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2001: A Space Odyssey
This film is obviously symbolic and is famous for being mysteriously so, thus interpreting the symbolism for this movie has always been a bit of a priority for me. I am going by what I saw in the theater on the 70mm re-release in making this interpretation because the reds were so clear and there is no issue with whether or not reds are being shifted orange by my computer monitor.
In the beginning, there is the overture (over-ture). This symbolizes Gemini which is "over" Sagittarius and Virgo. Gemini is all possible dreams at once and can be symbolized by "all notes at once;" the "song,"or "dream" that emanates from this matrix is a Sagittarius analogy. This is similar analogy to that of the pediment in classical architecture which is a Gemini analogy within which Sagittarian dreams sometimes "precipitate" into view (sometimes there is imagery contained in the pediment).
When the movie intro begins, we see the Moon, Earth, and Sun. Sunrise is emphasized throughout this film and cross- references symbolically with birthday, as well as incarnation and transformation. It's the whole touching the stone business that results in a new life or new path; also Scorpio plays its symbolic role in the rising Sun imagery, Scorpio being the beginning and end that is death analogy; it even has its say in allowing consciousness to "touch the stone." This Sagittarian analogy plays out in the movie in various symbolic ways including the names of some of the characters, and Scorpio initiates all Sagittarius analogy.
In the "Dawn of Man" we see a symbolic representation of humanity, now and throughout recent history; this is also the "dawning of the age of Aquarius" in recent history. Notice the emphasis of the desertifying landscape, a symbol of death. The planet is a Sagittarius analogy because it is karma made visible in the environment out of which our biological nature is continually reborn and transformed. Within this dying environment lives a mob, symbolized in the animal kingdom. The cattle-like animals symbolize Capricorn and the mass-characterologically masochistic leftist class, the apes symbolize Aquarius and the mass-characterologically compulsive rightist class, and the big cat symbolizes Scorpio who is the "secret police." The result is civilization which is a Sagittarius analogy, the psychology of the superego made socially manifest. War, as a substitute for natural sexuality, is the base archetype for the civilized Sagittarius analogy.
The apes fight over scarce resources (read James DeMeo's Saharasia for important related info on the mass- psychology involved). The featured "tribe" is desperate for water and a sense of security. They follow their "president-ape" who faces off against the other tribe's "president" in a mudslinging match and loses. The president analogy is a Virgo analogy, and of course a fight is a Sagittarius analogy making this confrontation over a water hole a sex analogy (Ref: The Moon). The water hole is also a Sagittarius analogy that is similar to that of a chessboard.
"Back home," we see that the apes live in fear of Death, therefore they fear nature. The little tussles that reverberate up and down the pack symbolize everyday violence within the "republic." They might be able to put up an effective front against Death, but this never occurs to them when Death is revealed to them at the cost of one or even many lives (Death "jumps down from a cliff"). Mob- community is foundationed by emotional isolation and its selfishness; when Death has you, other run away from you whether death sets in immediately or Death enlightens you over time. The dead zebra is a Sagittarius analogy, the alternating bands of black and white symbolizing alchemical salt just as does a chessboard, and Death - as Scorpio - maintains control over that water hole.
The next morning, we see the monolith for the first time which "scares the #@*^ out of the president." The monolith, as far as I am concerned, is a clear representation of the ether, the orgone energy/information foundation behind reality and manifest field-harmony. This represents an investment or the lending of a block of stone out of which evolutionary advancement may be "carved" - merciful Taurus quarries all of the "stone blocks" for all of the realities; the human voices we hear as the militant apes go nuts over the "crashed flying saucer" are the stars of Gemini (same as an overture). This investment was made in response to the ape's efforts to take the water hole, and this is talent finding the group in response to effort ("Violence makes violence."). The symbolism of the mysterious appearance of this etheric stone is similar to that of the symbolism of the Aces in a tarot deck; the aces are often handed to a reality from within a cloud or, more specifically, from behind a veil. This particular stone symbolizes the Capricorn mode of the cosmic etheric expression which is the mode the Aquarian form of initiation would play with in shaping reality; this is sex-energy. Each different appearance of this monolith symbolizes a different mode of the real ether (thus Aries is excluded) moving up the alchemical tree in frequency and energy as the movie progresses (kind of like an increasing sexual high).
