Is UFOlogy Dead? : Do We Even Want To Ask?

Noticing a lot of UFO pundits posing the question: is ufology dead? Oy. Here we go again. This question gets asked every now and then. The question raises another question: Why does one believe UFOlogy is "dead" in the first place? A lack of, … what, that causes one to ask the question.

And maybe UFOlogy isn't "dead" so much as it is dormant. Like the Phoenix, it rises again, renewed.

Classic cases remain unsolved. The whole thing remains unsolved. As in, what are they, who are they, what do they want, how are we connected . . .

Because the questions are unanswered -- at least to a global community agreement -- some consider UFOlogy as "dead."

Things change, while remaining the same. True of all, certainly of the UFO realm. Maybe what's "dead" is us, not "it." We're not asking the right questions, we're still eating our own, and stubbornly clinging to assumptions. We're still drawing lines in the sand about what is all right to consider, and what is too far out, kooky, embarrassing.

Artist MIchele Witchipoo: The Three of Swords

The Three of Swords, by Michele Witchipoo

Michele Witchipoo is an artist; comic books, creator of Psycho Bunny,
and more. She recently shared her version of The Three of Swords, minor arcana Tarot. I like it; if there's a deck coming from Witchipoo, I'm going to order it!

Visit her site; she has lots of artwork and you can order Psycho Bunny, among others, as well as commission art work.

Outsider/Folk Art: Patroness of Fallen Women

About fifteen years ago, there was a local woman who sold religious folk art/outsider art items at her booth at the Saturday Market. Saturday Market is a long running street fair in Eugene (since 1970),  full of booths of hand made items, as well as food booths and lots of music.

I bought several things from her at the time and did a paper on her when I was studying folklore at the University of Oregon.

This is a beaded necklace, with a wood pendant. On the front is an image of St. Maria Magdalene. On the back is a little label: "St. Maria Magdalene Patroness of Fallen Women." This is what Books of the Times site has to say about St. Maria Magdalene:

There is a breathtaking moment in the Gospel of Philip, one of the Gnostic gospels, which were denounced by the church as heresy. The apostles witness Jesus kissing Mary Magdalene on the mouth. The apostles are horrified, jealous. ''Why do you love her more than us?'' they ask. Jesus' response is mysterious and enigmatic. ''Why do I not love you like her?'' he says.

What is the meaning of those kisses? Sexual passion? A profound friendship? Jesus anointing Mary Magdalene as his successor and as leader of the church?

Traditionally, Mary Magdalene has been seen as a reformed harlot, portrayed in paintings as red haired and bare breasted. But as Karen L. King, the Winn professor of ecclesiastical history at Harvard University, in the Divinity School, points out in her new book, ''The Gospel of Mary of Magdala: Jesus and the First Woman Apostle,'' nowhere does the Bible say that she was a prostitute.

I know I have that paper, with photos, around here somewhere. I also have other items that I hope to take snaps of and post. I think the woman -- a very colorful person! -- called herself "Sister Spirit" and I want to say "bear" was in there somewhere, but it's been many years and I don't remember.

She sold jewelry with decorated images of the saints and the BVM as well as Jesus. She was known for her Jesus nightlights: religious plastic nightlights of Jesus and Mary, (the kind you can buy at dime stores; I've even seen them at Dollar Store type places) painted, often with neon colors, and decorated with beads, glitter, feathers .

I haven't been to the Saturday Market for a couple of years; but when I have gone there, I didn't notice her around. I think she left the area some time ago, or at least, stopped making her wonderful folk art.

(cross posted on UFO Mary.)

Animal Forteana: Here Be Dragons! Itty Baby Ones, on Game of Thrones

Of the season finale of Game of Thrones, dragons, and (possible) Queens:

True, the women have power, but the King trumps the Queen. Ah, but not so fast, for Khaleesi/Daenerys Targaryen has come into her own. Surrounded by her dragons, she will indeed rule, I suspect. And I bet the red winged dragon will be her special one; the leader of the pack (all three of them), the one who leads the way

Animal Forteana: Here Be Dragons! Itty Baby Ones, on Game of Thrones

Found Poem: 'It's OK to be a woman'

“It’s OK to be a woman!”

found poem, by Regan Lee, April 2011

inspired by the ravings of Henry Makow’s It’s OK to be a woman: April 1st, 2008

It's OK to be a woman!

pretty daffodils poking their heads

above matted leaves,

alone

strike me as confused.

