I’ve often been asked if Lupe Fiasco is “Illuminati”. Giving definite answers to those questions is always difficult but, as they say, “Judge a tree by its fruits”. So here are some of Lupe’s fruits and judge for yourself.

BMF Freestyle

Lyrics from Lupe’s “BMF Freestyle”

Nigga, wake up, don’t join the Army
Kill your own peoples, but fear Illuminatis
And they ain’t even real, or are they?
But you wouldn’t even know, because you partay
Too fucking much, if you start to doubt
They already in your mind, and comin’ out yo’ mouth
It’s not a trick, nigga, it’s a trap
Survival of the fit, is what they aimin’ at
And niggas ain’t fit (nope), fat as hell (yep)
Fat in mind (yep), body fat as well
Who use most the drugs? Americans!
What’s in Afghanistan? Heroin!
You think that’s by mistake? They can stop that?
Don’t think you safe though, because you not black
Greed is colorblind, so I’m colorblind
They gon’ fuck with yours soon as they done with mine
They say I try too hard, verses overwhelm
I learned most of this, from niggas sittin’ in jail
Where you think I’m from? From the streets, nigga
Triple OGs, told me to teach, nigga
And that ain’t made up, that’s a fact
They say that gangsta shit, is the shit I rap

No World Order

Lupe yelling out “No World Order” on David Letterman

I’m Beamin Video

In I’m Beamin, he is shown seemingly knocking off the All Seeing Eye from the pyramid, the classic symbol representing Illuminati. One of his rhymes goes like this

“‘Cause never cyclops, it’s never I alone
I’m tellin’ your story wherever I perform”

Cyclops are mythical creatures with one eye, so the rhyme can also be translated as “it’s never EYE alone”.

Some people might say “He hangs out with Jay-Z, so he is guilty by association”. Maybe they don’t see “eye to eye” (pun intended) on this situation.

What’s your take on it?

Image source deesillustration.com

Most of the articles on this site discuss occult symbolism found in objects of popular culture. From these articles arise many legitimate questions relating to the purpose of those symbols and the motivations of those who place them there, but it is impossible for me to provide satisfactory answers to these questions without mentioning many other concepts and facts. I’ve therefore decided to write this article to supply the theoretical and methodological background of the analyzes presented on this site as well as introducing the main scholars of the field of mass communications. Some people read my articles and think I’m saying “Lady Gaga wants to control our minds”. That is not the case. She is simply a small part of the huge system that is the mass media.

Programming Through Mass Media

Mass media are media forms designed to reach the largest audience possible. They include television, movies, radio, newspapers, magazines, books, records, video games and the internet. Many studies have been conducted in the past century to measure the effects of mass media on the population in order to discover the best techniques to influence it. From those studies emerged the science of Communications, which is used in marketing, public relations and politics. Mass communication is a necessary tool the insure the functionality of a large democracy; it is also a necessary tool for a dictatorship. It all depends on its usage.

In the 1958 preface for A Brave New World, Aldous Huxley paints a rather grim portrait of society. He believes it is controlled by an “impersonal force”, a ruling elite, which manipulates the population using various methods.

“Impersonal forces over which we have almost no control seem to be pushing us all in the direction of the Brave New Worldian nightmare; and this impersonal pushing is being consciously accelerated by representatives of commercial and political organizations who have developed a number of new techniques for manipulating, in the interest of some minority, the thoughts and feelings of the masses.”
- Aldous Huxley, Preface to A Brave New World

His bleak outlook is not a simple hypothesis or a paranoid delusion. It is a documented fact, present in the world’s most important studies on mass media. Here are some of them:

Elite Thinkers

Walter Lippmann

Walter Lippmann, an American intellectual, writer and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner brought forth one of the first works concerning the usage of mass media in America. In Public Opinion (1922), Lippmann compared the masses to a “great beast” and a “bewildered herd” that needed to be guided by a governing class. He described the ruling elite as “a specialized class whose interests reach beyond the locality.” This class is composed of experts, specialists and bureaucrats. According to Lippmann, the experts, who often are referred to as “elites,” are to be a machinery of knowledge that circumvents the primary defect of democracy, the impossible ideal of the “omnicompetent citizen.” The trampling and roaring “bewildered herd” has its function: to be “the interested spectators of action,” i.e. not participants. Participation is the duty of “the responsible man”, which is not the regular citizen.

Mass media and propaganda are therefore tools that must be used by the elite to rule the public without physical coercion. One important concept presented by Lippmann is the “manufacture of consent”, which is, in short, the manipulation of public opinion to accept the elite’s agenda. It is Lippmann’s opinion that the general public is not qualified to reason and to decide on important issues. It is therefore important for the elite to decide ”for its own good” and then sell those decisions to the masses.

“That the manufacture of consent is capable of great refinements no one, I think, denies. The process by which public opinions arise is certainly no less intricate than it has appeared in these pages, and the opportunities for manipulation open to anyone who understands the process are plain enough. . . . as a result of psychological research, coupled with the modern means of communication, the practice of democracy has turned a corner. A revolution is taking place, infinitely more significant than any shifting of economic power. . . . Under the impact of propaganda, not necessarily in the sinister meaning of the word alone, the old constants of our thinking have become variables. It is no longer possible, for example, to believe in the original dogma of democracy; that the knowledge needed for the management of human affairs comes up spontaneously from the human heart. Where we act on that theory we expose ourselves to self-deception, and to forms of persuasion that we cannot verify. It has been demonstrated that we cannot rely upon intuition, conscience, or the accidents of casual opinion if we are to deal with the world beyond our reach.”
–Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion

It might be interesting to note that Lippmann is one of the founding fathers of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), the most influential foreign policy think tank in the world. This fact should give you a small hint of the mind state of the elite concerning the usage of media.

“Political and economic power in the United States is concentrated in the hands of a “ruling elite” that controls most of U.S.-based multinational corporations, major communication media, the most influential foundations, major private universities and most public utilities. Founded in 1921, the Council of Foreign Relations is the key link between the large corporations and the federal government. It has been called a “school for statesmen” and “comes close to being an organ of what C. Wright Mills has called the Power Elite – a group of men, similar in interest and outlook shaping events from invulnerable positions behind the scenes. The creation of the United Nations was a Council project, as well as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.”
- Steve Jacobson, Mind Control in the United States

Some current members of the CFR include David Rockefeller, Dick Cheney, Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton, mega-church pastor Rick Warren and the CEOs of major corporations such as CBS, Nike, Coca-Cola and Visa.

Carl Jung

Carl Jung is the founder of analytical psychology (also known an Jungian psychology), which emphasizes understanding the psyche by exploring dreams, art, mythology, religion, symbols and philosophy. The Swiss therapist is at the origin of many psychological concepts used today such as the Archetype, the Complex, the Persona, the Introvert/Extrovert and Synchronicity. He was highly influenced by the occult background of his family. Carl Gustav, his grandfather, was an avid Freemason (he was Grand Master) and Jung himself discovered that some of his ancestors were Rosicrucians. This might explain his great interest in Eastern and Western philosophy, alchemy, astrology and symbolism. One of  his most important (and misunderstood) concept was the Collective Unconscious.

“My thesis, then, is as follows: In addition to our immediate consciousness, which is of a thoroughly personal nature and which we believe to be the only empirical psyche (even if we tack on the personal unconscious as an appendix), there exists a second psychic system of a collective, universal, and impersonal nature which is identical in all individuals. This collective unconscious does not develop individually but is inherited. It consists of pre-existent forms, the archetypes, which can only become conscious secondarily and which give definite form to certain psychic contents.”
- Carl Jung, The Concept of the Collective Unconscious

The collective unconscious transpires through the existence of similar symbols and mythological figures in different civilizations. Archetypal symbols seem to be embedded in our collective subconscious, and, when exposed to them, we demonstrate natural attraction and fascination. Occult symbols can therefore exert a great impact on people, even if many individuals were never personally introduced to the symbol’s esoteric meaning. Mass media thinkers, such as Edward D. Bernays, found in this concept a great way to manipulate the public’s personal and collective unconscious.

