1. YooA's Katabasis
A Katabasis is a Descent into the Underworld, a journey that is usually as mental as it can be physical. Some notable examples include Jesus in the Harrowing of Hell and Orpheus in the Death of Eurydice. "Closer" follows a similar narrative path to illustrate YooA's change in consciousness.
My favorite Katabasis, perhaps my overall favorite myth, is Inanna's Descent into The Underworld, which begins with Inanna hearing the call of her sister Ereshkigal, Queen of the Kur, the Sumerian underworld.
From the Great Above she opened her ear to the Great Below.
From the Great Above the goddess opened her ear to the Great Below.
From the Great Above Inanna opened her ear to the Great Below.
In Ancient Sumerian, "ear" is written as "wisdom." Therefore, this story begins, "From the Great Above the goddess opened (set) her ear, her receptor for wisdom, to the Great Below." In "Closer," we see a similar call through music playing in a decaying car.
From this we can assume the person who heard this call, our "Closer" protagonist, YooA, has entered the arena ready to learn. But why has she come?
The girl walks towards somewhere without any thoughts.Closer album
Through the road under the night sky.
Through the deep valley where the moon light remains.
Towards the ruined mansion.
"Without any thoughts" points to the state of YooA consciousness as susceptible. But, was she compelled, or did she come of her own free will? As Marion Woodman points out, journeys always begin with a premise:
One does not venture deep into the forests without good reason. One has already felt some loss, something missing, in the ordinary routines of life. One has begun to search the depths of the unconsciousness for what is essential to growth, to change, to wholeness. In fact, the hag, the sorceress, the Goddess, does not appear in dreams until the traveler is strong enough to be vulnerable.Dancing in the Flames, 49
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| "Lucifer" means one who carries the light |
Binnie sends YooA off to die.
Quiet, Inanna, the ways of the underworld are perfectA Sumerian Tale of Injustice
They may not be questioned
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| Binnie sends YooA off in respect. |
The shadow is the guide. [...] The guide of the journey to self-knowledge, to adulthood, to the light.The Child and The Shadow, 65
When you have followed the animal instincts far enough, then they must be sacrificed, so that the true self, the whole person, may step forth from the body of the animal, reborn.The Child and The Shadow, 67
Le Guin catch your interest? Read I Applied Critical Theory to a T-ARA MV and My Wife Left Me
She has gone through her journey and sees herself, finally, as a "whole person."
Her humanity now whole, she feels compassion after seeing another in decay. She has matured and now feels empathy when seeing someone effected by injustice; she knows right from wrong. She has completed her personal narrative, and now takes care of another.
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| The Virgin saved what Eve marred |
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| To save their Queen, her servants "ask [Erishkigal] to release part of her personal anguish, her despair and anger, which is embodied in the glorious Goddess of Love. They ask for the rotting body of Inanna. " |
Everything stopped at that moment.Closer album
Girls who broke taboo lost their way in a maze named time.
The Garden of Eden is a myth that is used to explain human suffering, also as a justification for misogyny. However, some less-known and/or erased-from-history alt Christian sects theorize the snake (Sophia) as good and feminine, and the physical god (God) as a father-like oppressor.
And it is said, that in the Garden of Eden, created by the lower Father God, that Eve was the manifestation of [Lesser] Wisdom and that the serpent or snake of the tree, was actually the Christos[/savior] who urged Eve to eat the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge that she might attain the true [Greater Wisdom] or knowledge of her origins and realize the Higher Sophia in perfect illumination and bliss. But the Father God, discovering that this secret teaching was disturbing his supremacy in the lower realms grew angry and cast them out of the garden and into the suffering of the world.
Yet each and every descendant has this spark and the potential to recover the true Gnosis.THE GNOSIS ARCHIVE
Even without the reference to dead Christianity demoninations (sorry its a hobby), we can see that the obtainment of knowledge is a major theme in both YooA's and Arin's personal stories.
Pandora does not inflict evils upon humanity by her curiosity. Rather she opens the womb of the goddess and gives birth to many possibilities.Goddess of Wisdom, Bride of God, 223
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| "Box" was a mistranslation of jar, meaning cup, referring to womb. (img source) |
In order to find the empathy within herself that she needs to mature, YooA goes through the full narrative of a descention into the self. One of the major scenes of the video features a beautiful, ethereal dance, set upon the place of her "death."
Kali is a goddess whose rituals included many taboo things, including dancing on graves, in order to help her followers get closer to an enlightened mindfulness.
In the burial ground of the heart, Kali's enlightened devotees see beyond literal death to the death of values in their transformation, then Kali can dance her dance of perpetual becoming. Once her cycles are accepted, those who love her are free of the fear of death, fear of their vulnerability, free to live her mystery.Book of Kali, 16
The video begins with this dance for YooA because her death was triumphant; her return allowed Arin and the other girls "go back to where [they] were before," to a paradise.
Finally, the stories of girls restarted when bright sun wrapped around them.[...]
Please hear my prayer, and let my long waiting could see the light someday.
The shooting star answered their prayer
The stories of girls who got together had started there again.
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| When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world." John 8:12 |
Jesus has been theorized to be a sun god, especially in the myth of the Harrowing of Hell, which features his resurrection. YooA is also associated with the light, in both the video and textual imagery.
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| Aslan is an allegory for Jesus, and one of Inanna's primary symbols was the lion. |
Arin's death, however, was different than YooA's. Before her death, she spent her time in a "space full of flower scent and girl's laughter. It is full of warmth and refreshing lives." Arin was naive and had yet to experience the inward journey that comes with maturity.
Arin did not go through a proper narrative; she picked a golden apple, which represents the fast-track to immortality. Arin picked the Fruit of Wisdom while she was still a child, and, as a result, she ended up locked in a "continuous nightmare."
Arin did not go through a proper narrative; she picked a golden apple, which represents the fast-track to immortality. Arin picked the Fruit of Wisdom while she was still a child, and, as a result, she ended up locked in a "continuous nightmare."
Arin's death was a sudden loss of innocence; therefore, a tragedy. She chose the promising golden apple, but it was actually rotten. Was this placed there by an oppressive god? By an evil person? By an unemphatic industry that treats young girls as objects to consume? Let's go with that.
In God's bestseller, The Bible, Mary gives birth to Jesus; therefore, Mary gave Jesus (and likewise God), not just a human form, but concern and understanding for humans. Mary is highly revered in Christianity because of this miraculous gift. Empathy is not to be understated; it is what makes us human.
However, one cannot earn empathy themselves, as they must go through the trial of maturity. YooA goes through the proper channels of transformation, as outlined by ancient myth's like "The Descent of Inanna" and "The Harrowing of Hell." On the other hand, Arin's maturity was premature. Arin did not undertake a physical or mental journey before trying to grow up and was thus stopped in time, stuck in immaturity and unable to prosper.
Arin's suffering was righted by YooA's realization of good and bad, after she followed a hero's narrative. In the "Closer" video, Oh My Girl requests that age old archetypes and mythological narratives are honored, including the respect of a girl's journey to adulthood, instead of using quick ways to get ahead that often lead to stunted growth, as we have seen documented in media as happening to many child stars.
tl;dr YooA is Sophia the Snake, Arin is Eve, YooA is also Virgin Mary, who is Second Eve, who is Voldemort's daughter, Sherlock's sister
Some fun sources to browse:
"Inana's descent to the nether world: translation"
"Interpretation of Inanna’s Descent Myth"
"MYTH OF SOPHIA: THE HIDDEN SYMBOLS OF GODDESSES AROUND THE WORLD"
Metahistory.org
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