A T A L E O F T W O D E I T I E S
"You'll find your fortune's falling
All over the town
Be sure that your umbrella
Is upside down."
PENNIES FROM HEAVEN - Burke/Johnston
All over the town
Be sure that your umbrella
Is upside down."
PENNIES FROM HEAVEN - Burke/Johnston
Erich Von Daniken's 'God was an Astronaut' titles once filled the shelves of popular bookshops. His credibility was tarnished by accusations of forgery; but the story didn't go away. Over the years other authors piled in and as the evidence stacked up the hypothesis began to seem quite compelling. At the time I thought 'kinda interesting; but, then again, so what?' My opinion was radically revised, however, following research into religious movements which developed in Pacific islands following first contact with Europeans during WW2. Stone age islanders reacted to the fleeting intrusion of Westerners by elevating them to Godhood and building a religion focused on explaining their disappearance (following the cessation of hostilities) and encouraging their return. There's striking correlation between these movements, termed 'Cargo Cults', and events recorded in the Bible and other ancient sources. This must surely cause us to question the origins of all religion.
"No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse."
MATHEW 9:16
MATHEW 9:16
The muddled theological concepts presented by Christianity are reminiscent of a naughty child caught out in a lie inventing further untruths in an effort to sustain their position and eventually building a tottering tower of blatantly implausible deception. Beneath the foundation of the Christian edifice the cause of this instability is nothing less than the very nature of deity. On one hand there's the Hebrew nation's personal war God on the other the mystical pacifism espoused by a young charismatic rabbi. The original sin of Christianity was to stitch together these irreconcilable philosophies and the edifice of its dogma rests on the unstable fault-line of these philosophical tectonics. Christians continue to liberally quote from both sides of the divide and maintain the implausible position that a genocidal War God allowed its only son to be crucified without lifting so much as a finger in some sort of subtle object lesson the nature of which is still unclear after 2,000 years of painful sophistry.
"And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel"
NUMBERS 25:4
NUMBERS 25:4
It's hard not to be impressed by the theological sleight of hand practiced down the years which morphed the vengeful head-hunting Hebrew God into the increasingly vaguely defined, all compassionate, reconstructed and thoroughly user-friendly God of our times. Diehard Biblical apologists employ elaborate sophistry to paper over the cracks in continuity but just succeed in making them more evident. In this modern era with a high standard of education and freedom of opinion the old theological tricks are rapidly loosing their power. (Significantly where church attendance is declining in the west it is increasing in the Third World where the educational standards are low or non existent - difficult to respect a cult that thrives on ignorance.) Most protagonists of religion today seem thoroughly embarrassed by the idea of a monolithic judgemental deity preferring the indefinable quality of the Mystical experience. After all when attempting to defend the indefensible 'ineffibile' is not a bad card to play.
'I went into a McDonald's yesterday and said, "I'd like some fries." The girl at the counter said, "Would you like some fries with that?"'
JAY LENO
JAY LENO
The true dichotomy, however, is not between 'revisionists' and 'old time religion' (these are just franchisees arguing about where to pitch the corporate identity). The real conflict is between established 'institutional religion' and the 'mystics'. That's because the defining feature of mysticism is a direct communion with God; no churches, no priests, no pundits, no intermediaries of any kind. And no one returns from that experience advocating genocide, quite the opposite. Crucial to the mystic's credibility is that the mystical experience is remarkably consistent across geography, culture, religion and time - that makes them the bed rock and touchstone of spirituality. Not surprisingly institutional religions regard mysticism as a 'violation of the chain-of-command' potentially threatening their self appointed God franchise; and they have a long record of defending their intellectual copyright with extreme prejudice (to which the list of butchered mystics provides eloquent testimony).
"All religions are founded on the fear of the many and the cleverness of the few."
