Introduction

Regardless if you are watching the movie Pans labyrinth for its entertainment value or esoteric symbolism, it is a true masterpiece of filmmaking and storytelling. This text will not dwell on the symbolism in detail, but rather cut to the chase and point out its meaning and reference. It is up to the reader should he feel the call to do so, to further investigate the subjects in question as these are broad and deeply spiritual aspects not too easily digested in one bite. There could and there have been books written about these aspects in endless detail. This article will outline and briefly describe the main elements for spiritual growth and true liberation as addressed in the movie.

All true spiritual schools as well as all major religions are founded on the same principles. The expressions of our world’s religions differ, but its true content will all be the same just as the “spiritual anatomy” of a man does not differ according to race, age, nationality etc. The flame that sprouted all the world’s major religions and every true spiritual school is called gnosis. The word meaning “knowledge through experience” as opposed to belief. The major religions are mostly symbolic in their expressions which have led millions of people in dissolution and disbelief of taking the symbolic narrations as literal. Behind the veils of symbolism and allegory of all major religions, there exists a clear teaching consisting of mainly three major stepping stones needed in order to properly traverse the true spiritual path of liberation. These are:

1. Transmutation of sexual energy
2. Destruction of the ego
3. Sacrifice for humanity

There are plenty of other details in this movie and side stories, but this article deals mainly with the symbolism of Ophelia’s journey in the maze and the spiritual path.  As stated before, the three tasks are gigantic which normally take lifetimes to complete and there are endless literature written on all of the subjects. This article aims to briefly explain the different symbolism and its meaning for each of the tasks in the clearest and broadest possible way.

The beginning of the movie tells a tale of a princess escaping the world she knew entering a new world where her memory of the old world or her origin was forgotten. This describes the soul of any man entering into a physical body at birth and subsequently forgetting who we really are being swallowed up of what we call life. It is further explained that her father, the king (consciousness) would always know that she would return to his kingdom, perhaps in another body and another time. This emphasizes the divine origin of the soul of man

Initiation into the maze (The spiritual path or the path of returning to the light)

                                                                                        Third eye

The main character Ofelia discovers a rock with the imprint of an eye on the road after going out of the car she was traveling in due to her mother being ill and in the need for some air. The eye symbolizes the activation of the third eye inside the brain. Its location is between your two eyes. This “eye” lies latent or asleep in most people, but it can be awakened through meditation or more importantly sexual transmutation. This eye is the bridge to the inner worlds. This eye allows you to see your own inner flame or light. This third eye is a spiritual antenna which lies latent in most people. When this eye is opened we can see and experience other dimensions and realities when we have our two outside eyes closed. When the third eye is fully awakened you will perceive with it a reality that will be so intensely more real than what you are experiencing in every day life. In Nordic mythology, this is symbolized by the god Heimdall which is the guardian of the rainbow bridge to Asgard (Higher consciousness). The third eye is connected with the intuition, to know something for oneself without blindly following others and to have direct experiences of what is true and real. Odin had to sacrifice his one eye in order to get wisdom, meaning he had to awaken the third eye as another faculty or place where he could draw wisdom and intuition from. This intuition will come as a result of meditation and when you trust your innermost. Odin gave his one physical eye in order to be able to see with his inner. In other words, we cannot get identified with the physical world as it exists in that form only through our physical eyes, if we are to perceive the inner light that exists within. The person who lives only for the physical and what he can perceive with the physical eyes lives in complete blindness. If we also are to drink from the wisdom of Mimir’s well, we also have to sacrifice one physical eye which simply means un-identification with physical, carnal and worldly matters and go within. Why didn’t Odin give both his eyes in exchange to drink? Because you still have to exist, you need to eat, to drink to stay in this existence. You cannot disconnect from this existence completely. The sacrifice of the one eye means that he can perceive both worlds at the same time, the physical and the spiritual. In addition, the “one eye” symbolizes the two brain hemispheres (left & right) in balance thus seeing everything as a one hence the one eye. Ofelia goes off the road and put the stone into a statue of sorts which is missing its eye and the journey has started. This symbolizes that she now has her eyes opened (internally and spiritually speaking). It is also worthy to mention that the car stops and Ofelia finds the eye on the road for then to go off the road in order to put it in the statue. This symbolizes that in order to awaken one need to slow down and look within. This cannot be done at work or living a hectic lifestyle. One has to slow down (and meditate) to find the eye (third eye spiritual awakening) for then to go off the road (the road of suffering or wheel of samsara where most of humanity travels) and into the labyrinth (road of liberation).