Notice the emphasis on the touching of the monolith which is a Kerub activity associated with the idea of initiation; the sunrise symbolizes birth and transformation, as well as death because all transformative analogy involves death as well as birth (the word sacred derives from these ideas). The monolith becomes a Virgo/Pisces symbol when it is touched by the vaginal mob. Notice that the "cattle-class" or proletarian class is not present, it being the social ether prior to conservative, mob-like social concentration, so the cattle are a part of the symbolism of the monolith and are now to be exploited as a meat analogy; the ether is sometimes referred to symbolically as meat or ass in mass-media. A similar analogy - though higher up in the tree - is to be found in Rosemary's Baby in Taurus-Rosemary's luscious Cancer symbolic behind which is always being slapped by Virgo symbolic hubby's Leo symbolic hands. Nature designed the behind to be caressed but the civilized mob prefers to "slap the ass." I suspect that the first ass slaps to occur during child-birth occurred for symbolic reasons, the child being a Hanged Man symbol of sorts; the cry would be the solar condition that results. When the ether of Capricorn is "touched," it becomes a functional Pisces analogy (mutable). The mob stuck out in the desert is strictly a Sagittarius analogy because it is a trapped population, a free population being more of a starry night- sky Gemini analogy. Any test-tube group being studied or presented is a Sagittarius analogy.
Then comes weapons testing and, after the symbolic sunset, war. The killing zone is the civil chessboard archetype. The president wins a new hole in the ground and pollutes outer space as an afterthought; this is a sexual intercourse analogy, space being a uterine analogy and also a freedom analogy - floating in outer space is ecstacy analogy. The bone launched into space is a Virgo/Pisces analogy; it is consciousness launched into "space." This is the old ape-with-a-gun analogy also, though it is expressed in a bit more of a broad fashion here with the apes being able to brandish Saturn Rockets and microwave ovens; one might call this expression of Aquarius analogy monkey-politic. Man's race to space is a compulsion to obtain a sense of freedom in a fashion not unlike that of war. Before this lopsided technological leap, no tribe was in much of a position to displace another tribe, and a tribe without water was a dead tribe. The pool of water is the same analogy as that of a well which is Sagittarius analogy. It is simply a vaginal analogy, its water being Gemini-symbolic of freedom and stress-relief, and the hole in the ground is the interface or "airlock procedure" for the attainment of this freedom. This whole "ass-tech" analogy reminds me of those old films taken of atomic bomb tests in the pacific where the bombs were rocket-launched to very high altitudes and then detonated as though they were trying to burn a hole in what ever darkness had dominion over our delicate reality here on this planet, and then there were the beach barbecue films where steaks were grilled while the ground tests were conducted in the pacific well within view. It is as though they were lusting after some "hot behind" both on their own beach (a Sagittarius analogy) and on the beach where the detonation took place. An atomic detonation is a Virgo analogy that one might call ecstatic.
Up in space, we see some of the space-junk ballet and meet the primary Scorpio character in the film; his pen symbolizes phallic execut-ive function. The pen in the isle of the plane is a phallic Virgo/Pisces analogy, the isle being a Sagittarius analogy because it is a vaginal pathway analogy (Sagittarius is the "path that transforms"). On a symbolic level, the Taurus goddess (faerie), in the form of flight attendant, steps out of Gemini-heaven in response to the "sex" and puts the pen right where it needs to be which makes her a destiny analogy also. The women in this film play second class citizen roles as professionals, so patriarchy is still in effect at the beginning of the Aquarian age. This is a Sagittarian "little girl" analogy where a Gemini symbolic woman lives far beneath her true potential and is made into a Sagittarius symbolic girl (like Rosemary in Rosemary's Baby). She brings the phallic pen and the vaginal pocket together with her Taurus-class initiative. She is also then symbolic of some active element within the masochistic left or proletarian cattle-class; she cooperates without question, this brainwashed, masochistic Taurus symbolism being fairly common in mass media of various sorts (Ned Flanders Syndrome). This clearly establishes our sleeping patriarch as a Scorpio character with his vaginal Sagittarian pocket (seen also in Rushmore as part of the symbolism for a Scorpio character). He is security-minded, as we shall see, and psychopathically maintained security measures are a Sagittarius analogy that will later be symbolized in the form of the HAL 9000 computer which is "infallible" and is a controlled reality (nine symbolizes Sagittarius), and is a reality control factor which makes it a Gemini analogy (9000 all multiples of ten symbolizing Gemini). He is also prototypically American in his demeanor, America being a Scorpio country. His name is Dr. Haywood Floyd and Hay-wood is a Scorpio name because it symbolizes the scythe seen in a number of versions of the Death trump.
Notice how the space-station is made of rings and has a cross in the center; this is Gemini/Sagittarius symbolic, like gardens that are often similarly arranged. The fact that the space station is a world up in space emphasizes the Sagittarius aspect of the symbol also. The rocket ship is a phallic Virgo/Pisces symbol that dances a ballet with the space station as it enters the vaginal landing bay.
