On Sun, 9 Feb 2003, Little Bird <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote (in part):
Asking what the song DJRD is about is sort of like asking, "What's life about?"
It's a very complex song with a lot of references to the books of<snip>
Carlos Castaneda, a Mexican philopsher/poet/writer who theorizes about life,
knowledge and self discovery. One of the "characters" in his books is a
real-life mystic named Don Juan who teaches the ancient philosophies of
the Toltec Indians. The eagle and serpent imagery are derived from these
ancient teachings.
Joni, of course, being a huge fan of Aboriginal philosophies, takes
these teachings and incorporates them into the universal theme of duality,
which is a constant thread throughout her work: man/woman, scale/feather,
land/sky, clarity/blind desire, old ideals/new ideals. The crux of the
song hinges on this line, I think: "The eagle and the serpent are at war in
me/The serpent fighting for blind desire, the eagle for clarity." It's
Joni coming to terms with a lot of factors in her life that seem to be
conflicting polarities, drawing inspiration from ageless philosophy to
get some kind of balance.
... and several others took up the theme. Not mentioned:
Joni, as most of us know, is a Scorpio, as is yours truly. For some purposes, each astrological sign is associated with three symbols -- or, if they're all animals, we might say "totems." I don't know what the additional ones for the other signs are, or what concept is being scaled as "low," "middle" and "high," but for Scorpio, the "low" symbol is the scorpion, the "middle" symbol is the snake (serpent) and the "high" symbol is the eagle. So, in addition to referencing the Toltec symbology, Joni was -- whether intentionally or not -- referencing two of the three aspects of her Scorpio identity.
Tim Spong
Dover, Del., U.S.A.
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