#I don't know anything about second coming-biblical lore

[linda-with-an-i]

[midnightactual]

I don't know if you're kept up with the anime adaptation or not, but can I ask if you have any opinions on the new "lore" drops?

I don't watch the anime, but I hear some things, so I'll offer some thoughts:

First, I find it utterly hilarious that the people who, for 20 years, have said the anime is not canon, are now suddenly acting like it is, when it still isn't; and no, Kubo's involvement does not change that. People who think that when an author retcons, it isn't a retcon, or that an author cannot write their characters out of character, are inherently and literally authoritarian-minded bootlickers incapable of thinking for themselves.

Second, I adhere to something like the old canonicity ranking system for Star Wars. The manga is the highest canonicity, then the novels, then Klub Outside answers, and far away is the anime, then the movies, then games. So, to me, Kubo's involvement with the anime doesn't mean anything except when it doesn't contradict with things that were already known.

Third, I will assume this is about Yhwach, and I will take this opportunity to go off on my own rant. This morning I saw this:

And I honestly have to ask: why as a group are Bleach fans the dumbest shōnen fans that there ever have been? This guy's entire argument is impossibly stupid primae facie. Let's review. Chapter 565:

We are told, by the narrator, not by same fallible character, that YHWH was a name given to Yhwach by the people around him, not one that he picked out himself, and was given in honor of the god of those people. This pretty clearly suggests Yhwach was around Jews who were using the Tetragrammaton.

(This makes Yhwach's connections with Nazi Germany, through having a unit named the Schutzstaffel, extremely icky, but I don't think Kubo really knows much about WW2 in general or the Holocaust in particular, and I don't think this was deliberate.)

The point is, though, Yhwach didn't pick the name YHWH, and doesn't feel any connection with it. So the argument by "The Senpai" that maybe he has some relation to the Soul King, who was named Adnyeus, which comes from Adonai, on the basis of his name, is complete nonsense.

Because that's not Yhwach's name. In fact, his name isn't YHWH, or Ywhach, or Yūhabahha, and anyone saying the last (like "The Senpai") is an idiot because that's not how katakana works. Katakana are for rendering foreign words into a format that is workable to Japanese people. If you aren't Japanese, or don't have a thick Japanese accent, you shouldn't be pronouncing things per their katakana reading.

His name is ユーハバッハ. Knowing that he speaks German, we can therefore determine what his real name is.

ユーハ is either a stylistic rendition of Johan (normally ヨハン) or it's Juch as in Juchheim as in Karl Juchheim, a guy who introduced baumkuchen cake to Japan. You can see this by flipping his Wikipedia page to Japanese, where his surname is given as ユーハイム.

バッハ is Bach, as in Johann Sebastian Bach. You can again see this by flipping his Wikipedia page to Japanese.

Yhwach's real name is either Juch Bach or Johan Bach.

Now, I hate to tell "The Senpai" and everyone else this, but German wasn't around 2,000 years ago, let alone 10,000 or more years ago, and has nothing to do with anything Biblical. I will also note that "The Senpai" got it wrong in that Yhwach was not around 2,000 years ago anyway. Chapter 631:

We first hear of him from Bazz-B's flashback as having been active for maybe 200 years, which puts him as active around 600-700 AD at the earliest. The "progenitor" of the Quincies" thing is clearly wrong, because chapter 632:

Quincy like Jugram were born every few decades, until a few centuries ago—when Yhwach was born. So the Quincy long predate Yhwach. We know this also from Pernida having "always been a Quincy".

So, the Yhwach present with the Soul King in the primordial sea or whatever, is most likely a visual literary allusion, not a concrete entity that has existed this entire time. Why? Because that would contradict a higher tier of canon—the manga. And not just Bazz-B, a fallible character, but the narrator of the manga.

