I hear Jerusalem...

Glastonbury Tor at the London Olympic Opening Ceremony - see Monkey business

An interesting article cropped up in yesterday's BBC News - The strange myth in the song Jerusalem.

Within, the author, Gavin Rubin, tells us of how the song appears likely to be adopted as England's own national anthem and explores the "myth" behind the poem which sprung the tune - And did those feet in ancient time - which in itself is based on the legend of a visit by Jesus, in the company of his great uncle, Joseph of Arimathea, to the British Isles.

Gavin discounts the legend given lack of evidence and instead points to the tales of King Arthur :

Instead, the legend of Jesus walking upon England's mountains green is part and parcel of the cycle of medieval legends about Britain's own King Arthur. Those stories say that after Jesus's Crucifixion, Joseph took the Holy Grail to Glastonbury, where he established the first English church. But that's not all he left. According to the 14th Century monk John of Glastonbury, Arthur, the greatest of British heroes, was Joseph's great-great-great-great grandson - and therefore related to Jesus himself.

One of the most famous legends about Joseph's time in Glastonbury states that one night he struck his staff into the ground and went to sleep. When he awoke he saw that a hawthorn tree had miraculously sprung from the staff...

Gavin then surmises that Blake "probably" wrote the poem as a way of expressing his dissatisfaction over the Industrial Revolution and it's effect on humanity and was simply looking back at the simplicity of prior life. He concludes his piece by quoting from Diarmaid MacCulloch, professor of church history at the University of Oxford, who claims the story is "totally implausible...it obviously didn't happen. Why should a carpenter's son from the eastern Mediterranean even think of coming here. It's just silly English self-promotion. Nothing more to it than that."

Thus what Gavin appears to be asserting is that there was no visit by Jesus, which may well be the case, and that the legend has sprung to life because King Arthur is a blood relative of Jesus.

Curiously, if we look at the wikipedia entry for And did those feet in ancient times, there is no mention of the King Arthur legend however there is reference to a "second coming", the Book of Revelation and a New Jerusalem. Apparently, the English Church uses Jerusalem as a metaphor for heaven - "a place of universal love and peace". 

Prince William Arthur Louis, born on the summer solstice 1982, appears to be fond of the song, it was one of the three hymns at his wedding, with Druid and Archbishop of Canterbury,  Rowan Williams, as celebrant. 

When Rowan became a Druid in 2002 there was some controversy. His white robed initiation involved stepping into a stone circle, "reciting prayers which don't mention Jesus Christ". However, Rowan hit back : "Some people have reached the wrong conclusion about the ceremony. If people had actually looked at the words of the hymns and text used they would have seen a very Christian service." (The Guardian). Thus, can we glean there are strong comparisons between the Druid and Christian "faiths"and if so, which influenced which ? 

Tartan (many colours) clad, Ben Hur, meets a Druid whilst waiting for Jesus

Just to close it's worth reiterating that back in 2013, the Scottish Church, in a report on Israel, stated :

"The 'promised land' in the Bible is not a place, so much as a metaphor of how things ought to be among the people of God. This 'promised land' can be found - or built - anywhere." (Crypto jewology)

cheers

Note that the legend of the hawthorn tree sprouting from a staff is not as far fetched as it may sound. In horticulture it's called a hardwood cutting, although admittedly, it usually needs to over-winter before sprouting roots.

Royal rituals

Spiral staircase, light lovers ?

 Back in June 2009, four-toed Liam Gallagher, then of the band Oasis, visited Edinburgh. He hung about the Royal Mile area before his gig and declared the city to be "Beautiful, amazing, fucking Biblical". (Edinburgh Evening News)

Last week, Liam "opened" the Glastonbury festival with his new band, Beady Eye, including the track, Second bite of the Apple, in their performance. I noted the Rolling Stones, Sympathy for the Devil, pyramid phoenix ritual in Satan's Slaves. Often one sees an eye at the top of a pyramid.