The Gemini symbolic elevator door opens and we see a Cancer symbolic white grid before we see Mr Haywood R. Floyd and the gate operator who would be a Taurus symbol, who wears a pink uniform; pink is often symbolic of Taurus though it is also a little girl color, so Sagittarius is emphasized even though a woman wears the uniform. At the voice-print identification, we see a woman in an orange uniform - also Gemini/Sagittarius symbolic - in front of a Taurus-green background asking for information when the Leo-red light comes on below the Taurus-green screen (Leo below Taurus). Mr. Mill-er is a Leo character, and booth seventeen (1 = 7 = 8 = Scorpio) is used to clear Dr. Floyd.
We then get to walk down the stark white (ether symbolic like stone which can be shaped) corridor with Mr. Floyd, who calls, via the Virgo symbolic telephone, his Gemini/Sagittarius symbolic daughter. She has lots of telephones or "stars" (chapter six on this DVD is titled Squirt which is Virgo/Pisces analogy like a fountain, Death capturing the idea in its symbolism in Crowley's tarot deck; a Scorpio character nicknames his daughter Squirt which might hint at subconscious motivation for inspiration within the depths of Dr. Floyd's mind). The corridor is a Sagittarius analogy because it is a world and it is a passageway or "path," and the "red on the path is" Scorpio's transformative influence. Notice all of the stars on her orange and purple dress, and the little yellow plastic man she wears like a jewel (Virgo/Pisces). This is ultimately what motivates Mr. Floyd's security- mindedness; she is another water hole analogy, being a loved-one protected back home from the brutal reality of the world, at least as far as dad cane see to it. Notice how the Earth spins around his head as though to say his mind is awash with the daughter/mother archetype right now; this is Sagittarius analogy. His daughter is a protected "pool of water" and the typical daughter is even in danger of being exploited as such by her overprotective father, depending upon whether or not her father is personally susceptible to be openly exploitive in such a manner, or only implicitly susceptible as the law dictates; civilization exploits, so parents must condition their children to be exploited. The male-dominant family situation and the associated characterological masochism of the other family members is what makes the exploitation likely. The women and children are pressured to be masochistic relative to dad who is expected to play the role of sadistic representative of the state who promotes the controlled "machine-reality" (HAL) within the family, thus the women in the film are "little girls." The "scarce water" becomes subject to exploitation and "pornographic trade," contributing further to the dying Earth analogy which is what makes the water scarce in the first place (freedom to have a natural sexuality while a child). Though it would clearly seem here that Dr. Floyd would be horrified of such ideas on the surface; the family situation presented here is most probably a genuinely loving though compulsive family situation with the mother subjugated as a housewife. The need for genuine love is enough to motivate a man to become extreme as far as security is concerned. I only mention the above possibility because it fits in with the archetypes used in this film, often men allow themselves to be exploitive of the love a family has to offer even if there is no explicate sexual exploitation occurring, just because love is so scarce; we want the baby to love the Christmas presents we give so much that they can feel pressured by it. The weakening of the female archetype and the subjugation of the female is an important aspect of the "scarce water" analogy. A birthday is a solar analogy, and solar analogy is ecstatic analogy. Her mother is a Taurus character and therefore is an appropriate mate for Mr. Floyd who is an over-strong Scorpio character; she is out shopping and Taurus "likes to shop" or "invest," and Taurus is Gemini's primary caretaker also. The babysitter must be a Leo character who is "in the bathroom" or "down in Sagittarius" right now, another water hole analogy. When the emotional plague dominates the scene, Scorpio's influence is enhanced and he dominates the other Kerubs. America's preeminence in world affairs is a similar analogy, and terrorism only makes America more preeminent because a terrorist is a Capricorn analogy, the scapegoat that is symbolized by The Devil which Death (America) holds ultimate sway over (look at the symbolism in Crowley's Thoth versions of both trumps).
