Saturday, June 14, 2008

Apocalypse no?

(On weekends, we sometimes address non-political topics.)

Prepare for a shock: Yisrayl Hawkins, the Texas prophet and mobile home park manager who predicted that a nuclear war would begin on Thursday, seems to have gotten it wrong. I gave him a full extra day, and still...nothing.

The prophet -- who has thousands of followers, many of whom have changed their names to Hawkins -- has a website. Strangely enough, his site mentions nothing about the failed prediction, although it does feature a striking ad for his online book, The Nuclear Baby. Instead of explaining the faulty transmission from On High, Yisrayl plays the Holocaust card:
The following information reveals the events that led to the annihilation of six million Jewish people. If you will notice, the persecution against this group of people began with lying propaganda and false accusations.

Bear in mind as you read this article that The House of Yahweh [Hawkins' group], throughout history, has suffered this same type of persecution from those whose sins have been exposed.
The historical parallels are indeed uncanny. Still, I remain troubled by the prophecy's lack of fulfillment. This debacle is the sort of thing that gives all trailer park prophets a bad name.

Our previous Hawkins post engendered some interesting discussion about the best choice of music for Mass Death Day. Many of the great composers, it seems, attempted in their final days to complete transcendent works which would pierce the veil between this world and the next.

Among those who made the attempt was mad Russian artist Alexander Scriabin. Even if you are not of the classical music persuasion, you must admire the sheer moxie of his ambition. As one reader put it (I've edited slightly):
C'mon, Joe -- you know good-n-well that the dupes and marks in the parks -- er, mobile residences-- will be cranking up Alexander Nemtin's "completion" of Scriabin's Mysterium AKA Preparation For The Final Mystery....

Scriabin wanted to build a temple for the production of Mysterium, a mixture of rite and drama to last for seven days and nights (no really -- and not at Bohemian Grove). Scri said that this would transform the human race. In some of his 1000 pages of notes, he said:

"There will not be a single spectator. All will be participants. The work requires special people, special artists and a completely new culture"

(See what happens when Obama gets the nomination??)

"The cast of performers includes an orchestra, a large mixed choir, an instrument with visual effects, dancers, a procession, incense, and rhythmic textural articulation."

(If you're going out, might as well do it in style.)

"The cathedral in which it will take place will not be of one single type of stone but will continually change with the atmosphere and motion of the Mysterium. This will be done with the aid of mists and lights, which will modify the architectural contours."

Later he added that after the grand performance the world would come to an end with the human race replaced by "nobler beings."
But that's not all. The following quote (from here) may be the single greatest piece of writing in the history of the internet:
It is well known that Alexander Scriabin towards the end of his life planned a grandiose mystically inclined composition - the Mysterium - which was supposed to be a mystical, theurgical action, the performance of which was supposed to take place in India with huge bells hanging from clouds, the final outcome of which would be a worldwide transformation of humanity, according to some versions, the latter was supposed to be tied with its willing extinction...

These plans all came to an unexpected end with Scriabin's premature decease at the age of 43 from a pimple on his lip as a result of blood poisoning.
Here are some notable Scriabin quotes. On Prokofiev: "Trash!" On Rachmaninoff: "Boiled ham!" On himself: "I am God!" On discovering that his pimple was fatal: "Etokatastrofa!"

The answer, my friends, is obvious. If Yisrayl Hawkins really wants to bring forth an Apocalypse, he must stage a completed version of Scriabin's Mysterium. In the mobile home park.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Because it's still legal (and only because it's still legal*) I smoked some Salvia Divinorum a while back while listening to the Poem of Ecstasy. One thing I can tell you-- he was right, he is god.



*legal in most states, including FLA for the next 16 days, illegal commencing 01/07/08

Joseph Cannon said...

Your comment forced me to research an issue that I previously had stupidly overlooked. I'm not a drug user, but -- yeesh, illegal? By what RIGHT?

Anonymous said...

So far it's only illegal in Florida, both Texas and California have struck down the bill.

Well, it shouldn't be sold over the counter in head shops, as it is right now-- kids think it's harmless and it isn't (imagine if you will 10 or 12 acid trips rolled into one 20 minute 'trip') they also think it's a party drug (it REALLY isn't). Whether you do or don't do drugs, this one is not for amateurs (for those with a little more experience, may i suggest some soft lighting and Saturn from Holst's Planets).