1955 Time Magazine cover featuring Carl Jung. Looks a little like Avatar, doesn’t it?

Edward  Bernays

Edward Bernays is considered to be the “father of public relations” and used concepts discovered by his uncle Sigmund Freud to manipulate the public using the subconscious. He shared Walter Lippmann’s view of the general population by considering it irrational and subject to the “herd instinct”. In his opinion, the masses need to be manipulated by an invisible government to insure the survival of democracy.

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.

We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society.

Our invisible governors are, in many cases, unaware of the identity of their fellow members in the inner cabinet.”
- Edward Bernays, Propaganda

Bernay’s trailblazing marketing campaigns profoundly changed the functioning of American society. He basically created “consumerism” by creating a culture wherein Americans bought for pleasure instead of buying for survival. For this reason, he was considered by Life Magazine to be in the Top 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century.

Harold Lasswell

In 1939-1940, the University of Chicago was the host of a series of secret seminars on communications. These think tanks were funded by the Rockefeller foundation and involved the most prominent researchers in the fields of communications and sociological studies. One of these scholars was Harold Lasswell, a leading American political scientist and communications theorist, specializing in the analysis of propaganda. He was also of the opinion that a democracy, a government ruled by the people, could not sustain itself without a specialized elite shaping and molding public opinion through propaganda.

In his Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences, Lasswell explained that when elites lack the requisite force to compel obedience, social managers must turn to “a whole new technique of control, largely through propaganda.” He added the conventional justification: we must recognize the “ignorance and stupidity [of] … the masses and not succumb to democratic dogmatisms about men being the best judges of their own interests.”

Lasswell extensively studied the field of content analysis in order to understand the effectiveness of different types of propaganda.  In his essay Contents of Communication, Lasswell explained that, in order to understand the meaning of a message (i.e. a movie, a speech, a book, etc.), one should take into account the frequency with which certain symbols appear in the message, the direction in which the symbols try to persuade the audience’s opinion, and the intensity of the symbols used.

Lasswell was famous for his media analysis model based on:

Who (says) What (to) Whom (in) What Channel (with) What Effect

By this model, Lasswell indicates that in order to properly analyze a media product, one must look at who produced the product (the people who ordered its creation),  who was it aimed at (the target audience) and what were the desired effects of this product (to inform, to convince, to sell, etc.) on the audience.

Using a Rihanna video as an example, the analysis would be as follows: WHO PRODUCED: Vivendi Universal; WHAT: pop artist Rihanna; TO WHOM: consumers between the ages of 9 and 25; WHAT CHANNEL: music video; and WHAT EFFECT: selling the artist, her song, her image and her message.

The analyzes of videos and movies on The Vigilant Citizen place a great importance on the “who is behind” the messages communicated to the public. The term “Illuminati” is often used to describe this small elite group covertly ruling the masses. Although the term sounds quite caricatured and conspiratorial, it aptly describes the elite’s affinities with secret societies and occult knowledge. However, I personally detest using the term “conspiracy theory” to describe what is happening in the mass media. If all the facts concerning the elitist nature of the industry are readily available to the public, can it still be considered a  “conspiracy theory”?

There used to be a variety of viewpoints, ideas and opinions in popular culture. The consolidation of media corporations has, however, produced a standardization of the cultural industry. Ever wondered why all recent music sounds the same and all recent movies look the same? The following is part of the answer:

Media Ownership

As depicted in the graph above, the number of corporations owning the majority of U.S. media outlets went from 50 to 5 in less than 20 years. Here are the top corporations evolving around the world and the assets they own.

“A list of the properties controlled by AOL Time Warner takes ten typed pages listing 292 separate companies and subsidiaries. Of these, twenty-two are joint ventures with other major corporations involved in varying degrees with media operations. These partners include 3Com, eBay, Hewlett-Packard, Citigroup, Ticketmaster, American Express, Homestore, Sony, Viva, Bertelsmann, Polygram, and Amazon.com. Some of the more familiar fully owned properties of Time Warner include Book-of-the-Month Club; Little, Brown publishers; HBO, with its seven channels; CNN; seven specialized and foreign-language channels; Road Runner; Warner Brothers Studios; Weight Watchers; Popular Science; and fifty-two different record labels.”
- Ben Bagdikan, The New Media Monopoly

AOL Time Warner owns:

• 64 magazines, including Time, Life, People, MAD Magazine and DC Comics
• Warner Bros, New Line and Fine Line Features in cinema
• More than 40 music labels including Warner Bros, Atlantic and Elektra
• Many television networks such as WB Networks, HBO, Cinemax, TNT, Cartoon Network and CNN
• Madonna, Sean Paul, The White Stripes

Viacom owns:

• CBS, MTV, MTV2, UPN, VH1, Showtime, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, TNN, CMT and BET
• Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies, MTV Films
• Blockbuster Videos
• 1800 screens in theaters through Famous Players

“Disney ownership of a hockey team called The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim does not begin to describe the vastness of the kingdom. Hollywood is still its symbolic heart, with eight movie production studios and distributors: Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Miramax, Buena Vista Home Video, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Buena Vista International, Hollywood Pictures, and Caravan Pictures.

The Walt Disney Company controls eight book house imprints under Walt Disney Company Book Publishing and ABC Publishing Group; seventeen magazines; the ABC Television Network, with ten owned and operated stations of its own including in the five top markets; thirty radio stations, including all the major markets; eleven cable channels, including Disney, ESPN (jointly), A&E, and the History Channel; thirteen international broadcast channels stretching from Australia to Brazil; seven production and sports units around the world; and seventeen Internet sites, including the ABC group, ESPN.sportszone, NFL.com, NBAZ.com, and NASCAR.com. Its five music groups include the Buena Vista, Lyric Street, and Walt Disney labels, and live theater productions growing out of the movies The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and King David.”
- Ibid

The Walt Disney Company owns:

• ABC, Disney Channel, ESPN, A&E, History Channel
• Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Miramax Film Corp., Dimension and Buena Vista International
• Miley Cyrus/ Hannah Montana, Selena Gomez, Jonas Brothers

Vivendi Universal owns:

• 27% of US music sales, labels include: Interscope, Geffen, A&M, Island, Def Jam, MCA, Mercury, Motown and Universal
• Universal Studios, Studio Canal, Polygram Films, Canal +
• Numerous internet and cell phone companies
• Lady Gaga, The Black Eyed Peas, Lil Wayne, Rihanna, Mariah Carey, Jay-Z

Sony owns:

• Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Classics
• 15% of US Music sales, labels include Columbia, Epic, Sony, Arista, Jive and RCA Records
• Beyonce, Shakira, Michael Jackson, Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera

A limited number of actors in the cultural industry means a limited amount of viewpoints and ideas making their way to the general public. It also means that a single message can easily saturate all forms of media to generate consent (i.e. “there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq”).

The Standardization of Human Thought

The merger of media companies in the last decades generated a small oligarchy of media conglomerates. The TV shows we follow, the music we listen to, the movies we watch and the newspapers we read are all produced by FIVE corporations. The owners of those conglomerates have close ties with the world’s elite and, in many ways, they ARE the elite. By owning all of the possible outlets having the potential to reach the masses, these conglomerates have the power to create in the minds of the people a single and cohesive world view, engendering a “standardization of human thought”.

