This is my first post on The Rush Forum. I am intrigued by the hermetical and alchemical references on CA and have found something strange in the artwork.
Up until the 6th song (Halo Effect), each song uses the corresponding symbol on the clock. This can be seen in the lower corners of the CD-booklet. However, the song Seven Cities of Gold uses another planetary symbol. This symbol corresponds to the sun.
As a result of the use of the new sun-symbol, the last alchemical symbol (0:00 or 12:00) is not used in relation to a song on the album. My question is: why is this so?
One possible explanation is that the song Seven Cities of Gold has a deeper meaning in the sense that the Seven Cities correspond to the seven chakra system. As you possibly know, the chakra system describes the road to enlightenment, which is the philosopher's gold in alchemy.
Following this line of reasoning, the last symbol may correspond to the after-life (supreme love and understanding) of which we have little knowledge and as a result of that, no song corresponds to the relating symbol. The CA-album works towards this climax because the whole story begins with the perspective of an infant and ends in The Garden of the old.
Note that I am well aware that in the past - and on CA for that matter - Neil Peart has a somewhat agnostic stance towards a supreme deity (The Watchmaker ). Could it be that the story has a deeper level of meaning that perhaps even eludes Neil? Is there possibly some channeling involved with CA?
