We rejoin the BAT amidst the sowing oV – first seeds in the Black Glove’s “Masterpiece.” Bruce Wayne begins a relationship with Jezebel Jet. And the second “Nightmare Batman” has appeared in Gotham, nearly breaking BATMAN’s back in homage to Bane. Batman’s subliminal trigger, Zur-en-Arrh (a reference to Tlano from the planet Zur-En-Arrh, who decided to become the Batman of his planet in Batman #113 The Menace of the False Face by France Herron), is tagged throughout the city in the background. We then receive a flash-forward glimpse of Damian’s victory over the third nightmare, the “Anti-Christ Batman,” published in Batman #666. And it’s not long before Batman and Robin (Tim Drake) are whisked away to John Mayhew (the “shark fishing, aircraft design[ing], directing movies” billionaire)’s private island with a Xipe Totec introduction (already played out in The Invisibles) to the Black Glove, with spilled sanguine across a Magick floor-grid…
Looks like we’re in.
“The Superior Man thinks of Evil that will come and guards against it… don’t you know, Batman – that one man’s disembodied consciousness can possess another man’s body… and take it for a ride?” – I-Ching.
This is our warning heading into the Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul – a fun, yet inconsequential “family reunion” as the Bat Fam unites to fight Ra’s Al Ghul en route to Nanda Parbat. Yet the warning serves up our theme heading into Batman R.I.P., which, in my opinion, is quite possibly the best BATMAN story ever told. Whether as a stand-alone piece or as part oV – the Greater Arc, it is, just as claimed by its Mastermind villain, the Black Glove: “A Work of Art.” The iconography by Tony S. Daniel is pitch-perfect, striking, unforgettable, and most importantly, ICONIC. Morrison’s writing here is top-notch. And the story is absolutely bursting with everything I love about BATMAN. Not only does its brilliant cold-open serve up the Final Crisis EVENT, it expounds BATMAN’s True psychology and the DC MYTHOS entire from a perspective light-years beyond any writer, past or present, whilst simultaneously compounding ITh unTo a 6th DÆM’ON’z’iON’AL hypersigillic anchor into the Heart oV – the ÆNoMYTh.
Batman R.I.P. by Grant Morrison, Art by Tony S. Daniel
Returning to Nanda Parbat (see Batman by Grant Morrison, Part One: Arkham Asylum and the Clown at Midnight) BATMAN relays to us (via The Black Casebook) that from “five years old [he] first sense[d] the presence of a gaping, toppling void in the center of existence…” that he “grasp[ed] something. [His] Mom and Dad are going to die.”
Additionally, BATMAN discloses information about his voluntary experience in an isolation chamber to experience “psychotic states*,” claiming “I wanted a glimpse of how the JOKER’s mind worked” (back when Dick Grayson was Robin), and that he fantasizes about torturing Joe Chill.
* “Psychosis” is defined as ” a severe mental condition in which thought and emotions are so affected that contact is lost with external reality (Oxford Languages).**
** “Reality” is defined as “the world or the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them.” “Reality,” elaborates “real,” which is etymologically derivative of the Latin res – “a thing” (Ibid.).***
*** “Thing” is defined as “an object that one need not, cannot, or does not wish to give a specific name to” (Ibid.).****
**** A “state” is definied as “the particular condition someone or something is in at a specific time” (Ibid.).*****
***** ∴ this defined “Reality” iZ – “the world (ie. “the earth” (Ibid.).) or the particular condition of an object that one need not, cannot, or does not wish to give a specific name (“a set of words by which a [noun] is addressed”) to in a specific time – meaning: psychosis iZ – “a severe mental condition in which thought and emotions are so affected that contact is lost with the external condition of “some” unnamable object that one need not, cannot, or does not wish to specify with words in a specific time.”
Mind you, these are the darkest recesses oV – BATMAN’s psyche. The subconscious brought to light, which rewires the mind’s patterning. As BATMAN snaps out of his recollection, he realizes that he’s experienced a heart attack and been dead almost four minutes. Now resuscitated, he’s being faced with one of his “nightmare” Batmen scenarios made flesh, while he’s about to be tortured upon the Black and White Checkered (Magick) floor, which triggers his awareness that he’s entered the Black Glove’s game.
