I'm not a Christian or anti-Christian; I'm an adult gay man—though that is easily the least exciting thing about me. Perhaps being in a stable, monogamous, loving relationship of seventeen years with an indigenous man of great (indigenous) spiritual faith is the only thing spun from that sentence that matters. Faith, of any denomination, the humility of oneself before a universal power is a fundamental missing component of our current social fabric. People are trying to fill a God-shaped hole with narcissism, transhumanism and wokeism’s false promises: worship self, worship science, worship everything but something with a moral, existential imperative.
So, I am horrified, disgusted and sadly unsurprised by the culmination of a Satanic agenda, invocation, whatever the F that was we, and millions of media-addicted children, were forced to endure. I didn't watch the whole thing, just glimpsed Madonna’s baby-skin-face and a bit of Smith’s gyrating, because I know that witchcraft, like Vodoo, whether you believe in it or not, functions through hypnotic allegory and ritual as much as any debatably spiritual power.
Your piece was beautifully, eloquently written, and indeed there are many people of varied faiths, backgrounds, politics and beliefs who share your views. Moreover and primarily, for that of a world that isn't so enamoured with its ego. I hope the flagrancy of the Grammy's, Balenciaga and other recent assaults of Satanic messaging will galvanize people to the reality of the proposed debauchery. I think it will. Lastly, Pfizer's continued machinations and tentacles through American history from the AIDs epidemic until now are also deeply suspicious, concerning and suggestive of an ongoing, arcane, transhumanist agenda. I don't use evil lightly, as it implies menace with intent. But there is something evil within that organization.
the fact that madonna chose that name is a blasphemism in itself. No longer church going here, raised catholic and last went to episcopal church, but now humming songs amongst the trees, surrounded by a dog and 2 cats, and gazillions of birds. God or whatever you call it, surely will hear it.
“People are trying to fill a God-shaped hole with narcissism, transhumanism and wokeism’s false promises: worship self, worship science, worship everything but something with a moral, existential imperative.” Love that observation. Beautifully articulated.
A God-shaped hole indeed - one that defies any form of denouncement. It’s been around since time immemorial, the Genesis of this and other planets, and despite the repeated announcement “God is dead”, somehow the militant atheists are still haunted by all of those inexplicable things such as consciousness, the placebo effect, telepathy and a plethora of phenomena in which the majority of humans still subscribe, the hole remains stubbornly God-shaped and spiritual.
It’s been around since before we “began” and it will be here long after the fearful superficial narcissists try and merge themselves with the machine in a vain attempt at immortality. They cannot focus on that which they denounce - the ineffable immortality of the conscious soul - not if it ain’t wrapped up in some red-robed sex crazed androgyny. The very things that confound them are the essence of true immortality.
A God-shaped hole. I really like that. I think I’ll fit right in. After all, despite our attempts at denouncing the spiritual nature of humanism, we’re all God-shaped in the end.
The past few years, I've had a very difficult time finding music to listen to or movies to watch. Artists I used to like seem off somehow. Either they have gone woke zombie or Covidian (I won't forgive any artist who required the vax to see them), or the vibe seems hopeless and twisted. It's a combination of ugliness, nihilism, militancy, and inversion that seeps into one's bones simply from contact. Sadly this is also in children's programming.
In the car, if I don't have a playlist downloaded, I listen to a Christian worship radio station. As a former music snob, I used to make fun of Christian rock but now I listen because there is too much darkness in the other music.
Yes!! Same. On a long car ride recently, my 23-year old daughter wanted to play stuff she thought I'd like. She's not a metal head or rap enthusiast, just likes poppy boppy music -- so I acquiesced. After 7 or 8 songs, I gave up. When she asked why, I struggled to articulate it... then it hit me: it has no SOUL. And not as in the "Soul Train" of yore. As in... the presence of something fully human and fully divine.
Yes there were a lot of musicians that required the Jab to go to their concerts...of my Generation of Music, James Taylor has become super liberal and woke, and he has toured the past two years and required proof of the Jab, as did others like him. Likely if Crosby Stills & Nash could have stood to be on the same stage with each other and ‘toured’, they too would have likely required POV (proof of Vax) to go to hear their music! What happened to these ‘rebel musician voices’ of my generation...they caved and fell big for the Propaganda! The only two ‘older rockers’ who ‘stood up’ and wrote songs about the BS of the past three years were Eric Clapton and Van Morrison!
Five times August! great protest song Dylanesque and against what has been going on. Also love Sahel bands, Mdou Moctar, Tenariwen, Tassuta N Imal, Ballake Sissoko and many others. Most of them even have translations of their songs online since their language is incomprehensible to most of us.
Me too.. in the gym I hear constant satanism in the 80s music I grew up. Guess ole Mom was 1/2 right about those lyrics played backwards 🤦🏻♀️
Not saying no programming in country music but I went to a concert last year and found the music and patrons full of life, masculine/ feminine and family affirming themes and values. Another instance of real life experience of people different than I, former NYC liberal, embarrassingly believed as they (becoming we) were portrayed by media..
