Tom Horn, Who Cares?

Turning now back to our previously scheduled nonsense, we open Tom Horn’s Apollyon Rising to pages 51-2, where he goes on for a bit about an allegedly pagan ceremony in which a lot of big honchos took part, what he calls an “astonishing ritual,” and “occultism…carried out under the cover of darkness by the world’s most powerful and respected leaders.” He also asks, “Does this not cause reasonable people to question what other sorcery is occurring behind the veil?”

From this you’d think they caught Jimmy Carter performing an Aztec sacrifice with Ronald Reagan’s bloody heart in his hand, but what they discuss isn’t anything near that. And though it is done at night when it is dark, it is hardly a secret, much less an occult ritual.

Basically, there’s this sort of resort called the Bohemian Grove which is kind of like a California version of Camp David, where people with big names, especially political people, go to relax. At this camp, they have a sort of ceremony called the “Cremation of Care” where an effigy called “Dull Care” is cremated beneath a huge statue of an owl (the camp’s mascot).

Horn says that this is “for the purpose of magically alleviating the cares and concerns of the elitists making the sacrifice,” but news flash – this is no more “magical” than one of those goofy seminar tricks where you put on an Abe Lincoln hat and a sign that says HONESTY. What makes Horn all kooky about this one is that he has bought lock, stock, and lunacy into this notion held by equally-loony radio host Alex Jones, that this was some sort of re-enactment of a Caananite ritual. Not that Jones is any kind of expert on ancient Canaanite rituals, but I imagine one could find a resemblance as long as you squinted real hard, stood on one leg, and put Acharya S on your research panel. 

Nor is this event any dark secret. Horn claims that Americans were “not aware” of this ritual until Jones snuck into the Grove and filmed it, but you can plainly find it referenced in 1975 book, The Bohemian Grove and Other Retreats: a Study in Ruling-class Cohesiveness. There is even a 1918 book, The Grove Plays of the Bohemian Club, produced by the club itself, which tells of the origins of the ceremony – in 1880. You can also find it described in the 2008 book Conspiracy Theories and Secret Societies for Dummies. I’ll resist the urge to say that’s a highly recommended book for Horn and his followers.

So while this Cremation of Care ceremony is pretty goofy-- it strikes me as the sort of thing some extroverts do to get in the mood for whatever it is they like to do -- it’s no goofier than the Fred Flintstone putting a buffalo skin on his head, or, as noted, what might go on at a seminar these days.  It’s not sorcery, and it isn’t a sacrificial ritual. It’s just goofy.

You know...kind of like Tom Horn.