Now this is where things get interesting. Being keyed into the game, Morrison hints oV – Magick implications. Meaning: This iZ – an actual Magick Ritual; and DHO-NA, Morrison links the Black Glove’s Ritual all the way back to Batman – year 9 (see Timeline), enrolling not only Golden-Age BATMAN (via Batman #156 Robin dies at Dawn, written by Bill Finger), but places the timing oV – Dr. Hurt’s original isolation experiments roughly around the the exact time oV – the Arkham Asylum EVENT** (See BATMAN by Grant Morrison, Part One: Arkham Asylum and the Clown at Midnight). Logically, if BATMAN’s motivation was “to get a glimpse of how the Joker’s mind worked” through experiencing “psychosis,” ITh means BATMAN entered these Isolation Experiments in response to what happened in Arkham Asylum – thus the EVENTz oV – this story not only collect Grant Morrison’s best-selling Graphic Novel as a prequel to BATMAN R.I.P., they continue the original RITUAL, making the BATMAN oV – Zur-en-Arrh the Magickal Child (result) oV – the Magick Operation performed by Morrison years ago.
In the Occult, the number 156 is the Gemutria oV – BABALON, the Scarlet Woman oV – The Book of Revelations‘ fame (ie. Revelations 17:3). The conjunction oV – the BEAST (666) and Scarlet Woman (156 and 667 (via the Greek “Η ΚΟΚΚΙΝΑ ΓΥΝΗ”) form the basis oV – an incredibly important Occult Ritual and Formula, specifically utilized by Aleister Crowley and his subsequent Thelemites via the 93 Current. Through Morrison’s “timing,” they effectively married the DC Continuity to Aleister Crowley’s Magickal Current (featured quite prominently in Arkham Asylum (see BATMAN by Grant Morrison, Part One: Arkham Asylum and the Clown at Midnight)) via Batman #666.* The details oV – this RITUAL and ITh’z implications are too extensive to deal with here and will serve as the subject matter oV – my subsequent post: DC’s Magick Ritual and their Prophets – Jack Kirby, Alan Moore, and Grant Morrison. However, what you should know iZ – by executing this specific Magick Operation, Morrison claimed the mantle oV – the Current’s BEAST (ie. Baphomet (see The Invisibles by Grant Morrison: Ethos of the Demiurge, Part Two).
*Wherein Damian looks like a spitting image oV – King Mob… (see The Invisibles by Grant Morrison: Ethos of the Demiurge, Part One).
**You’ll also notice that Damian’s conception (via the Demon Trials oV – Ra’s Al Ghul) would have coordinated approximately to Batman – year 9 as well, considering his age. Thus his name.
Their contact with their Kathmandu visitors iZ – akin to direct contact with the Secret Chiefs according to Occult (specifically Golden Dawn) lore. Which makes Batman #156 oV – especial importance. While undergoing Hurt’s Isolation Treatment, BATMAN hallucinates that he is on an alien planet. Robin appears out of nowhere and they verily set out upon their adventure. Eventually, they come across a four armed, pink and purple “Giant Statue” (referenced in a single panel in Batman #672 Space Medicine, wearing what appears to be a BATMAN costume). BATMAN says, “It must be an idol that the aliens worship.” Before they know it, the Idol animates and attacks. BATMAN tells Robin to run, but Robin mocks the idol and and attempts to fight it. The idol picks up a giant boulder and simply smashes him. BATMAN is horrified. As he approaches Robin’s body, the Golden Dawn rises. ITh’z L.V.X. distills a kiss upON the red breast oV – the fallen Son oV – Man. “The Dawn Sun” looks “down at a man stunned by the shock of terrible catastrophe!” BATMAN exclaims: “Robin sacrificed himself for me! He died so I could live!” (ie. Magick Initiation). Mind you, this, not his parent’s death, is BATMAN’s deepest, darkest fear. And now manifest, BATMAN buries his son (Sun), leaving a crypt on an alien world. Walking alone through the Blue Desert, BATMAN screams: “Eyes! I can feel eyes – watching me – human intelligence – watching – always watching. I know you’re out there! Why don’t you show yourselves! Why are you watching me!” They eyes are ours. BATMAN can feel us. He knows we’re there. It is then “the BEAST” appears. “Let it come!” Batman says, “I don’t want to live. It’s my fault Robin died! I don’t want to live…” The BEAST devours him whole. And he is awoken by the Black Glove.