We then witness a very "international-genteel" espionage encounter between Mr. Floyd, two women, one in black and one in green who are Kerubs just back from repairing a phallic antenna; a woman in purple with a red collar who plays Gemini, and a man dressed all in grey which is a solar ash color (this might be part of the inspiration for the robot named Ash in Alien). The internationalism represented in this film is a social compulsion foundationed by an intense nationalism which spurs the "friendly" espionage. "Vaginal" Scorpio is being probed in "phallic" Virgo/Pisces fashion for information, the motivation for this scapegoat behavior being symbolic of Capricorn because he is taking the phallic risk in attempting to coax death into acting as a "guide to the stars of Gemini;" Death can "kill the old goat." The information should materialize as a Sagittarian dream from within the Gemini-matrix or intelligence network Dr. Floyd represents and protects as a direct result of this crafty catalytic influence, but Dr. Floyd is the secretive Scorpio archetype who is in a position to prevent that from happening as long as the probing doesn't have too much Capricorn motivation behind it, so the pediment remains "devoid" of imagery. Notice how the woman in purple makes a rather phallic hand gesture just as Mr. Floyd says "I'm not at liberty to discuss it." She is symbolic of another nation's intelligence network, and the hand gesture is one of her "stars" or spies (according to the guys in Spinal Tap, James Bond is a "Peter"). "Ash" is her star that failed to make it through Dr. Floyd's Sagittarian kill-zone, so he fails to "inspire the precipitation of a dream." A dream is merely the revelation of information already in existence but out of reach.
On the lunar lander, notice how the passenger compartment is rather Virgo-yellow and the cockpit is Red, probably to symbolize Scorpio who "drives cars," blood red being traditionally a Scorpio color (possibly colorized to look more brown on the first DVD release, orange on the second digitally remastered DVD release and looks orange on the VHS version as well, though was clearly red on the 70mm theatrical release).
Dr. Floyd plays the phallic public speaker and feeds the Aquarian moon-base-mob a smooth line and gets his security- oaths in return; secrecy is Scorpio's specialty. Notice how the photographer wears a white grid design on his suit. This could be Cancer symbolic, and camera men and movie directors could be thought of as being Leo symbols; the camera is then solar Virgo symbolic, a star in a network like in HAL's camera network.
Mr. Floyd and friends head for the dig (Sagittarius) in a rocket-bus (Pisces/Virgo); notice how the cockpit is red- lit, possibly symbolizing Scorpio, and the passenger compartment is blue-lit, possibly symbolizing Cancer who "relaxes" in the Homer Simpson tradition.
At the site, we find that a deliberately buried (culturally purged?) monolith has been uncovered; this establishes the monolith as information or a problem in need of solution that remains "hidden in the darkness" until coaxed into "playing its cards" or giving up its secret in the form of some ether and maybe even a dream because of the relentless "digging;" this is the water hole analogy again; the monolith is "some water in a hole." The yellow color-scheme of this scene symbolizes the solar-logical nature of reality; it is sol that has been formed into a reality. Mr. Floyd "touches the stone" with much intimacy and awe; this establishes Mr. Floyd, quite clearly, as a Scorpio symbol, "to the left" of Libra as we would view it in the alchemical tree, Libra being electromagnetic in nature (illuminated or exited ether). A new reality has just been created, though we don't see it in the form of a dream just yet. The monolith sends its signal (Libra) to Jupiter (rules Cancer) indicating that new "waves" have been created in the universal etheric medium through Dr. Floyd's touch; this is karmic energy balancing in action with the waves eventually being absorbed by the larger body of "water." The sound is analogous to the sunrise; it is both birth and death (like in Death). Notice the design of their snake-helmets (Americans). This is the phallic Orobus; investigation is phallic analogous and snakes symbolize Scorpio who guides consciousness during trance states ("To the opera, James!"). The orobus bites or eats its own tail which symbolizes the initiation behind transformation - continual death and rebirth.
Eighteen months later (1 + 8 = 9), a mission-crew approaches Jupiter-Space. The ship they are in symbolizes a controlled reality or a test-tube reality; it is a controlling machine analogy and its crew is "controlled meat," thus this is another water hole analogy. This controlled reality is a civilization which is a Sagittarius analogy; the ship interior is a dream that emanated from the matrix back when the monolith on the Moon was fondled by Dr. Floyd. We will find out later that this controlled reality is just another one of Dr. Floyd's "kill zones." The majority of the crew are "asleep" and a controlled minority are relatively "awake." The white color-scheme of the ship symbolizes that this reality was "cut from the stone" like all realities; the monolith is the stone carved upon. The communications array built into the "spine" of the ship symbolizes the "genitalia" for this reality-bubble; this cross-references symbolically with a telephone. This would be a "male ship" though because civilization, being compulsory, is patriarchal, thus HAL has a masculine voice.