Even movements or styles that are considered marginal are, in fact, extensions of mainstream thinking. Mass medias produce their own rebels who definitely look the part but are still part of the establishment and do not question any of it. Artists, creations and ideas that do not fit the mainstream way of thinking are mercilessly rejected and forgotten by the conglomerates, which in turn makes them virtually disappear from society itself. However, ideas that are deemed to be valid and desirable to be accepted by society are skillfully marketed to the masses in order to make them become self-evident norm.

In 1928, Edward Bernays already saw the immense potential of motion pictures to standardize thought:

“The American motion picture is the greatest unconscious carrier of propaganda in the world today. It is a great distributor for ideas and opinions. The motion picture can standardize the ideas and habits of a nation. Because pictures are made to meet market demands, they reflect, emphasize and even exaggerate broad popular tendencies, rather than stimulate new ideas and opinions. The motion picture avails itself only of ideas and facts which are in vogue. As the newspaper seeks to purvey news, it seeks to purvey entertainment.”
- Edward Bernays, Propaganda

These facts were flagged as dangers to human freedom in the 1930′s by thinkers of the school of Frankfurt such as Theodor Adorno and Herbert Marcuse. They identified three main problems with the cultural industry. The industry can:

1. reduce human beings to the state of mass by hindering the development of emancipated individuals, who are capable of making rational decisions;
2. replace the legitimate drive for autonomy and self-awareness by the safe laziness of conformism and passivity; and
3. validate the idea that men actually seek to escape the absurd and cruel world in which they live by losing themselves in a hypnotic state self-satisfaction.

The notion of escapism is even more relevant today with advent of online video games, 3D movies and home theaters. The masses, constantly seeking state-of-the-art entertainment, will resort to high-budget products that can only be produced by the biggest media corporations of the world. These products contain carefully calculated messages and symbols which are nothing more and nothing less than entertaining propaganda. The public have been trained to LOVE its propaganda to the extent that it spends its hard-earned money to be exposed to it. Propaganda (used in both political, cultural and commercial sense) is no longer the coercive or authoritative communication form found in dictatorships: it has become the synonym of entertainment and pleasure.

“In regard to propaganda the early advocates of universal literacy and a free press envisaged only two possibilities: the propaganda might be true, or it might be false. They did not foresee what in fact has happened, above all in our Western capitalist democracies — the development of a vast mass communications industry, concerned in the main neither with the true nor the false, but with the unreal, the more or less totally irrelevant. In a word, they failed to take into account man’s almost infinite appetite for distractions.”
- Aldous Huxley, Preface to A Brave New World

A single piece of media often does not have a lasting effect on the human psyche. Mass media, however, by its omnipresent nature, creates a living environment we evolve in on a daily basis. It defines the norm and excludes the undesirable. The same way carriage horses wear blinders so they can only see what is right in front of them, the masses can only see where they are supposed to go.

“It is the emergence of mass media which makes possible the use of propaganda techniques on a societal scale. The orchestration of press, radio and television to create a continuous, lasting and total environment renders the influence of propaganda virtually unnoticed precisely because it creates a constant environment. Mass media provides the essential link between the individual and the demands of the technological society.”
- Jacques Ellul

One of the reasons mass media successfully influences society is due to the extensive amount of research on cognitive sciences and human nature that has been applied to it.

Manipulation Techniques

“Publicity is the deliberate attempt to manage the public’s perception of a subject. The subjects of publicity include people (for example, politicians and performing artists), goods and services, organizations of all kinds, and works of art or entertainment.”

The drive to sell products and ideas to the masses has lead to an unprecedented amount of research on human behavior and on the human psyche. Cognitive sciences, psychology, sociology, semiotics, linguistics and other related fields were and still are extensively researched through well-funded studies.

“No group of sociologists can approximate the ad teams in the gathering and processing of exploitable social data. The ad teams have billions to spend annually on research and testing of reactions, and their products are magnificent accumulations of material about the shared experience and feelings of the entire community.”

- Marshal McLuhan, The Extensions of Man

“It is with knowledge of the human being, his tendencies, his desires, his needs, his psychic mechanisms, his automatisms as well as knowledge of social psychology and analytical psychology that propaganda refines its techniques.”
- Propagandes, Jacques Ellul (free translation)

Subliminal Perception

“Subliminal perception is a deliberate process created by communications technicians, by which you receive and respond to information and instructions without being consciously aware of the instructions”
- Steve Jacobson, Mind Control in the United States

“The techniques of psychotherapy, widely practiced and accepted as a means of curing psychological disorders, are also methods of controlling people. They can be used systematically to influence attitudes and behavior. Systematic desensitization is a method used to dissolve anxiety so the the patient (public) is no longer troubled by a specific fear, a fear of violence for example. [...] People adapt to frightening situations if they are exposed to them enough”.
- Steven Jacobson, Mind Control in the United States

Occult Symbolism in Pop Culture

Metropolis – a movie by the elite, for the elite?

Contrarily to the information presented above, documentation on occult symbolism is rather hard to find. This should not come as a surprise as the term “occult”, literally means “hidden”. It also means “reserved to those in the know” as it is only communicated to those who are deemed worthy of the knowledge. It is not taught in schools nor is it discussed in the media. It is thus considered marginal or even ridiculous by the general population.

Occult knowledge is NOT, however, considered ridiculous in occult circles. It is considered timeless and sacred. There is a long tradition of hermetic and occult knowledge being  taught through secret societies originating from ancient Egyptians, to Eastern Mystics, to the Knights Templar to modern day Freemasons. Even if the nature and the depth of this knowledge was most probably modified and altered throughout the centuries, mystery schools kept their main features, which are highly symbolic, ritualistic and metaphysical. Those characteristics, which were an intricate part of ancient civilizations, have totally been evacuated from modern society to be replaced by pragmatic materialism. For this reason, there lies an important gap of understanding between the pragmatic average person and the ritualistic establishment.

“If this inner doctrine were always concealed from the masses, for whom a simpler code had been devised, is it not highly probable that the exponents of every aspect of modern civilization – philosophic, ethical, religious, and scientific-are ignorant of the true meaning of the very theories and tenets on which their beliefs are founded? Do the arts and sciences that the race has inherited from older nations conceal beneath their fair exterior a mystery so great that only the most illumined intellect can grasp its import? Such is undoubtedly the case.”
- Manly P. Hall, Secret Teachings of All Ages

The “simpler code” devised for the masses used to be organized religions. It is now becoming the Temple of the Mass Media and it preaches on a daily basis extreme materialism, spiritual vacuosity and a self-centered, individualistic existence. This is exactly the opposite of the attributes required to become a truly free individual, as taught by all great philosophical schools of thought. Is a dumbed-down population easier to deceive and to manipulate?

“These blind slaves are told they are “free” and “highly educated” even as they march behind signs that would cause any medieval peasant to run screaming away from them in panic-stricken terror. The symbols that modern man embraces with the naive trust of an infant would be tantamount to billboards reading, ‘This way to your death and enslavement,’ to the understanding of the traditional peasant of antiquity”
- Michael A. Hoffman II, Secret Societies and Psychological Warfare

In Conclusion

This article examined the major thinkers in the field of mass media, the media power structure and the techniques used to manipulate the masses. I believe this information is vital to the understanding of  the “why” in the topics discussed on The Vigilant Citizen.  The  “mass population” versus “ruling class” dichotomy described in many articles is not a “conspiracy theory” (again, I hate that term), but a reality that has been clearly stated in the works of some of the 20th century’s most influential men.

