https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/eliotts-practicalcats/eliotts-practicalcats-01-h.html
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c16b/4ac78384e968d8b70e7b2ff49d3d9ba8580f.pdf
and more chakra symbolism http://philosopherswheel.com/toccata.htm
THE JELLICLE CODE - my own personal interpretation of the musical Cats
I. Jellicles as Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious
II. The Triform Naming of Jellicle Cats
III. Jenny Anydots - the Caregiver
IV. The Rum Tum Tugger - Adolescent Subversion
Grizabella Interlude I - the Plight of the Traitor/Outsider
V. Bustopher Jones - the Authority Figure
VI. Mungojerry and Rumpleteazer - Young Adult Subversion
VII. Old Deuteronomy - the Hierophant
Grizabella Interlude II: Mournful Memory
VIII. Asparagus - the Piscean Paradigm
Interlude on the Fiend of the Fell and Growltiger/Griddlebone
IX. Skimbleshanks - the Aquarian Paradigm
The Mystery of Life, Death, and Rebirth I: MacCavity, the Dark Lord
The Mystery of Life, Death, and Rebirth II: Mr. Mistoffeles, the Lightbringer
The Mystery of Life, Death, and Rebirth III: Hopeful Memory
The Mystery of Life, Death, and Rebirth IV: The Jellicle Choice
X. The Ad-Dressing of Cats
I. Jellicles as Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious
"jellicle": dear little + jewel (hara/3rd chakra - precious gemstone - navel jewels in Steven Universe and Trollz) + miracle
allegorical, metaphorical, mystical, magical -- the jellicles are fey cats/cait sith: extended lifespan, sapiency, supernatural powers (revealed later on as the story unfurls)
unity in diversity (of ages, ranks, genders, personalities/philosophies)
supermoon - lunacy - as the time of their rendezvous; later on we'll talk about Arcanus XVIII but for now let's focus on the supermoon as a lunar phase
the jellicle choice - arcanus XXI - judgement as resurrection/catharsis
the heaviside layer is enlightenment, of course
*
II. The Triform Naming of Jellicle Cats
3 as a magic number - trinities
- name bestowed by human people (there are namesakes)
- name bestowed by other jellicle cats (unique special snowflake; the same name can't be used by more than one individual)
- secret name (completely confidential; compare the power of names in straw-into-gold fairytales and egyptian myth)
analogy of the tripartite psyche: gut/heart/head or id/ego/superego --
id/gut: secret name (the part of the iceberg that is underwater - the unconscious, individual and collective)
ego/heart: jellicle name
superego/head: human name (bestowed by established society)
**
III. Jenny Anydots - the Caregiver
third musical number, analogous to arcanus III and the caregiver/mother nature archetype
jenny: spinning wheel, used to make one's own clothes - she teaches her pupils music, crochet, and tatting
dots/spots on her back and name echo seeds (it. / fr. Jenny Touteàpois)
raising small animals considered disturbances (vermin/pests), like beetles or rodents, to teach them life skills
young children as disturbances/vermin/pests need someone to raise them right
from disorderly louts to disciplined helpful bug scouts
epilogue: the beetle tattoo - "tatau" in pacific cultures
***
IV. The Rum Tum Tugger - Adolescent Subversion
the knights on tarot
a "curious beast", stubborn, whom the likes of Jenny Anydots cannot tame since he refuses
rhum - pirate poison (compare quaffing draft cream scene) - tum tugger echoes "tsuntsun" (compare es. "rontón terco", stubborn) doesn't care for a cuddle (ie sees affection/endearment as too "kiddie" or "sissy" like most bad boys and some bad girls do)
nothing he enjoys more than a horrible muddle
on the stage show - the Tugger's 4th wall breaks, taking up a girl from the audience to the stage to dance with her
****
Grizabella Interlude I - the Plight of the Traitor/Outsider
her coat is stained and the corners of her eyes are twitchy (tsurime)
loiters on the streets at night on her own, unwelcome by the jellicles since she went over to the enemy, who left her in turn
jellicles surprised that she's still alive - but the lonely life of sacrificed youth she leads is worse than death
arcanus XII, the Hanged One
characters who embody this arcanus in Persona - most importantly Chidori/Medea (persona named after archetypal fallen woman) - character arc if the choice in the game is having her survive her injuries/trauma
one needs to fall down to get back up again; no catharsis is possible without previous catastrophe
+
V. Bustopher Jones - the Authority Figure
young rebels like the Tugger need someone to show them the socially established way, for them to look up to/protest against
analogous to arcanus IV and the authority/father state archetype
not skin and bones - physical and social weight (no pubs like the tugger: 8 or 9 gents' clubs; 9-Sagittarius-Jupiter, compare his spherical waistline)
eclectic food tastes - from curry (exotic, expensive) to cabbage and mutton (unexpected peasant fare) depending on his mood
putting on weight both for status and for a rainy day
fashion sense - tux, spats, gloves: fashion is not considered quite masculine, but closer to society than to nature, and meant to signify status
...