Very true, I feel the same way about songs I've heard 1,000 times. i have heard the analogy of being awake, like being on the wagon at a night club, you look around the room, the people you care about slovenly oversharing meaningless but empassioned declararions of 'love', the slipping levers of self control, etc, etc if you're not wasted you take a hard pass on the whole thing. Once you're out looking in, you csm see the lyrics tell a story that an artist is only a bit player in. Music as an industry consumes the artist with the stage and production and projection and even their innermost art becomes a reflection of their condition, often spiritual imprisonment. This is the warning that mom gave. As kids we can write it off. But once you know, you know. In both cases, sober and awake, control is the superpower discernment bestows. Why trade it in? I worked in music for years. As a culture - it was only ever bareable (and equally seductive and titilating) under extreme influence, then everybody and everything made sense. In my mind that's why Sam Smith is 100 lbs overweight, there's a price to pay for glorification and adulation. You can get just about anyone to affirm whatever identity you project on stage, but the gap between that thing you masquerade as and who you really are is still the single greatest cost there is. It leaves a chasm indulgence never fills, but somehow depravity numbs it just enough to keep you sliding.
Agreed. It's as though our modern culture has sucked the life out of us, there isn't much left over to suspend disbelief or walk a mile in someone's shoes when they have cheapened that experience, no matter how 'catchy' a song or visually stunning a movie. When we grow, we look to art to move us more and stimulate us less. I have thousands of albums and movies, I just cant connect with anymore, and the mire I unddrstand the lyrics or the lack of order, I dont want to pass them on. Funny thing is, I'm not sad about it. I'm indifferent.
I believe as much as covid has stolen from us, it has also seperated the wheat from the chaff, in our lives and our hearts. Awake, we can see the spiritual narrative playing out around us in everything, every act, everyone, has a bigger role than what we see in the cultural vacuum of our youth, and that is a million times more interesting than the skin-deep values and titilating and depraved performance art being evacuated from Grammy's stage like poisonous vomit projecting stench and bile on anything good that's left. No thanks. When I saw the criticisms of Ben Afleck and his lack of enthusiams, I couldn't help but think, maybe he has some soul left we are seeing crushed.
Thanks for sharing. Karena, it's a good and thoughtful community here.
And re Ben Affleck’s soul being crushed, yes.. explains addiction and rehabs for several celebs. And they all have a chance to walk away, even if they risk livelihood and transgressions being aired. Choice to ask forgiveness
"we look to art to move us more and stimulate us less." So true. When I was in a Theatre and Performance Studies graduate program, I was left stone cold by the "art" they told us was worthwhile: anything that was "interesting" or "transgressive" or "pushed boundaries." Really? Is that why we've told stories for millenia? I doubt it. How about because human beings have a deep need for meaning and connection?
i've thought about that from many different lenses, and it bothers me. What is this force of terminal hypnosis? is it some sort of evolutionary adaptation that plays out as a social tug of war to keep us the middle? Destruction and rebirth to build a more resilient culture? But I dont think that's it, it has to be corruption. like your graduate program where you hope to encounter the height of culture, and find not only a cheap copy, but it's antithesis, when we undermine the archetype of truth and beauty in form, we are left wanting and vulnerable to decadence, self loathing and inevitable destruction. System wide self destruction, cant be an adaptation, As i get older I see, as Celia points out, the durability of tradition and classical values. i think to preseve the archetypes we need to return to valuing/preserving ritual. As rhe grammys show us, ritual is here, acted out all around as the destructive force or if we choose, the maintaining force. We have stopped maintaining. We can let the knawing forces of modernity or post-modernism feast on the fascimiles or iterations that will try on updates on the periphery, but we cannot cede the centre stage of the Grammy's or higher ed or especially politics, not even a little.
Ritual is a powerful force, indeed, no matter where it's enacted. Without the immediate ability to wrest center-stage from the depraved, I'm starting right where I am -- with myself, first, then inviting other like-hearted folk to join. I encourage anyone to Bring Ritual Back (take that, Timberlake!) in his or her own way.
I've returned to classical and jazz mostly for the same reason. I can't take the depressing, dark, or monotone weirdness of the new music. And I don't care for rap much either.
I’ve had the exact same experience when in the car listening to music. I always turn away from rap, heavy metal, Michael J. I say- Beyoncé is a satanist and my kids roll their eyes. I am hooked on Flowers at the moment though
It's sad. I do feel bad for the artists losing themselves on the low road, you know they had dreams of something more beautiful as young people arriving in hollywood. My mother, a singer, met Michael Jackson as boy performing with the Jackson Five when she mistook his dressing room for hers. She said he was as sweet as anyone she had ever met on the road. But without armour, the road and industry and culture destroys us like a contact sport taking pieces from us without mercy and replacing it with something unrecognizable - until you become the thing you hate. These artists have become the pied piper seducing our children to the low road, and just as they have been devoured and transformed, they rake the children in to feed the industry. It's never beem more plain than the Grammy's in 2023. Today, with hindsight, I see that any empathy for late MJ or late S.S. or Miley is misplaced. These rituals are deadly serious whether we recognize it or not.
A most insightful piece, thank you. Contemporary pop music has inclined toward the anti-natural (and therefore toward the Satanic) for decades. By that I mean it has inclined toward the denial of harmony. I was a music critic for American newspapers in the '80s, '90s, and early 2000s, and while I tried to stick to classical and jazz (and the standard songs ca. 1920-1960 that jazz covers), once in a while I was forced to deal with current pop. I could hear the decline of harmony from year to year, decade to decade, until what had been the spirit of popular music (of your Jacques Brel, for example, and the many American popular songwriters of the Golden Era) became a zombie. Harmony used to be the place where melody and words married. Now it's just a small set of chords employed to prop up a nominal melody which in turn is there only to convey the darkness of the words. Production is king now, not music. (Curiously, the music of the Miley Cyrus song you cite is something of an exception.)
