gor
Ancient Mariner
I think the whole point of the song is to show the hidden dangers someone faces if he has blind faith in religion. Bruce tries to symbolize the hidden danger behind religion with these images:
1. "the secret of the hangman, the smile on his lips". the smiling hangman is a tarrot card. it depicts a smiling man, hanged upside down from a tree. In tarrot fortune telling, this card means that a man (symbolizing each person in the song) is manipulated by a woman (symbolizing religion in the song), who wants to harm him and/or take advantage of him and seal his destiny. I asked a girl I know who is deep into that kind of stuff for the meaning of this card in tarrot card telling.
2. "the eyes of the Nile are opening, you'll see". Great metaphor for hidden danger. Crocodiles can swim in the water with only their eyes sticking out of it when they are on "hunt mode". At night, their eyes glow in the dark, and appear like shiny eyes on the surface of the water. The Egyptians reffered to them as "the eyes of the Nile", which, altough a pretty sight, warn of a great danger hidden under them.
3. the indirect refferance to Succubus is another symbolism of the great dangers of religion. Succubus was medieval folklore ghost, that appeared at night in the dreams of men, having the form of a seductive woman. Men that dreamt of having sex with Succubus died in their sleep. Incubus, the male conterpart ghost, appeared in a woman's dream and raped her. Succubus was to blame if a man died in his sleep. Incubus was to blame if a woman gave birth to a disformed or handicaped or in any other way strange child. Merlin the wizard for instance was supposed to be the child of a woman and an Incubus.
1. "the secret of the hangman, the smile on his lips". the smiling hangman is a tarrot card. it depicts a smiling man, hanged upside down from a tree. In tarrot fortune telling, this card means that a man (symbolizing each person in the song) is manipulated by a woman (symbolizing religion in the song), who wants to harm him and/or take advantage of him and seal his destiny. I asked a girl I know who is deep into that kind of stuff for the meaning of this card in tarrot card telling.
2. "the eyes of the Nile are opening, you'll see". Great metaphor for hidden danger. Crocodiles can swim in the water with only their eyes sticking out of it when they are on "hunt mode". At night, their eyes glow in the dark, and appear like shiny eyes on the surface of the water. The Egyptians reffered to them as "the eyes of the Nile", which, altough a pretty sight, warn of a great danger hidden under them.
3. the indirect refferance to Succubus is another symbolism of the great dangers of religion. Succubus was medieval folklore ghost, that appeared at night in the dreams of men, having the form of a seductive woman. Men that dreamt of having sex with Succubus died in their sleep. Incubus, the male conterpart ghost, appeared in a woman's dream and raped her. Succubus was to blame if a man died in his sleep. Incubus was to blame if a woman gave birth to a disformed or handicaped or in any other way strange child. Merlin the wizard for instance was supposed to be the child of a woman and an Incubus.