Verily, in summation, BATMAN “wanting a glimpse of how the Joker’s mind worked” following the EVENTz and Ritual oV – Arkham Asylum, subjects himself to Dr. Hurt’s Isolation Experiments. Isolation or the act oV – being alone (ie. ATV IX The Hermit) conjures ONE’s own psyche to interpret the 7th DÆM’ON’z’iON (ie. the Conjunction oV – the omnipresent, infinitely dense BLACK SUN particle (see The Holy Grail: Quantum Mathematics and the Language of Time) with the electromagnetic toroidal field, sourced from conscious projection (+1) into the void (Qabalistic Zero)) without Collective interference. This means BATMAN is only seeing what’s inside oV – him and him alone. The “hallucinations” that take place when ONE iZ – in isolation, are not random. Not at all. They are psychic projections. When the Collective projections “are cleansed” from the “I AM” perception (ie. 6th DÆM’ON’z’iON‘AL SELF-perception), the “I AM” projects ITh’z beliefs and interpretations oV – “Reality” upON a blank canvas. BATMAN finds himself upON an alien world (meaning this is how he actually feels about Earth and Gotham City). Robin appears because Robin is part of who BATMAN believes himself to be (notice, there is no Bruce Wayne present here). Robin, being an ancient symbol oV – the Oak King oV – Summer – one of the dual aspects oV – Paganism’s Horned God. Thus Robin iZ – a symbol oV – rebirth, much akin to those in the Ageless Wisdom (Occult) known as the Dying Gods (ie. Jesus, Adonis, Osiris, Dionysus, etc.). Robin iZ – thus symbolic oV – the sacrificial element within BATMAN’s Magick Formula, BATMAN representing the Horned God in ITh’z fullness. His youthful aspect, Robin, continually dying and being born again (as we witness throughout the entire MYTHOS with Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Damian). And with each incarnation, the Dark Knight must RISE again, from the ashes oV – tragedy, as a Phoenix reborn… with increased resolve and Will. The Golden Dawn represents this exact RISE – the Birth oV – an ÆON. This exact ÆON being the ÆON oV – Horus, the Crowned and Conquering Child (this is all expounded in great detail in Excalibur).
The four-armed Idol BATMAN and Robin encounter iZ – a form oV – the Hindu Trimurti. Trimurti divided (via Djarklom) iZ – Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma, each having four arms. These Gods can be commonly associated to any oV – the various Godheads throughout all world religions. Thus “the Idol” represents the adoration oV – the people, which BATMAN finds to be hostile, e’en unTo the sacrifice oV – his “sun.” But due to the conditions oV – his isolation, the idol must also be seen as an aspect oV – BATMAN himself. BATMAN literally iZ – an idol. And thus in his sacrifice oV – the Oak King, the adoration turns towards the BAT via the “watching eyes.” BATMAN acquires a DÆM’ON’z’iON‘AL awareness oV’Th’ATh beyond him (much akin to Morrison and their “angels”). Having become sentient, BATMAN crosses over. Beyond the limits oV – fiction. Beyond the limits oV – fact. BATMAN iZ – transcendent. Of course, he gapes in horror at the Abyss. But contradiction merges here with unity – an underlying side-effect oV – “having the window kicked in” (see The Desecration of Alan Moore), and BATMAN reaches the State oV – Consciousness he sought, just not as he thought. And thus his inevitable confrontation, wherein he is devoured by the BEAST (the hidden and final aspect oV – his SELF). At his “radiant black core,” BATMAN accepts his deification (thus ཐོད་རྒལ (ThÖGAL) serves as preliminary to KALACHAKRA). The same one he denied in Arkham Asylum (see Batman by Grant Morrison, Part One: Arkham Asylum and the Clown at Midnight). This iZ – the exact Magick Formula oV – BABALON. And the entire amagamated experience upon this “mysterious planet” iZ – BATMAN’s conception oV – Zur-en-Arrh.
If any of you are at a loss oV – what this means, ITh means this: even as early as 1963, BATMAN represented our amalgamated perception oV – human transcendence unTo GOD. Having risen unTo isolation, he sacrifices his only Son in order to receive Collective Adoration from a “human intelligence” that feels alien to him. And though ITh breaks his heart, he allows himself to be consumed by his Creative V’iZ’iON, combusting ITh unTo his WILL, his essence distilled into a single WORD (ie. λόγος): Zur-en-Arrh. BATMAN sacrificed his fictional 2D existence within the 5th DÆM’ON’z’iON (ie. Ideaspace) unTo the ÆNoMYTh (the 7th DÆM’ON’z’iON‘AL entity oV – Collective/Cosmic Consciousness), in order to live on as a sentient 6th DÆM’ON’z’iON‘AL being (aka a MYTh) within the body oV – the 7th. And this symbolic Ritual was performed wherein BATMAN was deified 26 years before Grant Morrison ever wrote a BATMAN comic, by Bill Finger himself – one of the two Original Creators oV – BATMAN!
At its core, what ITh means iZ – you’re reading scripture. And if you think the Creation oV – MYTh was any different in Ancient Egypt or Greece… or amongst even the Abrahamic traditions, you’re sorely wrong.
