Bob Dylan Pawns his Watch (Part XXII)

by Larry Fyffe

Turn on your secret Untold Decoder Ring if you have been wise enough to purchase one.

While some Jewish authorities in the Holy Bible accuse Jesus of being possessed by Beelzebub, the mythological gods of the ancient Greeks and Romans are even more upset.

They accuse the  Almighty God of the Hebrews and His Son of attempting to usurp the heavenly throne rightfully occupied by the immortal Zeus, the God of Thunder and Lightning, and his son Apollo.

That is, akin to Dionysus who is able to rise from the Underground each spring, the mortal human Christ is considered by these Judeo-Christian upstarts as eternal.

He’s able to exist both in and out of time; sired as He is by an immortal God Who covers Mary, the wife of Joseph.

Jesus Christ depicted as timeless in the Holy Bible:

His countenance was like the lightning
And His raiment white as snow
(Matthew 28:3)

Likewise thusly presented in the following song lyrics:

You were snow, you were rain
You were striped, you were plain
(Bob Dylan: Born In Time)

According to the Holy Bible, the crucified Christ comes back to life for a short time; then ascends to Heaven.

He promises to come back again to His earth-bound Bride soon.

However, according to the song above, things aren’t looking that good for her as she sits and waits anxiously for His Second Coming.

Expressed with a Poe-like dream-twist in the song lyrics beneath:

I feel alone in the hills of mystery
In the foggy web of destiny
You're still so deep inside of me
When we were born in time
(Bob Dylan: Born In Time)

As below, the motif of the four basic transmutational elements of ancient alchemy

– earth, wind, fire and water –

appear often in many of the song lyrics by the singer/songwriter/musician:

And take me disappearing through
The smoke rings of my mind
Down the foggy ruins of time
Far past the frozen leaves
The haunted frightened trees
Out to the windy beach
(Mr. Tambourine Man)