The two crew members that remain awake are David Bowman who is a caricature of a Leo-class human collective (not a mob though), and Frank Poole, a caricature of Wilhelm Reich maybe, or some other unwilling sacrifice to truth (Deity or Glory). David and Frank (William) are often used as Virgo/Pisces symbolic names, making these two characters Virgo/Pisces symbols; Bow-man is a Leo and Sagittarius symbolic name and Poole is a Sagittarius name; both names cross-reference symbolically with the water hole analogy seen earlier in the film, though David will "find the ocean" later in the film. An arrow is very often symbolic of conscious awareness with a destiny guiding it in stories, thus it is a Virgo/Pisces analogy. All of the names of the crew-members are similar analogies; one name is solar like all names and the other name is a water hole analogy. These two characters are exploited by HAL without realizing they are being exploited by a machine; they are just "awake" enough to be able to perform maintenance on the ship and evolve at a slightly faster rate than the sleeping crew for now. These two crew members have some ability to control the reality symbolized by the ship and can interact with the HAL 9000 computer that they rely upon to actually run most of the systems of the ship; they are very dependent on HAL and HAL also relies upon them to some degree. The sleeping crew members don't even know there is a ship right now, or a HAL 9000 computer. This might be symbolic of compartmentalized "computer control" over civilization and of how this control relies upon a relative minority of compartmentalized, advanced technicians to do research and repair "the ship" without knowing who or what they really work for. They are simply allowed some freedom to "play" compared with the sleeping mob, but they are expected to specialize and not cross too many disciplinary boundaries while doing so.
The HAL 9000 computer is a totem analogy with it's camera arrangement. All of the cameras represent a network of stars that together make up the universe within HAL who is the totem or dream "worshiped" by the crew as it presents itself on screen and via voice-transmission. The solar process, symbolized in the yellow pupil in the camera lense, acts as the pivotal "holographic" process in the creation of reality, including artificial reality- constructs like a civilization or HAL; they balance themselves continually. Big Brother loves to mimic nature, and his "eye" is everywhere it can possibly be. So then, solar analogy is part of every reality explication within this reality bubble; dreams are fashioned of light. The orange wavy pattern that resembles the orange circular arrangement that preceded every Looney Tunes cartoon for years represents the Gemini-matrix (looks red in the 70mm version though). Notice how often the Sun in HAL's lense shows in Dave's groin during scenes shot as a reflection in the lense; he moves through a rather vaginal corridor which is the Sagittarius analogy again. This is as far into their reality as David and Frank can see at this point in the story. HAL is a both an ego and superego analogy, intimately related to the idea and idealism of civilization, and is "infallible" as a conscious entity, which is impossible for anything real and alive, Gemini being the only functional perfection. The ego is the appearance, and the super ego is the demon just behind the friendly appearance. They can communicate with ground control through HAL and each "compartmentalized" crew member will receive instructions as to the true nature of the mission through HAL when deemed appropriate. A "certain pride" can be detected when communicating with HAL; this is the solar analogy again which is made integral with the dream imagery and which is a catalyzing influence on the dream. Beyond some ability to work with their immediate reality on an "informative" basis, they remain blind of a larger reality and of the artificiality that HAL represents; they are blind to the nature of genuine freedom outside the ship even though their respective disciplines allow for them to leave the ship to a limited degree. The rest of the crew is relatively clueless compared with David and Frank, though they might have access to certain realities later that Dave and Frank are to miss out on. Mr. Haywood controls this compartmentalized "phallic" quest into "Jupiter Space;" he contains within himself the cook that put the whole dream together as though it were a soup (Dr. Haywood Floyd who is a "killer.")
HAL prides himself on being put to the fullest possible use and, in this respect, egotistically mimics the functional infinite itself - extreme conscious- inflammatory ambition. This is almost guaranteed to end in techno-schizophrenic disaster, as we shall see. The murderous and genocidal impulses, so carefully developed and perfected in the old deserts, foundation the modern civilized utopia, and constitute HAL's enormous super-ego, which will surface to ego awareness soon enough causing much social trauma. This is analogous to the Fascists trying to take over and then reveal themselves truthfully as a means to relieve tension. The Fascists desire to just "come out with it" and show themselves because they will feel a bit more free in doing so (just like tossing stuff up into space after a war).
Even the semi-enlightened crew members still think of HAL as "just another person," i.e., as the people they see around them every day, like in a world. Frank is speaking as a caricature of a very young Wilhelm Reich here I think.
In the birthday sunbathing scene, Frank wears orange goggles which symbolize trying to see into the destiny of reality through the solar analogy; he is doing his life's work. He receives a transmission from "his parents" - Leo- symbolic father and Cancer-symbolic mother - who wish him a happy birthday. The birthday symbolizes new Virgo symbolic conscious awareness or sunrise; some experiential access gained to information previously out of reach maybe; a dream materializes for Frank to see. The cake is a Sagittarius analogy like the water hole which symbolizes information gained or understood. The candles are a "network of stars" just like HAL's cameras.