You have been betrayed by society.

poison for women.

the things you most need

courtship and marriage.

No more dates.

No more flowers, dinners, dances

and movies.

behavior modification

Watch this video.

dynamiting the four legs of our human identity

You are in the Springtime of your life.

you are

at the height

of your fertility

we can't get a raincheck from nature.

Consecrate yourself

Don't waste your time

on boys

or

nomads.

Let the sluts

have the sex.

sacrifice

for the right man. (This will make him love you.)

the dynamics of heterosexuality

SEX IS THE SECRET RELIGION OF SECULAR SOCIETY

hunger for food or love.

Our neo-pagan society

a mystical religious experience

achieving

salvation.

society is secretly run

by a sex cult,

obelisks

illustrated sex

our religion.

goddesses. 

as ordinary as men.

Hollywood nonsense

flawed

you have been betrayed by society.

social engineering.

participate.

"Nature People" on C2C

 On Coast to Coast tonight, discussions of fairies, elves, nature spirits and the like.

painting by James Rich: "Dryad Materializing"

Bison Sacrifice, Fortean Connections

A new post at Oregon LOWFI on the rotting bison meat in South Dakota:Fortean Bison: Sacrifice in South Dakota

From Hidden Experiences: "five owls"

Another poetically moving piece from Mike Clelland's Hidden Experience blog, this one another entry about the appearance of owls. I like this blog because it's very personal, and the author seems connected with nature and signals around him -- listens to them -- as go-betweens and guides from one world of awareness to another. As Mike has written in the "about this blog" section:

Events can be hard to recall. Especially when these memories seem to stretch my psyche in ways that can be distressing. If these memories and events are just tiny clues, what do they point to?

I feel strongly that something is going on. But what that might be, seems beyond my ability to solve

.
I think for many of us with experiences of the UFO/paranormal/Fortean kind, these clues, signs, messages, synchronicities . . . act as reminders and guides to these experiences. Often something triggers some nagging feeling or bit of memory or a dream or something that I know has to do with "the other" but not sure why, or how, not just yet. And this absolutely includes UFOs.

That is why I am always urging others in the UFO field to include these reports and types of witnesses and accounts instead of rejecting them as nonsense or irrelevant. It's also why I am so appreciative of those who, like Mike, put themselves out there and so willingly share their experiences. A big part of this, I think, is that we just can't help ourselves but also, we hope that in our sharing of seemingly unrelated, vague, so-called "so what" moments we'll find that someone else knows what we're talking about. I can't speak for Clelland or anyone else of course and maybe I'm presuming much here; but I do see connections with these kinds of things. It's like looking at some types of art or listening to poetry or jazz; an abstraction or symbolism that doesn't, on the surface, "mean" much but yet resonates with the viewer anyway.

Lesley's Grey Matters: "Susan Boyle is killing Ufology!"

Lesley's new Grey Matters is up at Binnall of America, and this week she writes about the fascination with the decidedly non-fascinating, while ignoring the real fascinating stuff around us. In Susan Boyle is killing Ufology! Lesley writes:

When I see things like Susan Boyle capture so much attention -- I can only agree with the government (assuming they know a lot about ufos) that we are not ready for disclosure.

We watch it all the time -- the weird crap that captures the nation and/or the western world's attention. Anna Nicole Smith, OJ, Brad/Jen/Angelina and so on. Meanwhile, there is truly amazing stuff going on and most people don't seem to even care. (Italics mine)

I share with Lesley a pleasure in getting some gossipy goods -- shallow, fine, but the point is, as Lesley puts it, is that some of us know it's gossip, and get our gossip "news" from gossip type sources. It in itself isn't news news, not of any great import, but sadly, even places like CNN treat gossip and entertainment buzz with equal seriousness:

I expect to get my celeb gossip from the same place I have always got it, The National Enquirer, not the nightly news or 24 hour news channels. Even on those, I don't mind a short mention of the gossip, but I don't want it to be treated like news because it isn't. Celebrity gossip is treated like being REAL news, far more so than things that are really amazing and could really change the world as we know it -- like ufos.

