I don’t often reblog other people’s work, unless I feel their work is exceptional.  This is one of those times;

Since I did an expose of Led Zeppelin in The Spirit of Prophecy, I was well aware of the influence of Aleister Crowley on many rock musicians, although I had not looked at David Bowie specifically.  Bowie was a highly influential musician, and dearly loved by many, but I am afraid his influence was largely negative.

The following was posted on Facebook by John Muncy

Blackstar by David Bowie

DAVID BOWIE DIES AFTER SINGING “I AM THE GREAT I AM”!

I caught the news early this morning and heard that David Bowie had died of cancer, at the age of 69, just as his latest album was released. I immediately thought of his influence on rock music (selling over 130 million albums), and of the early days of our ministry when I spent a great deal of time preaching on the occult connections with such artists as David Bowie had.

One of the quotes from Bowie I often used back then was…

“Rock has always been the devil’s music; you can’t convince me that it isn’t. I honestly believe everything I’ve said—I believe rock and roll is dangerous. …I feel that we’re only heralding something even darker than ourselves” (Rolling Stone, February 12, 1976, p. 83). This album certainly revealed that “darker” side in the song, “Blackstar”.

As soon as I got on FB this morning, my friend, Paula Joiner Chapman, sent me a message that he had died and she sent a link to a video from that latest album. We talked a little bit and both commented on the weird video and its meaning. Although today has been a very busy day, I wanted to share some of my insights on his music to bring up a topic that rarely gets talked about now-a-days: The Spirit Behind The Music!

Even The Times of London admitted that, “Blackstar may be the oddest work yet from Bowie”. And most people who knew Bowie, knew he always had a very strange twist to his music, but this one really revealed something working behind the scene that pushed him that direction.

The title cut from that album is a 10-minute mini-movie with a lot of bizarre symbolism and satanic overtones. The song appears to be an affirmation to Satan himself, one who – before his fall – was a musical genius according to Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. Lucifer was a “perfect” musician, with the talent build into his very being. (Many of the modern Bible versions take out the reverences to Lucifer and his musical ministry. This “covering cherub” was one of God’s most beautiful created angelic beings. He played music that included “pipes” (wind instruments), “viols” (string instruments) and “tabrets” (percussion instruments). Together this built-in plurality of musical implementations formed a “perfect” melody, harmony and the rhythm of heavenly music before the throne of God. This is the place of the cherubim, the amazing, worshipping, artistic, angelic beings.

But something happened to this gorgeous musician – something that happens to so many talented and beautiful artsy people – he became lifted up in his pride, so much so that he thought he could replace God and be worshipped. This will be the same “spirit” [attitude] of the coming antichrist, who like Lucifer, will “exalt himself” and even declare himself as God. (2 Thessalonians 2:4)

When I watched the video and then read the lyrics, I saw that same “spirit” manifest in Bowie’s song. Both the title cut, Blackstar and Lazarus have some very strong religious overtones, but not the kind that a believer would be comfortable with.

The Blackstar song starts off talking about “the villa of Ormen”. A quick search on Google will point you to a pretty disturbing website by that same name; full of occultism and sexual imagery. Actual scenes from Bowie’s video are reflected from that site, complete with “twitching, jerking people”.

The haunting video shows a woman, with a visible tail walking over to a dead astronaut, who had obviously been dead a very long time, for when she opens up his helmet we see his jeweled-studded ancient skull. (This skull is used later in worship ritual where several women bow down to it.) The lyrics of the song repeatedly speak of “a solitary candle in the center of it all”. There is a ton of symbolism just in the opening scenes, but it continued to get more bizarre as the song goes on…

The song goes on to speak of “the day of execution” where women kneel down…at this point, the scene goes to a cornfield where we see three “scarecrows” hanging on three crosses and the song says:

“Something happened on the day he died
Spirit rose a meter and stepped aside
Somebody else took his place, and bravely cried
(I’m a blackstar, I’m a blackstar)”

During this whole portion of the video, it keeps spanning the three hanging men on their crosses, moving about, while it goes back to Bowie (at about 4 minutes in the video) holding what appears to be a Bible/Prayer Book with a large black pentagram on the cover. video Then it does a close up of a bearded man as he writhes about on his cross. (Pretty understandable) The song/video then goes back to the candle (light) “in the center of it all”. The name Lucifer means “light-bearer”. At this point in the video, the jewel-studded skull is surrounded by jerking, twitching modestly dressed women as the appear to be overcome by its presence. (This scene seems to be something you would see in some Pentecostal style meetings as they jerk about.) They raise their hands, dance, kneel and bow to their faces before it. Throughout this entire unsettling video, men and women are shown jerking uncontrollably, as if something had possessed them.

And I think this is exactly what Bowie was trying to portray; for in a very bizarre artistic way, Bowie was showing the “spirit behind his music”. To whatever extent these lyrics can be summarized, they are clearly about worship, ambition, and ascendance—and, more than anything, the allure and power of being “at the center of it all.” To me, it’s the sound of someone gaining significance by insisting upon their significance; someone hungering to be above, unique, and immortal; someone awing the rest of mankind by standing apart from it. It’s about ego, and about how indulging one’s ego can, paradoxically, inspire others to forget their own. THIS IS THE FALL OF SATAN IN A NUTSHELL.

