Upon This Rock

Force of Hades

There is a local Seattle controversy around the Mars Hill Church. I was hearing about it via my mom, who’s best friend’s son is a pastor and minor cog in the wheel of the mega church. This only became personally interesting after reading Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons, because he places the “Satanic”, Illuminati anti-matter canister upon the tomb of St. Peter, deep in the catacombs underneath the Vatican.

And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the forces of Hades will not overpower it. ~ Matthew 16:18

It is curious that the catacombs contain the Necropolis, AKA The City of the Dead, and what a better description of Hades? But what is really interesting is that this tomb of the rock is built on “Vatican Hill”, while The Areopagus (Romanized to “Mars’ hill") is the composite form of the Greek name Areios Pagos, translated "Ares Rock”. Paul is said to have preached to the heathens there, and was inspired by their temple to the “Unknown God”.

The Unknown God was not so much a specific deity, but a placeholder, for whatever god or gods actually existed but whose name and nature were not revealed to the Athenians or the Hellenized world at large. ~ wikipedia

I like that the Athenians actually had a temple dedicated to that sense of wonder or spontaneous “knowing” that is at the core of true spiritual experience, showing a sense of humility within a city founded upon the Goddess of Wisdom. And then in marches Paul to explain it all for them. Much like the Mars Hill Church likes to think of itself now. What a bunch of Assholes! (to paraphrase Marty McFly.)

Perhaps the anti-matter canister is the “Unknown God”, or the Fifth Element, or the DeLorean. She’s exploding over the seven hills of Seattle, and the greater Pacific NW region.

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NOTES:

In Back to the Future 1, Marty McFly (representing Pluto or Hades) crashes the DeLorean directly into the ASSEMBLY OF CHRIST upon his return to the Twin Pines Mall (now Lone Pine Mall) in 1985.

Mars Hill can also mean Man Hill, Ego Hill, War Hill, Red Hill, Blood Hill, DNA Hill and Iron Hill. Also... pyramids on Mars.

Driscoll “is Chris Rock,” said former Mars Hill member Rob Smith. “He has told us in the pulpit and in private that he admired comedian Chris Rock and learned a lot from him.

In the months that followed, Mefferd and a handful of bloggers would uncover more questions about Driscoll’s books. A Christian magazine would discover Mars Hill paid a company $25,000 to buy up and distribute his latest book in a scheme to vault the title onto best-seller lists. - I've often wondered if a similar scheme wasn't behind the uncanny success of Dan Brown's books.

The Rites of Mars

I finally watched Ironman last night. It is odd because during my pilgrimage to NYC in 2008, Ironman was all over everything. I just wasn't into some military-industrial complex fantasy back then. Not that I am now, but it's allegory - all gory - anyway. I thought it was cool that Jeff Bridges signed on. Hell, if the Big Lebowski liked it...

Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane:
Stark's business second-in-command. Bridges read the comics as a boy and liked Favreau's modern, realistic approach. He shaved his head and grew a gray beard for the role, which was something he had wanted to do for some time. Bridges googled the Book of Obadiah, and he was surprised to learn retribution is a major theme in that particular book of the Bible, something which Stane represents. ~wikipedia

The "Jericho weapon" is some kind of total ego killing machine, that destroys even the will of the enemy to fight, faced with such overpowering might.

Safely escaping the city, the two returned to Joshua and reported that the "whole land was melting with fear." ~the spies

On the seventh day they were to march around the city seven times and the priests were to blow their ram's horns. And Joshua ordered the people to shout. The walls of the city collapsed, and the Israelites were able to charge straight into the city. The city was completely destroyed, and every man, woman, child and animal in it was killed by Joshua's army as an offering to God. Only Rahab and her family were spared, because she had hidden the two spies sent by Joshua. ~wikipedia

Stark gives a demo of his new weapon in the holy land, and is conducted through an ego-death experience at the hands of terrorists or the 10 Rings. I'm a bit disappointed that they weren't the 7 Rings but whatever, I can't expect Hollywood to be spot on with the symbolism.