Not only then did Crisis on Infinite Earths splinter the DC Continuity (our 5D “form” or “structure,” existing as an amalgamation oV – 4D “symbolic” planes (or ideas) projected and transcribed upon 2D surfaces. The “entanglements” between characters are the 4th Dimension, creating a “sense of time.” Due to their transcription in 2D, they exist 3rd Dimensionally as splashes of ink and color upon and within a 3D object (a book)) into a 6th DÆM’ON’z’iON‘AL Multi-Verse, all in order to amalgamate ITh’z structure as New Earth, DHO-NA (“meaning bestowed retroactively by forms yet achieved but implicit”), ITh iZ – enrolled into the ÆNoMYTh, and activated as an Occult Grimoire – behaving as, thus infiltrating, affecting, and changing our Collective “Reality” directly, as YUGGOThIAN Spores (see Providence by Alan Moore) ever since.*
*This also means DC Comics’ Magick Ritual, is additionally unveiled as our Demiurge’s LLOIGOR (“Potentiality oV – an EVENT concealed in previous TIMESPACE as AVATARS oV – YUGGOTh (the Primordial SELF-aware (hidden) Concept/ “idea colony””) initiated in their Kathmandu experience ( see The Invisibles by Grant Morrison, Ethos of the Demiurge, Part one).
And just as Morrison deified the JOKER in The Clown at Midnight, so they cemented the deification oV – the BAT. And these were the results:
Batman #666 was published in July 2007 continuing Morrison’s Arkham Asylum RItual, commenced in 1989. Batman #672 invokes the Magick WORD and #672 reveals the RITUAL. These two form the 5th DÆM’ON’z’iON‘AL transgeometric conjunction between Batman #156 and #666, with the Third Man (their angle/angel), the Anti-Christ Batman, at the center oV – both. Thus Morrison’s deification Rites oV – the JOKER and those Rites initiated by Bill Finger, were activated ATh – the exact same moment in Space and Time, via the “uttering oV – the WORD,” Zur-en-Arrh… performed by the Anti-Christ, guided by the Invisible Hand (ie. the Black Glove). This Magick Circle was completed and published, thus injecting it into the ÆNoMYTh (Collective Consciousness), in January 2008, with its exact publication date curiously omitted.* And on January 22, 2008… Heath Ledger died of an overdose in his SoHo apartment.
*Batman #671 was published January 4th, 2008. Batman #673 was published January 30, 2008. The publication date is missing for #672.
The Dark Knight Promotional Ad
The news of Heath Ledger’s death shocked the world. ATh this time, the Dark Knight’s promotional campaign was in full swing. A Collective Ritual was already underway – a full blown attempt to enroll everyone and anyone into the Dark Knight’s fever pitch, anticipation frenzy. And with Ledger’s death, coupled with rumors oV – his total immersion (via Method) into his role and the psychological toll he underwent, the Dark Knight was catapulted to total Box Office Dominance, grossing over $1 Billion Dollars Worldwide. As we all know, Heath Ledger’s performance is Legendary, winning him a post-mortem Oscar – thus cementing the JOKER’s (and BATMAN’s) status as a Pop Culture Icon.
And this would not be the last oV – the JOKER’s massive success. The JOKER’s 2019 self-titled, stand-alone film would also gross over $1 Billion Dollars, receive 11 Academy Award nominations, including 2 wins – one for Joaquin Phoenix’ performance – further electrifying the Mythic POWER oV – this character. Its sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, will only continue this trend.
And the JOKER is not alone. BATMAN himself has starred in a whopping total oV – 7 films since, collectively earning nearly $4.5 Billion in Box Office revenue and reasserting the Bat Symbol as one of the most recognized symbols in the entire world.
Additionally, due in large to the success of The Dark Knight, Hollywood followed in suit. DC and Marvel Studios alone have released 70 films since 2008. Superheroes are everywhere. They dominate the Culture. There’s not a place on earth you can go where individuals don’t immediately recognize the Bat Symbol.
It’s the POWER of MYTh.
MYTh iZ – more REAL than anything in existence.
But where is this all leading us? And to what ends will these “Supergods” inevitably lead the human race? Has perhaps one man’s consciousness possessed “the body politic” and “taken it for a ride?” Is this only the beginning oV – Zur-en-Arrh? Have we but glimpsed the opening to Morrison’s “Darkseid shaped” rabbit hole (aka BATMAN’s “gaping, toppling void”), awaiting the fox to take ITh’z plunge?
Tune in next time. Same BAT TIME. Same BAT Channel.
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