TOOL - Lost Keys/Rosetta Stoned

G36. What does it all mean, 46, 2, shadows? You could write a whole FAQ for this one question alone; the major underlying principles relate to chromosomes and Jungian theory. Some of the ideas behind this song are based on the teachings of Drunvalo Melchizadek. Here's a snip of an interview with him (Leading Edge, 12/95): "There are three totally different kinds of humans on the Earth, meaning that they perceive the One reality in three different ways, interpreted differently. The first kind of human has a chromosome composition of 42+2. They comprise a unity consciousness that does not see anything outside themselves as being separate from themselves. To them, there is only one energy - one life, one beingness that moves everywhere. Anything happening anywhere is within them, as well. They are like cells in the body. They are all connected to a single consciousness that moves through all of them. These are the aboriginals in Australia. There might be a few African tribes left like this. Then, there is our level, comprising 44+2 chromosomes. We are a disharmonic level of consciousness that is used as a steppingstone from the 42+2 level to the next level, 46+2...These two additional chromosomes change everything."

Rachel Wells (eileen@loop.com) has written this moderately long, excellent summary of all the relevant Jungian concepts:

"Anima / Animus (pronounced On-ee-mah): In Jungian psychology, the anima refers to personality traits regarded as feminine that are often repressed into the unconscious of males while the animus refers to traits regarded as masculine that are often repressed into the unconsciousness of females.

Although suppressed from conscious awareness, the anima/animus influences our behavior in powerful ways. In most individuals,it is projected onto people of the opposite sex and accounts for the experience of falling in love with someone we hardly know. As the unconscious pole of the self, the counter-ego represented by the anima/animus can also be a guide to one's own unconscious realm. It is often experienced as the guiding female (if you're male) or male (if you're female) presence in dreams.

The Shadow:

In Carl Jung's personality theory, the ego represents the individual's sense of personal self. The sense of personal identity is purchased, however, at the expense of certain tendencies that are rejected as 'not-self'. According to Jung, these rejected traits come together as a kind of unconscious 'counter-ego' which he termed the shadow.

We may become unduly anxious or irritated when in an environment or around a person that in some way reminds us of repressed aspects of our self. If a person has rejected his or her own sex drive, for example, that person may feel irrational fear or anger around an overtly sexual individual. The shadow may appear as a person in one's dreams, usually as an individual of the same sex.

Of all the archetypes, the shadow is the most powerful and potentially the most dangerous. It represents everything about ourselves that we fear and despise.

The meaning of 46 + 2:

According to Melchezedek, our planet is covered with geometrically constructed 'morpho genetic grids'. These grids extend from about 60 feet under the Earth's surface to about 60 miles above the Earth, arranged in geometric patterns (see 'Sacred Geometry'). Each species has its own grid, which supports life, and connects the consciousness of its particular species. Before any species can come into existance or make an evolutionary step, a new grid must be completed. When a species becomes extinct, that particular species' grid dissoves.

A new grid was completed in 1989 - the 'christ-consciousness' grid. This grid will allow humans to evolve into our next version. We'll develop two additional chromosomes (which are really 'geometrical images' designed to resonate with our specific grid) for a total or 46 + 2.

The main change will be a shift to the "unity consciousness". Every cell in your body has its own consciousness and memory. You, the higher being that occupies your body, make the millions of different consciousnesses in your body work together as one being. How does this relate to this grid? Think of yourself as a cell and the grid as the higher being. We will still have individual consciousness, but will be united in the form of a higher being in order to work as one entity."

the chromosome jump ties into Melchizedek’s ideas. He claimed humanity’s 46 chromosomes are a transitional state. According to him, early humans—or some primal ancestors—had 44 chromosomes (like chimps do today), and we’re headed toward 48, a "Christ consciousness" stage where we’d unlock higher awareness, empathy, and unity. It’s a leap from biology to mysticism, but Melchizedek argued this shift would happen through DNA activation, triggered by emotional and spiritual work—like facing the shadow. "46 & 2" becomes a poetic take on that: we’re at 46 now, and the "+2" is the next step.

Humans have 46 chromosomes (23 pairs), while our closest relatives—chimpanzees, gorillas, and other great apes—have 48 (24 pairs). The difference? About 5-6 million years ago, after our lineage split from the common ancestor we share with chimps, two smaller ape chromosomes (called 2A and 2B in chimps) fused into what we now call human chromosome 2. This fusion didn’t add or lose much genetic material—it just repackaged it. You can still see the evidence: chromosome 2 has leftover telomere sequences (endcaps of chromosomes) and a second, inactive centromere (the pinch point) smack in the middle, like a genetic scar from the join. This event was a big deal in human evolution.