Through his ordeal he is helped by Yinsen, who saved his life by creating a magnetic "solar symbol" thing. He is Tony's shamanic guide, or "Jesus" figure. He gives him a new, indestructible heart, but dies at the end of his duty, it was what he wanted, anyway.

Yinsen helps Stark create a new iron skin, or ego. Something not so easily destroyed, because it is powered, at its core, not by ego, but by Id.

This oddly parallels my own ego-death journey, which was initiated by shaman and mushroom eater Jeff Fairhall, who died shortly after my own ego-death.

Tony Stark returns to America (EgoLand) a changed man, and decides that Stark Industries will no longer make weapons, and gets the typical media response.

Well, not exactly. Stark Industries continues to manufacture weapons, but for a different cause. Like Jericho, Stark has been conquered by Id, and now flies a different flag. Much to the chagrin of Moses, er... Obadiah.

I've learned to love Gwyneth Paltrow, she plays "the Grail" so well. As Pepper Potts, she's sexy, smart and moral, and if you want to woo her, you'd better appreciate all her qualities. We note that Tony never appreciates her until after his ego-death experience.

In the end, Tony changes his suit to Mars red, and admits that he IS a super hero, despite his many documented character deficiencies. In other words, his many sins are of no consequence, and he has been born again - saved by the blood of the lamb.

The Lord of the Dance

The big story out of the Curiosity Mars landing was the NASA Mohawk guy, Bobak Ferdowsi. He cut his hair into a Mohawk for the landing, much like this little guy from Mars, and of course, the God Mars always wears a Mohawkish, helmet of war. It is curious that Horus is the Egyptian, hawk-headed God, and with the red and white striped background he is photographed against, it's hard not to recall the "Stairway to Sirius" aspect of all of this.

The Greek Gods are resonating strongly because of the London Olympics, and it's curious that in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Alan Moore calls London "New Troy". We note that what finally brought down Troy was the Trojan Horse - this may explain the London obsession with security cameras.

Last week, I pinged on the strange massacre of "Lion Kings" at the Sikh temple, and it's only getting stranger, because I realized that Captain Nemo was a Sikh. It is interesting that Bobak is from Oakland, and the Sikh temple is in Oak Creek. A helmet or "hat" theme develops.

The Verne character is, as Moore shows here, an Indian prince, a Sikh, driven to misanthropy by British injustice; he is not someone who looks like James Mason.

William Stoddard, among others, took issue with the idea that Nemo could be both Hindu and Sikh. However, Moore himself has stated flatly that Nemo is a Sikh, so the conclusion to be drawn, I think, is that Nemo is ethnically a Sikh and a Hindu by faith.

Santosh Menon adds the following: Actually it is kind of possible for Nemo to be a hindu and a sikh. Hindu families in punjab sometimes initiated the eldest son into the sikh faith; sihkism being a MARTIAL religion in some sense and sikhs being the defenders of the faith and the land - more or less. ~Notes on League of Extraordinary Gentlemen #1

True Confession time now. I made a sigil a week before the Synch cabin II in ID 'ho. I thought of it as a cross between the all seeing eye of consciousness and the all powering trident of the subconscious. Later, I realized it might be a primitive squid drawing, and later still, some wizards at sync cabin suggested it was a Martian tripod. Curiously, we were camping adjacent to "Tripod Mountain".

I was inspired by LOEG and their version of Nemo, who is "no man", or "nobody", which also happens to be the name chosen by Odysseus in his battle with Polyphemus. But the trident is much deeper than that - going all the way back to the all powerful weapon of Shiva, the Destroyer. We note that the symbol of the Sikh, if turned upside down, is a tripod with not one, but three eyes. Also, it reminded me of the logo for JC of Mars.

