First Forest is Paradise, the Garden, the warm realm of the heart, and to here he is longing to return. But for the unprepared, it is the forest of desires, where danger lurks.

6:48 The embryo has multiplied into a cluster of spheres, reminiscent of grapes. The cluster of grapes was once a symbol for the Pleiades star cluster, the Blue Apples of heaven, known to the Mayans as the Serpent’s Rattle. The grapes hold the promise of the holy wine of the gods, the elixir of immortality, the Water of Life which is kundalini. Bacchus / Dionysus was the god of wine, who carried the thyrsus staff with a pine cone at the tip, symbolizing the spine and the pineal gland once again.

6:54 Ego drags him back to ordinary reality, chattering away and tugging on his leg.

7:04 Seeing that the end is near, the ego-monster panics, moving and talking with a maniac frenzy. To no avail – the wine of the gods crushes and silences it, finally.

7:14 Our protagonist removes his shirt. He is removing his old egoic identity and form, shedding his outer layers, ready to go further within to reach his true self without the masks.

7:19 He faces the cluster of spheres, and the Creator is born : He triumphantly shouts the Word of God.

7:27 He is working upon the cubic stone again (the great Arcanum).

7:28 The camera focuses upon his naked spine.

7:31 With his hands and creative Word, he formulates two human figures upon the altar. These are partners about to enter tantric unity. We see the inner structures of their bodies, and the camera focuses in on the heart, the spine and coccyx (where kundalini lies coiled), and the connection of the spine with the base of the skull.

7:55 This exploration now allows our protagonist to walk confidently within the First Forest.

8:11 He is followed by the cluster of grapes, ready to drink the wine of the gods, the Elixir.

8:30 He obtains a luminescent golden leaf from the Tree of Life.

8:43 Here begins a fantastic animation sequence done by mystical artist Alex Grey. The leaf becomes a living flame, the Serpent Fire. It is then transformed into an eye – the ayin, the symbolic letter of the Devil tarot card, which encodes information related to the sexual mysteries and the means to free oneself from the illusory bonds of the Devil (the base desires, fears, and self-maintained limitations of the material world). This is kundalini about to fully activate the pineal gland or third eye.

8:58 He sees clairvoyantly into his own body, including his chakras and esoteric anatomy.

9:00 The eye splits into two – forming the twin serpents that rise up ida and pingala in the double helix pattern of the caduceus (now a medical symbol, it originated with the healing powers of the kundalini).

9:18 Here we see the unfolding of the lotus of the heart chakra. Over the heart we also see the Vajra Cross (Double Dorje or Visva Vajra) which is a very powerful divine weapon of Light, composed of two dorjes (thunderbolts of enlightenment) crossed together, forming the basis for all of creation. It is indestructible. The dorje-cross is the symbol of Amoghasiddhi Buddha, who destroys the poison of envy and encourages accomplishment on the spiritual path, as achieved through determination. The cross is also the Christos, the Savior who brings healing and redemption for all who receive the “baptism of Spirit” as given by the kundalini.

9:22 Kundalini reaches his head and we see his Third Eye opening. His crown chakra also opens, resulting in the “thousand-petaled lotus” unfolding, symbolized by the infinite mandala of peacock eyes that surrounds him. Within these Eyes is the vast self-aware Consciousness underlying the entire universe. A bright halo of light emerges over his head – his union with divine Light and Love. Enlightenment.

9:41 Our enlightened protagonist, fully aflame with kundalini, crosses his arms over his chest and moves into “Osiris pose”. He has become the risen god, reborn and resurrected after the crucifixion of the ego - the crowned and conquering Savior.

9:43 The Light returns to cycle back throughout his body, as he merges into unity with the Divine. In this state, he sees an infinite latticework of Light - the divine mind that underlies the structure of the cosmos, the true reality beyond all form. The lattice structure is multi-layered and reiterative, indicating that it actually represents a 4th-dimensional divine consciousness, which transcends all the limitations of our 3-D world. Its infinitely interconnected web is also a reference to the quantum entanglement which exists throughout the entire cosmos as a unity of Being. The video ends in pure light - All is in Light and Love.

- by Azazel Dragonwolf

Lyrical Content and Commentary

Lyrics by Maynard James Keenan

"Parabol / Parabola"

So familiar and overwhelmingly warm

This one, this form I hold now

Embracing you, this reality here

This one, this form I hold now, so

Wide eyed and hopeful

Wide eyed and hopefully wild

We barely remember what came before this precious moment

Choosing to be here right now

Hold on, stay inside...

This body holding me, reminding me that I am not alone in...

This body makes me feel eternal

All this pain is an illusion

We barely remember who or what came before this precious moment

We are choosing to be here right now

Hold on, stay inside...

This holy reality, this holy experience

Choosing to be here in...

This body, this body holding me

Be my reminder here that I am not alone in...

This body, this body holding me, feeling eternal

All this pain is an illusion

Alive, I ...

In this holy reality, in this holy experience

Choosing to be here in...

This body, this body holding me

Be my reminder here that I am not alone in...

This body, this body holding me, feeling eternal

All this pain is an illusion

Twirling round with this familiar parable

Spinning, weaving round each new experience

Recognize this as a holy gift and celebrate this chance to be alive and breathing

A chance to be alive and breathing

This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality

Embrace this moment, remember, we are eternal

All this pain is an illusion.

Lyrical Commentary

Within these lyrics, MJK refers to a couple of the most central and important esoteric secrets of spirituality. To “embrace this moment” refers to being truly present, in the Now. “We barely remember who or what came before this precious moment. We are choosing to be here right now.” Right now, instead of in the past or the future (where the egoic mind and the internal dialogue always try to take us, dragging us away from the present). This moment is precious, and it is All that Is. The past is gone, a memory, while the future is still unknown, waiting to be created by us, and should not be feared. Existence is an eternal string of Now moments, and if we are not present to fully embrace and enjoy these moments, with awareness, then we cannot fully experience the blessing of life, nor share it properly with others. Embracing this precious moment, every moment, is essential. “Recognize this as a holy gift and celebrate this chance to be alive and breathing.”

The remainder of the lyrics is a reference to the practice of tantra, and the experience of oneness, peace, healing, and transcendence that is attained through this art. In order to achieve this state, presence is essential. Through tantra, the kundalini awakening depicted at the end of the video is safely and easily achieved, within a state of bliss - divine pleasure far greater than words can describe. A holy experience that truly reveals the holy reality that has been there all along, waiting for us to return. The healing bliss of serpent fire reminds us that our pain is all an illusion, and that the true nature of everything is Love and Light. Within our true Being, we are eternal.

- by Azazel Dragonwolf