Thursday, June 13, 2019

2016 - Netzach - 10 Cloverfield Lane

Michelle: What are you going to do to me?
Howard: I am going to keep you alive.  You were in an accident and I brought you inside.  Everyone out there is dead.

10 Cloverfield Lane, Campbell, Stuecken, Chazelle


10 Cloverfield Lane was adapted from a script called ''The Cellar'' and shoe-horned into JJ Abrams ''Cloverfield Universe'' by adding the alien invasion ending.  The film, while wonderfully displaying all the attributes of a Netzach movie of 2016 [1+6 = 7], is said to ''stick out like a sore thumb'' in its digression from the core themes of ''Cloverfield'' i.e. a found footage monster movie.  This is worth keeping in mind as we position this movie in the larger theory which has to handle production realities - like writers, artists, marketing, cinema release dates and so on and who may or may not be ''in the know''.  Regardless the decision to attach this script to the Cloverfield brand would have greatly increased the size of the audience and therefore the impact of the pathwork.


As I said in the previous post on The Arrival I thought that that movie was more of a path-walking towards Netzach (Venus) via the Tower Card and that other movies would explore the Sefira more closely.  One of the early clues in making this distinction was the magical image of the beautiful naked woman which you can see in the correspondences below.  While Amy Adams is certainly beautiful, at no point in the Arrival does she undress or become less dressed in an overtly sexual way.  Compare this to other movies from the 2016 list like Tarzan [which offers Margot Robbie as Jane] or Bad Neighbours 2 [which features hordes of scantily clad sorority girls].  Unlike those movies which might revel in [the] feminine sexual power [of Venus], 10 Cloverfield Lane sees a half-dressed, beautiful, vulnerable woman trapped in a basement where sexual abuse by her captor is a definite possibility.  Rather than using her charms for herself to get what she wants, her charms present a danger to herself.

  • TITLE: Netzach, Victory
  • NUMBER: 7
  • COLOUR: Green
  • ALCHEMICAL METAL/ORE: Copper, Malachite
  • MAGICAL IMAGE: A Beautiful Naked Woman
  • OTHER TITLES: Firmness, stoicism
  • ARCHANGEL: Haniel
  • ORDER OF ANGELS: Elohim [Gods]
  • VIRTUE: Unselfishness
  • VICE: Lust, promiscuity
  • MUNDANE CHAKRA: Venus, Nogah
  • CORRESPONDENCE IN MICROCOSM: Loins, hips, legs [importantly in the Zohar, these areas and therefore Hod and Netzach are both associated with prophecy]
  • SYMBOLS: Lamp and Girdle.  The Rose.

10 CLOVERFIELD LANE, NOT 7 CLOVERFIELD LANE?

If this is a Netzach movie then why 10 Cloverfield Lane and not 7?  If you watch the movie you will see that one of the mysteries of the piece is that Howard, our antagonist, had captured a local girl, and was keeping her in his bunker to act as a replacement for his own lost daughter, Megan.  This brings us to this ever recurring Qabalistic theme of the Fallen Daughter [which we have seen in nearly every apocalypse themed offering from Netflix this year].  So while Michelle, the heroine, is not the Fallen Daughter [this is represented by Megan, ''who is no longer with us''], she is forced to live in the shoes of the Fallen Daughter and ends up escaping through her ''hatch''.  This fall is visually realised in the design of the poster [shown above] which shows that ''10'' is at the bottom [of the tree of life] and that she must ''escape'' from it.  For those really into this consider that the name of that fallen daughter, Megan, means Pearl.  Here we link the Pearl to Malkuth.


MESSAGE FROM FALLEN DAUGHTER MEGAN [10] 

GREEN




While I would argue that this movie takes place ''inside'' Netzach as opposed to the path towards it you will see some reference to the orange.  This is particularly true at the end of the film but this ''orange'' relates to the copper which is extracted as the alchemical virtue.  Otherwise the sheer quantity of green used in the production elements is evidence that they were trying to represent the Green Sefira.

GREEN BUNKER

GREEN WALLPAPER + GREEN CHEQUERED SHIRT

GREEN SHIRT

GREEN CABINETS + NOTE LAMP

GREEN BOXES + NOTE LAMP

GREEN CAP

GREEN LIGHTING SPECIAL

GREEN LIGHTING SPECIAL


GREEN BOARD GAME, ORANGE PATHS

GREEN ACID

GREEN CIRCUIT BOARD

As you can see from the above [and again the list is not exhaustive] Green is a major design choice in costumes, lighting, set and props.  



GREEN PRODUCTS + CHAIR

MORE GREEN PRODUCTS

GREEN PRODUCTS + GREEN PILLOWS

Many supplies in the survival bunker are coloured green, and most of the rest lack distinguishing features.  The arrow was added by another (exoteric!) reviewer to show how odd it was to draw attention to that product.  The green products are just another element in the overall greening of this place.

