Another ciphered artist (in my view) of gnostic relevance is Tom Petty (see also The Travelling Wilburys codex). The name of his band, The Heartbreakers, perhaps alludes to the type of magic involved in the making of his songs (see website’s Introduction).
One of his main successes, the song I Won’t Back Down is of prime importance for our spiritual understanding of the role of our male spirit incarnated on planet Earth.
The first shot of the music video shows Petty opening a box made out of snakeskin (representing the vibrational energy of the material plane) with his right hand. It is a clue to us that what follows is the way for liberation.
First shot of the video
George Harrison and Ringo Starr of the Beatles are present in the music video as guest stars, surely to emphasize the capital importance of the simple message of the song.
“Well i won’t back down
no i won’t back down
you can stand me up at the gates of hell
but i won’t back down”
The definition from the Merriam Webster dictionary of backing down is « to withdraw from a commitment or position ». The commitment is the one we have with our Twin Sister and Prime Creation, our male spirit being mostly a protector for our ROSE and at her service. « Backing down » also indicates the downward direction, and our direction has to be upward.
The « gates of hell » is our true situation here that we generally don’t fully realize.
“I’ll stand my ground
won’t be turned around
And I’ll keep this world
from dragging me down
And i won’t back down”
The « dragging down » in question, has to do with the spiritual gravity inherent to this world that has to be overcome by humbly following in the footsteps of Christ (not just being a cultural Christian) and also perhaps by studying and applying the teachings of Mani and of Cathar Gnosticism.
“Hey, baby there ain’t
no easy way out.”
We’re called babies because we are at the beginning of our spiritual development
“Well i know what’s right
I got just one life”
Refers to righteousness (see Foreword). The « one life » is the eternal true life of the primordial couple.
“In a world that keeps
on pushing me around”
Going « around », in circle, is not being straight or correct and therefore going nowhere.
The music video also shows what happens if we « back down »: our heart anagram of earth, is slowly being drilled.
Ring o drilling the heart..
Don’t Come Around Here No More:
The song itself is about the deteriorating relationship between the male spirit and the Twin Sister. The music video presents a twist on that. It is here about the God of the world, portrayed as the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland by Tom Petty, telling to Alice (Heart), to end her pursuits in the world through her male twin.
Petty as the Mad Hatter
The lair of the Mad Hatter has the appearance of a chessboard evoking the duality of the world and of the Demiurge himself. The music video is about the distortion of perception that the world produces. After a cup of tea, the Twin Sister sees herself in stereo:
Two Alice, the experience of duality
Later we see that our Queen is reduced to the state of a helpless baby by our passage in the world:
Baby
Then later, we see that Alice (Twin Sister) is slowly being eaten like a cake by the Mad Hatter and his friends:
This refers to the high cost of living a human life karmically and otherwise. At the end of the video, Alice is being completely swallowed by the Mad Hatter, which alludes to the risk of losing one’s soul:
Alice swallowed.
Needless to say the music video is a joke on us.