BRANDTRUEBOY

Current flavors in the ever-morphing mix:

Online telepathy
Graffiti
Andy Warhol
Fiction
mega-ritual:
(via supersonicelectronic) The psychoanalyst Carl Jung thought that astrology was an intuitive projection of man’s collective unconscious—connecting his psychology to the stars at such a deep level that no causal link can be found: It is indeed very difficult to explain the astrological phenomenon. I am not in the least disposed to an either-or explanation. I always say that with a psychological explanation there is only the alternative: either and or! This seems to me to be the case with astrology too. - C.G. Jung in a letter to Hans Bender, April 10, 1958, C.G. Jung Letters, Volume 2, 1951-1961, p. 428. It was this analogous, acausal connection (“either and or”) that made Jung believe that societal changes could be influenced by astrology even in a world in which its study was marginalized. In the 1950s he predicted that humanity would begin a new era “when the spring-point enters Aquarius.”  Jung was not specific about the date, but according to astrologers the fabled Age of Aquarius began during the early morning hours of this past Valentine’s Day.   The fact that this major astrological event is occurring along with seismic shifts in the plate tectonics of world culture could be the meaningful coincidence—or synchronicity—that fuels a “magical” change in the world. This Age of Aquarius that we find ourselves in is a time of a major paradigm shift—not in the clean slate way that he thought it would be, but with the same dramatic implications for the collective psyche. The two pressing reasons for why we have to make a choice: we can either go with the ecstatic flow of extraordinary events or stubbornly hold on to the old reality and risk being pulled under by annihilating forces. The global financial meltdown and the environmental crisis are evidence of a paradigm shift.  We are living in a time in which new myths are being created.  The stories bubble up to the surface from in between the seismic collisions of world culture—ecstatic “mega-ritual” events that take us out of our everyday understanding of the world—defying the language and the logic of average existence.(via supersonicelectronic) The psychoanalyst Carl Jung thought that astrology was an intuitive projection of man’s collective unconscious—connecting his psychology to the stars at such a deep level that no causal link can be found: It is indeed very difficult to explain the astrological phenomenon. I am not in the least disposed to an either-or explanation. I always say that with a psychological explanation there is only the alternative: either and or! This seems to me to be the case with astrology too. - C.G. Jung in a letter to Hans Bender, April 10, 1958, C.G. Jung Letters, Volume 2, 1951-1961, p. 428. It was this analogous, acausal connection (“either and or”) that made Jung believe that societal changes could be influenced by astrology even in a world in which its study was marginalized. In the 1950s he predicted that humanity would begin a new era “when the spring-point enters Aquarius.”  Jung was not specific about the date, but according to astrologers the fabled Age of Aquarius began during the early morning hours of this past Valentine’s Day.   The fact that this major astrological event is occurring along with seismic shifts in the plate tectonics of world culture could be the meaningful coincidence—or synchronicity—that fuels a “magical” change in the world. This Age of Aquarius that we find ourselves in is a time of a major paradigm shift—not in the clean slate way that he thought it would be, but with the same dramatic implications for the collective psyche. The two pressing reasons for why we have to make a choice: we can either go with the ecstatic flow of extraordinary events or stubbornly hold on to the old reality and risk being pulled under by annihilating forces. The global financial meltdown and the environmental crisis are evidence of a paradigm shift.  We are living in a time in which new myths are being created.  The stories bubble up to the surface from in between the seismic collisions of world culture—ecstatic “mega-ritual” events that take us out of our everyday understanding of the world—defying the language and the logic of average existence.

(via supersonicelectronic)

The psychoanalyst Carl Jung thought that astrology was an intuitive projection of man’s collective unconscious—connecting his psychology to the stars at such a deep level that no causal link can be found:

It is indeed very difficult to explain the astrological phenomenon. I am not in the least disposed to an either-or explanation. I always say that with a psychological explanation there is only the alternative: either and or! This seems to me to be the case with astrology too. - C.G. Jung in a letter to Hans Bender, April 10, 1958, C.G. Jung Letters, Volume 2, 1951-1961, p. 428.

It was this analogous, acausal connection (“either and or”) that made Jung believe that societal changes could be influenced by astrology even in a world in which its study was marginalized. In the 1950s he predicted that humanity would begin a new era “when the spring-point enters Aquarius.”  Jung was not specific about the date, but according to astrologers the fabled Age of Aquarius began during the early morning hours of this past Valentine’s Day.   The fact that this major astrological event is occurring along with seismic shifts in the plate tectonics of world culture could be the meaningful coincidence—or synchronicity—that fuels a “magical” change in the world. This Age of Aquarius that we find ourselves in is a time of a major paradigm shift—not in the clean slate way that he thought it would be, but with the same dramatic implications for the collective psyche. The two pressing reasons for why we have to make a choice: we can either go with the ecstatic flow of extraordinary events or stubbornly hold on to the old reality and risk being pulled under by annihilating forces.

The global financial meltdown and the environmental crisis are evidence of a paradigm shift.  We are living in a time in which new myths are being created.  The stories bubble up to the surface from in between the seismic collisions of world culture—ecstatic “mega-ritual” events that take us out of our everyday understanding of the world—defying the language and the logic of average existence.

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The Online Mega-Ritual of Michael Jackson’s Death


@pareidoliac we have to respect MJ, a world monarch, bigger of course than Iran, America even…


“Mediocrity was not a concept that would even for a second enter Michael Jackson’s being or actions…..