STENDAHL
STENDAHL
You get an unusably distorted picture when you are in the goldfish bowl trying to think your way out; so much clearer a view on the outside of the bowl trying to think your way in. And it's exactly this outside-looking-in clarity which is afforded by observing the poignant Cargo Cult phenomenon. It is like being there at the at the birth of a whole new religion; and in witnessing its unfolding we are provided with searingly accurate insights into the dynamics of the religious imperative. When I first read of Cargo Cults the scales dropped from my eyes. After all, apart from the accident of geography, there's little difference between a primitive group of semi-nomadic desert dwellers five thousand years ago and equally primitive group of semi-nomadic jungle dwellers today. And it was with profound embarrassment for my species that I recognise in the naive antics of the Islanders the seeds of the destructive and delusional self-aggrandisement of western religion.
"When two tribes go to war / a point is all that you can score (score no more, score no more)"
GILL, PETER, JOHNSON, O''TOOLE, MARK WILLIAM - Frankie Goes To Hollywood
GILL, PETER, JOHNSON, O''TOOLE, MARK WILLIAM - Frankie Goes To Hollywood
The term 'Cargo Cult' describes the activities of natives of Pacific islands during the 19th Century resulting from first contact with western explorers and missionaries and the fascination of islanders with the supply ships bringing a constant flow of goods to these 'superior beings'. In WW2 these islanders saw a huge influx of combatants importing supplies by sea and air. At the end of the hostilities these ports, airstrips and bases were abandoned and the stream of supplies ended. To mitigate against their sense of abandonment, and in the hope of encouraging a 'second coming' of the 'Gods', these natives built airstrips and crude imitations of planes and developed an increasingly complex 'religion' centred on a their gross misinterpretation of events. Despite their outward sophistication western religions show all the signs of being the distorted, fractured, elaborated, politically hi-jacked, rag-tag remnants of a 5,000 year old Cargo Cult.
"Judging by the pollution content of the atmosphere, I believe we have arrived at the late twentieth century."
SPOCK - Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
SPOCK - Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
The evidence from race memory, myth, and even documentation points to a none-to-subtle intervention into human society by members of an unimaginably technologically advanced civilization at around 3500 BC; and which we have benefited from, or not (depending on your particular perspective), ever since. Starfleet's General Order No. 1, and the most prominent guiding principle of the United Federation of Planets, dictates that there can be no interference with the internal development of alien civilizations. On the case of Earth is clear to me that someone, sometime, kicked a hole in this edict and, for good or ill, pretty much just did their thing. Maybe real visitors weren't as far seeing as Gene Roddenberry's creations or maybe just a damned sight less ethical; maybe we should be grateful for the injection of alien DNA; maybe we should say thanks for kicking our technology/civilization into gear; what I don't think we should be grateful for is the genocidal mass lunacy of religion.
“The latest refinements of science are linked with the cruelties of the Stone Age.”
WINSTON CHURCHILL
WINSTON CHURCHILL
So you're some poor schmuk living the stone age life - short, hairy, naked, malnourished, vulnerable, paranoid and vicious, IQ just slightly above that of a chimp, average life expectancy of not much more than the creatures you hunt - and you see a helicopter land and all these tall handsome, pale, dudes jump out, cool as fuck, and just about everything they did from then on in was a succession of outrageous miracles, wouldn't you think that they were 'gods', wouldn't you try to keep in their good books especially when they had so much good stuff to give, wouldn't you let them sleep with your daughter or wife (and think yourself honoured/blessed)? And if they were indeed spacemen they would have landed in something a whole lot more impressive than a 'Whirlybird'. You'll find detailed and, importantly for this argument, consistent descriptions of these 'space craft' embedded in ancient literature, ritual, legend and iconography in civilisations across the globe.
"I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children."