Thank you Kenneth. An enlightening comment. I hope you feel inspired to tell us more of your thoughts on all this. And I hope I made clear, maybe need to amplify, that I recognize Miley's song as a great pop song. This is part of what I grappled with here. I don't know if my critique of the lyrics are valid or not but it was what came to me, that it didn't "make sense" along known arcs of emotional story telling. But maybe that's not a valid criticism, or maybe it's not EVEN a criticism. It's disorienting, for me, how the love song genre has become the indifference song genre.
Celia - You made that clear. I intended to acknowledge in my last sentence your observation that Miley's song is a cut above, musically, though the lyrics (and again I agree) don't make much sense. The love song began to die long ago. I think it held hands with harmony as they headed down the path to extinction. The last love song I really related to was Sting's "A Practical Arrangement." Do you know it?
And yet paradoxically I see in the studio with musicians more respect and hunger to serve the song. Musicians instinctively are respelled by lack of authenticity. See a tremendous backswing even in NashVegas. People who love the originals still around & younger ones quitting lucrative gigs for this. I see it daily. All is not lost. Real time is staying with the times. Hold on. Quite a ride but not over til it’s over.
And the invention of auto-tune was an absolute abomination. Whenever I hear it, I can't change the station or channel fast enough. One doesn't even have to have a good or unique singing voice to make it big now. Just, as you say, a big production. So yucky.
Such an interesting insight! It seems to me that harmony has taken a hit among other musical genres as well. I've certainly seen it in Broadway musicals (Sondheim being the most well-known example) but also in classical music, opera, rap, heavy metal... and pop. And then there's the adjustment from 432Hz to 440Hz that occurred...
Either humanity is reflecting the dis-harmony of society as it devolves, or we are devolving, in part, because of all of the disharmony being created and broadcast at us constantly. But which? Or is there another explanation entirely?
In my better moments I like to believe we are partial to evolution not devolution. Harmony is the natural state of our DNA. We are electromagnetic flowers. Harmony is everything.
I have just come across the concept of humanity being at a point of most material density, and it is upon us to evolve back to our spiritual selves of earlier epochs. Am learning of this via Gigi Young, very influenced by Steiner it seems. What is going on for so many who are embracing the tech, oblivous to the satanic thrust deep down, still being of a trusting non-discerning uninformed nature....well they are taking devolution path?
I just listened to this from Gigi. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXTO_wbCeEw Maybe run yourself past what she says...the last 25mins (she has a time stamp on to access in the notes on Youtube) she really warms up to a re-perceiving of the vastness of whence we came, what we are as humans, and perhaps what might shift us (is shifting me!) to consider in looking for 'another explanation' of things going on
Gigi Young - I discovered her this past year - is a must-hear voice. She is calm, sincere, focussed and completely centered on a message that is the antidote to everything being discussed by Celia here in today’s post. I urge all here to give Gigi a try.
So true. It is amazing how these past few years have encouraged expansion...to explore into the minutae of nano, dna and non-sense of virus existence, and exciting now to expand out, far into our human evolution, within the cosmos, considering past epochs, the planets, over hundreds of thousands of years.
Being open to a much broader context of creation to relate our current human form to, flips perceptions... most satisfyingly so...and even helps our owning of all beings and entities as being part of us, not 'alien', as we have same creator, just different paths... and choices as to boundaries with those on other paths (however retrograde/'fallen'/satanic). Yes, my enthusiasm with what i have gleaned sofar of her outlook is evident......give Gigi a try...
Excellent article, Celia! I have known about the satanism and rituals for quite a few years now and I think they decided to gradually make it obvious and "come out" (lol) of the already partially-opened closet around the time of the last US presidential election. I knew they would at some point because they'd have to. Too many people in on it, too many people with stories, too many people outing them.
Like you, I refuse to show any outrage because of course that's what they want.
I also gradually figured out that even though I was on the party scene in Chicago in the 1980s & 1990s, I am deep down pretty conservative, morally, and even now I'd go so far to say I'm a Proud Prude. Of course, being a prude is THE most uncool thing one could be right now. That and older, what a combo. I don't care. I feel like a rebel, and I've also always been that, at least. I repudiate the grotesque objectivity of women called "feminism" (what a joke) above all.
Agree that these satanists aren't rebellious and nor were any of the US rockers or pop stars - that is a such an American myth. They are all massive conformists, even the punk rockers. I am always amazed that people imagine they are anti-establishment. They were all on board being paid by WHO to sell the public on lockdowns and vaccines - especially Madonna and those other ghouls.
Don't sell your prudishness short Vida. For most well adjusted men it's a lot sexier than acting the ho.
As for rockers and pop stars, I'd say many of them start out rebellious, but as soon as someone waves a buck under their noses conformance becomes a lot more attractive. Otherwise, as Billy Joel sang, they "end up in the back, in the discount rack, like another can of beans". The road to show biz stardom is paved with discarded principles. The only one of note that I know of who stayed pure was John Prine, and I never heard of him until he had one foot in the grave. Such is the price of staying true to self, unfortunately.
