Hannibal breaks down Beyonce’s “Lemonade” Hotep symbolism
Written by Ali “Hannibal X” Shakur
If one cannot appreciate this film, the connection with their soul must have been broken. This was God’s essence manifested. I say that because there are no words in the English language that can describe how beautiful this piece was. Ethereal & elegant are understatements. This was pure divinity.
Every black media outlet is going to talk about the relationship drama between Jay Z and Beyonce because that’s what they and their audience lives for. They’re going to speculate about the girl’s identity with whom Jay Z cheated with. Is it Rihanna, Nicki Minja, or Rachel Roy? Who cares? They’re going to dig for all of the ugly and miss the wonderful gems that “Lemonade” provided. I don’t want that here.
I’d love to break down every single detail but that would require an entire volume of work. There was just took much history, heritage and meaning to cover in one editorial. Instead, I’ll highlight parts that stuck out to me most. Especially the beautiful esoteric Hotep, alchemical, or occult symbolism, which is often confused with Illuminati and evil.
The list of emotions, feelings and statuses below are in ascending order. Beyonce and her team carried us through these like a ship in the ocean. We felt the calm and the rough sea of Beyonce’s journey to ascension, which left us awestruck and inspired. I believe this film is a narration of Beyonce’s subconscious thoughts and states.
Intuition
Denial
Anger
Apathy
Emptiness
Accountability
Reformation
Forgiveness
Resurrection
Hope
Redemption
In the INTUITION segment, Beyonce displays many black women, which I believe symbolizes the heightened intuitive nature of black women. The spiritual foundation and oracle of the black family.
In DENIAL, she’s smashing windows and even drives a monster truck, which is a display of what’s going through a woman’s mind, after she finds her man cheating. Also, you’ll notice the introduction of FIRE.
When she reaches ANGER, the fire intensifies. Fire, in alchemy, represents transformation. The breaking down of something. At this point, Beyonce is literally, beginning to break down.
(Notice the ankh, which makes the Hotep in everyone, very proud.)
Bringing Serena Williams in for the cameo was impeccably delightful. I believe this represents the sisterhood amongst women after a breakup or fight and those club nights when they “turn up”.
When Beyonce reaches EMPTINESS, there’s a doorway. This symbol I believe represents moving from one state to another. Crossing a threshold from one emotion to the next.
During LOSS, that doorway is now burning and we can see Beyonce walking away from it as if she just passed through it. Again fire, representing transformation, its destructive nature is breaking down her old emotion and she’s not looking back as she moves on.
As she moves into REFORMATION Beyonce is seen walking into the water. Water is the symbol of purity and we later see Beyonce laying down as the tide gently embraces her. This I believe represents the washing away of any unwanted fragments of past emotions; the purifying of her present status to prepare her for ascension.
In FORGIVENESS, Jay Z gives people I believe, what his career needed. A bit of vulnerability. It gave viewers a glance at a side of Jigga they’ve never seen before. For celebrities, it is imperative to create emotional bonds with fans. I’m looking forward to the next Jay Z project eagerly.
“How do we lead our girls/children to the future? Love!”, narrates and elder spiritual black woman. These words touch my soul. No matter what the world throws at us, the most important thing to teach children is LOVE. Show them what it looks like and what it feels like. Because when you know real love you can never be fooled by fake love.
When the mothers of Trayvon Martin and Mike Brown made their appearances, many have said, this is just Beyonce pandering blacks again. Using black death to her advantage. Trying to judge her intentions is all speculative. What we can say, I believe, is that it was done tastefully. When Mike Brown’s mother put her head down, I did get a little choked up. It felt organic, and not contrived at all. I don’t think she did this to take advantage of black death.
However, as we rise through the levels of ascension, death or transition is symbolic. Beyonce has passed through the fire, been purified by water and this appreciation of black lives lost is a continuation of the alchemical symbolism that is embedded throughout this film.
The female shaman dressed in all white, blessing the “living” room and giving a send off to the unrested spirits is clearly symbolic. This spirit ritual is a lovely gesture to those that have fallen. You might have to be Hotep to understand some of this stuff.
(This photo below is Beyonce in balance with herself or her subconscious or inner self. The light in the background presents illumination and clairvoyant intelligence. Her foot rooted in water again represents purity and maybe even fluid movement along her path.)
In REDEMPTION, Beyonce narrates, “Grandmother, the alchemist. You spun gold out of this hard life”. This time, Beyonce makes it VERY clear that this film was an alchemical ritual inspired by her ancestors. It finally gives meaning to the title, “Lemonade”. When life throws you lemons, you make lemonade.
“Nothing real can be threatened”
There’s so much more symbolism in this feature that I’m sure we’ll all catch more and more of on each view. The truth is, you cannot watch this just once or twice. This is a classic film and a staple for black american culture. This is exactly what music has been missing. This is what our children and especially young girls need to see. When Beyonce is gone, people will remember her for “Lemonade”.