Cover of top freemason, and alleged luciferian, Albert Pike's, Morals and Dogmas. Some contest the double-headed eagle is a phoenix

This week sees  HM the Queen's annual, ritual, pilgrimage to Scotland's capital city - she stays at Holyrood Palace at the foot of the Royal Mile, whilst at the top of the street sits Edinburgh Castle, which itself sits upon the volcanic plug of lion-like volcano, Arthur's Seat. Within Edinburgh Castle is the Stone of Destiny, which some claim to be Jacob's Pillow Stone.

Last weekend saw an Orange/Loyalist march take place in Edinburgh along with military parades and flypasts for the annual Armed Services Day. After the event, violence exploded on the Royal Mile, football casuals from the once Catholic, Hibernian football club, ambushing rivals from Protestant William of Orange "loyal", Glasgow Rangers and Heart of Midlothian. The trouble began outside the Mitre Bar. The Edinburgh Evening News calls it a "military operation"

A mitre is a "a traditional, ceremonial head-dress of ancient Jewish high priests and of bishops and some other clergy in Christian Churches". (wiki)

Another report concerning Saturday's loyalist march from the Evening News notes of how Hollie Croan, a staff member at the Whiski Bar (which, incidentally, Liam visited), noticed an "unusual high level of drunkards" in the area "with people sitting all up the street, spewing (vomiting) everywhere. It was pandemonium".

With that, I refer the reader to my ram's headed, Lady Diana appreciative, Lady Gaga; Red Devils manager, Alex Ferguson; Judy -mother of Andy - Murray and Edinburgh born, Sean Connery's, Dionysus-worship related post : Wine, woman, and song.

cheers

also see my post Window Dressing re the Royal Mile, Nigel Farage and more "violence".

Satan's Slaves ?

Back in 1969, the Rolling Stones played the Altamont music festival. Hells Angels provided security. Some scuffles had broken out in the crowd before their appearance. As they commenced their set, with the track Sympathy for the Devil, the fighting became more intense. By the time they complete their next song, Under My Thumb, a man had been murdered. At the time, American media referred to the band as "an intimidating brooding coven".

Last night the Stones played Glastonbury for the first time. From the BBC :

The Stones had arrived on stage after an intro tape featuring the sounds of Worthy Farm's usual residents, 350 dairy cows.

Eavis was heard saying "we waited a long time" as the unmistakable rhythm track of Sympathy For The Devil played and the crowd spontaneously broke into the familiar "whoo whoo" backing vocals

The phoenix emerges from the capstone

The Stones, however, did not begin their set with Sympathy for the Devil. It was number 15 of their routine.  As they performed it, "flares turned the sky red and a  mechanical phoenix rose from atop the Pyramid Stage. Apparently the phoenix blew fire high into the dark skies.

Make of that what you will, to me it's self explanatory, as it was with the phoenix at the London Olympic closing ceremony.

cheers

Note - Eavis is the festival boss, he references Prince Harry in the linked BBC report. I touched on Glastonbury a couple of posts ago.

Making monkeys

The Glastonbury music festival - with ubiquitous pyramid stage - begins today, with the top acts being the Artic Monkeys and Dizzee  Rascal, both of whom had a starring role in the London Olympics.

According to the BBC, "this year's theme is Heaven and Hell - the idea being that Glastonbury's year off in 2012 coincided with the apocalypse, and revellers must now enter the afterlife.

Split into two areas, guests can choose to party in the seven circles of hell - where bars are strewn with bullets and rifle shells, and transgender nurses perform "an enema of the soul" on unwitting volunteers.

If you would prefer to spend an evening in heaven, where the sofas are trimmed with fur, and the bars have working fountains, you must first convince an "admin angel" that you are worthy of the honour"

I covered the above performers @ the  London Olympic ceremony in my post Monkey business 2, the drummer from the Monkeys wearing a ceremonial sash resembling that of the Orange Order, the reverse captioned HELDERS, while the band sang "dancing to electro-pop like a robot from 1984, from 1984". 

Again, like the "sleeping children orientated" Olympic ceremony, I see the ritual of Glastonbury as a portent.

cheers

Also see - Monkey Business 1