We then see the sheer processing power of HAL do what it does best, back people into a corner and "kill, kill, kill;" Death plays chess through HAL. Civilization works much like a computer or cancerous tumor, Frank is defeated in "chess" and has to move to America, the land of those who still think they are free, only to be killed anyway. HAL is a chessboard analogy, so playing chess with HAL is like playing chess with Death. HAL enjoys the game though and a game was chosen for this scene because Wilhelm Reich allowed himself to express true genius, which requires the playful outlook on life and one's very important work.
In this scene, David is drawing pictures of the hibernating crew. This, to me, symbolizes the inspiration and creativity that drives evolutionary pursuit and allows one to see the truth of what is happening around them, including the relative condition of those still "blissfully unaware." Creativity is an important part of the discovery process, which is guided by intuition. David is evolving much as the apes did, only David will influence reality from a Leo perspective rather than an Aquarian; he will even influence his environment from a Taurus perspective. We evolve as we overcome difficulties or even just face them, and evolution can take a bad turn depending upon the decisions made in overcoming difficulties. This inspiration, in its highest form, can be unpredictable to the point where machine-like (neurotic) living processes, such as HAL, can find it threatening and/or "chaotic." The idea that "everything is running smoothly" is the old illusion of safety promoted in the interest of maintaining control over people. HAL tricks David into revealing the nature of his "drawing" to him, and HAL sees the significance of what David is doing even before David does. HAL then "probes" the situation by asking some transparently vague questions about "strange things." David gets right to the heart of the matter and scares HAL into "jumping loops." This is the old change the subject routine. Notice, HAL says "just a moment" twice, this possibly being a Scorpio symbolic hint that mistakes or hesitations were made in "tossing ingredients" into this controlled reality; maybe these "mistakes" were quickly arranged in order to coax a change-of-subject. HAL perceives that there is a problem with his "genitals" though they work just fine; this is analogous to neurotic obsession associated with sex-repression. This is kind of like discovering a pimple down there and then panicking "for some reason" thinking that is just has to be a cancerous tumor. The group psychology report is simply HAL sizing up the population's susceptibility to being controlled.
Once the number one unit is shown to be fully operational. HAL has to create a cover-up which will fail initially, "resolving" the present symbolic stasis at a "lower energy level," as we shall see later. I also feel that the decision to kill was made as a panic-reaction to this unexpected style of creative intelligence, the presumed expectation being "once culturally purged, always culturally purged" (group-psychology report); panic reaction is Scorpio's responsibility. The decision probably involved developing the whole number-one-unit scenario. Destiny is a very strong part of David as a character, and destiny can bring the truth of ourselves into our experiential envelope from way outside of any carefully designed disinformation system. In my opinion, movies like this are designed to test how well large groups of people have been purged culturally, even if the artists themselves have no such intention. If no one "gets it" and writes about it, chances are the population has been purged successfully. The same goes for classical architecture, Shakespear, Beatles albums, and renaissance paintings. Mission control is effectively a part of HAL as far as those trapped within the reality bubble are concerned. The Sun is a small-yet-powerful part of a larger reality; solar power is the power of focus. "Genitals" which are trying to "send and receive transmissions" are Capricorn analogies and are also solar analogous because etheric energy focuses in the genitals before it is released by Death in orgasm or, in HAL's case, released communicating with ground control which is his "heaven" where other HAL 9000's exist.
In the first EVA scene, David wears a red spacesuit (always red in the 70mm version). I think this is one reason David is a collective symbol compared with Frank who wears Virgo yellow (Virgo "stands alone"); red is Leo or collective-cooperative-symbolic. The whole EVA process is analogous to the process of actively maintaining your government and its constitution, a process that can still be controlled in a totalitarian fashion even though the population is allowed to be involved in the process. This suit symbolizes his true destiny as being "easily switched on" to "just beyond quantum reality," as well as his unwitting destiny within the HAL-syndicate; Leo thinks he's the mission-commander, but Scorpio's got secret designs on the situation. His "destiny" is to navigate through a reality just enough to allow the compartmentalized survey-team to experience one reality- level, while David is to miss out on the specific experience. He gets to take the survey team into Jupiter space and that is it.
