You know, I never noticed how much the CMS installation at CERN resembled old Sol. No surprise they're searching for the "God Particle" there. Hopefully the overweening narcissism of the current generation of scientists won't be all of our undoing. I must admit that very time I see a CERN headline I can't help but flash back to The Quiet Earth.
The tragedy at Germany's Loveparade got me poking around the web. It didn't take long before I came across their logo. No surprise there, I suppose.
Recently we discussed how we'll often see headlines announcing 17 casualties to an incident, even if the tally to the tragedy in question is almost always revised. The Loveparade incident is no exception- the latest toll is 18. Interestingly enough, 10 people were revived by medics.
For some reason this story is vaguely reminiscent of the massive cattle culls in 2001. The goose was sacred to Geb, and was identified with the Sun as it emerged from the primeval egg.
David Downey reports that dog attacks have been so epidemic in the Bay Area during these Dog Days that a local TV news website has a separate section to document the carnage.
Well, summer means VBS - that's vacation bible school- for millions of kids. And there's no shortage of solar symbolism, similar to the kind we see year-round with the "Sonshine" meme so popular in Christian daycare and education. Maybe the solar stuff is to be expected for the summer.
That being said, years of studying creeping Solar symbolism in American churches didn't prepare me for this; Egyptian-themed vacation bible school programs for local parishes. Don't believe me? Check out their website- it will blow your mind. The blue and gold on Bast's headdress there is a cute touch.
Derek and Sharon Gilbert have been talking about "The Shack," the latest craze in megachurches.
Derek and Sharon Gilbert have been talking about "The Shack," the latest craze in megachurches. I really don't understand the ins and outs of these kinds of intramural disputes in the Evangelical church anymore, but I did notice that the pronouns for God in this blurb were not capitalized. And, of course, Sol. Very interesting.
But the various branches of Evangelicalism have more pressing problems, seeing that conservative Christian clergy seem to be in a moral crisis all across the country. This headline is just the latest example- recently we heard of an "epidemic of moral failure" among Pentecostals, and before that a shocking survey that revealed that 50% of Evangelical pastors' marriages end in divorce and that a mind-bloggling 1,500 pastors leave the ministry every month, along with rates of adultery and depression far higher than the population at large.
But the various branches of Evangelicalism have more pressing problems, seeing that conservative Christian clergy seem to be in a moral crisis all across the country. This headline is just the latest example- recently we heard of an "epidemic of moral failure" among Pentecostals, and before that a shocking survey that revealed that 50% of Evangelical pastors' marriages end in divorce and that a mind-bloggling 1,500 pastors leave the ministry every month, along with rates of adultery and depression far higher than the population at large.I wonder if all the Solar symbolism attached to movements like the New Apostolic Reformation is a deep subconscious attempt to return the stringent, absolutist moralism of the old Solar cults like the Mithraists, who often shunned sex even within marriage in order to keep oneself pure for the final struggle against the forces of darkness.
Or maybe it's all seeding the fields- particularly the impressionable minds of the young- for something else entirely. Something that is coming.
Something that will change everything.
Postscript: Sometime I wonder if the guys at Yahoo News read the Sun, because after a couple recent Yahooccultism posts we see a literal approach to the term- an occulted treehouse, in this instance- on the front page.
PPS: San Diego No Longer a Comic-Con just wrapped up. The cosplayers were out in full force, (like the very cheerful Tank Girl fan above) but the mainstreaming of the show has led to a shocking incident of violence which would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.
Something that will change everything.
Postscript: Sometime I wonder if the guys at Yahoo News read the Sun, because after a couple recent Yahooccultism posts we see a literal approach to the term- an occulted treehouse, in this instance- on the front page.
PPS: San Diego No Longer a Comic-Con just wrapped up. The cosplayers were out in full force, (like the very cheerful Tank Girl fan above) but the mainstreaming of the show has led to a shocking incident of violence which would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. 
Initial reports had been vague, but apparently the incident occured during the Cowboys and Aliens panel, which gave us this iconic shot of Daniel Craig.PPPS: A somewhat more understated convention is underway in Denver as MUFON holds its annual UFO convention.
PPPPS: Speaking of the Watchers, remember the Angel of the North sculpture from the Watchers Over Manhattan post? Well, Boeing is using the piece in a new ad.
PPPPPS: Speaking of symbolic convergence, here's a shot from the 2008 Loveparade in which a topless fraulein shimmies in front of the Victory column where Barackobamun was anointed for his ever-so-brief stint as world savior.