*****
VI. Mungojerry and Rumpleteazer - Young Adult Subversion
Mercury, Gemini, and arcanus VI
knockabout artistes among the jellicle cats, but terrorists to wealthy human people (the establishment); those who protest against/question authority
twin resemblance as the key to their ruse + playful incestuous subtext
Rumpleteazer: Rumplestiltskin (spinning straw into gold thread - secret name as key to him not taking royal baby away: analogy to Jellicles' secret names) + teaser (both playfully/prankster and erotically/twincest innuendo) / Mungojerry: mongoose/mango jelly?
connection between arcanus VI and XV (the siblings' arrival is heralded by an alarm of MacCavity, the first mention in fact)
...
******
VII. Old Deuteronomy - the Hierophant
gender "they" explained - Dame Judi Dench proves this archetype can also be female
lifespan of centuries - this character has lived since the ancien régime, which like their name provides a clue
wise old mentor in spiritual retirement (lives in the countryside away from London and only comes to town for the jellicle choice)
name taken from a patriarchal sacred text that is in some places too conservative (no crossdressing, no mixing of animal and plant fibers in the same garment...), mirrors the conservatism of Arcanus V
wise old mentor/elder kind of leader as hierophant, ie initiating priest/spiritualist
*******
Grizabella Interlude II: Mournful Memory
Mournful Memory - autumn leaves in the light of the Tarot Moon (Arcanus XVIII) - delusion and disenchantment unable to discern positivity -- baroque disenchantment in Andrew Marvell: the cramp of hope, joy's cheerful madness (mania), the pestilence of love does heat (febrile, septic infection) -- When you (psyche/kokoro) experience any hope, I (physical body/karada) am racked with cramp. If you experience love, I am fevered with the plague, or sepsis. If you experience joy, I feel madly elated, like in a manic episode. - even more painfully, Sir Edmund Arwaker compares eros love to a cancer affecting the heart, where kokoro and karada overlap in 4th chakra (Love's O'erspreading Cancer gnaws my Heart), a cancerous tumour which can reproduce through the system, and is chronic, unlike acute sepsis (heart cancer is a rarity, but it still can be a possibility scientifically and a powerful metaphor!) - and Cancer is ruled by the Moon - let's return to the Jellicle Moon but now in the light of the delusion of Arcanus XVIII
Deuteronomy's Experience - Moments of Happiness (Skimbleshanks tune, as foreshadowing, after "many generations")
The Innocent Child at Heart, Arcanus 0 - Send Her, Victoria, Happy and Glorious;
most powerful person in the 19th c, female (reclaiming the power of femininity) - also, name is an omen
white fur coat for purity
Victoria's innocence and lack of "beautiful ghosts", but her mixed yearning and fear thereof - the "riddle princess" stage with its fears/insecurities towards coming of age, social integration, commitment (compare Portia or the 4th Story of TSQ)
++
VIII. Asparagus - the Piscean Paradigm
Aspara-Gus (fr. End-Yves) named after nourishing yet underrated vegetable; thin as a rake - bohemian (compare Bustopher Jones); eats only what he needs to survive in the present
waning star ("once of the highest degree") - his star is waning - outdated paradigm
Interlude on the Fiend of the Fell and Growltiger/Griddlebone
epic villains (in Frye's mythos of summer) are also tragic heroes (in Frye's mythos of autumn) - two sides to every story
Fiend: demon/villain/enemy (se. fiende)
Fell: either fall/fell/fallen (in defeat) or mountains (se. fjäll; ie the higher the rise the harder the fall)