We also know stuff can occur in Bleach in a nonlinear way with regard to time. We know this because of interacting with the Kōtotsu sending people back in time:

We know this because Ichibē can steal energy from the future:

And we know this because Ichibē named Bankai thousands of years ago, using a meaning for a kanji that wouldn't come about until the 1990s as teen girl slang, and even he still doesn't fully understand why he himself named it that:

So in other words, the Yhwach that you see in that anime-only scene, based on everything that exists in the manga, is a kind of premonition or manifestation of Yhwach from outside of time. It does not mean he has always been around. That is the only thing that squares with all the actual lore.

Everyone rushing to assume new contradictions is a fool who has no actual respect for the lore that we have already been given, and apparently has no way of properly contextualizing it.

I'll spell it out very simply: if the anime contradicts manga narration, then the anime is once again its own timeline. The manga is the original work, and the anime doesn't 'patch' it; it's not software. The manga is the overriding correct take. If the anime retcons, then it's either wrong or it makes a new continuity: so either anime-only scenes must be squared with the manga's authoritative stance, or it must be accepted that the anime has nothing to do with the manga. One or the other must be picked. Anyone who doesn't understand this must either be new to media analysis, or is just media illiterate.

So, just like fake fans rushed out to say Ichibē was lying about the Soul King's binding, when that scene was 100% consistent with what Ichibē said in CFYOW, I think this is another instance of fake fans misinterpreting a scene. Yhwach's origins were given in the manga. What are the odds the anime comes up with a completely different origin for him? Low. And if it does, it's anime-only.

[sir-subpar]

Redesigning/Reimagining Hazbin's Characters-1 (Charlie)

I tried y'all, I really did, but I didn't have much to work with. Sorry about the cut off, the shoes did not go as planned.

So- How'd I do? Tell me your thoughts!

(I'll go in depth under the cut)

Okay, so, where to begin..

Well, first, I'll start by stating the obvious.

I don't like Charlie's design. If you like it, fair enough, but it's just not working for me.

There's thr usual problem of- you guessed it- Too. Much. Red.

Red eyes, red background, red details, red clothing, red cheeks, red Bang style, red under sleeves (even though the shirt is supposedly White when you look at the chest area, but then you see around her wrist and it's a dark red for no reason. I'm willing to bet that the animators just forgot which color goes where because the color palette is just red, pink, white, and black. Over and over again.

Next: I get that she's supposed to be bubbly, and happy-go-lucky, all that stuff. But to be honest, I feel like it would be more interesting if she actually wasn't that nice.

I feel like one thing that would be fascinating is the idea that she wants to help people, but she's out of touch. She's one of the most powerful things in Hell after all. She doesn't understand the point of the lower class People. Plus, she's never been out of hell, she doesn't know what Earth is like, or what heaven is like.

I feel like a version of her where she is trying to do good, but is ruthless or harsh in the way she does it, could both be entertaining- and provide character devolopement as she learns how nuanced proper care is.

Also, if she's the second / third most powerful thing in hell, she shouldn't be scared of Alastor. I don't mean that he can't be in the series or anything, I feel like there would still be plenty of uses for him. But with her being a high class royal, and as powerful as she is, she shouldn't need to rely on him for his power or his money for that matter.

I understand the idea that maybe Lucifer Cut Her Off from funding because he basically disowned her or whatever, so maybe funding could be an issue, but even so, she should not be afraid of Alastor.

I like the idea that she intimidated people into going into her hotel so she could "fix" them, not realizing that the fear of her wrath is the only thing keeping people there.

Or maybe the whole hotel thing could be an act of defiance against her father fitting, as "history repeats itself" (referencing Lucifer's defiance of God in biblical lore)

Perhaps she does good things, but isn't all that nice to begin with. But she attempts to be friendly and relatable without understanding how to ACTUALLY relate to or approach others.

How does all of this tie into my design of her?

A few things:

1. Viv said at some point that Charlie was meant to look like a porcelain doll, which... She doesn't look like at all. (I do like her new ponytail. But other than that I don't like the design.)

To me, she just looks like Ellen DeGeneres with long hair and clown makeup.

Don't believe me? Look:

So, I made her more doll-like. But it wasn't enough. It was too simple.

Then, it hit me: in a lot of movies with demons or ghosts, oftentimes a doll gets possessed by said demon/ghost.

