third eye

What, were you expecting something religious here?

In most magickal disciplines, the Third Eye is the seat of one's magickal abilities. Physically, it is situated almost directly in front of the pineal gland of the brain. It also directly corresponds with the Chakra of the head.

The concept of the the third eye probably originated in Asia around the 6th century B.C.E., in and around the Indian subcontinent. It was said that the Hindu deity Shiva posessed such an eye.

Tool cuts a live version of Third Eye on their recent release Salival. The Bill Hicks comedy routine is replaced here by a cut-up and re-mixed recording of Dr. Timothy Leary talking about authority and externally imposed views of reality.

The idea that our understanding of reality is externally imposed upon us is also touched on in writing by Robert Anton Wilson, and in White Wolf's role-playing game Mage: The Ascension. This is a very appropriate introduction to the song, since many interpretations of Third Eye (both the song and the thing) connect it to ritual magick and learning to see things through more than one reality-tunnel.