Ofelia meets a faun who tells her she has to complete three tasks before the moon is full. These are the three mountains one needs to ascend. This symbolizes the 108 lifetimes given to the soul has to complete the tasks in order to achieve liberation.

The three mountains

 

The first task

 

Ofelia is told to make a tree blossom again after a terrible toad living underneath inside it is eating all its food. The tree is the tree of knowledge which is your sexuality. The toad is symbolic of the lustful elements that makes us indulge (eject the semen) in sex and have the spasm (the orgasm), thus taking away all our spiritual powers and possibilities for genuine spiritual growth. This is similar to the bible story of the serpent tempting Eve (sexual organs) to eat the forbidden fruit (orgasm). Just as sperm holds the archetypes to build a physical man, it also holds the archetypes for your soul which must be developed. This is a deep and hard truth to take in. Sexual energy and spiritual energy is the same force, it has to be transmuted and cultivated in order to awaken the occult powers and insights hidden in man. The tree in the movie is dead just like we are spiritually dead because we waste and squander away all of our sexual energy. A holy secret of humanity is that a man and his wife should engage in sexual intercourse without the spilling of the semen, thus giving spiritual birth inside themselves.  This is the true concept of Immaculate Conception giving birth to the internal Christ (Love). This will only work between a man and a woman. This is why all religions and true spiritual schools encourage chastity. This is also why homosexuality is condemned as it is against nature.  Study the books by Samael Aun Weor for more input and evidence in this matter. In order to transmute one have to work very hard in order to cleanse oneself of bad elements. In the tradition of Alchemy (Al chemia, to fuse with God) this is called to melt all the base metals together in one pot before one can forge them into gold. A man has three psychological brains of functioning namely the mental, emotional and sexual/instinctual. All three centers must be purified in sexual alchemy (Sex with one’s spouse without ejaculating the semen) and with comprehension of the lustful defects in meditation. Then when we are working on purifying the three centers through sexual transmutation, we can eliminate the lust. This is symbolized when Ofelia gives the toad the three stones and it dies. The stones given to the toad symbolizes the cleanliness of the three centers working with sexual transmutation in order to remove lust, purify and to kill that serpent which is always tempting us to fornicate.

Alchemical painting including a woman and a man with the staff of mercury (Dorsal spine) and the two snakes Ida and Pingala (sexual energy) entwined

When Ofelia talks to the faun again after completing the task, he tells her that soon they will strive through the seven circular gardens of her palace. The gardens mentioned is the seven chakra points on a man’s body, which are etheric energy vortexes often under active or dead as they need sexual energy in order to be active and sustained. The palace is symbolic of her body. The seven chakras are well known in Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism, but are also mentioned plenty elsewhere for example in the bible as the seven churches (Book of revelations).