And really, it's not much different from most professions. C-suites are bursting at the seams with "yes" men and women.
I don’t in any way mean to imply that I have read more than possibly a small percentage of your writings, yet I must say that this piece may be one of the best articles of yours that I have ever read! Not only have you crystallized the very essence of the situation, you have zeroed in on the cause as well as its progression.
In a way, I am glad that I knew you as a friend before I appreciated you as the insightful and profound writer that you are. On behalf of the people of Earth, thank you so much for all you are doing!
Dale, you are so generous and kind. and funny. And every time I see your name I see that comedian in my mind's eye and I laugh. Did we agree his name was Michael? I have it in FB PM. WILL post it. Maybe even tonight.
You depth of experience, moral certitude, and kind heart make this essay the only thing anyone needs to know about the current state of popular culture. Thank you for knitting together this narrative on the sad state of those who wish to harvest unsuspecting souls.
I haven't watched the Grammy video - I've seen bits when scrolling through Twitter - but not stopping - just don't need that in my life. I do not understand the choice to walk in the land of the ugly and self centered. It must be a lonely place. Love is to will the good of the other, as other - not possible in a state of self "loving" adulation and narcissism.
I know to some extent there is a need to know what is going on in the world, so I watch a little news, follow a few Substacks but then it's time to walk the dogs or work in the garden, paint a picture or even clean house - simple tasks done with joy even in difficult times.
Catholic writer Anthony Esolen writes a Substack "devoted to reclaiming the good, the beautiful, and the true." He writes about old hymns, movies, poems etc. It's a palate cleanser from our current culture.
Celia, your background and history, your life experience, work experience... you bring such a unique perspective to this conversation. Thank you for writing this, your voice is authentic and powerful.
I’m also a believer and follower of Jesus and heading into my 60s in the not so distant future. I was never as hip as you clearly were (are ;) but I did have a good run and a lot of fun back in the day and I couldn’t agree with you more on the joys of being old and old-fashioned. I’m heartsick about what has become of this world for the sake of my children and everyone else’s. This is spiritual war plain and simple, there is no escaping it. I’m thankful that at least these disturbingly disgusting displays are waking more and more people up to this fact, like you say. Everyone must pick a side.
It’s hard to stay upbeat and hopeful in these dark times but as a Christian I know how this ends (even if I don’t know when that will happen or all the details between now and then ;). There’s no doubt in my mind who ultimately wins this one and that is what gives me peace and security. Prayer is powerful medicine and free to everyone, I can’t recommend it enough. Peace and blessings to you and to all, thank you for doing what you do, Celia! 🙏🏻♥️
"...self-worship, (and even self-marriage.) All chugging nicely along in the pre-ordained direction of automaton-ism, individualism, separation-ism, and narcissism." There it is. Thanks, Celia, for distilling the putridness it to its essence - for your piercing observations and refusing to play along. You are an inspiration to the rest of us.
I don't react either, or even watch. It's all coming down in my view, anyway.
I appreciate your take - and framing. Also, far as I can tell you are neither old nor old fashioned. Timeless and classic are adjectives better suited to you.
So very true. I acquiesced going to the movie with dear friends whose husband's are ill. I was insulted by the banal plot, lack of humor and pitiful acting. My movie review of "80 for Brady" is don't waste your mind.
What this makes me think of us Satanthony Fauci and his bro satanthony Blinken, and victrollia newland, and Gavin screwsome , oh and London Greed Breed
Agree it is an unutterably sad song across the board. Keep some flying shoes and a cape handy. And if you don’t know about these see Townes Van Zandt & Guy Clark. There’s much more to America and this world than meets the eye.
Exactly. They amplify the distortion they'd like us to think is ubiquitous. No, they merely showcase their own meaninglessness. I mean, does anyone even watch this shite? Think the ratings are pretty abysmal.
Hardly anyone watches (seriously) any more, but the producers and stars don't care because really now awards shows are just big narcissistic get-togethers for them all to show off to each other. I highly doubt they care about their fans much. Probably more about the lifestyle, $$ and fame.
I'm not a Christian or anti-Christian; I'm an adult gay man—though that is easily the least exciting thing about me. Perhaps being in a stable, monogamous, loving relationship of seventeen years with an indigenous man of great (indigenous) spiritual faith is the only thing spun from that sentence that matters. Faith, of any denomination, the humility of oneself before a universal power is a fundamental missing component of our current social fabric. People are trying to fill a God-shaped hole with narcissism, transhumanism and wokeism’s false promises: worship self, worship science, worship everything but something with a moral, existential imperative.
So, I am horrified, disgusted and sadly unsurprised by the culmination of a Satanic agenda, invocation, whatever the F that was we, and millions of media-addicted children, were forced to endure. I didn't watch the whole thing, just glimpsed Madonna’s baby-skin-face and a bit of Smith’s gyrating, because I know that witchcraft, like Vodoo, whether you believe in it or not, functions through hypnotic allegory and ritual as much as any debatably spiritual power.