GENESIS 3:16
GENESIS 3:16
The cranial volume of Homo Sapiens underwent a recent spectacular increase in size (and it's still growing). So what caused this seismic blip in the otherwise smooth curve in the graph of evolutionary development? Carl Sagan notes that humans are the only species on earth for which childbirth is generally painful. But he omitted to include genetically altered species; and herein lays an answer. The human female pelvis rapidly increased in size to accommodate the exit of their child's unnaturally large head; and it has now reached the point where further expansion would begin to inhibit the ability to walk. In western society the C section is now the most popular childbirth option for a reason. One of the genetically enhanced animals which Sagan failed to take into account is the bulldog; unnaturally large head, pelvis distortion inhibiting walking ability, painful births, the majority of which are now by C section. You have to ask yourself has someone at some stage has been pissing in our gene pool.
"The human fore-brain evolved to its great size while retaining features of three basic formations that reflect an ancestral relationship to reptiles, early mammals, and recent mammals."
PAUL D. MACLEAN
PAUL D. MACLEAN
But the brain didn't just swell up like popcorn; neuroscientist Paul D. Maclean created a compelling case for enlargement in three distinct stages (reptilian, paleomammalian, neomammalian), each successive development overlaying and augmenting, rather than replacing, the previous. It was the expansion of the final layer, comprising the forebrain, which created the primary requirement of the increase in cranial capacity. And there’s evidence that this all happened very fast. Think about it brain growing faster that your skull, that’s got to be the mother of all headaches. There are examples of trepanning on stone-age skulls; the pain has got to be pretty extreme to drill a hole in your skull with a flint. The ancient Egyptians also extensively practiced trepanning and also infant head binding (which has the effect of enlarging the skull), anything to relieve the unnatural pressure. Other animals didn't suffer so; the sea turtle, for instance, has enough room it is skull to pack in a couple of kidneys as well.
"Everyone's quick to blame the alien."
AESCHYLUS
AESCHYLUS
Let’s focus on these little green fuckers to whom we are (allegedly) in debt; what were they like and what were their motives? Take a head trip into the realms of sci-fi, explore the extremes of possibility; three broad scenarios present themselves - alien visitors, human time travellers (us in a few years time, maybe), survivors of ancient civilisations. Apart from inexplicably advanced examples of prehistoric engineering their most impressive feat was (allegedly) to beneficially adjust our DNA. (But following the mapping of the human genome, be impressed no more.) Tinkering with our gene pool could have been to accelerate our development or to raise us to a level we wouldn’t have reached naturally. But why? Fringe speculation ranges from the creation of a slave race to the repopulation of the earth by a doomed super-race. The Bible alludes to physical lust; but as we were little more than monkeys, we can probably dismiss this as symbolic. As to their moral compass, even we draw the line at eugenics.
"To betray you must first belong."
HAROLD PHILBY - 'The Third Man''
HAROLD PHILBY - 'The Third Man''
And then disaster; these miraculous beings, having liberally bestowed their bounty and protection, not to mention having sowed their wild oats (allegedly), slip off on one of their regular excursions, this time never to return, no explanation, not even even a post-it note stuck on the fridge door, what a mind fuck! Wouldn't you feel abandoned, vulnerable, alone. Later you'd feel guilt (the universal legacy of the betrayed); you'd ask yourself what you had done that was so wrong to cause them to leave. Like a wronged and abandoned Dickensian lover you'd post-rationalise imaginative scenarios to explain events; and you'd mask your pain with displacement activity which would become increasingly meaningless and irrational, degenerating into neurotic ritualistic behavour as the generations rolled on. Finally there'd remain only the faintest distorted recollection of the causal events; but the emotions would be as vivid as ever, preserved as they are in the psycho drama of 'religion'.
"Pray, and let God worry."
MARTIN LUTHER
MARTIN LUTHER
But gods or no gods the essential demands of life must be met; things to do, mouths to feed, and your ongoing desire for their return eventually integrates with the day-to-day fabric of existence; becoming outwardly routine, ritualised, fetishistic. Sublimated into mundane activities the destructive effects of abandonment has entered your collective/race unconscious. The most pragmatic amongst you may even experience a sense of empowerment; logically if your behavour had caused them to leave, then a coresponding improvement in behaviour may cause them to return; or you may try tempting them back with the things you know they appreciate; or sacrificing something that they know you appreciate; making bargains with people who aren't there anymore implies either insanity or that remote communication is possible (or both) and that though physically absent these super-beings have the facility to engage in two-way communication and influence important life events - given the right conditions.
