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The Court of the Crimson King

A Theosophical interpretation

of this King Crimson song

Posted 29/3/07

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The Court of the Crimson King

A song recorded on the King Crimson album entitled; In the Court of the Crimson King. Issued in 1969.

First a chance to read it through

The rusted chains of prison moons

Are shattered by the sun.

I walk a road, horizons change

The tournament's begun.

The purple piper plays his tune,

The choir softly sing;

Three lullabies in an ancient tongue,

For the court of the crimson king.

The keeper of the city keys

Put shutters on the dreams.

I wait outside the pilgrim's door

With insufficient schemes.

The black queen chants

the funeral march,

The cracked brass bells will ring;

To summon back the fire witch

To the court of the crimson king.

The gardener plants an evergreen

Whilst trampling on a flower.

I chase the wind of a prism ship

To taste the sweet and sour.

The pattern juggler lifts his hand;

The orchestra begin.

As slowly turns the grinding wheel

In the court of the crimson king.

On soft grey mornings widows cry,

The wise men share a joke;

I run to grasp divining signs

To satisfy the hoax.

The yellow jester does not play

But gently pulls the strings

And smiles as the puppets dance

In the court of the crimson king.

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Now my Theosophical interpretation.

This song represents an esoteric and perceptive view of the stages in the life journey from the entry into the fresh physical incarnation to the point of death.

The Court Of The Crimson King

This is repeated at the end of each verse is an account that must be settled at the end of each life by the journey through kama loka or spirit realm. This differs from Karma which is carried from life to life and is represented at the beginning of verse four although generating a lot of negative karma indicates a personality and attitudes that will make it difficult to move up from the lower levels of the Astral plane. The speed and difficulty of moving through kama loka depends mostly on the personality developed in the life lived, the way in which challenges have been met and the spiritual development that has been made.

The way the line is repeated is a reminder that whatever we do, go through or think will have an effect and at the end of the life journey an account will have to be settled.

The rusted chains of prison moons

Are shattered by the sun.

This is the transition from the inter life state into a new physical incarnation. The move from the rest or darkness of night into light of day. This has not been a dark night and the period of Devachan has been pleasant but the rusted chains show it has run its course.

I walk a road, horizons change

The tournament's begun.

This is the journey to adult life and an engagement with the world. The element of free will is acknowledged by the use of the indefinite article before road. There is no prescribed of pre-ordained road to walk. This is a time of great expectation and opportunity represented by the spectacle of the tournament.

The purple piper plays his tune,

The choir softly sing;

Three lullabies in an ancient tongue,

For the court of the crimson king.

These four lines work at two levels representing both emotional and spiritual awakening. The imagery of the choir and lullabies suggests marriage and children under the patronage of traditional relgion. The term ancient tongue could refer to the latin of the Catholic Church if a traditional religion is followed or the Sanskrit of the eastern traditions whci may be found on a spiritual journey.

Again the purple piper could be a traditional priestly figure or an eastern guru.

The keeper of the city keys

Put shutters on the dreams.

Like Thomas a Beckett in T S Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral, “Ambition comes when one realizes not all things are possible” There will always be constraints on the possibilities of each incarnation placed by Karma and the objectives of that life.

I wait outside the pilgrim's door

With insufficient schemes.

The black queen chants

the funeral march,

Not all things are possible and opportunities are often missed or wasted. One’s view of life starts out like a school summer holiday which for a time seems endless but there will come a point at which one can see an end to it.

The cracked brass bells will ring;

To summon back the fire witch

To the court of the crimson king.

Life energy has now peaked and starts to withdraw, this is a long slow process. These lyrics were written before interest in what we call healthy eating and life extension became widespread, This process is not now readily accepted and ageing is now resisted.

The gardener plants an evergreen

Whilst trampling on a flower.

It’s nice to leave something good and long lasting to show you were here and this will generate is bit of good karma. You will also inevitably generate some negative karma, nobody deliberately tramples a flower.

I chase the wind of a prism ship

To taste the sweet and sour.

Here comes the search for a meaning and purpose for one’s life. Prisms distort the light of the spectrum in almost magical ways and the ship travelling over water (the subconscious) represents a spiritual journey. The sweet and sour is the reality of acing up to who one really is.

The pattern juggler lifts his hand;

The orchestra begin.

As slowly turns the grinding wheel

In the court of the crimson king.

The final decline into old age now sets in. Although a pattern juggler is normally someone who juggles with flaming torches (creates patterns), it is used here to describe the conductor of an orchestra and

seems to show that the once fiery torch of life energy is now just a baton. The slow grinding wheel is reminder that the remaining life energy is running down.

On soft grey mornings widows cry,

The wise men share a joke;

The time of death has now been reached but to wise men i.e. doctors and priests this is just another working day.

I run to grasp divining signs

To satisfy the hoax.

Solace can be taken in religious belief as death approaches. The hoax has a double meaning and refers to both doubts about one’s religion and the idea that life and the world are an illusion, what H P Blavatsky refers to as Maya in the Voice of the Silence.

The yellow jester does not play

But gently pulls the strings

And smiles as the puppets dance

At the point of death there is a review of the life just lived and the puppets dancing are those who have played a pert in that life. The yellow jester probably represents the idea of going towards the light and is also a spiritual helper.

In the court of the crimson king.

In the first two verses, “the court of the crimson king” is preceded by “for” and then “to”. In the last verse it is preceded by “in”. This suggests that in the earlier stages of the journey there is still a level of choice and opportunity but later this choice is reduced or disappears.

This song was written thirty eight years ago, limitation with age is now generally resisted if not rejected altogether.

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