THREAD Phantom of the Opera: A Parable Humanity is facing one of if not these biggest challenges: conquering fear itself. The tale of Phantom of the Opera perfectly encapsulates this. In short, your hell was never so seductive.
Our tale begins with a chandelier of an abandoned opera house being sold. Lot 666. The tale is told in the city of Love, Paris. The place of song (opera) is dark. The house's light is being sold. Once sold, the chandelier crashes to the stage and the past is revealed.
Our cast: Christine: your current perception/lens of reality Phantom: your old lens from trauma Raoul: your Higher Self The Opera House: the arena in which awakening occurs ...and the rest of the cast fits too.
We open with "Think of Me." Christine asks us to spare a thought for her, the innocent "silent and resigned" who was left behind. She is singing of her traumatized self at a younger age. Raoul (higher self) comments "I don't think she remembers me, but I remember her."
Her success stirs Phantom to the surface, her teacher, "guide and guardian" who "her father used to speak to her" about. Raoul warns her about Phantom. Yet the Phantom draws Christine in. She finally meets him face to face ...in a mirror. The Phantom is a part of Christine.
"And though you turn from me to glass behind, the Phantom of the Opera is there inside your mind." The Phantom takes her to the underworld (the world of the unconscious mind) where they will sing The Music of the Night.
Music of the Night is all about what is buried in the subconscious. "Let your mind start a journey to a strange new world. Leave all thoughts of the life you knew before," Surrender, do not resist, these thoughts. Trauma is not something that can be recalled on a dime.
Memories of trauma drift to the top in a flow state. Often, our bodies give us clues to the trauma. The Phantom reminds her of this. "Touch me. Trust me. Savor each sensation." While the mind is split, the body remembers. Exploration of somatic experiences often helps memory.
The song ends with the Phantom's plea: "You alone can help my song take flight. Help me make the music of the night." Christine's task is to learn Phantom's song, his point of view, to remember.
In the midst of this process, Raoul (the higher self) appears. Raoul wishes only "anywhere you go, let me go, too. That's all I ask of you." Bringing all of you to each moment is the height of authenticity, self-love, and awareness. Raoul is a promise that this is possible.
The Phantom, however, is holding all the fear, rejection, and pain of the trauma. Raoul is seen as a threat. As such, Christine's contract (engagement) with her higher self (Raoul) is kept secret. "You will curse the day that you didn't do all that Phantom asked of you!"
Our second act opens with Masquerade, "paper faces on parade" (media much?) "hide your face so the world will never find you." All the world's a stage. Shakespeare remains acutely accurate. Phantom demands the opera house perform HIS opera: Don Juan Triumphant
Phantom feels separate from everyone else. As such, he is demanding the stage. The rehearsal of his opera reveals that it's a dissonant, unpleasant opera. But, through fear, the Phantom holds the stage under his boot. Unacknowledged trauma will run the show until given a voice.
During this rehearsal, Christine takes a detour to visit a graveyard and we discover the root of her trauma. She is visiting the grave of her father. If referencing the movie, after her father's death, she was taken to an orphanage where she became a dancer, not a singer.
The significance is that a singer metaphorically speaks/sings her free will. A dancer is to perform without a voice. The undercurrent is that she is unable to voice her own free will until she learns to sing. At the grave, she finally finds the voice of her little girl's grief.
"Dreaming of you helped me to do, all that you dreamed I could." The pain is transformed by love into a force to propel her forward, to face the Phantom. "Try to forgive, teach me to live. Give me the strength to try!" "...Help me to say goodbye."
The final act begins with "Past the Point of No Return." Indeed, there is no going back now. "Our games of make believe are at an end. [...] Abandon thought and let the dream descend." In the most recent movie version of this, I must point out the spiral staircases (DNA).
Yes, it's spiritual ascension. Yes, the song is openly speaking of consummation. "Past all thought of right or wrong. One final question: how long shall we two wait before we're one?" Phantom is merely a shadow of Christine, and she is learning to love herself.
As they meet on the bridge: "so stand and watch it burn. We've crossed the point of no return." Here Phantom takes on Raoul's song "Anywhere you go let me go too!" And at last, Christine removes the mask. A stage hand dies, and the mob is activated.
Phantom kidnaps Christine and they go back to the subconscious (his lair). Raoul is held hostage. Phantom demands a marriage. This transition and final scene is complex, so bear with me. On the way down, they sing "Your hand at the level of your eye" to find the Phantom's lair.
Your hand (deeds/actions) at the level of your eye. Follow your actions to find the Phantom in the subconscious. Once Christine finds the Phantom, he shares his pain: "no compassion anywhere." In his pain and anger, he ties up Raoul & demands she marry him to save Raoul's life.
Phantom has revealed his character, his deeds, his "programming." He was feared by others, so he became fear. And manipulates Christine. "I gave you my mind blindly!" She realizes her error. She chooses another path.
"Pitiful creature of darkness What kind of life have you known? God grant me the courage To show you, you are not alone!"
Kisses are sharing the same breath. They say: Your breath is mine & mine is yours. Your life is mine & mine is yours. To find our observer self, we need only breathe. Phantom is only a part of her that she saw as separate. The kiss is a reclaiming of own her breath.
Christine shatters her own fear. She shatters the phantom paradigm. He is not alone. And he does love her, so he cannot deny her will. Love conquers fear. Checkmate. Phantom releases Christine and Raoul. And he destroys the mirrors. No more distortions, thinking he is singular.
Phantom's tale ends with: "You alone can make my song take flight. It's over now, the music of the night!" This part always made me cry. It's tears of joy. The music of the night (unconsciousness) has become the music of the day (consciousness). Dark to Light.
Traumas that are conscious, known in our perception, have no power to overtake our own free will. We once again can sing. All that remains of Phantom is his mask: a memorial, a scar, a story. He lives on through Christine. He is redeemed when seen with love. /END
