Re: 'Lily' The Red Shoes-Question?

[pohlke@inf.fu-berlin.de (Andreas Pohlke)]

consul95@aol.com (Consul95) writes:
>I have a question that I hope someone may be able to answer; on 'The Red
>Shoes' the song 'Lily' seems to be referring to something to do with white
>magic, particularly 'Gaberiel before me etc.'  (although I may be wrong on
>this) does anybody out there have any interpretations on this song and
>what it's about, because I'd love to hear them:.)

"Gabriel before me
 Raphael behind me
 Michael to my right,
 Uriel to my left side
 In this circle of fire."

There are the archangels arranged around me in a circle of burning fire.
Erm, one may detect the form of a protection spell here which is
quite common. 4 directions (of the sky and/or the earth) bound
with a circle, oneself inside the circle.
There are really a lot spells of this kind in various forms
(I once heard the form "Jesus to my head, Jesus to my feet, Jesus
inside me"), which are not all "christianised". One can easily
replace christian figures with others.
To become more detailed, each direction has a meaning, variing on
the cultural context. "Michael to my right" has surely something
to do with the sword/weapon bearing hand &c.
I tend to call these spells "mantras", as they have the same
intention.
Best wishes,
Andreas.


>Many thanks

>Pete
>Consul95@aol.com
>P.s. ' Never be Mine' is her best song ever!

--
Andreas Pohlke  <pohlke@ inf.fu-berlin.de>        Institute for Computer Science
http://www.inf.fu-berlin.de/~pohlke               Free University of Berlin
"superstition brings bad luck"                    Germany