I'm not even afraid of dolls personally, but I know a lot of people who are

So What if, Charlie did the same? Maybe her true form is something really scary, so in an attempt to come across as more approachable, she has some sort of doll-like shell? (But, unbeknownst to her, most people are very afraid of dolls. So it does very little to actually help. I think that's some decent comedy potential.

Plus, imagine her having stiff or janky movements, like she doesn't actually fit that well in her body.

It's all appearances

2. The horns.

I actually kind of liked her weird demonic form, at least I liked the horns and the moving hair, but since I decided not to give her a crown, I gave her those weird 4 horns with decorative string tied between them, as a way to make it appear *similar* to a crown. Plus as a reference to the whole 'demonic' thing

I kind of used Sofia from "Harmony and Horror" as a reference. (Btw, great analogue horror series on YouTube, highly recommend it)

3. I did make Charlie's hair a bit darker, but just a little. That was in reference to part of Lucifer's lore, which said that when he fell from heaven, not only did his feathery angel wings burn away into bat wings, but his once golden hair burned into a dark red. So I decided that for Charlie, her hair is darker, but since she's trying to do good, it turns lighter.

But yeah, I'm honestly not sure about her outfit, I'm probably going to experiment with that in the future. But overall I'm okay with how this turned out.

It took me a few times, as you can see here:

[leilavin0]

Can you talk about Cain's wives and kid(s) I think it's really cool you made Aclima and Awan different people when from what I've seen they're supposed to be the same person also who's Enoch's mom. And how does Leviathan handle the knowledge he's a sorta stepdad lol

[ you're right - awan and aclima are technically the same person as per biblical lore, but i read somewhere that one was promised to cain and the other to abel and after killing abel, cain took his wife to care for as well.

i really liked the idea, thinking about cain finding one of them (aclima) on his journey during his exile, and then coming across the other (awan).

i like the idea of several myths of creation existing at the same time, just in different corners of the world, so aclima and awan would not be adam's seed (even thought by biblical lore, aclima is cain's twin sister - i don't mind the lore, just thought it's more fun if they are from other myths of creation!)

even more than that - awan and aclima are not even human, but fallen angels that were given a second chance on earth (nephilim), their memories of their existence as angels completely wiped and their bodies bound to corporeal, mortal forms.

both women were dependent on cain during their journey and until they have settled down to create a small civilization, and he was dependent on them to cultivate the land with his knowledge (as he was cursed to have everything die in his hands, subverted in hell).

cain wasn't even sure he was able to sire children since only his father did that, and if he can't grow plants anymore, he most definitely wouldn't be able to give his wives children.

or so he thought.

they had many children, one of the first documented ones, and his eldest was enoch (not to be confused with seth's enoch) whom he loved more than life itself, made with awan.

their village grew as more and more humans stumbled into it, living and procreating, and fighting and prospering together.

it was a shame that cain's own great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson ended up killing him (by accident), confusing him for a wild animal (that's what you get for being so old you end up blind as a bat and decide to fuck around in the woods lmao), causing aclima succumb to death due to heartbreak and awan following suit when she fell asleep and passed on.

leviathan doesn't have to worry about being a stepdad as the entirety of cain's bloodline was wiped out, not even reaching hell. the only ones who remained and ascended to heaven were awan and aclima, who were pure and righteous during their entire lives, who loved only one man and their children and who still wait for cain to join them in heaven - this time forever.

i hope i answered well, let me know if there's anything specific you'd like to know! ]

[fernsandsunflowers]

You guys want to hear my heavily Adhd fuelled bat shit crazy theory on what might have happened to God or how we might start to find them? Because it's a whole ass journey and I'm in the car now so might as well just see where the road takes me you know.

just bear with me OK.

A close friend of mine finally finished season 2 and we were theorizing. And while talking about all the very many things that were left open ended, she brings up Gabriel's prophecy. And I realize that shit Neil Gaiman you sly fox you had me actually forget that there was an entire prophecy!