Lippmann, Bernays and Lasswell have all declared that the public are not fit to decide their own fate, which is the inherent goal of democracy. Instead, they called for a cryptocracy, a hidden government, a ruling class in charge of the “bewildered herd.” As their ideas continue to be applied to society, it is increasingly apparent that an ignorant population is not an obstacle that the rulers must deal with: It is something that is DESIRABLE and, indeed, necessary, to insure total leadership. An ignorant population does not know its rights, does not seek a greater understanding of issues and does not question authorities. It simply follows trends. Popular culture caters to and nurtures ignorance by continually serving up brain-numbing entertainment and spotlighting degenerate celebrities to be idolized. Many people ask me: “Is there a way to stop this?” Yes, there is. STOP BUYING THEIR CRAP AND READ A BOOK.

“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be.”
- Thomas Jefferson

Related Documentation

Download “Propaganda” By Edward L. Bernays free E-book in pdf from knowledgefiles.com

Shortly after the American continent said goodbye to 2009, Jay-Z came on TV and said “On to the Next One”. The video premiered on 01/01/10, which in Kabbalistic numerology equals 3 (0 + 1 + 0 + 1 + 1+ 0 = 3). The number 3 is an important theme of the video. The release date also contains three 1′s, which is reminiscent of the three bars representing Jay-Z’s album The Blueprint 3. This is just an example of the occult aura surrounding Jay-Z latest works.

If you haven’t done so already, I strongly suggest you read my first article on the rapper named  Jay-Z’s “Run This Town” and the Occult Connections. The article goes through some of Jay-Z’s occult influences and his affinities with secret societies. I’ve noticed an increasing number of people wondering about the “creepiness” of some of their favorite artist’s music videos. Although some of the imagery is solely there for shock value or artistic aestheticism, an important portion of the symbols found in recent videos are directly related to the music industry’s peculiar brand of occultism. As seen in other articles on this site, the same symbols keep reappearing in pop videos, whether we look at Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Jay-Z or whoever else will be “chosen” in the future.

Some people who read my first article on Jay-Z claimed that the symbolism I described was the result of coincidences or that I was “reading too much into it”. After viewing On to the Next One, many of the same people are now saying “he’s doing it on purpose, the symbols are too obvious”. How did something go from being accidental to being “too obvious”? It seems those who want to avoid the truth will go to any lengths to rationalize what is happening. Artists at the top level of the music industry are chosen by the elite (the common name for them is Illuminati). The initiation of the artists guarantees them success and exposure, at the cost of become vessels of Illuminati symbolism and personal sacrifice. If Jay-Z’s Run This Town left some people wondering if the video truly contained an underlying occult message, On to the Next One confirms Jay-Z’s affiliation with the occult elite. Here’s the video.

Analysis of the Video

The video to On to the Next One does not contain a deep storyline and the lyrics are basically about Jay-Z bragging about how he’s a step ahead. So this analysis will mainly focus on the occult meaning of some of the images found in the video. They often appear for less than a second, I technique I like to call “semi-subliminals”. Some of them are apparently there for aesthetic purposes (unless I’ve missed something), while others are deeply occult.

Jay-Z the Holy

The background in the scene above incorporates strategically placed lights with Jay-Z standing right in front of them, making it appear as if he has a halo around his head. The halo is used in iconic imagery to identify holy or sacred figures.

Given the dark occult theme of the video and references to Baphomet (used by the Church of Satan), the halo takes on a sinister meaning. The one who refers to himself as “HOV” or “Jay-Hova” (a reference to Jehovah, the proper name of God in Abrahamic religions) might be sending the message that he is a god in a LeVeyan satanism kind of way rather than the “black gods” of the Five-Percenters.

“Devil Horns” handsign while standing in front of a halo. Can Beyonce see his Halo?

The Bloody Skull

During the video, a black skull and a silver skull are displayed with liquid pouring on them. The symbol of the human skull has always been of utmost importance in occult Brotherhoods. The Knight Templars (ancestors of the Freemasons) made new members drink wine (representative of blo0d) from a human skull as part of their initiation. This practice is still found in some rites of Freemasonry.

“The Knights Templar were inveterate lovers and users of Human Skulls of all sizes and mediums, including both metallic and Crystal Skulls. The Templar identification with Human Skulls was reflected in one of the Knights’ preeminent symbols, the “Jolly Roger,” which is the recognizable pirate or poison symbol of a human skull surmounting cross bones. This symbol represented both the Templar ceremonial use of skulls as idolic images and even drinking vessels, as well as their practice of alchemy, one of the stages of which was termed “Deadhead” and represented cryptically as a human skull.

Human Skulls were popular among the Templars because they were believed to hold the spiritual power of their original owners – as well as to continually emanate this essence throughout their environment. The skull of John the Baptist discovered by the Templars during the Fourth Crusade in Constantinople was such a skull. The Templars claimed that John’s skull radiated the same kind of Holy Spirit power as it did when attached to the original body of John, and in order to empower their ceremonies and initiations they placed it on their high altars. Other human skulls particularly esteemed by the Templars were those that had been possessed by Christian saints and past grand masters of their organization. In order to amplify and conduct the power emanating from these skulls for ceremonial purposes they were often wrapped in a highly conductive metal, such as gold or silver, and then placed in energy-productive reliquaries made into the shapes of sacred geometric formations including tetrahedrons, octagons, and pyramids. References to Templar skulls wrapped in gold and silver can be found in some of the early Holy Grail legends.” - Source

Templar Skull

Remnants of this practice are still found in the rituals associated with the 33rd degree of some Masonic rites (i.e. the Cerneau rite) where the candidates drink wine from a human skull. What do they think of Christians drinking the “blood of Christ” during mass? That’s a whole other topic.

A reference to the symbolic blood drinking of occult initiations?

The Crow?

VS

Disturbing fact: Both Heath Ledger and Brandon Lee died mysteriously during the filming of deeply occult movies. Ritual sacrifice? That is also a whole other topic. Other references to crows:

Dissing Jesus

Combined with Jay-Z’s track record of not too Christian-friendly lyrics, this image is not really surprising.

Baphomet Strikes Again

If you’ve read other articles on this website, you are aware of the usage of the likeness of Baphomet as an unmistakable mark of an “Illuminati video”. Baphomet is the horned idol reportedly worshiped by the Knight Templars and later used by the Church of Satan. Two separate Baphomet heads make short, almost subliminal appearances during the video.

Eliphas Levi’s depiction of Baphomet

In Conclusion

As soon as the video came out, I received tons of e-mails from people who have picked up on many of the symbols described here. This confirms two things: One, many people are becoming aware of the sinister symbolism inserted in videos and two, these symbols are becoming increasingly blatant. They are not hiding anymore. The industry WANTS to reveal its true nature. I believe there are two types of “Illuminati artists”:  the willing participants ( I would place Jay-Z and Lady Gaga in this category) and those who are clueless (Rihanna seems like perfect example). Jay-Z, being the smart businessman that he is, knows that controversy sells. It is thus a win-win situation: Jay-Z gets the publicity he is seeking and the Illuminatus continue their mass indoctrination. But what will happen when the elites are done using Jay-Z as a vessel for their sinister symbols? Will they say ON TO THE NEXT ONE?

I’m pretty sure Jay-Z does it on purpose and that he appreciates the attention it gets him. He has been steadily displaying occult symbolism in his songs, videos and in the designs of his Rocawear clothing line. The Brooklyn rapper has lately been associating himself through telling hints to Freemasonry, Illuminati and other orders. Is he now initiated in one of those Brotherhoods and eager to show it off? Why does he appear in other videos containing occult meanings (see Rihanna’s “Umbrella” or Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love”)?

The video to “Run This Town” was directed by Anthony Mandler, who also did  Rihanna’s “Disturbia” video. In another of my articles, I explain how this video is a metaphor for evil possession. The least we can say is that Mandler certainly knows how to insert dark symbolism into a video.