Your piece was beautifully, eloquently written, and indeed there are many people of varied faiths, backgrounds, politics and beliefs who share your views. Moreover and primarily, for that of a world that isn't so enamoured with its ego. I hope the flagrancy of the Grammy's, Balenciaga and other recent assaults of Satanic messaging will galvanize people to the reality of the proposed debauchery. I think it will. Lastly, Pfizer's continued machinations and tentacles through American history from the AIDs epidemic until now are also deeply suspicious, concerning and suggestive of an ongoing, arcane, transhumanist agenda. I don't use evil lightly, as it implies menace with intent. But there is something evil within that organization.
the fact that madonna chose that name is a blasphemism in itself. No longer church going here, raised catholic and last went to episcopal church, but now humming songs amongst the trees, surrounded by a dog and 2 cats, and gazillions of birds. God or whatever you call it, surely will hear it.
“People are trying to fill a God-shaped hole with narcissism, transhumanism and wokeism’s false promises: worship self, worship science, worship everything but something with a moral, existential imperative.” Love that observation. Beautifully articulated.
A God-shaped hole indeed - one that defies any form of denouncement. It’s been around since time immemorial, the Genesis of this and other planets, and despite the repeated announcement “God is dead”, somehow the militant atheists are still haunted by all of those inexplicable things such as consciousness, the placebo effect, telepathy and a plethora of phenomena in which the majority of humans still subscribe, the hole remains stubbornly God-shaped and spiritual.
It’s been around since before we “began” and it will be here long after the fearful superficial narcissists try and merge themselves with the machine in a vain attempt at immortality. They cannot focus on that which they denounce - the ineffable immortality of the conscious soul - not if it ain’t wrapped up in some red-robed sex crazed androgyny. The very things that confound them are the essence of true immortality.
A God-shaped hole. I really like that. I think I’ll fit right in. After all, despite our attempts at denouncing the spiritual nature of humanism, we’re all God-shaped in the end.
The past few years, I've had a very difficult time finding music to listen to or movies to watch. Artists I used to like seem off somehow. Either they have gone woke zombie or Covidian (I won't forgive any artist who required the vax to see them), or the vibe seems hopeless and twisted. It's a combination of ugliness, nihilism, militancy, and inversion that seeps into one's bones simply from contact. Sadly this is also in children's programming.
In the car, if I don't have a playlist downloaded, I listen to a Christian worship radio station. As a former music snob, I used to make fun of Christian rock but now I listen because there is too much darkness in the other music.
Yes!! Same. On a long car ride recently, my 23-year old daughter wanted to play stuff she thought I'd like. She's not a metal head or rap enthusiast, just likes poppy boppy music -- so I acquiesced. After 7 or 8 songs, I gave up. When she asked why, I struggled to articulate it... then it hit me: it has no SOUL. And not as in the "Soul Train" of yore. As in... the presence of something fully human and fully divine.
Yes there were a lot of musicians that required the Jab to go to their concerts...of my Generation of Music, James Taylor has become super liberal and woke, and he has toured the past two years and required proof of the Jab, as did others like him. Likely if Crosby Stills & Nash could have stood to be on the same stage with each other and ‘toured’, they too would have likely required POV (proof of Vax) to go to hear their music! What happened to these ‘rebel musician voices’ of my generation...they caved and fell big for the Propaganda! The only two ‘older rockers’ who ‘stood up’ and wrote songs about the BS of the past three years were Eric Clapton and Van Morrison!
CSNY defied The Man until they became The Man. Leftism + Old Age/Fear of Death made them Pfizer’s Best Friends.
Sad but true.
Five times August! great protest song Dylanesque and against what has been going on. Also love Sahel bands, Mdou Moctar, Tenariwen, Tassuta N Imal, Ballake Sissoko and many others. Most of them even have translations of their songs online since their language is incomprehensible to most of us.
They were never rebels. See Dave Mcgowans work.
These people have always been about pushing drugs, suicide, self harm and Satanism.
Yes, Dave McGowan. He really broke it. I've listened to interviews but not read his book. I will this year.
You should! Tbh most people prefer Weird Scenes but I liked Programmed to Kill, even if the book needed a better editor.
His work on the moon landing and 9/11 are also amazing. He was the first person I ever heard make the moon landing conspiracy in a logical manner.
RIP Dave!
They were never rebels. See Dave Mcgowans work.
These people have always been about pushing drugs, suicide, self harm and Satanism.
Me too.. in the gym I hear constant satanism in the 80s music I grew up. Guess ole Mom was 1/2 right about those lyrics played backwards 🤦🏻♀️
Not saying no programming in country music but I went to a concert last year and found the music and patrons full of life, masculine/ feminine and family affirming themes and values. Another instance of real life experience of people different than I, former NYC liberal, embarrassingly believed as they (becoming we) were portrayed by media..
Very true, I feel the same way about songs I've heard 1,000 times. i have heard the analogy of being awake, like being on the wagon at a night club, you look around the room, the people you care about slovenly oversharing meaningless but empassioned declararions of 'love', the slipping levers of self control, etc, etc if you're not wasted you take a hard pass on the whole thing. Once you're out looking in, you csm see the lyrics tell a story that an artist is only a bit player in. Music as an industry consumes the artist with the stage and production and projection and even their innermost art becomes a reflection of their condition, often spiritual imprisonment. This is the warning that mom gave. As kids we can write it off. But once you know, you know. In both cases, sober and awake, control is the superpower discernment bestows. Why trade it in? I worked in music for years. As a culture - it was only ever bareable (and equally seductive and titilating) under extreme influence, then everybody and everything made sense. In my mind that's why Sam Smith is 100 lbs overweight, there's a price to pay for glorification and adulation. You can get just about anyone to affirm whatever identity you project on stage, but the gap between that thing you masquerade as and who you really are is still the single greatest cost there is. It leaves a chasm indulgence never fills, but somehow depravity numbs it just enough to keep you sliding.
