46 & 2 and the Shadow:

Resources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tja6_h4lT6A
http://www.pisceandelusions.org/reference/462theory.html

I've written a little private essay just for fun here, I think you should know a few more things before we move on...

------------------------------------------- 46 and 2 by Tool: The Explanation ----------------------------------------------------
Lyrics:

Verse 1.1

Join in my,
Join in my child and listen...
Digging through
my old numb shadow.

Verse 2.0

My shadow's shedding skin.
I've been picking scabs again.
I'm down, digging through,
my old muscles, for a clue.

Chorus 1.0

I've been crawling on my belly,
clearing out what could have been.
I've been wallowing in my on confused and insecure delusions.

Chorus 2.1

For a piece to cross me over,
or a word to guide me in.
I wanna feel the changes coming down.
I wanna know what I've been hiding...

Chorus 3.1

In my shadow, my shadow.
Change is coming through my shadow.
My shadow's shedding skin.
I've been picking my scabs again.

Verse 1.2

Join in my,
Join in my child.
My shadow moves
closer to meaning.

Chorus 1.0 (slight variation)

I've been crawling on my belly,
clearing out what could have been.
I've been wallowing in my own chaotic insecure delusions.

Chorus 2.2

I wanna feel the change consume me,
feel the outside turning in.
I wanna feel the metamorphosis and
cleansing I've endured

Chorus 3.2

In my shadow, my shadow.
Change is coming,
now is my time.
Listen to my muscle memory contemplate what I've been clinging to.
Forty six and two ahead of me.

Verse 3.0

I choose to live and to
Grow, take and give and to
Move, learn and love and to
Cry, kill and die and to
Be paranoid and to
Lie, hate and fear and to
Do what it takes to move through.

I choose to live and to
Lie, kill and give and to
Die, learn and love and to
Do what it takes to step through.

Verse 4.0

See my shadow changing,
stretching up and over me,
soften this old armor.
Hoping I can clear the way
by stepping through my shadow,
coming out the other side.
Step into the shadow.
Forty six and two are just ahead of me.

Now with what I know already, tool here may be taunting us while teaching us.

Notes on the shadow:

The shadow is the unconscious counterpart of the conscious ego. It was hypothesized by Carl Gustav Jung as a location for the negative psychic energy. Everything you are introduced to as a concept you don't agree with, that idea is put into the shadow and most of the time forgotten. If you choose to rebel against that certain concept, that concept is placed into unconscious storage. Sometimes you may be a little more open-minded and choose to look at the concept again to debate it. You are looking into your shadow, taking it out again.

"Join in my child and listen... digging through my old numb shadow."
Maynard is looking back at all the memories of things he has turned down in his history. Verse 2.0 is him debating each concept one my one. His shadow is shedding skin, each layer being a single concept. He is doing this because somewhere in there he could have forgotten something that he needs, something that may help him move forward.

Chorus 1.0 is another analogy for this, explaining things he has been insecure with or in doing. In chorus 2.1 he is adamant that he will find something that will help him. He chooses to do this for a reason. All from here up to the end of chorus 2.2 is just this.

"Forty six and two ahead of me."
This quote does not make sense unless you know what chromosomes are. Chromosomes are groups of DNA that appear during cell division. In humans there are 46 chromosomes; 44 autosomes and 2 sex chromosomes. Autosomes contain genetic information such as height, looks, etc. Sex chromosomes determine the gender of the individual. Of course, this is in a normal human. There are, as theorized, three types of humans on earth. There are those with 42 & 2 chromosomes. These humans are only in the first state of consciousness, which is characterized by only being in tune with the unconscious mind. They do not see anything outside themselves and cannot interact with the outside world. One example of these kinds of beings are the aboriginals in Australia. The normal group of humans are within the second step of consciousness. We are a dis-harmonic stepping stone in this pattern of three consciousnesses. We are only in harmony with the conscious world and our environment, or at least for most of the time. Then finally there are those with 46 and 2 chromosomes. This step is in harmony with both conscious and unconscious worlds. We are not yet there, as nobody is known as having these extra two chromosomes, which pretty much change everything. This is mostly theorized by Drunvalo Melchizedek. According to him, our planet is covered with "morphogenetic grids." Each species has its own grid, which supports life. Before a new species can come into existence, a new grid must be constructed. A new grid may have been completed in 1989, known as the Christ-consciousness grid. This grid will allow humans to evolve into the next version, with 46 + 2 chromosomes. The main change will be a shift to unity consciousness. Every cell in our bodies has its own consciousness and memory. You, being the higher being that controls all of these cells, have the ability to make the millions of different consciousnesses in your body to work together as one. Think of yourself as the cell and the grid as the higher being. Once we evolve, we will still have individual consciousness but will work in unity with a higher being. However, scientifically speaking, we don't seem to be developing the new chromosomes. This may be because of beliefs and belief systems. Beliefs are crippling the mind, mostly because of the loyalty humans have to their own dogma. They believe what they are told and only that, instead of having an open mind. When they are introduced to new ideas, which in this kind of society occurs often, they just push it back into the shadows. The main reason that NOBODY is evolving, including those who know all of this, is because even when they try to meditate and become part of the next grid and new consciousness, they begin to develop their own dogma. Once they start to do this, their mind is dead. Always have your mind open and you may evolve.