Growltiger the pirate captain: grow, glow, burning bright -- but missing an eye and an ear in fearful asymmetry
vendetta against Asians/Easterners
Griddlebone: no meat on that bone either (compare both Gus and Bustopher)
Is Grizabella Griddlebone? Identity Change Theory
********
IX. Skimbleshanks - the Aquarian Paradigm
last standalone musical number: jaunty, catchy, releases serotonin
Thespian Gus hands over the torch to Skimble, Nimble Nimbus - changing of the astrological age
Uranus and the Industrial Revolution
a quite Aquarian choice of name for the railway conductor in the English source text
trains in Discworld Raising Steam, embodying quintessence created artificially (harnessing all classical elements)
Telepathy and Glass-Green Eye Contact - first cat with more powers than physical prowess and extended lifespan to be mentioned; cold steel may have weakened his powers, but he supplements the telepathy he has left with people skills - "I know" as Aquarian motto
Guided by the North Star - arcanus XVII
supervises everyone of both the crew (from train driver to lowest guards) and passengers (first, second, and third class) without any regard for social rank, treating them equally, with those glass-green eyes (Aquarian correlation)
fresh and bright, with perhaps a drop of scotch / what he does at each station while passengers are unaware / help them to get out at the final station - character depth and more apt role model for this day and age
*********
The Mystery of Life, Death, and Rebirth I: MacCavity, the Dark Lord
one of the two most powerful jellicles when it comes to magic
Arcanus XV as Horned One or Dark Lord - similar figure is the Dragon or Serpent
Mac=son, Cavity=abyss/chasm - incarnation of primordial chaos (ginnungagap)
very very tall and thin - compare the Slenderman
Panderers (pimp and madame) as corruptors of innocence
The Griddlebone/Grizabella and Arcanus VI/XV Connections Confirmed
+++
The Mystery of Life, Death, and Rebirth II: Mr. Mistoffeles, the Lightbringer
the other of the two most powerful jellicles when it comes to magic
the mastery in Arcanus I and Mercury as Hermes Thrice-Blessed (recall the triple names of jellicles and three powers he seems to possess - sexual/gender fluidity, bilocation, and physical feats)
The Dignified Trickster - Loki (compare to Misto) as Positive Catalyst
stage illusionist as opposed to the more adult, corrupting pimp - conjuring and casting spells for entertaining and helping others
Mistoffeles - Mephisto - Lucifer - Lightbringer; compare the Huntsman (animal killer) freeing Red Riding Hood from the belly of the big bad wolf / or Set (usurper) freeing Ra from the belly of the Serpent
++++
The Mystery of Life, Death, and Rebirth III: Hopeful Memory
Consequence of Deuteronomy's Liberation
Grizabella Warmed by Victoria and Deuteronomy Sees the Light; Maiden, Mother, Crone - three generations
Soon it will be dawning - impending catharsis
+++++
The Mystery of Life, Death, and Rebirth IV: The Jellicle Choice
Arcanus XIII - Death as Transfiguration/Metamorphosis - segue from the Hopeful Memory above
Grizabella/Griddlebone deserved attaining Enlightenment, ie the Heaviside Layer
fate of MacCavity in the musical: chaos/darkness can be defeated, but not destroyed
++++++
X. The Ad-Dressing of Cats
cats are more or less like people, so treat them like that, with gifts, endearment, earning their trust... - Golden Rule "love/treat the others like you love/treat yourself"
sunrise - crowning the magnum opus
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