Hey Subbies,
This is another unusual post, basically a breakdown of Megan Thee Stallions' new music video Sweetie Pie. Megan actually has done another childhood story that draws from childhood fables or modern stories like In Don't Stop. I know right now the industry is trying to break her with all the so-called "bad press" but I will not be discussing that nonsense because haven't we had enough of trying to alienate women in the media industry. In the lyrics, Megan references "Hansel and Gretel" and the concept takes most of its Q's from the fairytale Hansel & Gretel. I actually showed it to a group and one person said, "What Symbolism!?..they are playing witches." But before this, I watched someone dismiss the video and say that it was giving "Illuminati" vibes which are getting really old at this point. Weirdly, people are okay with the Greco-Roaman mythology being the concept for an MV but if you try to highlight another mythos it's like you're canceled. Only an art history /history buff could understand and I'm usually rolling my eyes when people use the secret society cliche.
Anyway, here I am doing another breakdown again. It's been a while since I've heard the German fable/ folktale. From my memory, A brother and Sister become orphans and like many European stories, it always has someone going into a forest or being abandoned in a forest. Then they find this house in the forest and they are lured in by a woman with an assortment of desserts and candies. Basically, they eat till they can't move anymore and the lady turns out to be a "witch" but they somehow outwit the "witch" and they escape. In other iterations, she's either boiled alive or baked alive.
There is a lot to dissect and break down here...
Megan is the personification of a Serpent ( or Draco belongs to Ursa Major and is one of the biggest constellations) or Cobra [Naga / Nagi (f)] here to be exact. In Hindu (and Buddhist) iconography, snakes are divine gods that live in bodies of water and underground in an underworld called "Patala." Shiva always has a cobra around his neck. The Nagas are guardians of treasure and keepers of magic. They live in an enchanted underworld filled with jewels, gold, and other treasures. They can sometimes appear in (a) humans with snakes on the head and neck; (b) Fully serpent; and (c) Half-human, half-snake. If you read the last breakdown with Lady Gaga I touched a little on the snake symbolism as a really ancient symbol and its connections with Hermes, Minerva, and Ceres (personified) in the Greek pantheon that we still use today. But the snake comes up in almost every cultural religion throughout the world from Egypt (Wadjet), India (Nagas), Australia, and the Americas. People usually see serpents as symbols of sexuality because their physical attributes are associated with fertility and phallic imagery. The serpent according to Carl Jung is a symbol of the spirit(s), the divine (agricultural), and the pathway to enlightenment. In other religious and philosophical texts, the snake is a symbol of Truth, Wisdom, and Healing but is described as "Evil" and "Deceitful." I would bring up Medusa after finding out the Historical origin story but I will not be retelling that story.
Dua Lipa is a personification of a spider (their domain is in the form of a spider.) Spiders are mainly associated with the art of crafting textiles. In Ancient Egypt, the creator Goddess Neith was the patron of Looms. There is an Ancient Greek story about Lydia/Arachne and the goddess Athena who is the patron of handicrafts (Minerva is a patron of spinners and weavers). I don't know why but in almost every Greco-Roman Story they always have the Goddess getting Angry and Jealous at mortals for going above and beyond and the mortals get transformed into some creature or animal. Spider Women are also present in Japanese folklore as Yokia called Jorogumo who can transform into Seductive women that could play the shamisen which would lure men instantly into her seductive woman's web for their last night of passion to a slow painful death (the Aztecs have this in common). The other story is about men being too open about their sex life or not having a work-life balance which leads to their deaths. In the Native American Navaho story of Spider Women a girl becomes curious about a crack in the earth so she looks into the crack to find a room full of woven textiles. The Spider Woman says "If I teach you how to create textiles like these can you teach all of the girls in the tribe." In Hopi, four Creation myth involves the Spider Mother/ Grandmother (primordial figure) creating the stars, birds, and fish, and the Genesis with two Humans who lived in the first world which was underground (common in native American beliefs) but had to work their way to the fourth world, and not everyone could come. The other three stories involved a Flood/Fire myth and the splitting up of tribes. She taught them how to live in a society, (4) languages, and farming.
The two Men or Men are of course symbols of Patriarchy and stand-ins for Hansel and Gretel. Men of Power are usually associated with Thunder gods or Apex predators like lions, tigers, and bears. Many Epics of notable men are usually Slaying Serpents or Dragons (trope) which are symbolic of powerful Ancient women to prove they are powerful. I was talking to a close group of acquaintances trying to dissect the video and we came to the same conclusion that the men in this is a portrayal of "Modern men" who have become synonymous with "F-boy culture" and yes they do have a look (the hats have a double meaning here that are both religiously and politically linked). Also, their indulging in the desserts, and climbing the trees is a symbol for men who have given into their Primal needs and eventually led to the "Fall of Man" due to their own "follies and vanity." Also when they start Hallucinating and freaking out they were probably bitten that's why they are shown in the fetal position. Then men become angry because they feel like they have been deceived by the women.