Back in the ship, David and Frank find out HAL was probably wrong about the number-one-unit (phallic unit). HAL might be panicking: "Do they know about the broke-dick nature of civilization?" This naturally makes one question the perfection of HAL which now seems more like a safety illusion to the awake crew members who eventually come to the conclusion that "we would be in very serious trouble" if HAL is malfunctioning. A network of stars ghosting the machinery of civilization makes mistakes compared with nature which ultimately, in its truly infinite aspect, does not make mistakes; though more stars makes each individual mistake more insignificant, large-scale mistakes being less likely except as neurotic mass- character structure promotes. HAL just failed to mimic the high goddess of Gemini perfectly. They report their findings to the HAL-filtered ground-control and receive word that another HAL predicts that their HAL was in error (the communist HAL maybe?). This would be the attempt by HAL to maintain out-perspective on Dave and Frank who are threatening to become "cooks." It would be hoped that they would not question HAL if another HAL caught the fault. HAL blows it by reacting egotistically to Dave's questions about the infallibility of the 9000-series (Republican form of government?). By gloating over a perfect operational record, HAL reveals his true nature as an artificial substitute for true reality; HAL's "perfection" is inflated egotism. Dave and Frank begin to realize the weight of the situation (Discovered some concentration camps maybe?). They might be longing for a genuinely free world right about now which is a goddess analogy; they feel trapped within HAL.
In the pod, David and Frank decide to shut HAL down, i. e., heal the sick civilization. "Something strange" is a Scorpio analogy (strangle: Dr Strangelove) and would indicate that there are paranoid controllers influencing HAL's function from a hidden perspective (Dr. Floyd). The technicalities of the endeavor to be undertaken are not above their heads, if their respective disciplines are not isolated from one another. They make the mistake of not awakening the crew though there is safety in numbers, though maybe the "crew" cannot "wake up." The crew might say: "that's just a bunch of conspiracy-genre man!" Notice, that Frank is more "emotionally centered" than David, this makes him the more immediate threat to HAL. Dave is "afraid" he agrees with Frank, indicating that fear (anxiety-stasis) must be experienced and neutralized to realize the danger of HAL in any practical fashion. Neurotic people tend to panic right after receiving "the old wake up call." Cutting into HAL's higher brain- functions means accessing HAL's controlling matrix in a Taurus analogous manner and then "killing" HAL which is a Scorpio task.
Intermission and entr'acte are Virgo symbols; this is where Frank is murdered (sacrificed). HAL cannot allow someone with knowledge about the true nature of human emotion to delve into the study the exterior of the ship and discover how reality is actually made. The exterior of the ship is a freedom analogy; it is the high goddess with stars in her hair. Initially, Dave thinks the murder was an accident and attempts a rescue. I think this symbolizes trying to catch up with Wilhelm Reich's career for a few decades before serious progress can be made in the field of orgone biophysics again. Plans would be initiated in the interest of neutralizing this emerging threat. The trip out to save Frank strikes me as being symbolic of the attempt to save the life-work of Dr. Wilhelm Reich and how civilization is willing to kill billions to short circuit the attempt (an ejaculation analogy). HAL makes the knowledgeable minority an isolated minority, then attempts to kill them off. Notice how the various lights in the pod cockpit make light-patterns on Dave's head, symbolizing the influence of field-harmony upon Dave's thought processes.
HAL kills the sleeping crew or opens the secret concentration camps, or starts a war. The awake minority is unable to avert disaster, yet again. The majority is now relatively awake because the collective stupor is killed by the extreme terror that no one could possibly ignore; death is also birth and enlightenment via transformation. Dave is now symbolic of a much larger percentage of the population.
The awakened population's reality-bubble faces off against the berserk mob's reality-bubble; this symbolized by the famous face-off in outer space between David and HAL. The superior, inspired intelligence of "the awake" wins the battle. I think that the explosive entrance back into the ship symbolizes the trauma associated with a birth-like rite of passage back into the civil sphere, rather like an ejaculation associated with the "death" of the pod; David is a phallic symbol remember, and shoots himself like an arrow through the oppression symbolized by the "vaginal" emergency airlock which is its own style of killing zone that must be endured; it is a bad dream. This airlock or exit door procedure analogy was borrowed in making Alien and Fight Club. David now has the know-how and the opportunity to "transform" HAL; this is the old "cutting death down to size" routine (reduction of government). Notice, he now wears the green snake-helmet which symbolizes Taurus' initiative. The orange motif of the logic-memory center symbolizes Gemini (information) - HAL's destiny (was red in the 70mm version but is so clearly orange in the digitally remastered DVD version, so I use orange). Dave can now make corrections here as a Taurus analogy (the will of the people). The Taurus analogy has the ability to make the demon go crazy and lose his mind. Taurus is the solvent initiative. Scorpio kills the mind at a more organic level, splintering it.