“History is more or less bunk”
HENRY FORD
HENRY FORD
In order for us get on with our lives, and yet not neglect the increasingly heavy demands of God appeasment, a sect of specialists develop. Initially this delegation is win, win - you don't have the hassle of appeasing powerful discarnate entities and their time is freed so that they can minimise your spiritual obligations. However in engaging in this pact you've inadvertently surrendered a significant chunk of personal power. As these duties become integrated into culture organisations are formed and practices become standardised and a priesthood is born. Inevitably this process doesn't go smoothly; there’s a few internecine events and eventually one cult comes out on top; the gods get thinned out over the millennia until there is only one left. Henry Ford would have been proud on two counts; you’re endorsing his belief in [1] job specialisation and [2] product simplification. You’ve arrived at a one-size-fits-all Model T God (which populated this world from the loins of his two errant children).
"By education most have been misled; So they believe, because they were bred. The priest continues where the nurse began, And thus the child imposes on the man."
JOHN DRYDEN
JOHN DRYDEN
It is the nature of cargo cults to be reactionary, to attempt to return to former times, better times, when the gods graced us with their presence. Elaborate 'don't be a stranger now' rituals are developed, worship (sycophantism by any other name) is formalised, schisms occur, then schisms of schisms and distortions and distortions, then political expediency would come into play, and then there’s mistranslations and misunderstandings, and disputes over who's version of the story is the most accurate, escalating into wars, millions die, and all because a bunch of irresponsible possibly even degenerate, aliens couldn't keep their sticky little (possibly even suckered) fingers of our womenfolk. All the impedimentia of religion, the ritual the architecture, the art, the massive financial resources, the literature, the organisational structure, is a hollow sham at best and at worse a cynical exploitative vehicle for venality and political expediency. And, enchanting though this scenario is, I wish it were as simple as that.
"Religion is to mysticism what popularization is to science."
HENRI BERGSON
HENRI BERGSON
Whilst the west (northern Europe; the Mediterranian basin; and laterly the Americas) has been dominated for centuries by the multiple aggressively antagonistic spin-off cargo cult sects there's another dynamic at work and this is no alien slight of hand; it really is, the real deal. It's mysticism. Mysticism works on the individual establishing a direct relationship with creation; how powerful is that! And it has nothing whatsoever to do with the shambolic cargo cult of 'religion'. Definition of religion: belief in, worship of, or obedience to a supernatural power or powers considered to be divine or to have control of human destiny. Any formal or institutionalized expression of such belief. Definition of mysticism: immediate consciousness of the transcendent or ultimate reality. The experience of such communion as described by mystics. A belief in the existence of realities beyond perceptual or intellectual apprehension that are central to being and directly accessible by subjective experience.
"The life of simplicity is simple, but it opens to us a book in which we never get beyond the first syllable.”
DAG HAMMARSKJOLD
DAG HAMMARSKJOLD
You'll have picked up, no doubt, on key words used to describe religion - belief, worship, supernatural, control, formal, institutionalized. Then move on to mysticism - consciousness, transcendent, reality, experience. To the mystic, who experiences transcendent consciousness, belief is both unnecessary and irrelevant and nothing absolutely nothing is supernatural. Many regard the terms 'religious' and 'mystical' as synonymous, others compare them to two faces of the same coin; in fact, although they have intertwined and overlaid each other each other they are totally distinct experiences. You can have a mystical experience from within the context of a religion; but you can also have a mystical experience without a religious context. You can have a mystical experience which directs you towards espousing a particular religion. But, and here's the important bit, you can have a mystical experience with no religious context or implication.