BEAUTIFUL (NAKED) WOMAN AND VENUS





NOTE GREEN HALF-WALL AND ''LAMP''
In the early parts of the film, Michelle, the protagonist, is only partially clothed and as I discussed in the opening paragraphs this is to draw attention to her physical beauty- note the damaged leg which may draw attention to the correspondence in the microcosm like we saw in Skyfall which through damage to a side of the face of the bad guy drew attention to it.  Later, she is dressed in a shirt which says ''Je t'aime Paris'' - I love Paris, which is of course the city of love and appropriate to Venus.  This symbol is highlighted by the doubling up of the Eiffel Tower one the shirt, and in a picture on the wall behind her.

CITY OF LOVE, I LOVE
I'd also like to speculate here that the two male characters in the film represent Ares and Hephaestus, or Mars and Vulcan.  Ares had an affair with Aphrodite, symbolised by their alliance in the film, which triggered Hephaestus to imprison them both.  I am not exactly sure about that and will investigate further and update but I feel that that is probably correct.  Note which arm is in the sling and then compare to the ''correspondence in the microcosm'' from Gevurah [Mars] and see above.  My doubts here are that the male character's name is Emmett which means truth and Howard means guardian or warden so the symbolism could be ''operating on two levels at once...very clever.''

MARS, VENUS, VULCAN

FIRMNESS AND LUST

The virtue of Netzach is said to be firmness or stoicism which Michelle demonstrates in abundance - as she carries on through pain and in an extreme environment - and the vice is said to be lust - demonstrated in Howard's psychostyle capture of the girl who replaces his fallen daughter [Megan] and ''who isn't with us anymore.''

ELOHIM


The Elohim are portrayed as the eponymous Cloverfield aliens.  They are very different from the alien monster from the 1st movie and are represented more classically as an organic space craft as opposed to a random beastie.  Compare the green gas they spray on her with the green acid threat in the bunker she is running from.  Also worth comparing with the way the ''Elohim'' are portrayed in the Arrival.


EPITHETS OF VENUS

As we saw in Stranger Things 2 Mercury* was called through a variety of different epithets.  It seems that this movie uses a similar strategy evoking the goddess by systematically placing Michelle in situations which use those epithets.  I have presented a discussion of a selection of these different epithets below but there are probably more for those who want to dig deeper.
  • Venus Felix - lucky
  • Venus Genetrix - domestic
  • Venus Libertina - freed woman
  • Venus Victrix - victorious
  • Venus Cloacina - purifier [of posioned air]

VENUS FELIX

''Lucky Venus'' is represented by how many times Michelle is saved by fortune, a fortune which begins in what is actually her lucky survival in the car crash and consequent rescue [or she would have been killed in the Cloverfield Apocalypse ensuing in the outside world], and the various moments where luck intervenes to save her when she is planning her escape.



VENUS GENETRIX

During the middle section of the film, Michelle is shown in various domestic scenes involved in cleaning, cooking and generally relaxing in the environment.

NOTE THE JIGSAW, FISHBOWL GREEN SPHERE WITH ORANGE GOLD FISH


GAME OF LIFE WITH ''WIFE'' PIECES



VENUS LIBERTINA



''Free'' Venus is evoked by the many and various scenes which show her attempting to escape, escaping and finally having had escaped.



VENUS CLOACINA



Venus Cloacina, ''the purifier'', was the Goddess of Filth as well as Purity and presided over the Sewers in order to guarantee clean air.  As you will know from watching the film one of the key plot points is that the outside contains poisoned air and, convinced of this by the evidence of the dead pigs and mutilated woman, ''Michelle'' must construct a hazmat suit to ''purify the air'' in order to survive.  By the Numbers.  She must crawl through the ventilation system to achieve her escape.  Again compare and contrast with hazmat suit use in The Arrival of the same year.


VENUS VICTRIX

VICTORY MOLOTOV
''Michelle'' is victorious in the film, defeating the alien space craft that attacks her with a swiftly fashioned molotov cocktail!  As ridiculous as this victory seemed note how artfully she has been likened to the statue of liberty which was a very important symbol in the Cloverfield movie, and a statue which is plated in copper.  Note that The Purge movie that also came out in 2016 also showed the copper Statue of Liberty.



The final decision she is confronted with ''Houston or Baton Rouge'' was a choice between joining refugees or joining the military fight back.  She chooses to fight back.  This is also the most unselfish thing to do.  Ra girl power...


COPPER

UNDER THE MALACHITE SKY


As I discussed in the original theory and as we have seen in other films we have analysed we can talk about the ''virtue'' of the film being the virtue of the character's transformation and that this can be symbolised by crafty reference to the metal.  I would make the argument that this yellow-orange-red jury-rigged hazmat suit is probably representing copper, purified from the malachite of the house, and is the final visual symbol of her resolve [firmness, stoicism].



CLOSING THOUGHTS


Crazy is building your ark, after the flood has already come.