It ought to be controlled to some degree-- but like most drugs it isn't cut & dry... As you are probably aware, presently there is not much difference between a stinky little pot joint, and a kilo of Afghani Heroin (thanks to KBR and the good old KLA) when it comes to the Law, or the stories DARE will tell kids in schools (great message.. once kids see no harm in pot they assume that crack is equally harmless).

You are probably also aware that before Nancy said to "just say no" there were 200K prisoners in mostly non-private prisons in the US, and now thanks to the War on Drugs its close to 2M. Many of whom were caught with less than a gram of cannabis (about as dangerous as a six pack with two missing Coors).

If people educate themselves, like they ought to before doing drugs (any drug-- caffeine, viagra, mushrooms, cooked food, television, pot) then it (Salvia) is a pretty harmless drug. But if they are lumped in with all the harmful drugs, with no information readily available, it could really be destructive.

PS: your description of what you thought an acid trip might be like (a month ago?) was WAY off. You obviously need better connections in the CIA. Could help with the sciatica...

Joseph Cannon said...

What did I say about acid? You should know that I've reached the age where I read my earlier posts with a genuine sense of discovery.

At any rate, you must not take everything I say seriously. On occasion, I intentionally play the buffoon.

(The previous paragraph is worded that way for a reason. I have a few O-nuts who harass me every few hours, and I thought I would feed them a couple of straight lines. Don't let me down, guys! You've been utterly predictable so far...)

Twilight said...

This is obliquely off-topic, but reading here about the Mysterium of Alexander Scriabin caused me to first look at his entry in Wikipedia, where it's mentioned he likened musical notes to colours. That reminded me of Johannes Kepler (ancient astronomer) who developed a theory about the planetary motions and music having some correspondence "Music of the Spheres", because mathematically there is a connection.

So maybe Scriabin's notion to end the world with music kind of connects in a weirdly scientific, mathematical way -especially if you're smoking some of that stuff mentioned above ;-)

What I found weird also, is that both Kepler and Scriabin were born on 6 January.
(A piece about Kepler's theory here
http://www.skyscript.co.uk/kepler.html )

Anonymous said...

Why Joseph I am honoured that you quoted me on your site (though sadly not for the agenda I have on my blog). But I must say, it will be pretty hard for the Hawkins cult to play Mysterium, aside from the 'hanging bells on clouds' thing, he only wrote 100 pages of the score (and 990 pages of rambling show notes..)

Clayton said...

Regarding salvia,

It's not a play drug, traditionally used by medicine men/women to communicate with the dead/otherworld etc. From what I've been told not a pleasant trip in any regards. I had a friend who was into trying anything including salvia. After that event he would tell my boss that he felt like he was dead walking around or had lo9st his soul. He eventually committed suicide several months later. I am not one to blame the salvia, but he given his upbringing (abuse) he should not be playing with a potent mystical herb.

Anonymous said...

"You know, tonight I found a ten dollar bill (no kidding) and irresponsibly decided to use it to see "Speed Racer." Inflicting a movie like on a society in which no-one can afford to drive is like forcing an impotent man to watch porn. At any rate, when I walked out, my first thought was: I've never dropped acid, but it must be like THAT."
posted by Blogger Joseph : 12:29 AM 05/13/08

...While I only saw Speed Racer on one of those sites that screen tv shows and movies online; in the 80's I paid my tuition by waking up early and selling stir-fry veggie omelettes in the parking lots across the US of A for most of Spring, Fall, and all of Summer tours of the Grateful Dead (most people didn't have their shit together in the mornings, my tour-mates and I made a killing).

I can certainly say that that is not what an acid trip is like.

Anonymous said...

Clayton sorry about your friend. And I hope I didn't give the impression that it's a party drug. But fear not, laws like Brett's Law will make sure if you want that kind of trip, you'll either have to fly to Iquitos to do Ahuyasca with the shamans, or meditate and watch your breath for a decade or two...

Joseph Cannon said...

Hey, I'm not the only one to compare "Speed" to acid. In fact, most reviewers seem to have made a similar comment.

You need to see it on screen. Good print, good projection, close to the front. The colors...the colors...