David Bowie spent most of his life entertaining people with his unusual antics, flirting with the devil. In the mid-1970s, Bowie became a drug-crazed recluse. His life at that time was described in the following terms: “Friends who visited Bowie in Los Angeles reported that he was living in a room with the curtains permanently drawn, a bowl of cocaine prominently displayed on the coffee table. Scattered around the floor were books of occultism and mysticism. On the walls he’d scrawled magic pentagrams as protection against the curses he believed had been uttered against him. So convinced did he become that black magicians were planning to destroy him that he hired a white witch to perform an exorcism involving the burning of blue and white candles and the sprinkling of salt” (Steve Turner, Hungry for Heaven, p. 93).

I find it interesting that just two days before his death, the Blackstar album was released. The video from the album, entitled “Lazarus” (the name of the man Jesus raised from the dead) shows Bowie laying on a hospital bed, talking about going to heaven. At 1:05 into the video, a creepy hand reaches up from under the bed – possibly to drag Bowie down, later on showing this imp under the bed at 3:36 in that same video.

David Bowie, like so many other famous rock stars, was an admirer of the famous Satanist Aleister Crowley. He referred to Crowley in his song “Quicksand” from the album “The Man Who Sold the World”. By 1975 biographer Henry Edwards described Bowie as becoming obsessed with Crowleyan rituals and mantras, and would store his urine in the refrigerator due to Crowley – “The Beast’s” advice. Eventually, Bowie looked to witches and exorcism rites to deliver him from the evil spirits he felt controlled his life. (Stardust The David Bowie Story, (McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1986), Henry Edwards and Tony Zanetta, pp. 334, 335, 339)

The director of the Blackstar video was Johan Renck, who is also “a huge Crowley fan” who said that he had “tried to make a movie on his [Crowley’s] life a few years ago.” (Behind “Blackstar”: An Interview With Johan Renck, Justin Joffe, Nov. 19 2015)

Aleister Crowley started the Golden Dawn; it was a magical secret society, a major manifestation of the occult revival which flourished at the end of the 19th century and taught a unique blend of Jewish mysticism (called Cabbala or Kabbalah, can also to be found throughout Bowie’s historic symbolism), astral travel, “sex-magic”, yoga (also practiced by Bowie) and how to communicate with angels and demons.

Bowie himself admitted, “I’ve always felt like a vehicle for something else but then I’ve never really sorted out what that was” (Bowie on Bowie, pg. 31).

As Bowie is one of the most innovative rock stars ever, his displayed multiple personalities, with the paranoid and para–religious myths of Star–Men visiting the earth, either becoming or influencing Messiahs, a Black Star, or trying to live as discreet “Lodgers” among the Earthlings.

(Aleister Crowley had a large influence on fellow rockers including Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Ozzy Osbourne, Graham Bond, Jim Morrison of the Doors, Iron Maiden lead singer Bruce Dickinson, Daryl Hall of the rock duo Hall and Oates, Sting, formerly of the Police, Marilyn Manson, Stiv Bators, lead singer for The Dead Boys and Lords of the New Church, Rolling Stone’s Mick Jagger, and the Beatles.)

In an interview in 1972, Bowie claimed he was homosexual. Bowie blasphemously said, “Jesus Christ was a strange boy himself ” (Hit Parader, June 19, 1975).

TV Guide called him the leader of the gender- benders. He was once named the number one male singer and the number three female singer in the same poll in Britain. Bowie’s ex-wife, Angela Barnett, was kicked out of a Connecticut college because of lesbianism. The two allegedly met while involved with the same man. On Thursday nights, during their marriage, David visited gay bars while Angela visited lesbian clubs, and they brought home people they found (Time, July 18, 1983, p. 58).

What I find interesting are the allusions loosely referring to Christ being “executed”, and “only women” bowing down, and his spirit rising and BEING REPLACED by one who bravely declares to be “a blackstar”.

The next verse tells us this “blackstar” speaks of a FALLEN “ANGEL”…how he “trod on sacred ground, he cried loud into the crowd” and ends up declaring, “I’M THE GREAT I AM (I’m a blackstar)” This is exactly what Lucifer did, he trod on sacred ground – in front of the very throne of God – and declared that he would become God.

It’s worth noting here, that angels are called “stars” in the Bible. This blackstar, who I believe represents Satan, is referred to in Revelation as having swept down 1/3 of “the stars” with his tail when he rebelled and fell from heaven.

You can watch the video here, although I warn you, it will be grievous to your spirit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kszLwBaC4Sw

Sometimes it is hard for people to perceive “the spirit behind the music”, but I think most of you will detect this if you will watch it.

The bottom line is this: Either your music is drawing your closer to the heart of God, or your music is pulling you further away from the heart of God. Satan knows the power of music on a very personal level. I think it goes without saying that he has taken music and twisted it to such a place that it no longer represents and honors the Lord, the actual Creator of music. What does your music reflect?

THINK ABOUT IT! – John Muncy

Originally posted at https://www.facebook.com/johnmuncy

My comments follow;

It is very sad that David Bowie has died not knowing the Lord.  The last thing he did was to release an album that mocks Christianity, and the cross.  So, if you ask me where David Bowie is today, I am afraid I have to answer “in Hell”.  The only people who go to Heaven are the people who have a testimony of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and there is no evidence that Bowie ever did that.

For people who live like the world, but have claimed faith in Jesus, I could only say “I don’t know”; maybe they are true believers who are backslidden.  For the case of David Bowie it is more like he died shaking his fist at God.  No saved person would ever do that.

For his family, I know this is no comfort, but I have to point out that if you are alive today you can still call on Jesus to save you.  It does not matter how much you have sinned, Jesus is greater than all of your sin!

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;  Romans 3:23

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Romans 6:23

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  Romans 10:9

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  Romans 10:13

(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)  II Corinthians 6:2

So what are you waiting for?  Seek the Lord while He may be found.

Dan