Zeppelin III- Occult Connections
Among the biggest smoking guns regarding Zeppelin’s occult involvement, which is really Jimmy Page’s occult involvement, would be their third and fourth albums. The reason I say JP’s occult involvement is because up until the tragedy of 1977 (which will be elaborated on later) JP was completely in charge creatively. The other guys were mainly along for the ride and although their input was solicited and appreciated, JP always had the final say which definitely included the occultic references.
Before we get into the specifics I’d like to consider what his drivers might have been. We’re going to have to speculate as of course he wouldn’t tell us and even if he did allude to the reasons they’d be laced with cryptic references and would take us down multiple paths leading to nowhere. Such is the nature of the occult. Hidden knowledge is always protected and only the most determined will be able to penetrate this veil. Quite often these fail-safe’s are in place to keep the curious from unleashing psychic chaos which they might not be able to cope with.
Why did JP make his occult interest so obvious with these particular albums? It’s almost like he was coming out, so to speak. Well, let’s just say that the answer is quite simple. He was playing with magick and trying to see just what could be done. He wanted to find out what tangible effects could be discerned from the methods he was applying. He wanted the albums to be successful of course and what better way to give them an extra edge than to inflect them with occult symbolism and energy. Why couldn’t he just do something secretly? Why did he make it so obvious? He needed the collective energy, the collective focus, of many minds which would significantly amplify the intended results.
On their third album; known as Led Zeppelin III, the outro groove had occultic phrases written into the vinyl. This area is located between the end of the last song and the paper label. Ordinarily you’d find matrix numbers from the pressing plant on the outro groove but instead on Zeppelin III was ‘So Mote it Be’ on one side and ‘Do What Thou Wilt’ on the other. Whoa; pretty overt, right? Nothing to be speculated on or read into; it’s definitely occultic. The phrases are right there, plain as day. So Mote it Be is a stock standard magickal phrase used across the board in many traditions. It basically means ‘And so it shall be’ and is often used to complete a ritual and seal things off. There is plenty online about this phrase; have a look.
The other one, ‘Do What Thou Wilt’ is the centerpiece of Crowleyan philosophy. We discussed it earlier but once again it basically means find out what you’re meant to do in this life and get on with it. Find your destiny and stay true to it. If one is either on the path to finding their destiny or is currently fulfilling it then life will flow and be joyful. Who doesn’t want that, right? This is what Jimmy Page liked about it. Too many people lead their lives according to familial and societal programming without looking within and then become depressed and frustrated. Does this sound familiar? It’s quite common and the source of so many of life’s ills.
Anyway, so you’ve got these two phrases written into the vinyl of an album that would go on to sell over six million copies (and counting). Now the originals with the aforementioned phrases carved into the outro groove number less of course and are now collectors’ items. However, that’s still a lot of centrifugal force generating magickal energy; which was exactly JP’s intention.
From a magickal perspective, words do indeed create and when words (written, spoken or sung) repeat they generate force in the nonphysical realms and eventually spill out into the third dimensional reality we live in. The occult readers will see where I’m coming from and the Zeppelin fans that aren’t into or don’t believe in magick will disagree- fair enough. The idea was that the energy behind those phrases would spin around and around millions of times all over the world and send those words into the ethers; into the invisible yet just as real place we all pick up on whether consciously or not.
Do you think your cell phone is going to have an effect on your brain if it’s sitting right next to your head on the bed table while you sleep? Those transmissions are the same as the ones emanating from a spinning record, just on a more subtle (yet just as effective) frequency. Some people’s brains will be more sensitive to this than others and there’s really no way to measure the effects but trust me, they do have an impact. This was JP’s way of sharing with Zeppelin fans something he was really into and passionate about. It also likely amplified the success of that record and the band overall. Regardless of whether or not this can be proven, the monumental success of the album makes one think…
Led Zeppelin IV took things a few steps further. The album cover and spine...
