Throughout history mirrors have served many different purposes. At one point they were used to see the future, at another point they were used as dimensional traveling devices, and they are still to this day used by Occultist (click here for more on the history of mirrors).
This phenomena has been commercialized through popular culture via none other than Disney. the witch in Sleeping Beauty had her magic mirror mirror on the wall that told her the fairest of them all, and of course Alice traveled to another dimension "through the looking glass" in Alice in Wonderland.
As I was a Madonna fan for a number of years, I was always aware that she presents themes through a series of what she calls "art installations" (Installation art describes an artistic genre of site-specific, three-dimensional works designed to transform the perception of a space; changing perception = magic). What I mean by this is she will present a theme in one video, song, or performance, and continue and expand that theme in another project (like a ritual).After the commercial failure of her 2003 album American Life, Madonna set out to return to the controversy, dance driven persona she had first emerged with 20 years ago and re-capture that magic. The first step in this direction was 2004's Re-Invention Tour which saw her performing many of her older hits from the 80's and 90's. One of those hits was 1994's "Bedtime Story" which was written by Bjork and produced by Nelle Hooper.
The performance featured a video projection of a brand new music video to a remix of the song.
To me the Through the Looking Glass connection is very obvious. Below we see Madonna looking through the looking glass.
She then falls down the rabbit hole into "unconsciousness" (disassociation).
I'm late, I'm late for a very important date!
In 2005 Madonna released "Hung Up", her first top 10 hit since the American Life backlash. People accused her of copying Gwen Stefani's "What You Waitin For?" even though when Gwen released her song they said she was copying Madonna. You may remember Gwen's video had an Alice In Wonderland theme. Click here to watch it.
Madonna - Hung Up
The song "Hung Up" features the reptitive line "time goes by so slowly" along with the sound of a ticking clock. The "time" theme is one she would continue with 2008's "4 Minutes" but I'll get to that later.
The music video for Hung Up features many dimension traveling symbolism with a reoccuring theme of disassociation.
Madonna is a fashion icon and she made headlines by wearing a leotard for the music video.
When you think of a leotard you think of dancing. As I explain here, dance is pretty much a code word for disassociation.
LOL, Lady Gaga and Shakira are the only ones out of these ladies that Justin has yet to collaborate with.
But back to the "Hung Up" videp.
First of all we see Madonna with her radio. She is under the influence of her on muse(ic).
In the making of the video for "Hung Up" Madonna explained that she represents a muse in the music video. As the various characters tune into her vibe on the radio they come alive and begin dancing.
Here we see yet another example of this as characters, located in LA, begin dancing to the sound of Madonna with their radio nearby.
The dancers then get into a cab. This is important because as I mentioned here the cab is a dimension traveling symbol. In this scenario they are transporting the dimensions of time and space. By the way, I recently found this video of an analysis of the film The Ninth Gate (pretty good film). At 8:89 he gets into the checkberboard and cab symbolism.
Here we see the Dragon symbolism. The Dragon is a symbol of spiritual energy, in some cultures it replaces the serpent (Kundalini, Enter The Dragon).
Later on in the video we see that the dancers step out of the cab/chariot and magically end up in London still carrying their radio.
They then ride another dimensional transporting device, which I discussed here, the Subway/train.
Finally they all end up playing Dance Dance Revolution (WTF? In a club?).
The video ends with Madonna still in the room with the mirror. So it was all a dream, trance, disassociation.I will leave you with the first promotional ad for the Confessions On A Dance Floor album. The telephone booth is yet another portal symbol.
The phone booth has been repeatedly shown as a time traveling Stargate. The Alice in Wonderland or Aldous Huxley's "Doors of Perception" theme, is evident in almost every available medium. See what checkerboard and Atlantean symbolism have to do with traversing the dimensions, and how the sacred black cat is a symbol for fluctuations in the holographic universe. Crowley and David Bowie make their way back into the symbolic fray as well.
Click here for more on that.
Speaking of the dimensional traveling checkberboard, check out Madonna's latest re-invention of "Hung Up".
To be continued, see how another Queen fits into all of this.
