Understandin David Bowie's Ashes to Ashes

Notes to Understanding David Bowie’s Ashes to Ashes

David Bowie’s 1980’s song and video Ashes to Ashes is a classic dream journey and understanding it will explain the fundamentals of a “journey into the Unconscious.” It is a mythical journey fraught with psychological danger ("I shall waste no time passing judgment on those among my initial companions who have become frightened and turned back . . ." - Andre Breton); the one who will survive is the one who can see – and walk – “as a child.” C.G. Jung pointed out that this must be as a child sees, not like a child sees. It often becomes a kind of infantilism; one acts like a child to avoid adulthood and responsibility. But not Bowie. He feels first broken and afraid – “no money, no hair” – useless to the world even with his material and celebrity success. And now he is genuinely afraid, because he is receiving a “call form the Unconscious." He has received a call form the “action man”/ the SELF - a call form teh Unconscious – “oh not, say it’s not true.” He understands the danger of the dream journey, which causes madness to the many artists who actually enters the Unconscious and are unable to navigate. You should look at this video as telling two storys: The pictures tell one story as a painting or a children’s folk tale tells a story. The words tell another story. For the mythical dream journey, the words are irrelevant. Entering the Unconscious actualizes different region of the psyche; words fail there as the artist enters a kind of trance - the more lucid the trance, the more irrelevant the words and teh more important the picture story: dreams talk in pictures. The artist follows Anima; the female inner spirit – much as Neo in the Matrix followed the girl with the white rabbit tattoo. Bob Dylan in “Visions of Johanna” and John Lennon - “The girl with kaleidoscope eyes” - in “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” both follow Anima into the deep part of the Unconscious where the artist jewels are (Lennon finds an eight-pointed star; a BaGua - in this case an approximation of SELF as well) - there they came up with their best and most lasting work. These two, with Bowie’s Ashes to Ashes are among the most profound of artistic expression of that period. Anima brings Bowie to the Earth Mother herself – the spirit of the earth. He enters “as a child” dressed for the journey in clown suit. Remarkably – better even than in the Dylan and Lennon pieces - he encounters the Three Sisters; the essence of yin consciousness and the ancient Brittania earth memory of the Earth Mother religion. This runs parallel to the German folk tale – and many others – of the Rhine Maidens – another aspect of the Three Sisters archetype; they tempt the adept to the bottom of the river – the Unconscious: that is where the gold nuggets are. But only the artist may go there and in during so, the artist, reflecting Bowie’s comments at the beginning on “sordid details” of love, loses the gift of love.



And Siegfried, the external warrior is warned away. But Loki, the Trickster, archetype of the artist, with the flaming red hair, can be seen as a prototype of Bowie, dangles his toe in the water.



The external story is conspicuously about drugs but that is irrelevant to the inner story - and always a good marketing tool. It is the journey into the Unconscious which is causing him fear and trepidation. The earth mover plows through and eventually ballerina - Bowie's anima guide - and the Three Sisters lead him to SELF; the core of human psyche. The use of drugs with these three - Dylan, Lennon and Bowie - at first drops away the normal external reality and the artist finds ability to enter there. But it is irrelevant to the actual journey. Here though is what makes the artist: Many took drugs, but only these three and a few others found their way to the SELF. As with the Surrealists, these are extremely private and conservative stories; little windows to God, said Marie Louis von France, hiding in distraction and bizarro to dissuade the uninitiated. (This is the actual drawing which inspired "Lucy in the Sky" done by Lennon's son Julian. The star in the right top has eight points.)




David Bowie - Ashes to Ashes; the Way of the Three Sisters

In an illustration on how the “three sisters" accompany the artist’s journey, the video on David Bowie’s “Ashes to Ashes” available on You Tube is instructive. It is a most creative tune which recalls the “action man” – that would be Major Tom (Self), from ten years earlier in Bowie’s career (“Ashes to ashes/funk to funky/ we know Major Tom’s a junkie.”). What is interesting about this video is that Bowie expresses drug addiction but without fear and loathing; rather as a channel between Creative Anima and Working Ego and Self. He doesn’t have to fight to find Eros/Anima. If finds him. In one of the photos he is walking with the three “dark sisters" – and dressed like a clown/trickster - the artist path - with a “real world” dancing girl behind him. She is Anima who guided him here to the heart of the Earth Mother.



