The Sky Gods, Formality, and Medievalism

Undisputed Cosplay Champions

Courtly manners and regalia are artifacts of a bygone era that barely survive in modern times. From a modern's point-of-view, courtly formalism and dress are ridiculous. Fancy dress and ritualistic manners were designed to elicit awe and admiration, and they do still get that from some people, however popes and queens prancing around in their costumes seem more like tax-funded cosplay enthusiasts than figures worthy of admiration.

Only a small group of contemporary political figures claims blood descent from the sky gods. A handful of political figures retain protection from ridicule and force genuflection with lese majeste laws. Other political figures like the popes, make more or less vigorous claims about representing the sky gods on earth. In most of the world, though, such claims of divinity or divine agency are mocked.

By aping the formalism and fancy dress of the political courts of old and the religious garb of popes or kings and queens, and by being like the sky gods, rather than forcing belief through laws or customs, celebrities show how it works for the political figures and religious figures. The celebrities glitter and shine. They are raised on high. Crowds of admirers look up at them in awe. They stroll along an ecliptic like red carpet and look out at the wilderness where the lowly normals live in the dark.

Celebrity in Fancy Dress and a Crown

Their images stare out at us while we wait in line at the grocery store checkout. These figures act as a conduit between the world of archetypes and this material plane. Insofar as they are capable of channeling archetypes the celebrities hold peoples attention. They serve as a placeholder for ideas that are programmed into us. And once they can't hold people's attention, an interchangeable replacement is found.

Modern western political figures and their enablers in the media use more subtle cues to excite people's adoration and veneration. In the image below, for example, John Kerry is shown standing in front of a chandelier wearing a blue tie and white shirt. This particular composition is common for political figures in the western world--it's especially common in Reuters and AP photos. This imagery evokes the sky and associates glad handing political parasites with the sky gods.

John Kerry and Lights

The persistence and effectiveness of these methods of aggrandizement shows that the dark ages are always with us. It would not be very difficult for charlatans and tyrants to rise up on the shoulders of worshipful crowd and snuff out freedom in the western world.