The seven chakras

 The second task

 

Ofelia has to go into a room to pick up a dagger and return. In the room is a table full of tempting foods and drink, a feast. A monstrous creature sits at the end of the table. When Ofelia is tempted to eat from the table, the creature awakes little by little in order to devour her. The creature symbolizes the ego or the separate self that must be killed by not feeding it. We feed our own ego or separate self when we indulge in desires or fears. The ego is mainly rooted in desire or fear for earthly or material matters including psychological ones and will become bigger and bigger the more we eat from the table. The ego is the plurality of “I”s everyone carries within and must be annihilated by controlling or stop becoming identified with desire or fear. The different temptations on the table represent the many desires and complications of the mind that we all carry within. The ego is the sum of “I”s or made up concepts or mental constructs stemming from either a desire for, or fear of something. These are also called psychological aggregates or hungry ghosts in Buddhism. The ego is that aspect of us which sees ourselves separate from everything and everyone else. The ego can be killed utilizing the marvelous energies of sexual polarities between a man and his wife. However, it is also required to be a Master of meditation. The ego resides in the mind. In meditation one can silent the mind through practice and experience that which is beyond the mind (consciousness or the soul) in order to clearly see the mind and its defects for what it is, rather than identifying with it. This is difficult for most people as they are 100% identified with their mind, thoughts and ideas about themselves or any other external phenomena. However, we all have consciousness which is that which is rather observing our thoughts and mind without identifying with them. The ego will die if we stop feeding it meaning stop giving it any form of energy (control your thoughts).

The ego and its plurality is represented in the Greek mysteries by Medusa and her head consisting of a thousand serpents

 

The Third task

Ofelia is told by the faun to get her little brother and go to the fountain inside the maze. She is then told to spill the blood of her brother (an innocent) in order to reclaim her throne (In the kingdom of God). She refuses to spill the blood of her brother and the Captain walks in on her, takes the brother and shoots Ofelia making her spill her own blood in the fountain. This symbolizes the ultimate self-sacrifice of one self for the sake of the whole humanity and to serve the living God. This refers also to the ultimate psychological death of the self in order to resurrect. One has to die within in order to truly be born again. The final task represents the genuine desire and love for humanity which is needed in order to give and give endlessly and tirelessly.  After this there is no sense of self, only desire to help humanity on the right path in any way one can. Ofelia passes the final test and reclaims her throne, which is the divinity inside herself or any man. The last scene where she is re united with her family might also suggest the trinity with the father, son and the Holy Spirit.  The Father represents the consciousness, the Holy Spirit is the sexual force in every living thing symbolized by the Virgin Mary in Christianity giving birth to the son (Christ, love) within man. Ofelia is now the symbol of the human soul which has managed to give birth to the second logos (The son, Christ, Love) inside herself.

The vertical beam of the cross symbolizes the phallus, or the expansive (sexual) force in cosmos represented in male sexuality. The horizontal beam symbolizes the womb or contractive (sexual) force in cosmos represented in female sexuality. The crossing or intersection of these two contains the secrets of all the powers and mysteries. Through sexual alchemy (symbolized by intersection of the cross), the psychological “I” is killed in order to self-sacrifice for the good of humanity in order to return to the father (Consciousness)

 Conclusion

Most of humanity is traveling on the common road without ever realizing not to mention cultivating and expanding the divinity inside themselves. I can encourage people to stop the car, go out on the road and look for that stone with the eye that leads to initiation. Most of the things we strive and fight for in life are meaningless in the point that they do not matter and they die along with our bodies and personalities when we die. It is worthwhile to go within and seek peace inside yourself. The kingdom of God (divinity) is within and the true meaning of anyone’s life is to find the way back. However, seek these things at your own pace and at your own will. Spirituality is also a destructive and painful process. Those who feel the call will know it in their soul. The psychological work and the work on the soul will give fruits and it will last also after your physical death. To wake up and be born in the internal worlds is a pure sexual thing. Nothing can be born without sex. A person may have a third eye activation, but he will need sexual transmutation to sustain that power. If you start to walk the path into the maze, seek help and find guidance. People have done it before you, listen to their experiences and take advice as this work can be very tough. I can recommend starting with meditation practices. This concludes the article which has briefly outlined the symbolism in the movie Pan’s labyrinth concerning the three major tasks in the maze. I hope you found the read worthwhile and hopefully interesting. I have written a book on meditation called “A guide to meditation and awakening the consciousness”. For those who are interested in a free copy of the book, please write me with your e-mail address and I will send it to you.