the NachtKabarett
"And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and a girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire."Revelation 1:13-14
A Warhol-esque Manson with eyes aflame, the crucified Mechanical Christ."I turned to see the voice that spake with me... and his eyes were as a flame of fire."Revelation 1:12,14
In the Book of Revelation, the second coming of Christ is described mentioning Jesus as wearing a single white outfit which Manson dons in the video for "I Don't Like The Drugs", (notably Manson's outfit is one piece, and not two-piece, and fits with this theory); Manson is wearing a golden pelvic girdle, which oddly enough, also resembles a facet of the Tree of Life, the first chakra which is sprouted from the loins; having hair as white as a lamb (which Manson does); and eyes of flame which for the entire Mechanical Animals era Manson adopts red lenses for this parallel to Christ and is the only time this deviation of his eye color was utilized.
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| Left; The Mechanical Christ's "xeroxed hands", appearing almost subliminally when Manson is awaiting for medical consultation, and revealing some kind of gangrenous stigmata caused by needles for his drugs consumption, which causes his amputation. Right; the Wise Men awaiting the Mechanical Christ. | |
This is not a coincidence. There is also a photo included that shows "END" on a road sign which acts as a reference to the alpha & the omega, the beginning and the end, as detailed in Revelation as well (Omēga also being Manson's main persona during the era). The opening vignette of the video depicts a set up of the three wise men at the manger of Christ's birth, as awaiting the Inauguration of the Mechanical Christ; with the album itself acting as a counterpart to Antichrist Svperstar's parallelism with Lucifer, Mechanical Animals parallels Manson to Christ.
Note to the uninitiated; the 'Inauguration of the Mechanical Christ' was the opening introduction to the Mechanical Animals tour.
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| The End, Omega & Mechanical Christ. | |
Marilyn Manson, Rock Is Dead"God is in the T.V."
Still frame of a deleted scene from Alejandro Jodorowsky's 1973 cult film 'The Holy Mountain', and the original inspiration for Manson's Mechanical Animals TV cross, according to the master himself.
Marilyn Manson, Inauguration of the Mechanical Christ"This isn't me, I'm not Mechanical..." (x4)
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Left: The Mechanical Christ emerging on stage during the Rock is Dead tour, as seen on the 'Last Tour on Earth' artwork. Right: Salvador Dalí's surreal 'Christus Hypercubus', 1954. A possible influence for Manson's TV cross. Manson would later continue to seek his inspiration in another of Dalí's mystical crucifixion works, for his 2001 stage performance of 'Cruci-fiction in Space'... |
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Throughout the 'Mechanical Animals' 1999 tour, another version of the cross, closer to Jodorowsky's invention surfaces as a stage prop which is raised with Manson crucified on it, magnified and eventually set on fire a la Ku Klux Klan, creating a narration that prefigures Manson's Celebritarian philosophy while staying in the vein of his constant and provocative evocation of Fascism in expressionism. For both reasons the resulting image and overall combination can be seen without a doubt as a forerunning symbol of the Holy Wood Gun Crucifix.
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| The TV cross displayed during the 'Rock Is Dead' tour and subsequently set on fire during the 'Hell Outro' of the Sweet Dreams performance. | |
Alejandro Jodorowsky, The Holy Mountain, deleted scenes commentary."Marilyn Manson, the great rock singer, saw a photo of this scene, I suppose, and used it at a music festival. He used this cross.
"The scene of the millionaire's son was taken out because we feared it might be considered as child abuse, as pedophilia. So we thought it was... I didn't think it was necessary."
