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View Full Version : Esoteric Meaning of Florence + the Machine’s “Shake it Out” and “No Light No Light"



ktlight
1st December 2011, 10:01
FYI:
"Florence + the Machine obtained commercial and critical success by releasing music with a distinct sound and feel. Although her works are often covered by mass media, one aspect of her act is rarely mentioned: the esoteric symbolism of her songs and videos. We will look at the meaning of the videos “Shake it Out” and “No Light No Light”, two enigmatic videos from the album Ceremonials.

Florence + the Machine is different from most of the singers mentioned on the Vigilant Citizen for several reasons. First, there is obvious talent and artistry involved in her works, making them more profound than most pop songs out there. Second, there is a definite occult influence in her music but it is not hidden or concealed, but rather all out in the open. In an interview with Nylon magazine, Florence stated:

“I wanted to be a witch when I was a kid. I was obsessed with witchcraft. At school, me and my two friends had these spell books; I always wanted a more magical reality. I had a little shrine at home and I did a spell to try and make the boy in the other class fall in love with me.”

Despite this known fact, I never found any review or analysis of Florence + the Machine’s work from an occult point of view, a field Florence Welch is obviously well versed in. The videos of her first album Lungs had some occult concepts infused into them. For example, her hit Dog Days are Over alludes to the dog star Sirius, an all-important celestial body in esoteric teachings (for more information, read the article entitled The Mysterious Connection Between Sirius and Human History). An article on Pseudo-Occult media described some of the occult and MK aspects of the videos from her first album – centered around the imagery of white rabbits, bird cages, Alice in Wonderland and so forth – so I won’t dwell on those. Her second album, Ceremonials, is slightly darker and more focused on profound esoteric concepts that deserve some analyzing.

The videos of Shake it Out and No Light No Light both contain enigmatic imagery (see the confused comments on YouTube) that relate to ancient occult concepts. Analyzed from an esoteric point of view, both videos can indeed by seen as “ceremonies” where symbols and colors describe a story of profound transformation. The imagery of Shake it Out tell the story of an initiation ritual in a strange secret society while No Light No Light describes a profound spiritual change in the context of duality. We’ll look at the esoteric meaning of both videos.

Shake it Out

Taking place in a strange masquerade ball with masked guests – reminiscent of the secret society orgy in the movie “Eyes Wide Shut” - Shake it Out follows Florence’s evolution. From being shy and reserved, she becomes ecstatic and almost demented. In an interview, Welch described the video’s setting this way:

“Think of a psychedelic 1920s dress party with a demonic twist. Possession meets The Great Gatsby. (…) We were kind of going for a sort of ‘Gatsby at West Egg’-style house party but with maybe slightly ritualistic and sort of satanic undertones and séances.”

No Light No Light

No Light No Light has none of the subtlety of Shake it Out. It rather violently clashes two diametrically opposing forces battling for nothing less than Florence’s soul. The imagery of the video is based on contrasts and opposites, using concepts such as light and darkness, good and evil, black and white, civilization and tribalism, church and sorcery and so forth. The two main scenes of the video that are pitted against each other are so clichéd that they border on caricature: an entranced voodoo doctor practicing black magic versus innocent church choir boys. The opposition is vivid, yet both worlds appear to be part of Florence’s experience (she was in choir during her youth, while also dabbling in occultism). The two scenes bring up an almost archetypal sense of good and evil, thus symbolically representing the eternal struggle that is happening within Florence’s soul.

source for much more
http://vigilantcitizen.com/musicbusiness/the-esoteric-meaning-of-florence-the-machines-shake-it-out-and-no-light-no-light/

Lisab
1st December 2011, 20:17
I love Florence and the Machine. Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up) makes me think of ascension. The video is so paganess Goddess like too. Dionysian. Love her.