Seriously, Britney's head shaving incident is treated like a national tragedy that should concern us all. Dozens of people seeing a strange object in the sky over Stephenville (or anywhere else) is comic relief.

Yes, culture has it ass backwards all right. I remember many years ago, when Miami Vice was popular, one of the network news programs breaking in during regular programming with a "news alert" to let us know that actor Don Johnson was gettting a divorce. I remember thinking if I hadn't just slipped into some silly topsy turvy alternate dimension, where news isn't, up is down, that kind of thing.

Lesley asks why it is that mainstream culture is so fascinated with the likes of gossip and other frivolous distractions, while ignoring the truly fantastic (and unexplained?)

Lesley begins her article by talking about American Idol's Susan Boyle who is "unattractive." I saw the clip where she comes out, and the expressions on the faces of both audience and judges. Some of those expressions included outright disgust.

As to the perennial question of why mainstream society and the infrastructure continues to ignore, ridicule and marginalize paranormal and Fortean type occurrences, while it's extremely frustrating, it might be some comfort to realize this is as much a part of the phenomena itself in many cultures, including ours. Call it the Trickster or what you like, but the phenomena enjoys this constant dance of "catch me if you can," of being elusive. Anomalous events, from Bigfoot to ghosts to UFOs and all of the other stuff in between are subversive, anti-structure, in your face occurrences that thumb their noses at science, religions, and society's comfort zones. Like gossip and entertainment. Everyone, including the skeptoids and pathological debunkers, know damn well these things exist, they simply cannot acknowledge the fact. Willful ignorance of the data, marginalizing and trivializing both the phenomena and individuals who experience, believe or research weird stuff, and insults are the rule, as well as the weird inverse of phenomena that Lesley points out. Gossip and fascination with the shallow bewitches; while the real mysteries are shoved aside.

Spiders and Owls: Women's Exclusion From Bohemian Grove

I recently commented in a post for my blog Octopus Confessional on Alex Shoumatoff’s excellent article, Bohemian Tragedy, in the May issue of Vanity Fair. Shoumatoff’s article reveals the secrecy and greed of Grove members who are involved in “forest management” and “fire prevention” techniques by harvesting the redwoods in the Grove. Their cutting of the redwoods and other trees affects more than just private areas in a closely guarded compound; the aftermath affects entire eco-systems, within and without the Grove, including water systems and marine life.

Regarding the effects of these practices on the rest of us I wrote:

The Grove's arrogance, power and disregard has affected not just themselves in their inner circle, but the outside world as well; the peasants, us, the no accounts, yes, the measly proletariat. The issue of salmon is a huge one; affecting far more than the meal on our dinner plates; it affects the environment as well as economy in many ways. The Grove calls all this harvesting "forest management" but there's far more to this than simple "fire prevention" tactics, as Shoumatoff adeptly reveals.

The elitism, arrogance and power that is the foundation of Bohemian Grove is highly secretive, extremely protective of itself, and clings to these traits with rigorous tenacity. (Shoumatoff, a journalist, was kicked out of the Grove for trespassing -- the legality of his treatment is in question. Shoumatoff takes part in an ironic history: The Bohemian Grove was founded by journalists in the late 1800s; today however journalists are banned from becoming members and are considered enemies of Grovers.)

Men -- mainly white, Protestant men; few Jews or blacks, for example,have been members. As Shoumatoff writes:

They see themselves as the moral underpinnings of America’s greatness, whose central tenets are the Protestant work ethic: work hard and prosper and you’ll get into that great club in the sky. The Bohemian Club is like the Opus Dei of the Protestant American establishment. Very few Jews have made it in, and even fewer blacks.

The excluded include women,there are no women members. This shouldn’t be surprising, given the purpose of the Grove, which is to maintain power among the corporate-government complex. Herbert Hoover called the yearly meeting of fellow power elites “the greatest men’s party on Earth.” Sociology Professor Peter Philliips at Sonoma State, has said “This is a place men can go and hang out with people who are similar to them." (Unclear if he is a member; I believe he is but not sure. However, he is an apologist for the Grove.) There have been a few “honorary” female members, as well as female guests, but these women are restricted as to access and privilege. They’re allowed to visit during the day, but cannot go into buildings except the City Club, and there they are kept to the downstairs. Access to the other camps on the 2,700 acre property is prohibited. Women guests, for example, spouses, sometimes visit, such as on the annual “Ladies Hi-jinks” night.