Howard, 10 Cloverfield Lane

*Increasing the quality of this review of Stranger Things 2 and using more visual imagery is on my list and I'll relaunch when I get to 2018.  When I wrote it I was only on the very edge of these observations of Chris Knowles and had not at that point developed the overarching theory. The use of epithets is certainly worth exploring more.



6 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Hi Blogos, you said:
    "It may well be that the project is insidious and part of an global ritual of some form, and while certainly disconcerted by what I have discovered I am not drawing a firm conclusion yet."

    Given what was "released" to the world in 2020, and that there appeared to be a definite countdown to this 2020 event (as detailed in your blog), I was wondering if you had drawn any conclusions yet about what might be going on or who is behind it? Thanks for your excellent blog.

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    1. 10 Cloverfield Lane eh...? ;-) Yes lots of conclusions Smokescreen:

      2020-2029 as the Tree of the Qliphoth is the most important and potentially terrifying of them if you want to open that trapdoor.

      http://hermeticlessons.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-unifying-colour-theory-several-dark.html

      Cult Movie Structural Map of the Qliphoth Theory 2020-2029:

      https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JTixhrIunto/YTipq-3hsbI/AAAAAAAAGIg/oxUefqQBUoIhPIX2-PI2CzmHmI6llWAYACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/tree-of-lifetime4.png

      What we are doing is testing this hypothesis that ''the script'' of the world is actually genuinely a script. Tested according to the same principles as the Unifying Colour Theory (i.e. the Qabalistic symbolism is arranged systematically) but in reality, reality as stage/altar, or rather us on the other side of the screen.

      2020 has the same inherent quaternary structure of Malkuth but in reverse as it is Qliphothic, in this case Lilith. But from there we were puzzling over how the inverted Yesod symbolism of Yesod would be *structured*. It was rapidly established that the symbolism was there its been a very strong feature of the year. Through mixed metaphysical investigations which I cannot elaborate on I was lead to the Rocky Horror Picture Show as a structure. Since then we've been subjecting that to a series of tests which it has passed well beyond my original expectations. You can RHPS as a ritual to Gamaliel, the Qlipha of Yesod. Likewise A Clockwork Orange acts as a ritual for Samael, the Qlipha of Hod.

      Good luck.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR7q-qf3VSQ&ab_channel=grayfox36

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  3. Thank you for your response Blogos. Lots in there I don't understand yet but endeavoring to become more aquainted with the ideas. The Unifying Colour Theory is amazing. But I am always forced to consider...what is going on? Why put all this effort into synchronizations and other occult aspects in films? This effort must serve some purpose. And while it does appear to serve ritualistic purposes, I wonder if it's possible that these carefully planted images/colours/signs/messages act as a sort of hiding-in-plain-sight communication channel between separated/anonymous factions or groups of the cult behind these actions and plots. A methodology to keep the conspiracy on track.

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    1. So why the effort really depends on how you see the prima materia. If you are a material reductionist then I can say that red light increases adrenaline production and blue wavelengths decrease so I might alter colours for those effects alone. Other colours have other physical effects.

      But the prima materia changes as you develop as a alchemist or qabalist, ''matter'' in the sense it is understood by all the feckless pedestrians out there is very 101. That's why its taught to peasants in state schools, right? And ''real knowledge'' is reserved for the elite. Lets look at how the *prima materia* changes as you advance up the ''levels'' (n.b. I use different attributions in my QBL work so this is ''their'' system).

      Malkuth (Earth): Matter (explain their work in physicalist terms like energy, magnetism, etc)

      Yesod: Unconsciousness (explain their work in dream logic as reality is, at this level, fundamentally a dream and reacts the same way - the use of symbols is then about ''dreamweaving'')

      Hod: Information/Linguistics (explain their work in editing the language/code of the universe, believe reality is reducible to code/signals/signs/semiology, reality is fundamentally linguistic)

      Netzach: Spirit (explain their work in terms of treatment with spirits, animism - all is spirit, the great spirit, pantheism)

      Tifereth: Mind (explain their work in panpsychic terms, what is possible is possible because this is all fundamentally ''mental'')

      etc...

      So someone thinking/operating about ''it'' in Hodian terms might see semiotics, whereas someone thinking/operating about it in Netzachian terms might see rituals for spirits. The purpose of the (psychological) alchemical operation is the same as it is ever been, transformation.

      ''They have compared the "prima materia" to everything, to male and female, to the hermaphroditic monster, to heaven and earth, to body and spirit, chaos, microcosm, and the confused mass; it contains in itself all colors and potentially all metals; there is nothing more wonderful in the world, for it begets itself, conceives itself, and gives birth to itself.''

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    2. TO be more specific, Yesod and Tifereth (approach to the prima materia in this model) is really the difference between thinking the universe is asleep or awake, the eye closed & the eye open. These positions require completely different operations although they share the basic principle of ''mind''. I hope that was more clear.

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