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BUDDHA: anthropology of street religion
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Subject: BUDDHA: anthropology of street religion
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Date: Tue, 17 Sep 1996 11:15:23 +1000
>From: joshua@alkahest.isas.com (joshua geller)
>Newsgroups: talk.bizarre
>Subject: anthropology of street religion
>Date: 23 May 1996 00:49:55 GMT
there was this one preacher who used to wander around seattle ten
years ago carrying a life size cross over his shoulder. it had a
little wheel on the end, I guess so that it didn't file itself down
against the concrete. I imagine it wouldn't create the proper effect
if the arms became equilateral or if you had to walk on your knees to
get the right angle cross/back/ground. every once in a while they'd
nail him up and he'd howl and rant from the cross whilst his deacons,
goons and sideboys, dressed as roman soldiers and first century
AD middle eastern goat ropers would goosestep around in front of him
in circles, viciously flagellating each the back of the one in front
of him in a circle vigorously with thick leather scourges with bits of
metal and broken glass in the ends foaming at the mouth and screaming
about the blood the blood the precious blood and how in the last days
the righteous would take unto them all manner venomous reptile and eat
and drink of deadly poison without coming to any harm and YOU AIN'T A
SCARED O THIS LIL OL SNAKE ARE YA BOY!!!!
...
the man had some really impressive wrist and forearm scars.
well, actually, that is a lie. or a glimpse into another, more
horrible universe.
but in berkeley 23 years ago there was a group that would carry a
papier mache golden calf up telegraph avenue and set it up in front of
the howling gospel preachers and bow down and worship and osculate its
butt and all. the best one was brother jed's spiritual spawn-daddy,
holy hubert (later to go blind). hubert did have a goon squad, as more
than one persistant heckler found out.
but the calf was great. the leader of the golden calf cult was this
gigantic fag with a great profile, like one of the more decadent roman
emperors and a thunderous voice in which he'd exhort the crowd by the
student union to bow down and worship the golden calf. and of course
we all would. lift its braided yarn tail and tongue its anatomically
correct papier mache anus.
that one's true.
josh
earthquake GOOD.
volcano BAD.
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