In 1979 the Grove was sued by California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing but the Grove won. Judge Robert Kendall ruled that since men at the Grove “urinate in the open” the inclusion of women would “alter” the men’s behavior in a negative way. Pissing against trees seems to be part of the undercurrent of ritualistic behavior of Grove members. Shoumatoff makes reference to this penchant for tree pissing:

Another hallmark of the encampment is the promiscuous micturition—guys standing up to the redwoods and relieving themselves everywhere you look. Maybe they’re trying to symbolically assert their primacy over nature. But the amount of drinking that goes on, plus the fact that many members are elderly and likely have prostate problems and can’t make it back to their camp fast enough, also plays a role in what has become, if not a formal ritual, a group-reinforcing collective activity.

But back to women. While women aren’t powerful or rich enough to become members of the Grove, they are useful enough to work for the Grove. In 1981 the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, ruled that the Bohemian Grove had to start hiring women; the Grove appealed to the California Supreme Court and lost. Female employees of the Grove are restricted however; working only in a few select areas or “camps.” Presumably this excludes the rumors of prostitutes who are said to be present in the Grove during gatherings.

None of this is surprising; what else to expect from the industrial-global-banker-entertainment elite? Yet the Grove isn’t all just doddering old white men who piss against Redwoods and other plant life due mainly to alcoholic gluttony and enlarged prostates; it’s also the Fortean irony of members like ex-Grateful Dead musicians. And while women are not allowed in, is it any kind of victory if women were to become equal partners in weirdly goofy yet somber occult tinged rituals in the dead of night? It’s no comfort to me to know that there are women of power and wealth, in positions where global policies are made and implemented, that keep the rest of us hoi poli in our place, while they revel in the Grove. Those sisters would also exclude. We’d have a grove full of Margaret Thatchers; no appeasement there.

Another tidbit of irony comes to us by way of the Grove’s motto: “Weaving spiders come not here' (see note at end of article) meaning, leave your cares behind, all you big powerful men you. Rituals invoking this intent are performed at the Grove; the "Cremation of Care" ritual symbolically burns away the burdens of the outside world. It's tough being a member of the powers that be.

The reality is that policies and plans are put into place during these gatherings, and serious papers are presented on a variety of subjects affecting the world. For example, a list of topics presented at one Grove gathering are listed in a 2003 article by sociologist Peter Phillips for Counterpunch:

Additionally, there were daily lectures from world-class experts on global warming, war policy, school vouchers, mad deer disease, horse racing, stem cell research, terrorism, American-Russian relations, and marine ecosystem.

The paranoiac inclined Fortean can easily see the esoteric connections between those subjects.

The Grove’s two symbols, the Owl and the Spider, are both symbols of female wisdom. The Roman goddess Minerva is accompanied by an owl symbolizing the wisdom Minerva brings to the world. However, many, from the paranoid Christian anti-occultists to the unconsciously misogynist, the owl is the symbol of Lilith, which for many, represents Satan. This view ignores a more divine feminine perspective of Lilith. Regarding Spider, some Native American traditions “Grandmother Spider” weaves wisdom, bringing knowledge to others; but more importantly, Grandmother Spider is the creator! Women with Spider energy are powerful indeed.


Meanwhile, as cliché and basic Women’s Studies 101 it may sound, the fact is the men that are in power and come together at Bohemian Grove think little enough of women to include them in any meaningful -- powerful enough -- way. They’re useful, as servants, be they cooks, maids, clerks, hookers or wives of members but there their usefulness ends. In the Grove, what few women there are operate in a passive state, either as infrequent guests, or employees at the lowest rungs.

There are plenty of reasons to continue to rail against the Bohemian Grove meetings; for the above reasons, for the occult underpinnings, for their rape of the environment, to be a squeaky wheel. Take your pick.

---

Notes:
"Weaving spiders, come not here;
Hence, you longlegged spinners, hence!
Beetles black approach not near;
Worm nor snail, do no offence." ~ William Shakespeare

"A quote from the 1st Fairy in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, act 2, scene. 2. A charm to protect the sleeping Titania from tiny creatures common in England, all harmless, though once thought to be venomous." From: "Weaving Spiders, Come Not Here" - What Is This Bohemian Grove?" by J. Mark Sovegin, 2008.