"If a man would follow, today, the teachings of the Old Testament, he would be a criminal. If he would follow strictly the teachings of the New, he would be insane."
ROBERT GREEN INGERSOL
ROBERT GREEN INGERSOL
It is the independence of the mystical experience from religious context that has caused institutional religious organisations to be suspicious, jealous and antagonistic. It's the 'not invented here' syndrone on a truly Biblical scale. Religious establishment (and for the majority of recent European history this has taken the form of the Roman Church) either attack, ridicule or suppress mysticism. And if aggression fails that they subtly absorb it and alter it to fit their credo. So, religion and mysticism are like two species of trees that have grown so close over millennia that they resemble one. But, for all their entwining, they are still two completely separate species of trees. Religion is simply a human institution fraudulently purporting to offer intercession on your behalf with an ineffable, all powerful creator; mysticism is what devolves from a direct communion with the source of creation. As such religion holds the potential to enslave; mysticism holds the potential to liberate.
“The farther west he went the more he was convinced that the wise men came from the east”
HORACE RUSSELL
HORACE RUSSELL
Whereas 'religion' is an artificial western construct, 'mysticism' is a global (maybe even universal) natural phenomenon which historically has been suppressed and subverted in the west. It is clear to see which of the world belief systems developed from Mysticism and which developed from religion - e.g. Christianity/religious, Buddhism/mystical. In fact it is a pretty clearly an east, west divide. The eastern populations are relatively tolerant of other's beliefs (or at least until Christianity and Islam spilled over into their 'hood) whereas a defining feature of western religion is the justification that it provides to bitch slap the fuck out of anyone who espouses even a slight variation of the accepted standard credo. This difference in attitude (compassionate east, intolerant west) makes eastern populations easy prey (or pray, take your pick) to conversion; tellingly, religious observance is declining rapidly in the west and is stable in the east.
"He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice."
ALBERT EINSTEIN
As most are aware the human brain cortex is arranged into functionally different left and right hemispheres; the left hemisphere has general control of the right side of the body and the left hemisphere controls the right side of the body . The right brain is intuitive, the seat of the mystical experience, the arts and poetry; the left brain is the seat of the religious experience, the intellect, mathematics and government. It is speculated that the animal/non human state is all right brain and that up to a certain point in human evolution we were all right-brainers. Our children are known to be exclusively right brained until around the age of eight when left brain characteristics develop. Maybe Yeshua Ben Yosef was councelling against left brain bias when he proclaimed "...unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3) Eastern religions can be characterised as having a right brain bias; whereas western Christianity appears predominantly left brain biased.
ALBERT EINSTEIN
As most are aware the human brain cortex is arranged into functionally different left and right hemispheres; the left hemisphere has general control of the right side of the body and the left hemisphere controls the right side of the body . The right brain is intuitive, the seat of the mystical experience, the arts and poetry; the left brain is the seat of the religious experience, the intellect, mathematics and government. It is speculated that the animal/non human state is all right brain and that up to a certain point in human evolution we were all right-brainers. Our children are known to be exclusively right brained until around the age of eight when left brain characteristics develop. Maybe Yeshua Ben Yosef was councelling against left brain bias when he proclaimed "...unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3) Eastern religions can be characterised as having a right brain bias; whereas western Christianity appears predominantly left brain biased.
"I don't laugh at people any more when they say they've seen UFOs. I've seen one myself!"
JIMMY CARTER
JIMMY CARTER
Such speculation can only be an exercise in creative speculation, however evidence of just such an ancient encounter with E.T. does exist. Read the Old Testament with the Cargo Cult in mind; and you could move on to other ancient sources - the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Sumarian Epic of Gilgamesh - it's very convincing. But then the second mystery; as suddenly as they seem to have appeared these impressively advanced 'aliens' disappeared from the historical record; and leaving quite a considerable mess in their wake I might add. Scraps of partially understood knowledge, remnants of discarded technology, even rogue DNA was bequeathed to the 'natives' as their on-going legacy. Who knows where these 'gods' came from; some speculate that they were of extraterrestrial in origin, even time travelers, or simply a vastly more advanced (by the simple standards of the time) indigenous race which didn't survive some global or even local cataclysm (of which there are many candidates).