“Do What Thou Wilt”

Before we get into the video, a couple of things need to be explained in order to understand Jay-Z’s mindset and where he gets his ideas from. The symbols that will be discussed in this article can’t be coincidences or a collection of random items. Jay-Z draws his inspiration from specific sources and associates with like-minded people (director Anthony Mandler) to integrate those ideas. A telling example can be found in the second trailer video for “Run This Town”. We see Jay-Z explaining the concept of the video while wearing a black hoodie bearing the saying “Do What Thou Wilt”.

Aleister Crowley: Reformer of the O.T.O. whose motto was “Do what Thou Wilt”. He also enjoyed being called ”The wickedest man in the world”.

“Do What Thou Wilt” is the official dictum of the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.) and of its reformer, occultist Aleister Crowley. The O.T.O. is a hermetic order modeled after Freemasonry and German Illuminism and teaches its initiates the secrets of the Mysteries, gnosticism, sex magick, Kaballah and other occult sciences. Contrarily to Freemasonry, the O.T.O. is however based on the “Law of Thelema” which main precept is “Do What Thou Wilt be the whole of the Law“. Although this saying was interpreted in different ways, most agree that it refers to the dismissal of conventional moral and ethical rules in order to find one’s “True Will”. In other words, the usual guidelines by which good and evil are determined have to be blurred and forgotten to obtain the true path to illumination. Crowley explains this notion rather clearly here:

“There are no “standards of Right”. Ethics is balderdash. Each Star must go on its own orbit. To hell with “moral principle”; there is no such thing”
-Crowley, Aleister. The Old and New Commentaries to Liber AL, II,28.

Although not officially considered “satanic”, the O.T.O. does fully embrace the Luciferian doctrine (see Crowley’s poem “Hymn to Lucifer) and its high level members are referred to as “Most Illuminated and Most Puissant Baphomet”. Baphomet is of course the horned androgynous idol of Western Occultism.

Poster in honor of Crowley by Madame Talbot. Notice “Do What Thou Wilt” and Baphomet

Is Jay-Z part of the O.T.O. or does he just like that shirt? Don’t know. We will however see that he is  very educated in the field of occult symbolism and that he enjoys hinting people that he associates with the Brotherhood. Here’s the video.

“Run This Town” Analysis

So this is the video at face value: Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West are performing in front of an angry mob, which is apparently out to overthrow the current order of things and thus “Run This Town”. The aesthetics of the video are reminiscent of movements led by rebel factions in third world African or Latino countries . When one listens closely to the lyrics however, something seems to be ”off”. Jay-Z and Kanye are mainly rapping about how rich and famous they are and are describing bourgeoisie luxuries such as Maison Martin Margiela clothes, bottles of Riesling  and Maybach cars. This isn’t exactly the type of speech Che Guevara would give. Despite the looks, the artists aren’t quite revolutionary, they can even be considered pro-establishment. Is this a political rebellion or could it be philosophical/spiritual? The visuals of the video hint a second, occult meaning to the song.

At the beginning of the video, a man hands a lit torch to Rihanna who holds it up in the air. This symbolic gesture sums up perfectly the concept of the video.

Rihanna handed a lit torch

Anybody vaguely familiar with occultism can easily associate the symbol of the lit torch held high to Lucifer a.k.a. the Light Bearer. Most occult orders secretly acknowledge Lucifer as being the savior of humanity, the fallen angel who liberated men from the oppression of the biblical God (Jehovah, Yahweh). These orders (the main one being Freemasonry) have been working for centuries towards the overthrow of the rule of organized religions to usher in a new age or a “New Order”.  At the philosophical center of this order:  the Luciferian Doctrine, where men are free to become gods by their own means. The Torch of Illumination is the ultimate symbol of this philosophy and can be found in many instances (see Statue of Liberty, a gift from French Freemasons). The goal of the Illuminist has been put in plain in simple words: they are dedicated to the “coming forth of the conquering light“. “Run This Town” visually represents this aim in a clear way for the initiates yet concealed for the profane.

Consequently, the video contains a second level of interpretation: “Run This Town” is an announcement of the coming of a New World Order, lead by secret (Luciferian) societies. Rihanna’s ominous intro explains how it is going down.

Feeling it coming in the air,
hear the screams from everywhere,
I’m addicted to thrill,
Its a dangerous love affair,
Can’t be scared when it goes down,
got a problem tell me now,
Only thing that’s on my mind is who gon run this town tonight,
who gon run this town tonite

Guess Rihanna can’t make this clearer for you

Rihanna’s lyrics are announcing an imminent change that might terrify or enrage some people (“hear the screams from everywhere“). The torches hint to a new spiritual and philosophical era where Lucifer is king. She is “addicted to the thrill” of being on the dark side and she knows that dealing with it is a “dangerous love affair“. But regardless of all of this, it all comes down to control, hence “Only thing that’s on my mind is who gon run this town tonight“.

Then Jay-Z comes along and announces the coming of “Roc Nation” (Roc being a diminutive of Rocafella, the name of his record label, which is based on the elite family Rockefeller).

We are, yeah, I said it, we are
This is Roc Nation, pledge your allegiance
Get y’all fatigues on, all black everything
Black cards, black cars, all black everything
And our girls are blackbirds, riding with they Dillingers
I get more in-depth if you boys really real enough
This is La Familia, I’ll explain later
But for now, let me get back to this paper
I’m a couple bands down and I’m tryna get back
I gave Doug a grip, I lost a flip for five stacks
Yeah, I’m talking five comma six zeroes dot zero ?
Back to running circles ’round niggas, now we squared up

Jay-Z is asking you to “Pledge your allegiance” to the new ruler and to wear black everything to honor him. Jay’s lyrics contain hints to Freemasonry who are hidden in the double meaning of some lines. “I gave Doug a grip” means he gave Doug a stack of money but the double meaning to that line would refer to the Masons’ secret handshakes which are called “grips”. And who is Doug? Might be Doug Morris. The last line of his first verse is “Back to running circles’ round niggas, now we squared up“. Aside from its obvious meaning, it also refers to the important Masonic concept of “squaring the circle”, which is way too deep to explain here (“I get more in-depth if you boys really real enough“). In the second verse, Jay-Z says ”It’s the return of thee god“, which refers to the Luciferian belief of men being gods. This term is often used in NY slang and originates from the fact that many rappers were Five-Percenters,  a philosophy based on the belief that all men are gods.   Further in the song Jay-Z says: “I’m in Maison, ugh, Martin Margiela” which is a upper-end fashion store. English speaking people usually pronounce the french word ”maison” to sound like ”mayzaun”. Jay-Z however says it to sound like “mason” as in “Freemason”. There is an obvious double-meaning here meant to catch the ear of the listener. He basically says “I’m in Mason” to make people say “huh did he really say that?” as “I’m a Freemason” but he then continues by saying “ugh, Martin Margiela“. The little pause after he says those words accentuate the effect. Then Rihanna comes back with the chorus.

Life’s a game but it’s not fair
I break the rules so I don’t care
So I keep doing my own thing
Walking tall against the rain
Victory’s within the mile
Almost there, don’t give up now
Only thing that’s on my mind
Is who gon’ run this town tonight

She says that the game of life is corrupted but she still succeeds because she “breaks the rules”. In other words, she ignores the boundaries between good and evil to achieve her goals. This might remind you of the saying “Do What Thou Wilt” of the Ordo Templi Orientis described above. Those lines refer to her as a person and also to the Order as a whole, who is prepared to commit the most horrible acts to reach its goals. “Victory’s within the mile” means that the realization of the New World Order is at its final stages and that the Illuminati-sponsored revolution is about to happen.

