Saturday, August 15, 2009

Bohemian Grove Pt. 2

I keep finding these feverishly serious discussions online -- apparently by Christians -- about the Bohemian Grove, as if it truly is believed that what goes on there is Satan-possessed world movers and shakers plotting the demise of us all to take over the world etc.

Hey, I have no doubt there are conspiracies in this world, perhaps some very high-level ones, I also have no doubt that many of our world leaders are determined to bring about the One World Order, I also have no doubt that Satan has his hand in these things, but you can't just go around taking mere appearances for fact the way so many are doing. Some people are misguided enough to think one world government is a good idea without feeling any need of participating in occultic rites to bring it about.

In the case of the Bohemian Grove, the productions of actors for the sake of entertainment, philosophical ponderings, and even just silly amusements are getting taken for reality in a way that would be laughable if it weren't that such suspicions contribute to the world's spiritual evils in themselves. Put "Bohemian Grove" in Google Image and you'll find many old pictures of theatrical events that have been staged there, including Shakespearean productions among others, all in full costume. There are also pictures of the supposedly "religious" ceremonies that get people so upset about satanic goings on, one for instance of "priests" and "cardinals" in robes kneeling before a cathedralish stage setting as some sort of ritual is enacted. Is it really a "Black Mass" as some say? Catholic ritual is a favorite subject of such mockery because of all its pomp and regalia, but some actually take such a performance as implying a serious Catholic influence among the participants or a serious satanic influence -- WHERE IS THE EVIDENCE?

In the context of the Bohemian Grove's founding by actors, and the many theatrical performances they put on during the summer event, WHY IS THIS TAKEN FOR ANYTHING MORE THAN JUST ANOTHER THEATRICAL PRODUCTION?

They may think they are making a profound moral statement in their productions, or they may simply be performing a mockery of religion. They probably do both at this summer event. Mockery of religion is FUN for some people in this fallen world. There is also the fact that sometimes a pseudo-solemn religious enactment is intended to capture what worldlings wrongly think is the essence of religion, ritual itself, for the sake of comfort or a sort of therapy, although nothing in it is taken for genuine reality. Don't we know this about fallen human nature by now?

I don't know how all this is taken, it's just obvious it's theatrical and not intended as a religious rite as such. I'm not arguing that all this is "just good clean fun" either. They are worldly entertainments with a worldly philosophy behind them, and there is also apparently a big homosexual presence there, among the actors at least (which is often associated with false religion). I'm just saying it's not serious Satanic invocation. It's metaphor or symbolism of psychological and philosophical import to some people. That's bad enough. Don't reify it and compound the problem.

As for the secrecy, I can't think of it as any more sinister than wanting to keep a private men's club private.

From the Wikipedia article:

Many of the notable participants have been politically conservative, leading conspiracy theorists to speculate that the club is actually being used as a meeting place to secretly determine important public policies. However, the majority of the members and guests who are targets of such attacks meet only over the middle weekend of the encampment, and the club largely remains a haven for artists and art lovers. [Also at the link there's a description of an event by an attendee that gives the flavor of the place -- an attempt to recreate an actual Druidic rite -- again, as theater -- along with plenty of pranks and practical jokes]

"High jinks" and "low jinks" are terms the club uses to describe its events:
HIGH JINKS: antic, caper, escapade, frolic, fun, horseplay, larks, mischief, monkey business, monkeyshines, practical joke, prank, shenanigans, stunt, tomfoolery
It has some of the flavor of the Renaissance Faire, also a theatrical event, in which costumed actors go about recreating a Renaissance festival where you can get interestingly different "fast food" and watch Shakespearean performances in the setting of a Renaissance village. This IS more like "good clean fun" than the Burning Man event I mentioned as comparison in my last post on the Bohemian Grove. The Faires are fun entertainments, which is all I think the BG performances are meant to be. But they ARE worldly entertainments so leave it at that. There's no need to invoke demons on top of it.

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Later: I posted this news report from 1981 about the Grove at the other blog entry on this subject but I think I'll repost it here, because it's a lot more realistic than all the conspiracy stuff about the place:

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