The Never-Ending Ritual: "Adorned with Garlands"

As per usual there's more to cover than there's time to cover it, so forgive me if I just drop some rapid-fire syncs and factoids on you and open up the floor.

Today, of course, is Garlands Day, the traditional day of sacrifices to the gods of the waters, and there is so much going on out there my head is stuck on spin-cycle. 

Of course the big story today is Roseanne Barr's remarkable self-immolation on Twitter, hurling out some ugly language at former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett. 

A lot of people are wondering what could have possibly possessed the sitcom superstar to say such things, forgetting Barr's long history of outrage and provocation. And arguably, mental illness.

I don't have the time or the interest to dig into this mess but I will note that "Roseanne" might reasonably be interpreted as Ros-Anna, meaning of course Ros Inanna, or "Dew of the Queen of Heaven."

Just a little interesting sync there for Garlands Day. Plus, Orange.

Be sure to check out my interview with Alex over at Skeptiko. We do a deep dive into the Met Gala (again, "Gala" is the Sumerian name for the priests of Inanna) and Synchromysticism itself. 

You can watch the video, download the mp3 or read the transcript. There will be a quiz.

Before we go any further, some deep background on today's significance from an earlier installment in the Siren saga:

May 29 was once known as Garland Day in Britain. It still is in a couple villages.

Castleton Garland Day or Garland King Day is held on 29 May (unless that date falls on a Sunday, when the custom is transferred to the Saturday) in the town of Castleton in the Derbyshire Peak District. 

The Ancient Castleton Garland Ceremony is an important annual event in English Folklore history and thought to be a relic from a Pagan fertility rite. (BBC)

More on this Garland Day: 

The Garland King (or May King) rides on horseback at the head of a procession of musicians and young girls, who perform a dance similar to the HELSTON FLORA DAY furry dance. 

The "garland" is an immense beehive-shaped structure that fits over his head and shoulders, covered with greenery and flowers and crowned with a special bouquet called the "queen."

Yeah, I think we know how that story ended in pagan times. 

Another Garland Day: 

(On) Old May Day, the children of the Dorset fishing village of Abbotsbury still "bring in the May." They do this by carrying garlands from door to door and receiving small gifts in return. 

At one time this was an important festival marking the beginning of the fishing season. Garland Day used to center around the blessing of the wreaths, which were then carried down to the water and fastened to the bows of the fishing boats. 

The fishermen then rowed out to sea after dark and tossed the garlands to the waves with prayers for a safe and plentiful fishing season. This ceremony may be a carry-over from pagan times, when sacrificial offerings were made to the gods of the sea.

The Romans also had a Garland Day in May, where offerings were made to Neptune.

Today is also the 21st anniversary of Jeff "Shepherd Boy" Buckley's drowning death in Memphis. Today is also the day Buckley's former manager published his new memoirs on his time with the doomed star. 

I'm not sure how much Sibyl-Siren material there will be in it and I wasn't exactly bowled over when he cited "Liz of the Cocktail Twins" as one of Jeff's three great loves, but hey.

But do note that Jeff was with Our Lady, Queen Dowager of Sibyls and her Unmercenary Musicians the day Kurt Cobain's body was found. Where were the ill-starred lovers at the time? 

In Las Vegas, of course.

Speaking of Heaven or Las Vegas, this actually happened on Garlands Day. 

At Mandalay Bay. 

I mean...Jesus. Should I just stop all this now? I mean, seriously. 

Thanks to Cirque du Soleil (who else) and a conspicuously Masonic-looking clown.

For no reason in particular, Starbucks chose Garlands Day to hold a chain-wide series of struggle sessions racial-sensitivity training seminars. This action was inspired when two young black men were arrested in a Starbucks in Philae-Delphi several weeks back. 

I guess the Board of Directors just threw a bunch of dates into a hat and chose Garlands Day at random. But the controversy and the aftermath of which has kept the famous Siren icon quite visible in the mainstream news, quite coincidentally.

Just one of those serendipitous kind of things, I guess.

We talked awhile back on the drowning death of the actor who played Jeremy in the iconic Pearl Jam video. Well, recently this BI popped up on Crazy Days and Nights and readers there seemed to think it was about him:

Blind Item #1 - Reader Blind Item

For this former child actor - probably one of the most iconic faces of the 1990s because of this one appearance - it was like Hollywood all over again. Despite the barrage of offers that followed his breakout role, he walked away from the business. Part of it was that people liked him for being famous, rather than for being himself, and part of it was the predators in his midst. He knew why they liked him too. 

So, as an adult, he got a degree in international relations, and dedicated himself to humanitarian work. He worked on improving access to education for girls in the mideast and elsewhere, but was especially interested in the plight of trafficked children. It turned out to be ugly, grueling work, officials, even parents and family, turning their backs on his efforts. But where as in the business he felt his only choice was to walk away, this was his calling.

Sadly, he died in August of last year. His death, by drowning, in a certain (basically) colony, was ruled an accident. But missing from his belongings was his latest and last notebook, which contained not only his usual musings - poems, musings, lyrics (the latter is the reason you'll know him - not his, but this probably permanent A list gen x front man's) - but extensive accounts of child trafficking by wealthy and powerful men in countries he had worked, and involvement by Westerners, including at least one music mogul known around here. He died a martyr's death, like his screen counterpart.

My favorite Cure song, in case you were wondering. 

No, really.

Today is also the video release of the Alex Garland film Annihilation, starring Natalie Portman. 

I plan to watch it this week so I'll let you know my verdict. I do find it interesting that Garland's name seems to be dominating the headlines on the release.

This was on Reuters' Twitter today. My thoughts exactly.