Rihanna throwing Rocafella sign which is the left eye inside a triangle

So “Run This Town” contains obvious hints leading towards Luciferian philosophy and occult orders. The fire of Lucifer’s torch esoterically represents divine knowledge and wisdom brought to men. Fire in this video is however a destructive force. What type of knowledge are we giving these rebellious people, who represent the masses of fans?

Jay-Z and Occult Symbolism

Jay-Z’s clothing line “Rocawear” has incorporated obvious occult symbols in its designs. Some are so blatantly Masonic that he probably couldn’t get away with it if he wasn’t effectively implicated with them. In interviews, Jay-Z has said to be actively involved in the choices of designs of his clothing line. Here are some examples:

All-Seeing Eye in Triangle

"Masters of the Craft" is a 100% Masonic saying and the All-Seeing Eye of the Great Architect depicted here is directly taken from Masonic works. Notice also the secret handshake depicted in a circle.

The logo above is designed to look like the Eye of Horus below.

Kanye wearing a shirt with the head of Baphomet

Prodigy’s Crusade

Rapper Prodigy from the mythical group Mobb Deep has occasionally denounced Jay-Z’s affiliation with the Illuminati in the last years. Here’s an URB article on the subject.

Prodigy’s ain’t down with that crap

Like he does in his monthly blog on Vibe.com, the incarcerated Prodigy recently spewed more of his conspiracy theories via a handwritten letter to URB. This time, he reveals the moment his eyes were opened to the sham he calls “the government, religions, politics, the Federal Reserve, and I.R.S.” According to P, in 1996, after reading a book by Dr. Malichi Z. York titled Leviathan 666, he was moved so much, he cried, and that was his “moment of clarity.”

“I was crying for all of humanity, but mostly for my black people ’cause I then realized it was all a sham,” Prodigy writes in his letter to URB. “The government, religions, politics, the Federal Reserve, the I.R.S., and everything that we believe and live by is a joke.” Even worse, the rapper says that many popular rappers are aware of these society secrets, but choose not to speak on it for fear of not being accepted by corporate America. One, in particular, is Jay-Z.

Occult Secrets of Jay Z, Kanye & Nas

“J.Z. knows the truth, but he chose sides with evil in order to be accepted in the corporate world. J.Z. conceals the truth from the black community and the world, and promotes the lifestyle of the beast instead,” he wrote. Prodigy says that Jay grew up grew up in Dr. York’s “Nuwabian” community in Brooklyn as a kid, and is “aware” of these evils — rogue government, elitists running the country, etc.

Because of Jay’z refusal to speak on the topics Prodigy has been doing so since his incarceration, he will make it a point to wage war against him.
“J.Z is a God damn lie. I have so much fire in my heart that I will relentlessly attack J.Z, Illuminati, and any-every other evil that exists until my lights are put out,” P writes. “This negativity I speak of is an actual living entity that uses us as food. We must sever ties with it in order to see things for what they really are. This negative energy is created and harnessed by the Illuminati secret government and they will make you spread this energy without you even knowing it. But people like J.Z. are very well aware. He was schooled by Dr. York,” he continued.

Real talk.

To Conclude

So, the least we can say is that Jay-Z has “affinities” with occultism and secret societies. “Run This Town” only adds to the suspicions surrounding him due to the symbolism and philosophy displayed in the video. In light of those facts, some questions arise: has Jay-Z sided with the elite to succeed in the corporate world? Is he used to promote NWO agenda? Or is this an act to fuel rumors and to add a little “mystique” around his persona? Maybe it’s all of the above. Maybe he’s doing this to get people like me writing and to generate buzz around his latest album. If this article has promoted Jay-Z, so be it.  At least people will know what the the hell they’re saluting when they’re throwing up that Roc sign.

Along with her new album, Beyonce has presented her fans to a new alter-ego named Sasha Fierce. The singer affirms that this new persona is the fun, more sexual and more aggressive side of her. This is however the “general public” version of the story. The esoteric meaning revealed by the  symbols surrounding this new persona is much deeper: Sasha Fierce is a symbolic representation of an artist taken over by evil to obtain success.

“I have someone else that takes over when it’s time for me to work and when I’m on stage, this alter ego that I’ve created that kind of protects me and who I really am”.
-Beyonce

Good Beyonce with cross

Evil Sasha Fierce mimicking devil horns

The theme of the album “I am…Sasha Fierce” revolves around the duality between the godly Beyonce and the evil Sasha Fierce. This spiritual duality is fought in the songs, the pictures and the videos. Notice on the above images the Christian cross of the good and pure Beyonce  versus Sasha Fierce who is mimicking devil horns with her hands. Songs like “Ave Maria” and “Halo” on her album contain obvious spiritual connotations and can be interpreted as either religious songs or odes to her satanic possessor. The persona of Sasha Fierce – who is presented as a separate entity- always wears heavy makeup on her eyes, if not sunglasses which represent her deceptive nature.

Website Pictures

Before we get into an in depth analysis, let’s look at the main picture displayed at beyonce.com, which sums ups perfectly the purpose of this article.

Baphomet’s vehicule

Sasha Fierce is wearing a metal plate featuring prominently the face of Baphomet, who is also featured on the sigil of the Church of Satan:

Sigil of Church of Satan

Baphomet’s head is the only part of the picture that is in color, which shows the importance of this symbol. Another head of Baphomet sits right on top of the first making things even more significant. Sasha’s “dress” is adorned with stylish rear-view mirrors and motorcycle handles, which makes Sasha Fierce the vehicle of Baphomet. This exact outfit was used for a George Michael video…someone, somewhere thought it would be a perfect fit for Sasha Fierce. In her interviews, Beyonce describes her performances as Sasha Fierce like an experience coming right out of The Exorcist.

“When I’m onstage I’m aggressive and strong and not afraid of my sexuality. The tone of my voice gets different, and I’m fearless. I’m just a different person.”

Another way to put this is that she has allowed herself to become possessed…

The Birth of Sasha Fierce

Sasha Fierce was born when I did ‘Crazy in Love.’ People, when they meet me, expect that all the time, but that person is strictly for the stage.”
Beyonce, People Magazine, November 18th, 2008

Why did Beyonce say that? How can a character be born during a song like “Crazy in Love”, which doesn’t have anything to do withSasha Fierce? The answer lies in the video.

The video tells the story of the birth of Sasha Fierce by depicting the steps towards Beyonce’s transformation. Through symbolic scenes, we first see Beyonce walking towards a speeding car (wih Jay-z in the backseat). The driver is the entity that already took over Jay-Z. Beyonce loosens up her hair to prepare herself and gets on a stage to begin initiation, symbolized by sexual dance moves. She then reaps the rewards of the selling of her soul with fame and fortune. Next, she is emulated by young girls who copy her dancing style. In the final scene, the good Beyonce gets literally blown up while sitting in the backseat of a car by Jay-Z – who calls himself “Young” in the song. As you know, Jay-Z isn’t young, but, in this song, he is considered “Young” after his recent rebirth on the dark side. After the explosion, Sasha Fierce magically appears next to Jay-Z, looking sexy yet devilish. In his verse, Jay-Z  refers to Beyonce as “Young B” because she was just reborn.

1- Beyonce goes up on a symbolic stage and mimicks ritual sex for initiation

2- The flashes represent celebrity and success

3- Surrounded by girls who emulate her

4- Stuck in the backseat of a car

5- Explosion of the car, representing the death of the old Beyonce (who was still stuck in the backseat)

6- Sasha Fierce appears out of nowhere

The video of “Diva” uses the exact same allegory of the car exploding.