"If quantum mechanics hasn't profoundly shocked you, you haven't understood it yet."
NIELS BOHR
NIELS BOHR
The 20th century witnessed the reemergence of mysticism, and from the most unlikely source - science. As classical, deterministic 'Newtonian' physics gave way to quantum theory, unlikely though it seems, physicists began recording mystical experiences. The new sciences of the very, very small (quantum physics) and the very, very big (astrophysics) had moved the normally pragmatic practitioners of these strictly evidence based disciplines very, very much closer to a credible concept of God than all the religions of the day combined. And no one was more surprised than they. The 'counter-intuitive' discoveries of quantum mechanics had begun to sound eerily similar the mystical God which 'passeth all understanding'; with one essential difference - what the mystics accepted as a matter of faith the scientists could now prove. For the very first time mysticism had a practical application and much of the advanced technology of our day is based on mystical principles.
"Quantum physics thus reveals a basic oneness of the universe."
ERWIN SCHRODINGER
ERWIN SCHRODINGER
The great 'revelation' of modern science is that far from having evolved through random processes - a mere by-product of grease trapped in the cogs of a mechanical universe - mankind is an essential component of creation; without which the universe could not have come into existence. The term 'observer dependent universe' began to be quoted. Now that's something to really shout about; western religions, however, have been suspiciously quiet on the subject. We all know what they're knee jerk reaction would have been a few centuries ago; the air would have been acrid with the aroma of spit-roast scientist. To the great chagrin of western religion science has emphatically proved it's worth by materially enhancing our day-to-day existence and we aren't about to burn the hand that feeds us. Significantly western scientists began quoting extensively from eastern mystics in attempts to explain the profundity of their discoveries.
"In every country and every age, the priest had been hostile to Liberty."
THOMAS JEFFERSON
THOMAS JEFFERSON
I've saved the worst 'till last. The most shocking example of the religious abuse of a mystic is, ironically, the Catholic Church. Pauline Christianity (Roman - the name tells all - Catholocism, and pretty much all of its spin-offs) are 2,000 year old aboration based on the gross distortion of the revolutionary and humane creed of a young Jewish rabbi who clearly experienced profound mystical revelation. Ever wondered how a church perportedly basing its teaching on a pascivist role model who espoused poverty and charity can advocate the genocide of the Inquisition, can instigate the Crucades and enforce practices which ensure the spread of HIV/AIDS, can preach morality whilst sweeping their own sordid transgressions under the carpet, can amass vast wealth and house themselves in palaces whilst the poor starve? The religious hijack of the identity of the mystic Yoshua is the biggest con trick in recorded history. This is what happens when a cargo cult turns bad.
“Erão os Deuses Astronautas?”
ERICH VON DANIKEN
ERICH VON DANIKEN
Of course the majority of the above is unoriginal (except the rather insightful cargo cult analogy; I'm deffo laying claim to that) just reread your Erich Von Daniken et al. But even 'Chariot of the Gods' (1968) was pipped to the post. A series of episodes of The Flintstones (1965) featured a rogue alien who intervened with life on the planet. While Fred and Barney are out on the road, a meteor crashes to Earth and barely misses Fred's car. The meteor turns out to be a spacecraft containing a little green man named Gazoo who has been banished to earth and now must serve Fred and Barney; so this green smart-alikey two-foot high alien grants their every wish, but there's, one catch, only those two can see him. An evening out at an expensive restaurant, supposedly with Gazoo treating, becomes a nightmare as the alien disappears, leaving the Flintstones and the Rubbles to wash dishes to pay for the food. And we've been metaphorically washing up dishes ever since! (You Tube clip at foot of page.)
