Cremation of Care

If you were to Google The Cremation of Care, you would discover the Bohemian Grove ritual ceremony. The ceremony at Bohemian Grove is a smorgasbord of conspiratorial understandings and beliefs, I am not interested in the conspiracies, I only want to shed light on the mindset of our controllers and the mystery of the ancient ritual.

In the year 2000, I was having yet another relationship and identity crisis. It seemed that trying to find purpose and the perfect partner to live out my purpose (whatever the heck that was) came to an abrupt halt. I was having suicidal thoughts because living in this world seemed pointless. My boss at work gave me much-needed time off and suggested I see a psychologist. I accepted the offer and sought a psychologist to help formulate my purpose. 

I spent the better part of my life trying to find God. I was amazed that not many people had the desire to find God, and this was where my psychologist and my psychosis battled for control of my understanding. After only 3 sessions with the psychologist listening to my suicidal tendencies, he told me something that will forever sit in my cranium.

…You are young, handsome, charming, and smart. Now go out and make as much money as possible and stop caring so much…  

I was bothered by what he said. I have empathy, I love too much, and my heart was broken too many times to count. The only advice this well-studied, mind-examining, over-zealous, guru of psyche manipulation hypnotism was to make money and not care... Geesh!

Don't care for people, don't fall in love, and do not take life so seriously, because it is all fleeting. But the Bible says (arguing strongly about what I understand)… We become seekers of pleasure, rather than seekers of God; Love thy neighbor as ourselves; Love never ceases; Live in the world, but don't be a part of it.  At this point in my life, it was the worst advice I had ever received, and to top it off, he did not see any reason to discuss it further and cut me off from further sessions. So, I did what anyone would do, I took his advice and started to be more committed to my work and began making more money. I started to make new friends and tried my best not to get attached to anyone because I needed to learn to burn any cares away, except one, making money.

This is what the Cremation of Care is all about, letting go of things that you care for. The ceremony at Bohemian Grove is a yearly ritual for letting go of things in our lives that we care for. The ceremony uses a small child (mimicking a two-year-old) effigy, which is then burned on the altar. The mock ceremony stage is ignited with flashing lights, smoke, and loudspeakers to drown out the noise of the child being burned to death. The screams, whaling, and gnashing of teeth pour out of the loudspeakers, designed to evoke feelings of sadness, guilt, remorse, anger, fear, pain, and suffering. The spectacle composes the ancient Phoenician and Ammonite sacrifices to their god Molech. It is the same ritualistic practice where Abraham (the father of all nations) was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac.

This is where Jesus comes in. Jesus was strongly against the sacrificing of children, duh...

Jesus, and being mindful or conscientious of his teachings needs to be addressed. On its own, the cremation ceremony is neither good nor bad, it is the juxtaposition. Meaning it separates the intention. Jesus also separated the intention. Our intention should be to care for others first and then reap the love that the intention produces. In our modern day, the cares of this world far outweigh the cares for each other. We put pets before romantic relationships. We chase promises of a new car, a new home, or more snap, crap, or pop, before family and friends. It was the same in the days of Jesus, however, since that time the practice of sacrificing children openly has diminished. We are now building Golden Calves, and nobody is the wiser, we are doomed.

The Cremation of Care should be about examining the heart. Where and what are we applying our care to, hoards or hearts?

Over the past four years, many of us have been forced to re-examine where to put our care. With inflation soaring out of control and people ending up homeless and hopeless, it is hard to know what to burn. The money we accumulated over the years to build our carefree foundation of greed and gluttony has diminished. Relationship stress, broken cars, trucks, boats, and the latest snap, crap, and pop, are all designed to fail. Everything seems fleeting. Again, like 25 years ago, I have been seeking counsel from someone more knowledgeable than myself.

This time I refuse to go to a psychologist whose intention is to keep us away from the God of heaven. The doctors, psychologists, counselors, and social workers are commissioned by the god of this world, to make money. Like twenty-five years ago, I have been praying and meditating, but this time my intention is different. I have concluded that I need to burn certain cares away, and I have been on a ritualistic sacrifice of the things that burden my soul. The God of Heaven, which resides in our hearts, is my counsel and strength, and I trust in the security promised by following the great counselor.

What does this look like?

For each person the intention is different. The burning ceremony is a cleansing. Exhuming the pain and suffering that has bound us in the worldly abyss of greed and slavery, symbolically called Sodom and Egypt, should be the God-centered intention, becoming born again, new growth. This new growth in Jesus’ days was called Pentecost, where the tongues of fire gave way to the new spirit, it was synonymous with water baptism. The burning away of the old cares to make way for a new promise. The apostles sold all they had, which allowed them to pour into hearts of people, instead of possessions.

Burning the material that has bound us is an incredible feeling of freedom, peace, and security.  Images and thoughts of hate, anger, bitterness, and strife need to be laid on the altar to be symbolically burned, where the smoke of the torment has no control over our souls any longer. The Cremation of Care ceremony should be taken very seriously, as it exposes what controls our hearts. Having a desire to care for people and coming out of a system designed to enslave us is difficult. It is easy to stay stuck in a system of familiarity. The same story repeated from the beginning of time. Loving others should be our true intention, finding forgiveness and burning up the past so humanity can start building a new earth with no more sorrow or pain, for the former things have been put to death or cremated.  

If the Cremation of Care ceremony interests you, send me a message.

As always, find ways to love the unlovable.

By the vessel,
William John

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