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Midnight Mass
Dec. 25th, 2003 11:34 am
First Impression: Wow. Above the altar of the "Guardian Angel Cathedral" (aka, the Cathedral on the Strip) hangs a very vibrant art-deco painting of a men in various ascension-like poses. I'm actually assuming it's Jesus Christ in various views. It looks like something right out of the Crowley Thoth deck. Absolutely gorgeous. It also reminded me of characters from Cirque du Soleil, which was strangely appropriate to me - bringing back the Light as demonstrated by the Circus of the Sun... No crucifixes anywhere except in the gift shop. I picked Eric up a nifty, if somewhat plain, rosary. Hope he likes it.
Catholics are blatantly Pagan. They don't do much to hide it at all. They had a Christmas tree up by the altar. They all wore white robes. We were censed, sprinkled & given bread & wine, which is actually kinda cannibalistic when you think about it. (Well, not being Catholic, I forewent the Communion rite - I figured I didn't want to piss God off in His Own house...)(Funny how cannibalistic looks kinda like cabbalistic, and cannabis... anyway...) They burned so much FrankenMyrrh that by the time Communion came around (which is like, the last thing in Mass) I was light-headed, sick to my stomach & starting to think about converting. I was really getting the Spirit. Plus, I'm inhaling all these fumes while sitting, standing, kneeling & singing. I am still hacking up the smoky remains of last night's incense whenever I take a really deep breath. Singing is an integral part of religion. Fills you up w/oxygen & endorphins & makes it easier for you to be brainwashed.
Now, there was one part of Mass that almost killed me. The cantor starts talking about Joseph & Mary going from house to house & finally the Christos being born in a manger. Only he's doing it in a sing-song sort of voice. I'm sure it would have been more appropriate in Latin. Especially when he said "He came forth from the Virgin's wo-oomb." I almost fell over. They probably said "womb" about oh, 5 or 6 times. All in that sing-songy way, too. Wooo-ooomb. Bizarre.
Got to do all that "meet yer neighbor" stuff, too. And the Mass was conducted by the Bishop of Las Vegas himself. Bishop Pepe. He kept flubbing his lines. He even pulled a "rewwy" out of his ass. I kept having flashbacks to the Bishop in The Princess Bride. Mawwiage.
Catholics are blatantly Pagan. They don't do much to hide it at all. They had a Christmas tree up by the altar. They all wore white robes. We were censed, sprinkled & given bread & wine, which is actually kinda cannibalistic when you think about it. (Well, not being Catholic, I forewent the Communion rite - I figured I didn't want to piss God off in His Own house...)(Funny how cannibalistic looks kinda like cabbalistic, and cannabis... anyway...) They burned so much FrankenMyrrh that by the time Communion came around (which is like, the last thing in Mass) I was light-headed, sick to my stomach & starting to think about converting. I was really getting the Spirit. Plus, I'm inhaling all these fumes while sitting, standing, kneeling & singing. I am still hacking up the smoky remains of last night's incense whenever I take a really deep breath. Singing is an integral part of religion. Fills you up w/oxygen & endorphins & makes it easier for you to be brainwashed.
Now, there was one part of Mass that almost killed me. The cantor starts talking about Joseph & Mary going from house to house & finally the Christos being born in a manger. Only he's doing it in a sing-song sort of voice. I'm sure it would have been more appropriate in Latin. Especially when he said "He came forth from the Virgin's wo-oomb." I almost fell over. They probably said "womb" about oh, 5 or 6 times. All in that sing-songy way, too. Wooo-ooomb. Bizarre.
Got to do all that "meet yer neighbor" stuff, too. And the Mass was conducted by the Bishop of Las Vegas himself. Bishop Pepe. He kept flubbing his lines. He even pulled a "rewwy" out of his ass. I kept having flashbacks to the Bishop in The Princess Bride. Mawwiage.