Wow. Beautifully articulated
Thank you for sharing and connecting here.
That's very interesting.
Agreed. It's as though our modern culture has sucked the life out of us, there isn't much left over to suspend disbelief or walk a mile in someone's shoes when they have cheapened that experience, no matter how 'catchy' a song or visually stunning a movie. When we grow, we look to art to move us more and stimulate us less. I have thousands of albums and movies, I just cant connect with anymore, and the mire I unddrstand the lyrics or the lack of order, I dont want to pass them on. Funny thing is, I'm not sad about it. I'm indifferent.
I believe as much as covid has stolen from us, it has also seperated the wheat from the chaff, in our lives and our hearts. Awake, we can see the spiritual narrative playing out around us in everything, every act, everyone, has a bigger role than what we see in the cultural vacuum of our youth, and that is a million times more interesting than the skin-deep values and titilating and depraved performance art being evacuated from Grammy's stage like poisonous vomit projecting stench and bile on anything good that's left. No thanks. When I saw the criticisms of Ben Afleck and his lack of enthusiams, I couldn't help but think, maybe he has some soul left we are seeing crushed.
Thanks for sharing. Karena, it's a good and thoughtful community here.
Amen
And re Ben Affleck’s soul being crushed, yes.. explains addiction and rehabs for several celebs. And they all have a chance to walk away, even if they risk livelihood and transgressions being aired. Choice to ask forgiveness
"we look to art to move us more and stimulate us less." So true. When I was in a Theatre and Performance Studies graduate program, I was left stone cold by the "art" they told us was worthwhile: anything that was "interesting" or "transgressive" or "pushed boundaries." Really? Is that why we've told stories for millenia? I doubt it. How about because human beings have a deep need for meaning and connection?
i've thought about that from many different lenses, and it bothers me. What is this force of terminal hypnosis? is it some sort of evolutionary adaptation that plays out as a social tug of war to keep us the middle? Destruction and rebirth to build a more resilient culture? But I dont think that's it, it has to be corruption. like your graduate program where you hope to encounter the height of culture, and find not only a cheap copy, but it's antithesis, when we undermine the archetype of truth and beauty in form, we are left wanting and vulnerable to decadence, self loathing and inevitable destruction. System wide self destruction, cant be an adaptation, As i get older I see, as Celia points out, the durability of tradition and classical values. i think to preseve the archetypes we need to return to valuing/preserving ritual. As rhe grammys show us, ritual is here, acted out all around as the destructive force or if we choose, the maintaining force. We have stopped maintaining. We can let the knawing forces of modernity or post-modernism feast on the fascimiles or iterations that will try on updates on the periphery, but we cannot cede the centre stage of the Grammy's or higher ed or especially politics, not even a little.
Ritual is a powerful force, indeed, no matter where it's enacted. Without the immediate ability to wrest center-stage from the depraved, I'm starting right where I am -- with myself, first, then inviting other like-hearted folk to join. I encourage anyone to Bring Ritual Back (take that, Timberlake!) in his or her own way.
Sign me up. That's is the right playbook I think.
I've returned to classical and jazz mostly for the same reason. I can't take the depressing, dark, or monotone weirdness of the new music. And I don't care for rap much either.
I’ve had the exact same experience when in the car listening to music. I always turn away from rap, heavy metal, Michael J. I say- Beyoncé is a satanist and my kids roll their eyes. I am hooked on Flowers at the moment though
It's sad. I do feel bad for the artists losing themselves on the low road, you know they had dreams of something more beautiful as young people arriving in hollywood. My mother, a singer, met Michael Jackson as boy performing with the Jackson Five when she mistook his dressing room for hers. She said he was as sweet as anyone she had ever met on the road. But without armour, the road and industry and culture destroys us like a contact sport taking pieces from us without mercy and replacing it with something unrecognizable - until you become the thing you hate. These artists have become the pied piper seducing our children to the low road, and just as they have been devoured and transformed, they rake the children in to feed the industry. It's never beem more plain than the Grammy's in 2023. Today, with hindsight, I see that any empathy for late MJ or late S.S. or Miley is misplaced. These rituals are deadly serious whether we recognize it or not.
A most insightful piece, thank you. Contemporary pop music has inclined toward the anti-natural (and therefore toward the Satanic) for decades. By that I mean it has inclined toward the denial of harmony. I was a music critic for American newspapers in the '80s, '90s, and early 2000s, and while I tried to stick to classical and jazz (and the standard songs ca. 1920-1960 that jazz covers), once in a while I was forced to deal with current pop. I could hear the decline of harmony from year to year, decade to decade, until what had been the spirit of popular music (of your Jacques Brel, for example, and the many American popular songwriters of the Golden Era) became a zombie. Harmony used to be the place where melody and words married. Now it's just a small set of chords employed to prop up a nominal melody which in turn is there only to convey the darkness of the words. Production is king now, not music. (Curiously, the music of the Miley Cyrus song you cite is something of an exception.)