Real Girl is Anima; he follows her lead and the Three Sisters find him. But Major Tom, the Action Man/Self, finds him as well. Major Tom is pictured here as firmly male Bowie in space suit; but living in a womb, connected by tubes to “mother”; resting in the womb of the Divine/Earth Mother. This is a perfect image of Self residing in Psyche (I can't find a picture of it on line but it is in the video). In another still he is in the kitchen with the Three Sisters; one wearing a cross - the kitchen is always the womb - a cave - in such a dream or active imagination.



Bowie walks the way of the artist without resistance or complaint. More than most other artists he is able to leave the Mother and return to his ego - man in suit - see how comfortable and relaxed and happy he is in this picture when he is just entertaining. AS Emerson says, when the muse leaves you go work in your garden. Reality is the saving retreat in the way of the artist.



More on Three Sisters here in The Titan and the Egg. Here is Arthur and the Three Sisters at the Death of Arthur.



This Bowie clip is one of the most perfect manifestations of Deathless Child/Self and Three Sisters – See Robert Graves, The White Goddess – the Way of the Three Sisters was Britannia religion until the 14th century. As Bowie is an Englishman, he is actualizing and manifesting ancient memory.


Understanding David Bowie’s Ashes to Ashes

David Bowie’s 1980’s song and video Ashes to Ashes is a classic dream journey and understanding it will explain the fundamentals of a “journey into the Unconscious.” It is a mythical journey fraught with psychological danger; the one who will survive is the one who can see – and walk – “as a child.” C.G. Jung pointed out that this must be as a child sees, not like a child sees. It often becomes a kind of infantilism; one acts like a child to avoid adulthood and responsibility. But not Bowie. He feels first broken and afraid – “no money, no hair” – useless to the world even with his material and celebrity success. And now he is genuinely afraid, because he is receiving a “call form the Unconscious. He has received a call form the “action man” – “oh not, say it’s not true.” He understands the danger of the dream journey, which causes madness to the artist who actually enters the Unconscious. You should look at this video as telling two story is: The pictures tell one story as a painting or a children’s folk tale tells a story. The words tell another story. For the mythical dream journey, the words are irrelevant. Entering the Unconscious actualizes different region of the psyche; words fail there as the artist enters a kind of trance. The artist follows Anima; the female inner spirit – much as Neo in the Matrix followed the girl with the white rabbit tattoo. Bob Dylan in “Visions of Johanna” and John Lennon - “The girl with kaleidoscope eyes” - in “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” both follow Anima into the deep part of the Unconscious where the artist jewels are (Lennon finds an eight-pointed star; a BaGua - in this case an approximation of SELF as well). These two, with Bowie’s Ashes to Ashes are among the most profound of artistic expression of that period. Anima brings Bowie to the Earth Mother herself – the spirit of the earth. He enters “as a child” dressed for the journey in clown suit. Remarkably – better even than in the Dylan and Lennon pieces, he encounters the Three Sisters; the essence of yin consciousness. This runs parallel to the German folk tale – and many others – of the Rhine Maidens – another aspect of the Three Sisters archetype; they tempt the adept to the bottom of the river – the Unconscious: that is where the gold nuggets are. But only the artist may go there and in during so, the artist, reflecting Bowie’s frustration at the beginning on “sordid details” of love, loses the gift of love. And Siegfried, the external warrior - the extrovert - is warned away.



Loki, however, he of the flaming red hair; the Trickster, prototype for the artist, who can be seen as a prototype of Bowie the artist, dangles his toe in the water with the Rhine women.



The story is conspicuously about drugs but that is irrelevant to the inner story. It is the journey into the Unconscious which is causing him fear and trepidation. The earth mover plows through and eventually ballerina and the Three Sisters lead him to SELF; the core of human psyche. The use of drugs with these three at first drops away the normal external reality and the artist finds ability to enter there. But it is irrelevant to the actual journey. Here though is what makes the artist: Many took drugs, but only these three and a few others found their way to the SELF. As with the Surrealists, these are extremely private and conservative stories; little windows to God, said Marie Louis von France, hiding in distraction to dissuade the uninitiated.