Megan is also portrayed as a Modern Maria Antoinette and states "I got cake, I know you want a slice" in her rap. Even though Maria Antoinette didn't actually say "Let them Eat Cake" it was actually coined by another Royal specifically Princess Marie-Thérèse of Spain according to Historian Lady Antonia Fraser but we're always playing the game of telephone when it comes to history. However, she liked the finer things in life since she did marry young but she became the focus of rumors and scandals even though she was known for her philanthropy. And maybe Dua Lipa is portraying Marie-Therese here? Megan has a baby blue one-piece bodysuit and white hair that is in a similar shape as a corset and Dua is wearing a Stay. The scene is reminiscent of Sofia Coppola's 2006 modern rendition of Maria Antoinette which Kirsten Dunst also wears a lot of baby blues and is surrounded by an assortment of pastel indulgences.
Megan and Dua Lipa embody the Dark Mother Goddesses Hestia/Vesta (Goddess of the hearth) and Wadjet (the protective serpent goddess who sends fire to burn her enemies) with a Skeleton bodysuit and all-black attire. Megan references Italy (Rome) with "Cesear and Milan" in her rap.
However, both of them are captured to be burned at the stake as witches which is a reference to The Burning Times and The Witch Hunts. But Megan and Dua Lipa turn the tables or fire around back on the patriarchy like how Mount Vesuvius turned the city of Pompeii into ash and stone. Megan and Dua emerge victoriously dawning in silver and gold attire which is a possible reference to the Goddess of Sight Theia and a nod to the Goddess of wisdom and war Athena from which the city of Athens draws its name.
Okay about the trees with feminine forms which are a reference to Norse Mythology. The tree is a known symbol of Knowledge (Biblical/Near East Epics) life (Kabbalism) or the World(s) (Norse/ Shamism); the most notable tree is the evergreen tree Yggdrasil. Trees are also symbolic of Power, Wisdom, Karma, Rebirth/ Immortality, Nourishment, and "Stability and Security" (Celts). Ash Trees were seen as a connection to the heavens and earth, as well as, associations with medicine and the healing of the youth. Norse Creation Myth involves Odin walking with two other gods on the coast when they came upon driftwood so he breathed life into them creating man and woman and his companions gave them Mentality, Vitality, Language, Senses, Clothes, and Names: Ask (Ash tree) and Embla (Elm tree) and given the world Midgard to dwell in. Like Yggdrasil, they have access to the other realms, upper and lower. Ancient Predynastic Women of Notability were usually Warriors Queens, Mago / Magi (the male form), Oracles, and Priestess and if you were male you had to have a direct lineage to her to be able to inherit her dynasty in those fields.
Side note: The Cimbri Tribe (they predate the Nords) ritual involved sacrificing their victims to Wodan ( this "The Hanging God"/ "Breath of Life" Odin/Mercury; Dua Lipa part actually references "...Hung up from across the room") by hanging them over cauldrons and then thrown into lakes. Human sacrifice was a worldwide phenomenon in almost every culture to appease the gods but today it is known as genocide due to tribalism, religion, and Government.
The Temple scene in the MV actually references Aphrodite Temples which are throughout the Ancient world and are known for their beauty and love. The cauldron which I didn't go into very deeply in my Let's Dissect 911 post so I will expand on it here. "Kumbha is a Full vase, pot, a jar, or a pitcher is also symbolic of the womb." That's why the saying "I have a bun in the Oven" is a thing. And if you didn't know Megan is an Aquarius "The water bearer." Nut, the goddess of the sky, the headdress was the hieroglyphic of part of her name, a pot, which may symbolize the uterus.) And Aquarius ( the old ruling planet is Saturn) the modern ruling planet is Uranus which is King Vasuki/ Naga in the Hindu epics the "divine being great king snake" (cobra) with a gem (Nagamani) on his head. That's why Megan has jewels on her bodysuit and has the little Asuras (evil spirits) dancing with her because they are aiding her in possibly seeking revenge on their behalf against the men's bad karma. The Tree is, of course, referring to Yggdrasil but it is possibly a model of a Royal Poinciana Tree aka "flame tree" or "flame of the forest" which has religious significance ("burning bush") and can be found all around the world.
I hope you enjoyed the breakdown and look forward to seeing more in the future but you can also follow my WordPress where I do a lot more post-music symbolism there.
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