Thank you Kenneth. An enlightening comment. I hope you feel inspired to tell us more of your thoughts on all this. And I hope I made clear, maybe need to amplify, that I recognize Miley's song as a great pop song. This is part of what I grappled with here. I don't know if my critique of the lyrics are valid or not but it was what came to me, that it didn't "make sense" along known arcs of emotional story telling. But maybe that's not a valid criticism, or maybe it's not EVEN a criticism. It's disorienting, for me, how the love song genre has become the indifference song genre.
She really is talented. Have you heard the Backyard Sessions?
No I haven't. I will go listen..
Celia - You made that clear. I intended to acknowledge in my last sentence your observation that Miley's song is a cut above, musically, though the lyrics (and again I agree) don't make much sense. The love song began to die long ago. I think it held hands with harmony as they headed down the path to extinction. The last love song I really related to was Sting's "A Practical Arrangement." Do you know it?
And yet paradoxically I see in the studio with musicians more respect and hunger to serve the song. Musicians instinctively are respelled by lack of authenticity. See a tremendous backswing even in NashVegas. People who love the originals still around & younger ones quitting lucrative gigs for this. I see it daily. All is not lost. Real time is staying with the times. Hold on. Quite a ride but not over til it’s over.
And the invention of auto-tune was an absolute abomination. Whenever I hear it, I can't change the station or channel fast enough. One doesn't even have to have a good or unique singing voice to make it big now. Just, as you say, a big production. So yucky.
And they all sound the same. Long live 60s and 70s music!
Totally. I don't listen to any new stuff. Can't stand it.
They even use it on singers who truly do have good and unique singing voices, turning them into electronic robot-singers.
Great point. They cheapen and co-modify everything.
Agree 100%.
Such an interesting insight! It seems to me that harmony has taken a hit among other musical genres as well. I've certainly seen it in Broadway musicals (Sondheim being the most well-known example) but also in classical music, opera, rap, heavy metal... and pop. And then there's the adjustment from 432Hz to 440Hz that occurred...
Either humanity is reflecting the dis-harmony of society as it devolves, or we are devolving, in part, because of all of the disharmony being created and broadcast at us constantly. But which? Or is there another explanation entirely?
In my better moments I like to believe we are partial to evolution not devolution. Harmony is the natural state of our DNA. We are electromagnetic flowers. Harmony is everything.
Amen to that. Thanks. The gyrating wanna-be Luciferians momentarily got me down... :-)
Yes, harmony has died or is dying in those other genres as well. As for the chicken-or-egg question, I suspect one thing feeds the other.
I have just come across the concept of humanity being at a point of most material density, and it is upon us to evolve back to our spiritual selves of earlier epochs. Am learning of this via Gigi Young, very influenced by Steiner it seems. What is going on for so many who are embracing the tech, oblivous to the satanic thrust deep down, still being of a trusting non-discerning uninformed nature....well they are taking devolution path?
I just listened to this from Gigi. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXTO_wbCeEw Maybe run yourself past what she says...the last 25mins (she has a time stamp on to access in the notes on Youtube) she really warms up to a re-perceiving of the vastness of whence we came, what we are as humans, and perhaps what might shift us (is shifting me!) to consider in looking for 'another explanation' of things going on
Gigi Young - I discovered her this past year - is a must-hear voice. She is calm, sincere, focussed and completely centered on a message that is the antidote to everything being discussed by Celia here in today’s post. I urge all here to give Gigi a try.
So true. It is amazing how these past few years have encouraged expansion...to explore into the minutae of nano, dna and non-sense of virus existence, and exciting now to expand out, far into our human evolution, within the cosmos, considering past epochs, the planets, over hundreds of thousands of years.
Being open to a much broader context of creation to relate our current human form to, flips perceptions... most satisfyingly so...and even helps our owning of all beings and entities as being part of us, not 'alien', as we have same creator, just different paths... and choices as to boundaries with those on other paths (however retrograde/'fallen'/satanic). Yes, my enthusiasm with what i have gleaned sofar of her outlook is evident......give Gigi a try...
Excellent article, Celia! I have known about the satanism and rituals for quite a few years now and I think they decided to gradually make it obvious and "come out" (lol) of the already partially-opened closet around the time of the last US presidential election. I knew they would at some point because they'd have to. Too many people in on it, too many people with stories, too many people outing them.
Like you, I refuse to show any outrage because of course that's what they want.
I also gradually figured out that even though I was on the party scene in Chicago in the 1980s & 1990s, I am deep down pretty conservative, morally, and even now I'd go so far to say I'm a Proud Prude. Of course, being a prude is THE most uncool thing one could be right now. That and older, what a combo. I don't care. I feel like a rebel, and I've also always been that, at least. I repudiate the grotesque objectivity of women called "feminism" (what a joke) above all.
Agree that these satanists aren't rebellious and nor were any of the US rockers or pop stars - that is a such an American myth. They are all massive conformists, even the punk rockers. I am always amazed that people imagine they are anti-establishment. They were all on board being paid by WHO to sell the public on lockdowns and vaccines - especially Madonna and those other ghouls.
Don't sell your prudishness short Vida. For most well adjusted men it's a lot sexier than acting the ho.
As for rockers and pop stars, I'd say many of them start out rebellious, but as soon as someone waves a buck under their noses conformance becomes a lot more attractive. Otherwise, as Billy Joel sang, they "end up in the back, in the discount rack, like another can of beans". The road to show biz stardom is paved with discarded principles. The only one of note that I know of who stayed pure was John Prine, and I never heard of him until he had one foot in the grave. Such is the price of staying true to self, unfortunately.
