Occult interpretations of "The Phantom of the Opera"

[Haelos]

"The story of a lonely, mutilated Bard, who uses his power of Music to hypnotize a women into performing sexual favors." (jokes)


Those of you who have seen this movie, or read the book; What do you think of the (many) occult references in the story?
And what of those in the music itself?

I find the soundtrack for this movie to be extremely powerful, and tonight is my first time listening to it in a long time. I've already seen a lot of the more esoteric things that are hidden it it. References I never would have understood before.


What's your opinion on this story?

The composer of this music did some amazing things.

[Hadit]

I was asked to explain the concept of True Will using the next work of fiction I watched or read. Well, I just saw Phantom of the Opera, so let’s have at it.

The supporting characters in the story, from dancers to managers, represent the mundane individuals inhabiting our world. They see strange things around them but always remind itself its nothing or jump to outrageous superstition, such as that a malevolent ghost is the cause of the problems (although the Phantom is seen as much more a demon than simply a ghost). They are surrounded by the occult goings on but essentially oblivious to it.

Christine represents the practitioner. She was another mundane individual until she began interacting with hidden forces (the Phantom) and gained the power of music. The story of Phantom, both book and movie/show, treats music in a magical way. It is comparable to the idea of uttering a Word or to there being magical components to language and music itself – not exactly a complex idea for us. She is divided between the normal world of light and the hidden world of darkness, and as an obviously conservative and traditional individual she fears the darkness up until the very end.

Raoul represents the light and conscious aspects of the individual. He is Christine’s tie to the external, real world and the force that fights back against the Phantom. He first tries to convince Christine her Angel is a delusion, but once he has evidence of the Phantom’s existence he helps to balance the scales of power. This is the conscious will aspect of True Will. We have to control and understand the dark aspects of ourselves to find our True Will, and Raoul represents exactly that. He is weaker than the Phantom but uses the outside world to help fight against him.

Obviously, then, the Phantom is the subconscious/occult mind. This can be compared to the myth of Horus and Set. It is beyond clear from songs such as “Music of the Night” that the Phantom represents lust, dark desire, taboo, and all related things the mundane world consciously tries to cover up. However, as we see both in life and in the play/book, ignoring this aspect of the mind simply causes death and destruction.

The plot is the attainment of True Will, the journey through the Tree of Life. Christine’s contact with the Phantom is the Vision of the Holy Guardian Angel. Her reception of his teaching and victory in the theater represent the splendor and victory of Hod and Netzach. Christine being taken to the Phantom’s lair fits with the sphere of Tipharet – being right in the heart of all things but being neither in the mundane realm nor in the realm of magic because Christine does not submit. Geburah and Chesed are represented by the very love triangle as the heart of the story. Christine must show strength and restriction not to give into the Phantom and his magical music, because to give in completely to our hidden desires will lead to disaster. Her salvation through Raoul represents the vision of Love and the loss of individual self which takes place before the crossing of the abyss. The subconscious desires are recognized and understood, and both Raoul and Christine ascend to a new life together, a mastering of conscious will. Finally, the understanding and wisdom of the Tree of Life are used to find and confront the Phantom in the final act. They experience the vision of Sorrow with Christine’s capture and the final murder(s) (depending on the version), and the vision of “God” face to face when Raoul finally is captured in the Phantom’s noose. Only by balancing the conscious and subconscious mind (love for Raoul and the Phantom’s madness) – done by recognizing the Phantom as more a sad angry child than murderous monster (how we must understand our “sinful” desires) and kissing him – is Christine finally freed from her struggle to follow her True Will.

https://m.reddit.com/r/occult/comments/ ... challenge/

[Haelos]

This is an absolutely amazing analysis of the story. I'm astounded.

[Hadit]

This is an absolutely amazing analysis of the story. I'm astounded.

Thanks :-)

[Candy Ray]

Some years ago I made a study of Asmodeus' symbolism and I found a lot of it in 'Phantom Of The Opera.' Asmodeus being the chief of the incubi will fall in love with a human woman and be very jealous of rivals. He was worshiped in Persia, and there's a Persian in the story who seems to be there for no apparent reason;I read one version in which he was a depraved torturer.The Phantom is supposed to be an angel of music and at the time I was studying all this there were musicians around who were connected with Asmodeus.

The Phantom is called Erik and the symbolism that I was studying had a lot of connections with the early Viking culture and the runes. I found a great deal of correspondences with it in the 'Erik The Viking' legend and I felt that the Vikings might have worshiped Asmodeus under a different name to help them with rape and pillage, because he rules over lust and war. The chandelier falling on Christine's rivals seemed really important to me. In some versions it falls on the rival singer Carlotta, and remember Christine and Carlotta were both competing to play the part of Margaret in Faust.

I admit that I tend to read things into things, but I saw this discussion about the phantom and felt I ought to contribute.