The steering wheel of the Nautilus, seen behind Nemo and Murray, is the god Siva, in his dancing form. Siva is the Hindu god of destruction and of the dance, and one of the three most important of the Hindu religion. It makes a certain amount of sense that Nemo, who is both warrior and philosopher/scholar, would worship Siva, who embodies those (and other) characteristics. Plus, as Moore pointed out in an interview, making the steering wheel of the Nautilus into a statue of the dancing Siva is good design sense; this is another deviation from the description of the Nautilus in the Verne novels, but one within the bounds of artistic license.

The Lord of the Dance

In writing the lyrics to "Lord Of The Dance" in 1963, Sydney CARTER was inspired partly by Jesus, but also partly by a statue of Shiva as Nataraja, and was partly intending simply to give tribute to Shaker music. He later stated, "I did not think the churches would like it at all. I thought many people would find it pretty far flown, probably heretical and anyway dubiously Christian. But in fact people did sing it and, unknown to me, it touched a chord ... Anyway, it's the sort of Christianity I believe in."

Me too, Syd. Me too. It's curious that the woman who climbed to the top of Sync Mountain was a dancer shod in golden sandals, named Maya. We also note that in Disney's epic alien invasion film "Chicken Little", the aliens had three eyes, and they came to earth in search of acorns, from which mighty oaks grow. They seem a tad angry.

As the Perseids meteor showers rain down upon us tonight, I wonder if they might carry the seed of a divine invasion - a Martial, or "Trojan Horse" entry, so to speak.

Curiosity Killed the Cat

Ever since I began hearing about Curiosity, the Mars Rover due to land tonight on the red planet, the phrase "curiosity killed the cat" has run through my head. Will Curiosity indeed kill the cat, and what exactly would that mean?

Here's Captain Kirk narrating the NASA propaganda piece that details the improbable sequence of events that must occur exactly right on time for the rover to make it onto the Martian surface intact. NASA is calling it "the seven minutes of terror." The ad right before the vid was an "I'm a Morman" ad, by the LDS.

I note that Mit Romney is now nicknamed "Mittens", an obvious cat reference. We also have the various Lion Kings (most prominently Prince William and Obama), and the return of Selina Kyle, "Cat Woman" in The Dark Knight Rises.

Mittens is a black and white "tuxedo" cat. Here he is with the bolt of lightning or 77 insignia of enlightenment over his head.

Another day, another mass shooting: this time, a lone gunman shot up a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, in what was no doubt at least 7 minutes of terror, 7 dead. This lone gunman suspect lived on Holmes Ave. and in yet another case of bad casting, the alleged gunman in the Aurora CO shooting is James Holmes (via The CopyCAT Effect). Holmes is the surname of the world's most famous detective, and Batman first appeared in the pages of Detective Comics. Here is Detective Mittens, the Crime Solving Cat:



One might guess we have a bit of sleuthing ahead of us, and I suspect this is but the tip of the iceberg.

"Most male Sikhs have Singh (lion) as their surname"

The big cats, such as the lion, tiger and leopard, have been used to signify religious and temporal authority since, well... forever. The Lion of Judah signifies the heirs of King David, while Shiva and Dionysus both wear the pelt of a leopard. King Arthur was the "Lion-Heart", and yes, even Pope Sidious can be seen posing with a lion cub. Consider it a symbol of might makes right, or right makes might.

Given the Star Trek tie-in of the NASA video, let us remember Kahn Noonian Singh and his race of genetic supermen that tried to take over the world - more than once.

That STOS episode was called Space Seed, and as I watch the Curiosity video I wondered if NASA isn't so much telling a story of what is about to happen on Mars, but rather, a story of what happened a long time ago, on earth. Same lion king, different clothes. That space seed left a bunch of heirs, or so they like to say.

If you note, the Sikhs have the balls to name all their sons "Lion Kings", not just one, but every single fucking one of them. That's a pretty radical idea when you think about it.

And as for all the women out there, sorry for the male chauvinism. We all know it's the lionesses who do all the hard work in the pride parade.

UPDATE: Pussy Riot. How could I miss that?

We note that Pussy Riot attacks the church, and Mittens is a "good Mormon".