As HAL's mind goes, we can learn of the distorted layers of the mind that foundation sick-egotism, i. e., a severe lack of self-esteem associated with sexual repression and desertified socioeconomic reality; Daisy is a Taurus symbol that HAL "loves." Beneath the sick layers lies the truth of what HAL knows; he knows he is effectively dead; Scorpio rules over him compared with Taurus and the other Kerubs. Notice the circle in the upper lefthand corner of the video screen (Scorpio); the monolith was buried forty feet down beneath the lunar surface (40 = 4 = decimal number for Libra) and it is four-million years old. The fact that HAL knew so much compared with the crew is alchemical symbolism again that relates to the nature of the dark night of the soul archetype as a dark, sinister dream which can successfully hoard information for itself that the crew really should have known before leaving home, a dream which needs light and life. This scene with Dr. Floyd that appears is simply a dream that materializes in the "pediment" that David is manipulating right now; Dr. Floyd is "spilling his guts" (Ref: Thoth version of Death). This is the same as the super ego absorbing all of that libido meant for the ego and the information within the ether that the libido could bring into life through the ego. The super ego is a "vampire;" neurotic Scorpio being the primordial vampire. I'm not saying that people who keep secrets are evil or bad automatically. I don't consider it to be my right to walk into the local masonic lodge and "demand the truth or else." If I'm worth a damn, I'll get the information I need or want through my life and its quest.
You have to go up the tree at least as far as Jupiter (Cancer) to be able to interact with the stone in its primary etheric state; and this is where the big orgasm in the film takes place. Dave doesn't realize that it is not his nature to interface consciously with this stone, as the resulting solar ecstacy is too powerful. This orgasm will be death itself, and that means another trip for David. When David "becomes the monolith," his physical self is obliterated, i. e., aspects of his nature associated with this dimension cease to exist. His higher dimensional self accelerates into its home-dimension; he is shot like an arrow into "the stars." Notice how the music works with the imagery. Virgo/Pisces prefers to experience realities rather than touch them. Leo touches Cancer and Cancer kills Leo; Leo is often called upon in movies to sacrifice his conscious awareness for a "higher" good. Sacrifice is simply transformation with its death and rebirth.
In this higher dimension, Dave forgets his lower dimensional life in stages and becomes his higher self, another body of his in another dimension within which his conscious mind can find refuge for a while, living this other life. Scorpio creates all of out etheric bodies in all dimensions that our conscious minds can relate to. This happens every time we fall asleep when an etheric double, real-time body, and a multitude of astral bodies are created just as our conscious mind is "killed unnecessarily." Being in a house symbolizes being in a matrix, a common movie analogy, again used in Fight Club. This is also a dream, so it is a Sagittarius analogy. The house is used as a space analogy here because David is still a "fast mover" relative to the house for as long as he maintains the perspective of still existing in his former dimension (the pod). At this level of his being, Dave is in the process of enjoying a fine meal which symbolizes the sacrifice of Dave's life in a lower dimension which again is a Virgo/Pisces analogy. He drops "the Grail" of David's lower dimensional nature indicating to him that his life in the lower dimension has ended. The home dimensional field-harmony left behind is also symbolized in the table-cloth arrangement which is a matrix from which a dream, in the form of a meal, emanates. Virgo/Pisces David was the meal, and the Air- elemental knife is a Sagittarius analogy set into motion with the Scorpio symbolic right hand, the Libra symbolic left hand holding the fork. His higher self shapes David's destiny in the dimension below; he must now live and die in this dimension. Notice the design of the Gemini/Sagittarius symbolic bed; getting in bed, under the covers, is rather symbolic of sexual intercourse. The light in the floor symbolizes being at a higher frequency field-harmonic interval relative to the one where David hit the "heavy stone;" the floor is Cancer symbolic for the dimension-left-behind and Cancer killed David there. This death scene symbolizes how all deaths might be "rendered natural" in a dream. This might be the symbolic basis for Stanley Kubrick's "death of natural causes."
David is now reborn through the Moon and into a new life (reincarnation). The foetus in space makes space a uterine analogy. The obelisk acts as the tactile, etheric aspect of the matrix which carries all dimensions, thus it is "filled with stars." HAL is damaged but still exists; the civilization is started up again in 2010. Wilhelm Reich's entire life-work becomes available to the public in 2007, if it survives any purging influences that may "arise;" valuable things do tend to disappear in our world. I think the sulfur layer that covers the ship in 2010 is a solar symbol relating to HAL and civilization as an institution, sulfur being a solar alchemical symbol. This might symbolize a civilization "collecting dust." (080502)
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