LOST TRIBES

I heard this week that a new project by Goldie  Graffiti artist / STUSSY TRIBE member /  UK Jungle / drum and Bass (Reinforced ,Metalheadz and Moving Shadow) artist and actor, is called "LOST TRIBES". 

Today I saw a flyer for a forthcoming Easter Sunday "LOST". "LOST" were renowned underground techno parties in the early nineties featuring Jeff Mills (Underground Resistance) and Steve Bicknell. 

During that period I was quite into the hardcore rave scene and influenced by some of the TRIBAL ENERGY being propagated by Thee likes of Mr C,  The Shamen, TRIBAL DRIFT and SPIRAL TRIBE  among others. One idea I that got into my head was that rave communities were the incarnation of tribes from the past and their dances were places to create positive energy and elevate conciousness through rhythm, dance,... to envision positive futures and bring healing to the world . Naievely optimistic  perhaps, but I was a psychick youth awakening but I was soon brought back to the reality of how negative energy like e.g. fear, jealousy, greed can shatter those dreams. 

Two records I played a lot during this period were a feel good house tune called "LOST TRIBE" and a more melancholy pscychedelic tech house tune called "LONELY TRIBE" I also went to a big rave Universe rave called TRIBAL GATHERING but it didn't quite live up to my expectation.

A couple of years ago I was having a discussion about my philosophical views with a friend at work who wanted to know what religion I am , His conclusion (perhaps because he couldn't fit me neatly in a category) was that I am "LOST".

Popes

                 

           

 

Yoda

I've had a resonance with Popes since early childhood when JP11 visited the uk, My parents were very excited about going to seem him in Coventry and we got up very early on a cold day to travel to Coventry, unfortunately I was taken ill and had to be taken in a red cross ambulance to the red cross first aid tent ( always a Templar) so my mum missed seeing the pope

I didn't think much about popes until around the age of twenty three when I was reading alot of Robert Anton Wilson and heard about the Discordian view of Popes (see below for a summary).

My thoughts returned to popes when I read Dan Browns the Da Vinci Code. 

Pope Benedict's appointment and visit to the UK prompted me to consider  the meaning of the the Pope. What archetype did  Benedict resonate for you ? a conservative , a good shepherd ? the rotweiller ?

And what of his resignation ?

Pope Francis was a Latino and a progressive force for change.

The Discordian perspective

According to the Principia Discordia, a pope is “every single man, woman, and child on this Earth.”[12]
Included in the Principia Discordia is an official Pope card that may be reproduced and distributed freely to anyone and everyone.[12] Papacy, however, is not granted through possession of this card; it merely informs people that they are “a genuine and authorized Pope” of Discordia.
While the powers of a Pope are not enumerated in the Principia, we are given some idea from a note under the card which states, “A POPE is someone who is not under the authority of the authorities.” Some Discordians have also taken it upon themselves to further elaborate upon the powers of a Pope. On the back of some Pope cards, the following message can be found:
The rights of a Pope include but are not necessarily limited to:
To invoke infallibility at any time, including retroactively.
To completely rework the Erisian church.
To baptise, bury, and marry (with the permission of the deceased in the latter two cases).
To excommunicate, de-ex-communicate, re-ex-communicate, and de-re-ex-communicate (no backsies!) both his-/her-/it-/them-/your-/our-/His-/Her-/It-/Them-/Your-/Our-self/selves and others (if any).
To perform all rites and functions deemed inappropriate for a Pope of Discordia.
The third right (requiring permission from the deceased in cases of burying or marriage, but not baptism) may be a reference to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints practice of baptism for the dead, or it may just be a witty conflation of marriage and death.
This understanding of the notion of Pope has far reaching consequences in Discordianism. For example, the introduction to Principia Discordia says, “Only a Pope may canonize a Saint. … So you can ordain yourself — and anyone or anything else — a Saint.” The last enumerated right of a Pope may be an allusion to the Necessary and Proper Clause.
A female version, with the word Mome substituted for Pope, has also been promulgated.

The Lighthouse Family

My mother came from a small town called Hayle in Cornwall located near St Ives and as a child each summer we would go to the beach of St Ives Bay ,with miles of golden sands, beautiful blue seas and a wonderful view of Godrevy Lighthouse. In my teens I learnt to surf at St Ives bay and one summer enjoyed the simple pop music of "The Lighthouse Family" by the time I attended university I was slightly disconnected from my Cornish roots and one summer was invited by two sisters to visit their family in the town of Thurso in Scotland to surf some Scottish waves , imagine my surprise after I had travelled all the way to the tip of Scotland to enter the living room of their parents house and see on the wall above the fireplace,  a painting (by their dad) of St Ives Bay and Godrevy Lighthouse.

The lighthouse "meme" returned a few years ago courtesy of the Transit Kings with their single "The Last Lighthouse Keeper " - Living in a giant candle winking at God.

Tiger Style

I have been experiencing a "Tiger flap" the last few days which began went i caught up with a mate who a mutual friend has nicknamed "Tiger".I was asking if he had heard the dubstep/grime producers "True Tiger" who have recently been given a late night show Friday night/Saturday morning on Kiss.
I started resonating "Tigers" in a big way a couple of years ago in (the year of the tiger) when my son was born and my neice and nephew took a photo of him as a new born next to a cuddly toy of "Tigger" from Winnie the Poo" every few months they would measure him in units of "Tigger" .

