Ewolucja duchowa i lewatywa: Jungowskie tropy w twórczości zespołu Tool
Spiritual evolution and enema: Jungian tropes in the lyrics of Tool

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this paper is to analyse Jungian tropes in the lyrics of an American progressiverock band, Tool. Maynard James Keenan, the singer and lyricist, has always admitted to hisenduring fascination with the theories of Carl Gustav Jung and Joseph Campbell and, apartfrom the songs, Jungian tropes are also evident in the album covers, promotional videos andthe visuals of the group’s live shows. In his lyrics, Keenan directly or indirectly refers to theconsecutive stages of Jung’s process of individuation, continuous spiritual evolution andtransformation. Its aim is the complete integration of the conscious with the unconscious inthe psyche. In the songs from Opiate and Undertow, Keenan expresses his sense of the needfor spiritual development and integration of the persona, the mask used in one’s contactswith the outside world. Another recurring motif in the first albums is confrontation withthe shadow, which, when repressed, brings about the fragmentation and disintegration of thepsyche. The album Ænima focuses on the necessity to understand and realise the anima, anunconscious female element in a man’s psyche, which leads to spiritual cleansing. The finalphase of individuation is the Self – the transcendence of all opposites and the discovery of thedivine in a human being. It means a total balance of all mental functions, which is symbolicallyreflected in the perfect shape of the spiral. This stage of the spiritual evolution is addressed inthe lyrics of several songs from Lateralus.

• Details
• Contents