Video of  “Diva”

“Diva” starts with a shot of dummies in the trunk of a car who represent the ”dummies” that idolized and imitated Sasha Fierce.  Sasha Fierce is walking away, wearing glasses who are literally shades hiding her eyes, representing the fact that we are not dealing with Beyonce but a deceiver. After going into a warehouse to dance frenetically, act bitchy and sing about vain subjects like materialism, she comes out and lights the car on fire. The same way Jay-Z blew up the car in “Crazy in Love” (which killed the old Beyonce and gave birth to Sasha Fierce), she blows up the car filled with the mindless dummies who were seduced by her deceitful ways.

Why is Sasha Fierce Often Dressed Like a Robot?

Beyonce’s performance at the 2007 BET Awards carried heavy symbolism. Dressed in a robot suit, she wakes up after being electrically charged . Here’s the performance (you just need to watch the first couple of minutes).

This performance is inspired by a scene of the 1927 movie “Metropolis” where a female robot becomes alive.

The recreation of this scene from Metropolis is quite significant. The movie depicts a society divided between two rigid social classes, the  ”thinkers” and the “workers”, who can’t communicate with each other. Maria, a young female worker who has some influence among her exploited colleagues gets kidnapped by the ruling class. She is taken to the laboratory of a mad scientist who created a robot that could take her physical likeness. The scene above depicts the transformation of the robot into Maria, who will then be controlled by the scientist to incite revolt among the workers. The inverted pentagram behind the robot symbolises the initiation of Maria into the evil side. She is designed to bring out the worst in men, causing violence, lust, passion and corruption among them.  The robot is a devilish and sexually provocative version of Maria and ends up performing in a decadent nightclub of the metropolis. Her mesmerizing dance caused such excitement that it caused a widespread fight among the men present.

Satanic robot with inverted pentagram in the back

Is this why we chose to portray Beyonce as Maria from Metropolis? To use her physical likeness to propagate evil messages to the “working class”?

Good Beyonce vs disturbing looking Sasha Fierce

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To Conclude

I’m pretty sure I’ll get messages from confused people, wondering why I “see evil” everywhere or something. Those people do not understand a couple of fundamental truths, who aren’t based on wild beliefs but on facts: Record companies like Columbia Records own the image of pop stars like Beyonce or Rihanna. These conglomerates are owned by a handful of powerful people who, more often than not, are initiated into occult secret societies.  They believe in the powers of the mind, channeling spirits, Black and White Magick, demon possession, sacred rituals and entities populating the ethereal spheres.  In other words, if you don’t believe in the spiritual realm, THEY DO. So the analysis here makes perfect sense to them and they know that the average Joe doesn’t think in those terms…mostly because he was educated since childhood to be blind to those things.

As in anything in life, esoteric teachings range from the sublimely good to the infernal evil. They can elevate your consciousness to a godly level or they make you a slave of malignant spirits. That being said, there appears to be a conscious effort to subject the population to negative imagery through the different outlets of mass media. Plato, the Greek philosopher believed that music had such far reaching effects on the hearts of men that popular songs should be carefully chosen:

“Music which ennobled the mind was of a far higher kind than that which merely appealed
to the senses, and he strongly insisted that it was the paramount duty of the Legislature to suppress all music of an effeminate and
lascivious character, and to encourage only that which was pure and dignified”
-Manly P. Hall, Secret Teachings of All Ages

If Plato, one of the brightest minds of the Western world believed that music played a vital part in the creation of a perfect nation, can you imagine the effects of negative messages on our modern society? Even if the general population only gets the first level of interpretation of songs or videos,  it is believed that the hidden meanings and symbols still affect the collective subconscious. The result is people leading vain existences, trying to fill the gaping void of their lives by continually satisfying their lowest impulses. In other words, lost souls that can be easily controlled and manipulated.

What is Rihanna’s Umbrella song about? First times I’ve heard this song,   I was confused. Is it about a woman’s unconditional friendship for her man? Is it a “sexy song”? At face value, it seems so. However, if you listen closely to Rihanna and Jay-Z’s words, you might notice that the lyrics do not make any sense. The vocabulary used in this song is not about a relationship between two lovers. The fact is, Umbrella is about a subject matter that is sinister, dark and disturbing: becoming possessed by evil.

What does “under my umbrella” mean?

In a nutshell, the song talks about a storm that’s about to take place and Rihanna offers her loved one protection under her umbrella. In this song, “You can stand under my umbrella” can have a sexual connotation but it mostly means “You can be under my protection”. When you are under something’s protection, this something has more power than you regarding your own security. You depend on it. It has control over you. IT possesses you. The song is not about love between woman and man, it’s about being protected. It is not an equal relationship. The one that protects basically owns the person that is protected.

Analyzing the song

The first thing that you need to know about the song’s lyrics is that Rihanna sings the whole song but she actually takes on two roles. During the first half of the song, she plays the role of an evil entity that is trying to seduce and possess Rihanna. For the purpose of this analysis we’ll call this entity the Devil. The second role she plays is herself. So the song is basically a dialog between the Devil and Rihanna. The video of the song makes this very clear and we’ll explain how later.

What is possession?

Possession, in relationship to non-human entities deals with the phenomena wherein a non-human entity controls the human being through various methods. In possession, the human being cannot think for themselves. Instead, their thoughts are given to them by their possessor. We’ll see how the Devil tries and succeeds at possessing Rihanna in this song. There is a reason why the album is called “Good Girl Gone Bad”.

Jay-Z’s  verse

So the song starts off with a verse of rapper Jay-Z. He plays the role of someone that has already been possessed and already “under the umbrella” of the Devil. Here’s his verse:

No clouds in my stones
Let it rain, I hydroplane in the bank
Coming down with the Dow Jones
When the clouds come we gone, we Rocafella
We fly higher than weather
And G5’s are better, You know me,
an anticipation, for precipitation. Stacked chips for the rainy day
Jay, Rain Man is back with little Ms. Sunshine
Rihanna where you at?

Explanation

“No clouds in my stones
Let it rain, I hydroplane in the bank
Coming down with the Dow Jones”

So the “storm” is in fact related to the economy and the financial world. “Coming down with the Dow Jones” reflects this situation. The Dow Jones is the main indicator of the health of the stock market. If it plummets, we can talk about a market crash. You’ll notice that the whole song has a pessimistic outlook concerning the future.  Jay-Z is saying “Let it rain”, he doesn’t care about the financial crisis,  he “hydroplanes in the bank”.  In other words, while the bank is being flooded by this storm and people are drowning in it, he’s above the water and  surviving the crisis.

When the clouds come we gone, we Rocafella

In other words, when the financial crisis will occur, we won’t be here to suffer through it. “Rocafella” is the name of Jay-Z’s record label. It also refers to John D. Rockefeller and his family, the biggest industrialists in American History and huge actors in the formation of the social-economic world we’re currently living in. Many historians claim the Rockefellers have engineered the crash of 1929 to be able to obtain a stronghold on America’s banking system. Congressman Charles A. Lindberg Sr. accurately proclaimed in 1930:

“From now on depressions will be scientifically created.”

We fly higher than weather
And G5’s are better, You know me,

“We fly higher than the weather” means that Jay-Z cannot be affected by the financial crisis because he is above the problem. He enjoys a protection that makes him invulnerable to the storm. The fact that he says “WE fly higher than the weather” implies that a select few can have the same kind of privileges he has. G5 is a kind of private jet so he will live in luxury even when the crisis strikes the rest of the world.

an anticipation, for precipitation. Stacked chips for the rainy day

Jay-Z says here that he was expecting this major crisis (the precipitation) and so he has prepared financially to face it. Seems like he had prior knowledge of the events that would occur in the future. Is he talking about the recession that is happening now?

Jay, Rain Man is back with little Ms. Sunshine
Rihanna where you at?