Alex Shoumatoff: Bohemian Tragedy, in Vanity Fair, May 2009

Peter Phillips:US Elites Celebrate Patriarchy, Racism and Class Privilege, in Counterpunch on-line 2003

Images:
Minerva, public domain

Blue Maya: A Visit From Mary

My new Trickster's Realm will be up sometime tomorrow on Tim Binnall's Binnall of America site. This week I write about an experience I had while meditating invovling Mary and Kuan Yin. (Kuan Yin depicted here is in her manifestation as the Sea Goddess.)

Tarot, Maxi Pads, and Animal Sacrifice

Richelle Hawks has a great piece on commercials and advertising, on Binnall of America in her Medusa's Ladder column:Strange Days, Indeed: Notes on Identity and the Super Bowl Commercials And when I read this I just had to find out more:

"I found a magazine ad of an Always maxipad slapped on a tarot card."

If that isn't esoterica I don't know what is. It's teeming with esoteric symbolism.

I found the image; it appears on The Tarot Channel blog. Of course there isn't really a Tarot card called "The Protector" but here's what Tarot Channel says about the number II assigned to the ad card:

I'm thinking that the ad creators had to have some knowledge of Tarot because "The Protector" is assigned Roman numeral II, The High Priestess (who is, of course, associated with the moon).

And in a bit of synchronicity, my Trickster's Realm column for Binnall of America is also about commercials and advertising. Conspiracies and Cannibalism: Animals and Advertising.I didn't know Richelle's column was about commercials until she told me the other day; after I had been working on mine. I avoided reading her column until I sent mine off to Tim Binnall.

Richelle's is up now, mine will be up sometime tomorrow. And be sure to read all the great columns over there as well.

Magic Inscription of Lilith Found on Human Skull

Magic Inscription of Lilith Found on Human Skull by Stephen Yulish on UFO Digest. Yulish, a Christian steeped within a Christian framework, comments on Dan Levene's article in Biblical Archaeology Review,: Rare Magic Inscription on Human Skull.

Echoes of the Georgia Bigfoot Hoax?

Fringe world is barely recovering from the Georgia Bigfoot body hoax, and now we get images of an alien body from Mexico. Mexico's UFO researcher Jaime Maussan has brought this story out, as has Joshua P. Warren, who recently appeared on Coast to Coast. The video clip link posted there leads us to the They Don't See Through Us blog, but the clip has been removed from YouTube. Not surprising, but frustrating.

If this was a once living creature of any kind, it's a sordid and gratuitous episode: capturing the thing, trying to drown it, putting the body in acid, killing it... finally succeeding. Adding to the seedy mystery is the tale that the rancher who found it was later killed, burning to death in his car. No proof or evidence of this, yet the story remains.

Other possibilities: monkey caught in a trap, found already dead, or, killed, etc. Rancher either tried to pass it off as a hoax, or genuinely thought it was odd.. endless speculation on motivations.

There are the obvious symbolic images and "twilight language" aspects of this story: the Mexican "alien," the deaths, the burnings,sacrifice ... the typical paranormal, esoteric happenings; removed YouTube clip, unsubstantiated stories.

There's talk of DNA testing in the works, all the usual. A lot of comments about a dead monkey, passed off as an alien. Questions about why would a well known UFO researcher such as Maussan, get involved in something like this?

Whatever it turns out to be and of course, it is not an alien from space, it is, on the one hand, creepy even, but on the other, business as usual. These things happen all the time in fringe world.

Mythic Birthplace of Zeus Said Found

Mythic Birthplace of Zeus Said Found:

The Greek god of thunder and lightning had Earthly beginnings, and scientists think they finally know where.

Ancient Greeks first worshipped the omnipotent Zeus at a remote altar on Mount Lykaion, a team of Greek and American archaeologists now think. During a recent dig at the site, the researchers found ceremonial goods commonly used in cult activity and dated at over three millennia old, making them the earliest known "appearance" of Zeus in Greece.

The discovery challenges the idea that Zeus worship began on the Greek island of Crete, which at least one classical historian names as the god's mythic birthplace. The latest finds on Mount Lykaion, in the mainland province of Arcadia, are as old as the idea of Zeus himself, said the project's senior research scientist David Romano, of the University of Pennsylvania.

Rest of story at link.