Bohemian Grove

Bohemian Grove is a 2700 acre (11 km²) campground located in Monte Rio, California belonging to a private San Francisco-based men's fine arts club known as the Bohemian Club, which was founded in 1872. The club's membership includes many artists, particularly musicians, as well as many high-ranking business leaders and government officials.

Symbolism and rituals

Since the founding of the club, the Bohemian Grove's symbol has been the owl, long held as a representative of wisdom. A forty-foot concrete owl stands at the head of the lake in the Grove and, since 1929, has served as the site of the yearly "Cremation of Care" ceremony (see below). The club's motto, Weaving Spiders Come Not Here, is taken from the second scene of Act 2 from A Midsummer Night's Dream; it signifies that the club and the grove are not for conducting business, but exchanging friendship and free sharing of common passion, summarised in the term, "the Bohemian Spirit."

Related Topics:
Owl - Wisdom - 1929 - A Midsummer Night's Dream

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Cremation of Care

The Cremation of Care was devised in 1893 by a member named Joseph D. Redding, a lawyer from New York. The New York Times described the show in a June 25, 1899 article:

Related Topics:
Cremation of Care - 1893 - New York - New York Times - June 25 - 1899

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:"Great attention was paid to all the details, and the Druid priests who figured prominently in the show bore all the insignia of their order on their vestments. Over 500 persons figured in the spectacle, and electric and calcium lights were used to illuminate the tableaus. There was a symphony orchestra and a grand chorus. A Druids' altar and sacrificial stone lent an air of realism to the scenes. Mr. Redding served as High Priest of Bohemia. Then came a procession of eight Druid priests bearing six chained captives-- a Gaul, a Celt, a Roman, a barbarian, and two men from the Far North. Each captive was in costume and each in turn pleaded his cause before the assembly, but was condemned to death. Only the Gaul, who represented Bohemia, was able to make a defense that lifted the sentence from the heads of the captives. A loving cup was then drunk by Druids, captives, and Bohemians. Mephisto and a number of devils rushed in and attempted to rescue Care from the catafalque. The devil made an impassioned address, saying that goodfellowship was a mockery and that care could not be banished. Then the Druid leader drove them into the woods with a lighted torch, which he at once applied to the funeral pyre. After this came the low jinks, a species of amateur minstrel show. Then the Bohemians retired to their tents and to such sleep as the wags and practical jokers of the club permitted them to take."

Related Topics:
Druid - Bohemia - Gaul - Celt - Roman - Mephisto - Minstrel

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Today, the ritual consists of hooded members accepting an effigy representing "dull care" from a ferryman traveling across a creek. Music and fireworks accompany the ritual, for dramatic effect. The mock human sacrifice is placed on an altar and set on fire. The ritual represents the act of embracing the revelry of Bohemian Grove while setting aside the "dull cares" of the outside world.

Related Topics:
Effigy - Fireworks - Fire

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On July 15, 2000, Alex Jones (journalist) and Mike Hanson covertly infiltrated the Grove with two hidden video cameras and filmed the Cremation of Care ritual.http://www.archive.org/details/DSIBG

Related Topics:
July 15 - 2000 - Alex Jones (journalist) - Mike Hanson - Cremation of Care

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