Jay aka “Rain Man”. He has been possessed by the Devil, contrarily to Rihanna, who he calls “little Ms. Sunshine”. Rihanna is the good girl. Jay-Z is already bad and he is asking Rihanna to join him.

So Jay-Z lyrics have NOTHING to do with love, friendship or any type of relationship. His lyrics are saying that he is part of the “chosen”, the elite, the secret group that cannot be harmed by the trials and tribulations of the “small people”. Even if there’s a major crisis, he’s associated with the very people that make those crisis happen, so he won’t be affected. This group however bows down and worships evil. If Rihanna wants to be part of them, she has to do the same.

Rihanna’s lyrics

You have my heart
And we’ll never be worlds apart
May be in magazines
But you’ll still be my star
Baby cause in the dark
You can’t see shiny cars
And that’s when you need me there
With you I’ll always share

Rihanna sings this part, but it is actually the Devil talking to Rihanna. He is “sweet-talking” her so she can accept the idea of the Devil entering her body. Here’s how we can translate the lyrics.

I love you
Even if I’m not from your world, I’ll never be far from you
You may be famous and in magazines
But you’ll always be MY star, nobody else’s
Because when you won’t be successful anymore
When you won’t be able to buy shiny cars and material things
That’s when you’ll need my protection
With you I’ll always share my riches

So the Devil is offering Rihanna a lifetime of riches and luxury, even when she’ll lose her popularity and stop generating money from her singing carreer. Tempting isn’t it?

Chorus

When the sun shines, we’ll shine together
Told you I’ll be here forever
Said I’ll always be your friend
Took an oath I’ma stick it out till the end
Now it’s raining more than ever
But we’ll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella

(Ella ella eh eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh eh eh eh)

Translation

When you shine from your success, we both profit from it
I will always be part of you
I will always be on your side
I promised you I would protect you and I will do it as long as necessary
Now the financial crisis is afflicting the world
But I’m still here with you
You can be under my protection
You can be under my protection

What’s up with the Ella Ella eh’s? It sounds catchy doesn’t it? The repetitive and hypnotic rhythm of this chant makes it very reminiscent of magical spells, conjurations or summons.

2nd Verse

These fancy things, will never come in between
You’re part of my entity, here for Infinity
When the war has took it’s part
When the world has dealt it’s cards
If the hand is hard, together we’ll mend your heart

All of your material possessions will never separate me and you
You’re part of my entity, I own you, until the end of times
When the crisis has ravaged the world
When we’ll know the final outcome of the world
If you’re in trouble, me and you will stop the pain

“You’re part of my entity” is very relevant here because “entity” is not a word in the vocabulary used between loved ones. Nobody will say to his/her lover “You’re part of my entity”. An entity is not human.

An entity is something that has a distinct, separate existence, though it need not be a material existence.
-Wikipedia

“Here for Infinity” also gives a non-human feel to the lyrics, as if this power doesn’t live or die, it is immortal.

“When the war has took it’s part/ When the world has dealt it’s cards” is a particularly gloomy passage. It basically predicts a terrible event that will strike severely the entire world and that will rearrange the way it will function afterwards. Once again, we refer to a huge crisis that is about to occur and the Devil is trying to convince Rihanna to let him protect her.

Bridge

You can run into my arms
It’s okay don’t be alarmed
Come into me
There’s no distance in between our love
So go on and let the rain pour
I’ll be all you need and more
Because

This part is actually a dialogue between the Devil and Rihanna. It is difficult to notice because there’s not difference in the tone of voice. The video however gives a visual clue of the dialogue by reversing the image when Rihanna answers the Devil.

So, the Devil is telling Rihanna

“You can run into my arms
It’s okay don’t be alarmed”

translation:

“You can come and seek my protection
Don’t be scared of the crisis”

Rihanna answers

“Come into me” as in “come inside of my body and possess me”

Both Rihanna and Devil say

“There’s no distance between our love” . The Devil is effectively now INSIDE of her, there’s no more distance between them.

And the Devil finishes by saying:

“So go on and let the rain pour
I’ll be all you need and more”

translation:

Let the world get what it deserves, I’ll take care of you.

So now that you probably gained another perspective on the song’s lyrics, we can proceed to analyze the video, which carry HEAVY symbolism and  confirms the theory of the Devil trying to possess Rihanna. The video also adds a layer of interpretation by depicting the process of possession as a rape.

Analyzing the video

At the beginning we see Jay-Z with six black-clad women. As previously stated, Jay-Z is already possessed in the song. The six women represent Jay-Z’s thoughts being controlled.

The we see Rihanna dressed in black and wearing a top-hat, a visual clue to represent the evil entity, which is masculine. The long, claw-like fingernails give a sense of a demonic, ungodly creature. When Rihanna starts singing, she moves in sexually seductive way to reflect the Devil’s attempt to seduce Rihanna. He wants to possess her not only mentally but physically also.

The picture above is the explosion we see in the video right after the first verse. This explosion of chrome-colored liquid represents something truly disturbing: the rape of Rihanna by the Devil.

The frame above represents the rape of Rihanna. Dressed in white and thus embodying “the good girl with values”, Rihanna dances while performing defensive gestures. She is trying to protect herself from the chrome liquid, which represents the seminal fluid of the Devil. The liquid hits her a total of 6 times.

We then see Rihanna naked, covered in chrome-colored liquid. Rihanna has been raped by the Devil and covered with his semen. She seems in pain and not herself. On the frame above we see her inside a triangle. This is VERY symbolic. For occultists, an upwards triangle represents the phallus, the penis, male energy. Rihanna is inside the triangle. She is completely “owned” and under the spell of the Devil’s energy.

=

Look closely at the frame above. It appears very briefly at around 2:46 in the video. It is Rihanna on her knees, her head on the floor. It’s also something else: the face of the Devil! It has been made to look like “Baphomet” (see image), who is an intricate part of occult mysteries. You see the two eyes, snout and the long horns. This frame has been digitally manipulated to look like this because it is anatomically incorrect. No human can assume this position in real life. This image has been placed on purpose and only for a fraction of second. Classic subliminal message.

So Rihanna has been raped and we saw the face of the Devil, so what’s next?

Rihanna has now become the “Bad Girl” dressed in black. She is surrounded by 6 black clad men (like Jay-Z at the beginning), to represent her state of possession. She dances suggestively with a closed umbrella, which represents a phallus. The Devil has won, he has taken over Rihanna. And she is asking for more. At the end of the song, Rihanna asks her rapists to come into her again. Sick.

It’s raining
Ooh baby it’s raining
Baby come into me
Come into me
It’s raining
Oh baby it’s raining

The “ooh baby” makes it clear that we’re not talking about raindrops falling from the sky. It means she is wet and ready to welcome the Devil again inside her.

The analysis of Rihanna’s Umbrella was to prove the fact that the general public is blind to the hidden messages omnipresent in mass media. Kids from all over the world sing and dance to this song while registering unconsciously the hidden layers of symbolism.

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To finish off this great report on Rihanna’s masterpiece of deceit, here’s her performance at the MTV Europe awards. Once again, HEAVY occult symbolism here (and she sucks at signing too).

Rihanna is dressed in a priestess costume surrounded by pyramids with illuminated capstones. There is no mistaking the occult significance of those symbols, who confirm the fact that this song is way more than simple love song. Umbrella was the first single of the album “Good Girl Gone Bad”. The second single was “Disturbia” and represents Rihanna’s state of mind while she under the control of the Evil Entity.

Click here to view Part 2 of this analysis, Rihanna’s Disturbia: A Song About Being Possessed by Evil.

Before leaving a comment, please make sure that I’m VERY AWARE of the fact that Rihanna DID NOT WRITE this song and this fact changes ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in the analysis.

Analysis sourced from

“Workings of Evil” by Lenon Honor