Now, this is purely a "wow, what a coincidence" situation because of that one little thing people have pushed aside. Of course, it's nothing we have to worry about, only the scientifically proven death of us all. It can happen in 2011 or 2012, when our species is destroyed along with the grid we belong to. You remember how in school you were taught about the dinosaurs and how they were completely wiped out? Well many other species survived while they became extinct in one blow. It doesn't matter how it happened, they were given a certain amount of time to move on and blew it. Though they are seen by us as "just stupid animals," they had a mind of their own. Which is basically what's happening here, the dominant species of earth is about to be destroyed. Whether the dinosaurs were destroyed by coments, an ice age, whatever, it was a danger they could not control or avoid. Both the comet theory and the polar shift theory means death for us all, along with other species that may dissolve as well. Now, since birth I started as sort of a christian. Later on my family became atheist. Currently I'm starting to move on to this new belief. I only have a certain amount of time, so while believing all of this 'till the end, it's still considered only temporary. Others have a chance at evolving, too, but don't know what's happening or how. Even if all of this is take, if we don't at least try we'll die anyway. We are never safe, so believe in NOTHING.

Resources:
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Reflection-lyrics-Tool/BED55E0C5BF9D92B48256A57002CE84E
http://www.deoxy.org/egofalse.htm
http://www.lyricinterperetations.com/lookat.php/bands/tool/34787ae8f7814b3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-885aiY3ZY

Lyrics:
I have come curiously close to the end, though
Beneath my self indulgent pitiful hole. Defeated I
Concede and move closer. I may find comfort here
I may find peace within the emptiness. How pitiful.

It's calling me
...

And in my darkest moment, fetal and weeping.
The moon tells me a secret. My confidante.
As full and bright as I am, this light is not my own
A million light reflections pass over me
It's source is bright and endless.
She resuscitates the hopeless
Without her we are lifeless satellites drifting.

And as I pull my head out
I am without one doubt
Don't want to be down here
Soothing my narcissism I
Must crucify the ego
Before it's far too late
I pray the light lifts me out

Before I pine away.
...

So crucify the ego
Before it's far too late
To leave behind this place so
Negative and blind and cynical

And we will come to find
That we are all one mind
Capable of all that's
Imagine the inconceivable

Just let the light touch you
And let the words spill through
Just let them pass right through,
Bringing out our hope and reason.

Before we pine away.
...

Notes on the Ego:

This song makes references to different things all having to do with the ego. Its lyrics are based off of the Greek myth, "Narcissus." In this tale, a story is told about a man who was so indulged in himself that all he would do was stare into a lake looking at his reflection. He was cursed to a life of just that, and only that, until he "pined away." The story is used as an example of the way the human ego is used, this one being in a bad way. Like all Tool songs, there aren't single bases for it, as it is another evolutionary instruction. Mentioned in the notes on the shadow, the ego is the conscious counterpart of the shadow. Because it is conscious, we have the ability to control it more so. Just like the shadow, the ego must be shed every once in a while to prevent itself from consuming the mind. Maynard explained this song and the ego, saying the ego is like the moon. It waxes and wanes in a cycle, reflecting light from the sun. Knowing this, the ego is not the source of itself. The source is the self, and the mirror is the anima.

"The source is bright and endless, <The sun, or the self
she resuscitates the hopeless..." <The moon, or the anima
Notes on the anima will be added later for more understanding, but for now, let's keep on the topic of the ego. For the sake of understanding, however, the anima or animus has to do with a developed personality of the opposite sex. It is the alternative persona, perhaps its unconscious counterpart, and its own reflection of sorts. The anima does not shed, but instead develops a more reflective surface.

In the case of Narcissus, he could have a well-developed mirror or a dim one, either way it was the light that consumed him. His ego only waned, not being blocked by the Earth (or his persona). If he were to look at his persona for what it really was, it would come and block the sun from time to time. While his ego revolves around his persona he would wax and wane once again.

The ego is also known as the false center. The self is the real center, the unconscious being we have yet to communicate with. While we still need the ego, we should not overuse it.

Back to the solar system example with the moon, earth, and sun. We may see an obvious link here-
as the amount of light reflected by the moon increases, the amount of darkness on the moon decreases. This is the reaction to the darkness decreasing, as it cannot be pushed but only pulled. The light represents the ego, the dark represents the shadow, the moon represents the anima or animus, the Earth represents the persona, and the sun represents the self. If the persona were to get in the way of the self and create a shadow on the moon for too long, well, the darkness would consume it instead. Be careful of yourself.