W A I T I N G F O R J O H N F R U M
‘Cargo Cults’ originated in the Micronesian and Melanesian regions of the Pacific Ocean during the 19th Century when the tribal peoples native to these areas first met Westerners in the form of explorers and missionaries. The residents of these islands were fascinated by the supply ships that accompanied their visitors and the constant flow of goods that the ships continued to bring for the new arrivals.
With the outbreak of the Second World War the islanders saw a huge influx of Japanese and American combatants arrive in the area, bringing with them massive amounts of supplies, establishing ports and airstrips to ensure a stream of materials and using radios to coordinate the delivery. At the end of the war these ports and airstrips were abandoned, along with the military bases they supported and the stream of supplies stopped.
Trying to attract further deliveries and continue the flow of these goods to the islands the residents began to practice ritualistic exercises designed to mimic the actions of the servicemen that they felt had caused the materials to appear.They built crude landing strips and models of aircraft and radio equipment and imitated the actions they had seen the soldiers engage in to cause the deliveries.
This involved parade ground drills with abandoned rifles or copies made from wood, carving out headphones from wood to be used in replica control towers and waving in planes on the runway using the landing signals they had seen the airmen use.Interestingly, the majority of the cargo cults based their designs and actions on the American servicemen they had seen.
It is believed that this is due to the fact that, while both sets of soldiers had initially shared their supplies with the natives, the relationship between the Japanese soldiers and the islanders deteriorated rapidly.One of the most popular of the cargo cults was that of ‘John Frum’, a charismatic figure from the island of Tanna in Vanuatu.
This originated in the 1930's and was initially established to drive out Westerners. A native in a Western coat began visiting villages in the area and proclaimed that if the people of Tanna rejected the European practices (like money, Christianity and the export of their goods) and embraced traditional ‘kastom’ (customs) he would lead them in forcing out the Westerners and securing their material wealth for the locals.
In 1941 the followers of John Frum rid themselves of their money in a blitz of spending, removed themselves from the missionary schools, churches and plantations and moved into the centre of the island to dedicate themselves to traditional feasts and rituals.The Europeans sought to suppress the movement and eventually arrested and exiled Frum but the enterprise survived and developed into a cargo cult during the Second World War.
By the 1950's this evolved into an organisation called the ‘Tanna-Army’, a ritualistic group that organised military-style parades and wore t-shirts proclaiming themselves to be ‘T-A USA’or the ‘Tanna Army of the USA’.This group is still active today and celebrate ‘John Frum Day’ on February 15th each year with a parade as they believe that Frum will return to lead them on the 15th of February.
They just don’t know what year...The Yaohnanen tribe of Tanna also believed that John Frum had a brother, a divine being, who had travelled over the seas to a distant land and had married a powerful lady who had made him a King.During the 1950's Yaohnanen met up with British colonial officials and were told about their Queen, Elizabeth II.
The tribesmen were excited by the news of this woman from a distant land who had the power to send men around the world in her name. They asked if she was married and were informed of the existence of Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh.The tribal leaders were convinced that this must be the brother of John Frum who had left them to seek his fortune and told the colonial officials their story.
They also established the ritual worship of Prince Phillip at this time, although the form it took is unclear.The Royal couple visited Vanuatu in 1974 but were unaware of the cult at this point.After the visit the tribal leaders informed the British Colonial Office of their beliefs and asked that the Prince be informed.
The British Resident Commisioner relayed this back to London and suggested the Prince might like to send a portrait of himself to the islanders. A signed photograph was duly sent and in return the tribal leaders sent Prince Phillip a Nal-Nal club, a traditional weapon of the Yaohnanen people. Prince Phillip then sent back another photograph, this time showing him posing with his new club.
In 2007 a delegation of Tanna natives visited the UK. They met privately and exchanged gifts. The Prince’s gifts to the Yaohnanen people included a new photograph which was taken back to Tanna to be kept with their other pictures of Prince Phillip, the only focus for their worship until John Frum’s brother returns...