Still frame from The Holy Mountain's deleted scene with full view of Jodorowsky's TV cross.Marilyn Manson, Astonishing Panorama Of The Endtimes"The boy`s purified by the quitter gods / Burning up his cross like a revelation"
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| Cover art of 'The Last Tour On Earth' with TV cross aflame, highly reminiscent of the Ku Klux Klan ceremonial cross burnings aimed at intimidating the Klan's targets, and thus evoking the dichotomy of faith and glorification on one side, and hatred, destruction and blasphemy on the other, aimed at a society dictated by mass media and Christianity, and disturbingly gaining in resonance after the Columbine events. The cross also appeared in the 'Astonishing Panorama' flashcard. | |
The image would later serve as cover art for the live album 'The Last Tour On Earth', and also appeared on merchandizing items of the era. The burning TV cross thus acts as a new logo, which curiously constitutes a spiteful stab symbolic of Christianity's demise after the Columbine massacre happened in the meanwhile. A sarcastic direction Manson would pursue throughout the Holy Wood era, as detailed in our article: Holy Wood & Psalm 23.
Marilyn Manson, Astonishing Panorama Of The Endtimes"Kill your God / Kill your T.V."
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| Left; Manson's face with a Christic attitude and firy eyes, and surrounded by a mechanical 'Matrix' font halo on the 'Rock Is Dead' single cover. Right; Manson wearing the "Satanic turkey" outfit in the 'Rock Is Dead' video, outstretching his arms with vertical ascending flames in the background. |
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Manson as an integrally burnt Texan Christ during the 1999 European VMA's in Ireland, with traditional loincloth and the TV cross prop burning in the background, enacting his own destruction and resurrection/survival, naked in front of his ennemies shortly after Columbine. This highly symbolic performance of 'Rock Is Dead' marked the destruction of the Mechanical Animals era, and announced the thematics of Holy Wood (read Holy Wood & Psalm 23). |
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S e e a l s o o n T h e N A C H T K A B A R E T T :
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EL TOPO, HOLY MOUNTAIN & SANTA SANGRE | 3 films by the controversial director Alexandro Jodorowsky. This photoshoot from the Mechanical Animals era shows Manson as a Cowboy android who shares similarities with Jodorowsky's character El Topo, himself paralleled with Christ in the eponymous film. Thereby Manson is evoking a variation of the Mechanical Christ. Besides the TV cross mentionned above, Holy Mountain also includes a scene that shows Christ destroying his plaster copies, which is echoed in Manson's video The Dope Show...
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THE LAST TOUR ON EARTH - ARTWORK | "O most sorrowful Mother Mary, meditating on the Mystery of the Crucifixion, when, having been stripped of His garments, thy Divine Son was nailed to the Cross, upon which He died after three hours of indescribable agony, during which time He negged from His Father forgiveness for His enemies, I humbly pray : (...) ." The Fifth Sorrowful Mystery from The Rosary Novena to Our Lady.
Inauguration, Crucifixion, and Resurrection through fire of the Mechanical Christ as illustrated in the artwork for The Last Tour on Earth live album.
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'IMITATION OF CHRIST' | "She tells me I'm a pretty bullet, an imitation Christ / I've got love songs in my head, killing us away" ; lyrics to 'The Love Song', one of the most signature tracks on 'Holy Wood' which illustrated the ethos of what the album represents; an indictment of growing up in America's violently predisposed, death obsessed culture. This specific verse illustrates the persona of Christ which Manson portrayed on the album's cover along with the themes within, but is also a reference to a 15th Century book on Christian Mysticism : 'The Imitation of Christ'. A glimpse at all of Marilyn Manson's Christ-like incarnations.
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MARILYNMANSON.COM v3.0 - SYNESTHESIA ARCHIVE | The Synesthesia Archive section featured in the 2006 incarnation of MarilynManson.com reveals an interactive version of the Manson-esque parody of the Marilyn Monroe cascading portraits by Andy Warhol, each picture revealing the logo of a released album or EP when hovering on it. Amongst the several logos of past and upcoming eras, a detail catches the attention : a stylized version of the TV cross set on fire from The Last Tour on Earth album cover, thus confirming the fact that this element, in its shape, signification and utilization, can be considered a prototype for Manson's gun crucifix.