Prior to that I had only a vague interest in the meaning of tiger symbolism. Prominent ones being the used of the tiger by "Esso" and the "Eye of the tiger" in the rocky films. More recrntly  I wondered about the meaning of "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon"

My recent cluster of Tiger syncs deepened when i was competing with my son to access my computer and noticed "Cosmic Tigger" had made a post referencing the Tiger in " The life of Pi" at I hadn't had a chance to read it when my son pulled up the webpage for Kellogs Frosties with its animated Tiger. This minor sync gave me the motivation for a blog post of my own and as I logged on to compose it what was the first image I saw but the one I have attached which had been shared on facebook by a work colleague.I had never seen the different breeds of tigers alongside each other like this in a photo and it seem to mirror my discovery a day earlier that there are in fact two varieties of Tiger Balm on sale red and white.

Pirates

During my childhood years my parents used to enter my brothers and I in an annual carnival held in my mums hometown Hayle (Cornwall) , our costumes were always based on a theme and one of my favourites was when we dressed as Pirates , equipped with swords and Skull and Crossbones. My Mother used to tell how our Great Great Grandfather was the Captain of a steam ship named the "SS HAyle" which ran aground in the Hayle estuary, I like to think he led a double life as actual a Cornish Sea Pirate that ran it a ground in order make off with the booty.

Hayle is a few miles from Penzance famed for its Pirates, which are celebrated each August Bank holiday monday on "Pirate Day"

The Pirate and outlaw meme was reinforced during my child by Adam Ant who played the outlaw archetype well.

The main commercial radio station in Cornwall is Pirate fm

When I first moved from Bristol to London in the early nineties I was living to a soundtrack an of Acid House, Hardcore Rave , Jungle Tekno / Drum and Bass and it was the "Pirate" radio stations the likes of F.T.P. (Bristol), Weekend Rush ,Pulse FM, Kool FM & Rinse (London) which fed the vibes. 

I had my own a encounter with the London pirates Rush FM in the mid 90's and as a DJ  on Jelly FM.

I recently discovered I'm not the first in my family to dabble in pirate radio my uncle played rock and roll from one of the infamous ships in the 60's.

Years later The Hollywood film "The Pirates of the Caribbean" brought the Pirate meme back to global conciousness, it touched on Afro Carribean traditions  & Goddess Spirituality.

These days my son watches "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" on the Disney Channel

Halloween / Samhain / Day of the Dead

As a child, my first memories of Halloween was of making pumpkin "Jack O Lanterns" , apple bobbing etc. My mum a Christian (Catholic) explained Halloween means “All Hallows Eve”. "All Hallows" Day is the old English term for "All Saints" Day ( November 1 ) and November 2 is "All Souls Day". A religious  festival when people have traditionally prayed for departed relatives. In some parts of Latin America they call November 2nd  "finados" "Dia das mortes"   or "The Day of the Dead !".

These  dates were chosen by the early Christian church as they fall over the pre Christian "Celtic" festival of "Samhain", which is the gaelic word for the festival which occurs on the date midway between the Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice. A time when the veil between the physical and the spirit world is said to be at it thinest.

In the eighties Halloween was central to the film E.T. which was probably my first introduction to the UF0/Alien meme.The significant events in ET (a birth/death/resurrection story) occurred around Halloween (giving a suitable excuse for E.T. to go out unnoticed.)
E.T. also introduced me and many of my generation to; The American fantasy role playing game Dungeons and Dragons (which a friend of my mums from work warned might lead to an interest in the occult), the American custom of “Trick or Treat” and  BMX bikes. 

Halloween returned to my conscious a few years later by which time I was a punk and skateboarder,The American hardcore punk band the Misfits were lovers of American Horror films and B Movies,one of their anthem was the song "Halloween" The Misfits became increasingly interested in the occult and when they split some of the members continued in a band called "Samhain". It was the lead singer of the Misfits and Samhain "Glenn Danzig" who introduced me to the Nag Hammadi (Dead Sea Scrolls) and other "lost" books of the Bible.

By the naughties the festival of Halloween saw a re-emergence with an emphasis on themed fancy dress parties and at the extreme end "adult parties" along the lines of Wasteland ,Torture Garden.

Halloween featured in the classic Donnie Darko,  like in E.T. Halloween is the backdrop for the unexplained paranormal activity.

Again in "Stranger Things" Halloween and Dungeon and Dragons set the scene for the interdimension  havoc wrought as a consequence of MK Ultra and children with Psychic abilities.

In 2023 the KLF returned from self imposed exile to begin the people's pyramid project on Toxteth Day of the Dead. A new spin on an old rite.

I had forgotten how the James Bond (007) film “Live and Let Die” had introduced me at an early age to ; Baron Samedi , the medium "Solitaire" and  Tarot cards and different cultural approaches to death, funerals and the afterlife.

Alleluyah - the unity of religious truth

The term Hu in reference to a creator or god is linked to many cultures and religions. The modern day cult of Eckankar, ancient Egyptians and the Druid are just a few. In Sufism "Hu" or "Huwa" is the pronoun used with Allah ( God ), and is used as a name of God. Allah Hu means "God, Just He!" In Arabic Allah means God and with Hu, as an intensive added to Allah, means "God himself." Hu is also found in the Islamic credo La Ilaha Ila Allah Hu: (la el la ha el al la hu) "There is no God but Allah," or in Sufi interpretation "There is no reality, except God", or  "La Ilaha Ila Huw" a meaning "There is no God but He" Others speculate that the pronoun when used by the Sufi (and Muslim) is simply a shorter form of the Hebrew Tetragrammaton due to the similarities between Sura Al-Ikhlas 112:1 in the Quran and Deuteronomy 6:4 in the Hebrew Bible. Sura Al-Ikhlas (112:1) - Say: He, Allah, is One. Transliteration : qul huwa allah hu ahad Deuteronomy 6:4 - Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one. Transliteration : shema ysrael yahowah elohynu yahowah achad