“I became very ill and emotionally/spiritually exhausted in my quest to save him from certain self-destructive behavior and from the awful vampires and leeches he would always manage to magnetize around him. ….

—Lisa Marie Presley


Its close to midnight and something evils lurking in the dark
Under the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops your heart
You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it
You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes,
Youre paralyzed
Chorus
cause this is thriller, thriller night
And no ones gonna save you from the beast about strike
You know its thriller, thriller night
Youre fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight…


For over a month now I keep coming back to this post about mega-rituals, for some reason unable to wrap it up, but now it seems I was unconsciously waiting for the sad occasion of Michael Jackson’s death to deepen the grounds of understanding.  I learned about the concept of a “mega-ritual” from the writings of synchromystic blogger Jake Kotze—although he eventually swapped out the term for the more optimistic sounding “Starg8”.  As he writes on his blog, “The Blob”:

The Mega Rituals mentioned in this post; JFK, Watergate and 911, massively challenged and changed collective perception about the tenacious whorl called America. By implication and extension challenging the very foundation of consensus reality.
What ever isn’t in alignment with the Gr8 WaterG8 mentioned above will be swept away or swallowed by StarG8 Mega Rituals.

I believe WE will all be massively surprised in the ‘near future’ by what structures survive as things align and which dissolve under the pressure of change.

In keeping with the spirit of this change The Blob NOW distances its mercurial form from the term Mega Ritual.
Its essence will remain in the blanket and flexible term StarG8.

A mega-ritual (a term which I will stick with for the time being) is an event in which people from all around the world pay attention to the same thing as it happens in real time, which is to say, “live and without commercial interruption”.  This group experience of universal nowness only became possible with the advent of cable news and the internet. The mediated reality of Michael Jackson’s death is similar in scale and scope to the attention focused upon Obama’s Election, the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe and 9/11.  The difference was that 9/11, Obama’s election, and Hurricane Katrina were each an even mix of live television broadcast and internet feedback.  In contrast, Michael Jackson’s death is an almost entirely internet based mega-ritual, similar to Sully Sullenberger’s “miracle” landing of Flight 1549 in the Hudson River:  while there was no direct footage of the event as it was unfolding, there was a nearly immediate creation of a feedback loop on the internet, primarily on social media outlets such as Twitter.

Evan Gruzis

An internet based mega-ritual is different from those based on TV.   The specificity of the image that television provides allows for the worldwide attention to be very finely focused, which has a more concentrated psychic effect—perhaps to the point of overwhelming those who experience it. On 9/11,  millions of people watched as the second plane struck the South tower—literally scorching the footage into the collective psyche so that it would exist forever like a burn scar.    On the internet the information “hits” in a more diffused, disseminated way—like a virus or a weed—it insinuates itself into our psyche in a rhizomatic way—growing offshoots that operate via a decentralized. self-organizing system.  There is no iconic image that represents the event—it happens in the form of many-to-many in doses of one-to-one:  via conversation, e-mail, the sharing of youtube videos, and a flurry of short, deeply felt blog posts as well as Twitter and Twitter-esque status updates. There were no live shots of Jackson’s ambulance or press conference updates from his team of doctors—but we did get a few shots of the press itself gathered outside the hospital.  This kind of self-reference is a sign that a mass catharsis is brewing. The story was still breaking when it was confirmed that Jackson had in fact, died.  Many felt the need to wait for Big Media news outlet such as CNN to confirm the news before they believed it.  The mega-ritual was experienced as the internet reaction to his death—in which millions of people got online at the same time to communicate about the same thing.  It is this togetherness that makes up the core of a mega-ritual.  It is not the event as a whole but the part that is experienced by large groups of people as it unfolds in real time.  The mega-ritual part of the Kennedy Assassination, for example, didn’t begin at the moment the gunshots rang out in Texas, but rather shortly after, when the nation gathered together around their radio and TV sets in the interim between the shooting and Kennedy’s death. During that in-between time there was a mass focusing of awareness as everyone paid attention to the same thing at the same time. For many, this had the effect of providing a realization of oneness with everyone and everything, while at the same time throwing each and every person back upon themselves so that they confronted/celebrated/condemned their own unique individuality. This is why everyone who was alive in the 60s remembers where they were when they heard about JFK—just as a couple of generations earlier everyone would forever remember where they were and what they were doing on 9/11.

Mega-ritual events teach us that we are a part of something much bigger than just our own lives.  Michael Jackson appealed to such a broad demographic that EVERYONE knew who he was, regardless of skin color or nationality.  He was a true international star, as well as a true enigma—two aspects that will help propel his legend further, for it is the darkness of many buried things that seemed to haunt Michael Jackson.  In these days after his death all you hear is his music—wherever you go.  Michael is in the clubs and the bodegas, the bars and the baby stores, the Gap and the Highline, Chelsea and the street. Similar to 9/11 the feeling of togetherness lingers on, but unlike 9/11 we have a ready made background soundtrack as we exchange stories of when we first heard Michael, or where we were when the Thriller album blew up.  The music increases the vibe as you exchange winks with shopkeepers and dance in the sidewalk outside a bar blasting “Billy Jean” with its doors wide open.

Music goes beyond images, to open up pathways of being long covered up in our brains.  Music connects us to that primitive part of ourselves—the raging, dancing animal enigma.  Perhaps the reactivation of those channels is Michael’s gift to us now.

Don’t stop till u get enough (cuz this is Thriller nite)…

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