A Perfect Union of Contrary Things

by Maynard James Keenan

As always, Maynard’s lyrics urged critical thinking and transcendence of stasis. Lateralus was, he admitted, “a soundtrack for healing,” a blueprint for enlightenment that might come from tapping into the energies that lay in mathematical symmetry—and the position of the planet Saturn. Every 28 years or so, astrologers claimed, Saturn returned to the place in the sky it had been at the moment of one’s birth, marking the beginning of a new life stage—adulthood, maturity, old age—each an opportunity to reassess one’s purpose. “You either let go of past delusions and ascend to the next level, or you sink like a stone,” Maynard would explain. “If you can’t make it past your Saturn return, you remain stagnant.”