And really, it's not much different from most professions. C-suites are bursting at the seams with "yes" men and women.
Let's be Proud Prudes and stick together!
YES!!
Yes, I would like to join, too😃
I don’t in any way mean to imply that I have read more than possibly a small percentage of your writings, yet I must say that this piece may be one of the best articles of yours that I have ever read! Not only have you crystallized the very essence of the situation, you have zeroed in on the cause as well as its progression.
In a way, I am glad that I knew you as a friend before I appreciated you as the insightful and profound writer that you are. On behalf of the people of Earth, thank you so much for all you are doing!
Dale, you are so generous and kind. and funny. And every time I see your name I see that comedian in my mind's eye and I laugh. Did we agree his name was Michael? I have it in FB PM. WILL post it. Maybe even tonight.
Celia
You depth of experience, moral certitude, and kind heart make this essay the only thing anyone needs to know about the current state of popular culture. Thank you for knitting together this narrative on the sad state of those who wish to harvest unsuspecting souls.
I always find your work highly readable, thoroughly interesting and very thought provoking. This piece is one of your best. Thank you.
I haven't watched the Grammy video - I've seen bits when scrolling through Twitter - but not stopping - just don't need that in my life. I do not understand the choice to walk in the land of the ugly and self centered. It must be a lonely place. Love is to will the good of the other, as other - not possible in a state of self "loving" adulation and narcissism.
I know to some extent there is a need to know what is going on in the world, so I watch a little news, follow a few Substacks but then it's time to walk the dogs or work in the garden, paint a picture or even clean house - simple tasks done with joy even in difficult times.
Catholic writer Anthony Esolen writes a Substack "devoted to reclaiming the good, the beautiful, and the true." He writes about old hymns, movies, poems etc. It's a palate cleanser from our current culture.
I will check that out, thank you.
Here is the link:
https://anthonyesolen.substack.com/
By the look of the front page, very cultured. Coleridge? Any time. Brings back memories of winding walks in Highgate.
Celia, your background and history, your life experience, work experience... you bring such a unique perspective to this conversation. Thank you for writing this, your voice is authentic and powerful.
I’m also a believer and follower of Jesus and heading into my 60s in the not so distant future. I was never as hip as you clearly were (are ;) but I did have a good run and a lot of fun back in the day and I couldn’t agree with you more on the joys of being old and old-fashioned. I’m heartsick about what has become of this world for the sake of my children and everyone else’s. This is spiritual war plain and simple, there is no escaping it. I’m thankful that at least these disturbingly disgusting displays are waking more and more people up to this fact, like you say. Everyone must pick a side.
It’s hard to stay upbeat and hopeful in these dark times but as a Christian I know how this ends (even if I don’t know when that will happen or all the details between now and then ;). There’s no doubt in my mind who ultimately wins this one and that is what gives me peace and security. Prayer is powerful medicine and free to everyone, I can’t recommend it enough. Peace and blessings to you and to all, thank you for doing what you do, Celia! 🙏🏻♥️
"...self-worship, (and even self-marriage.) All chugging nicely along in the pre-ordained direction of automaton-ism, individualism, separation-ism, and narcissism." There it is. Thanks, Celia, for distilling the putridness it to its essence - for your piercing observations and refusing to play along. You are an inspiration to the rest of us.
I don't react either, or even watch. It's all coming down in my view, anyway.
I appreciate your take - and framing. Also, far as I can tell you are neither old nor old fashioned. Timeless and classic are adjectives better suited to you.
No words come to mind to express my disgust for how Satanism has taken over the entertainment industry... and more.
No one, but no one gets ahead in the mass Luciferian media unless they have "help." Talent is optional.
It is time to quit denying what is exposed before our very eyes.
So very true. I acquiesced going to the movie with dear friends whose husband's are ill. I was insulted by the banal plot, lack of humor and pitiful acting. My movie review of "80 for Brady" is don't waste your mind.
Indeed and absolutely.
Celia, I missed your writing these days. I am happy to read more from you and see that you are doing fine.
About this topic, I just want to say: Who is like God? Who can resist him?
Any fight against Jesus was already lost long ago. I see everything they do as whining.
What this makes me think of us Satanthony Fauci and his bro satanthony Blinken, and victrollia newland, and Gavin screwsome , oh and London Greed Breed
commendable monikers: Dickens coudl hardly have done better
Agree it is an unutterably sad song across the board. Keep some flying shoes and a cape handy. And if you don’t know about these see Townes Van Zandt & Guy Clark. There’s much more to America and this world than meets the eye.
Exactly. They amplify the distortion they'd like us to think is ubiquitous. No, they merely showcase their own meaninglessness. I mean, does anyone even watch this shite? Think the ratings are pretty abysmal.
Hardly anyone watches (seriously) any more, but the producers and stars don't care because really now awards shows are just big narcissistic get-togethers for them all to show off to each other. I highly doubt they care about their fans much. Probably more about the lifestyle, $$ and fame.
Why I wait for the vultures to do their job. Mainstream media = vulture’s
They turn off more people than they inspire for certain. Not exactly life affirmation.
To live is to fly, both low and high...
or Time among the pine trees, felt like breath of air...