So I start thinking of all the ways that someone could have actually made me, a person that loves spending an inexcusable amount of time dissecting anything that is even remotely prophetic, forget that it even happened. And I think, it was may be because the first and last (third) moments of real memory that Gabriel had are addressed and seemingly resolved soon after. So the second one, the middle child if you will, is kinda forgotten. So, after google searches trying to see if there are any theories out there about Gabriel's prophecy (because I haven't come across any on tumblr?? if there are theories out there please send them my way!) I decide to take matters into my own hands and go back into the episode. Then I noticed something and then something else and now I've rewatched all three moments several times and I was writing a post here comparing them when monkey brain started to make wilder connections and now here we are and I just need to get it out.

First Memory:

Gabriel 'quotes' God. Soon after Gabriel says those words Crowley says hey wasn't that what God said to Job and then we jump into the Job memory where we hear God say those words, albeit slightly different. God poses the sentence as a question, while Gabriel says it in the first person.

Things to note about this memory :

Gabriel's Purple eyes return.

You hear God's voice overlay-ed over Gabriel's

Not do you remember the morning stars..?, I remember the....

Gabriel is in a lot of pain, remembering hurts his brain.

He says "I can't remember those things, my head isn't big enough, not anymore".

The memory comes after he is pushed by Crowley to remember. This little point is not entirely relevant more just me continuing to die on the Crowley is Lucifer hill: I think it's significant that it was this particular line that was quoted and it was triggered right after Crowley asked "what is the very first thing you remember" and not when Aziraphale asked Gabriel the exact same question. and the line happened to have the phrase 'morning stars'.

Second "Memory":

Not a memory but a prophecy with a little drop of memory at the end.

"There will come a tempest. and darkness and great storms. and the dead will leave their graves and walk the earth once more. And there will be great lamentations. Everyday it's getting closer."

I don't know a lot of biblical lore but some of the word choices used are very significant and directly refers to moments of judgement and reckoning and the second coming. Tempest and great storms is maybe referencing Noah; the dead will leave their graves - the second coming? and then great lamentations - from the book of lamentations, ie destruction of Jerusalem - also a judgement day type situation right? Dissecting this prophecy was the entire reason I started on this but I've gone off-track now. If anyone does have more detailed theories on this though I am so interested!

[very sneaky to end the prophecy with everyday it's getting closer - a drop of something Gabriel - because that could be referencing just the second coming getting closer AND also be a little something that will help us slightly dismiss it. Because it puts the audience back in the mindset of the song and hey the song get's addressed right - what was the other stuff Gabriel was saying, eh it's probably not important]

Things to note about this moment:

Purple eyes

God's voice overlay

This is the only time Gabriel goes into this zone pre getting his memories back where he is not pushed into remembering. Crowley simply says the word 'tempest' and it triggers purple eyed god voiced Gabriel.

Gabriel is not in pain. He does not say it hurts to remember.

He also doesn't seem to know what happened : When he comes out of it, he seems to switch back into his body almost but not quite. He shakes his head a little and looks somewhat confused both by his surroundings and by Crowley standing in front of and staring. And in that same state of confusion he asks "who am I? What's happened to me?". And in theme of this season immediately after he says that, something flashy and distracting happens, this time in the form of Shax knocking on the window. And very suspiciously, in my opinion, the camera never shifts back to Gabriel again. We go from Shax at window to Crowley's reaction to Shax and then camera stays on Crowley and follows him out the door. We only see Gabriel again once Crowley returns to the bookshop. And Gabriel is back to testing Gravity.

Third Memory

This one is less 'violent'? in terms of Gabriel remembering. And everything Gabriel says is addressed in the next episode. He says his memory is in a matchbox, no he took it out and put it in a box and now it's... everywhere. He remembers the institutional problem bit. All these things come back and happen as he says and so again, the middle child is neglected.

But let's look at some things to note:

No purple eyes this time or God voice overlay

Continued references to it being painful to remember

He is like an empty house, something that once contained something

He is, essentially in this case, asked the right question by Crowley, a question direct enough that he can give a straight answer.

But the only thing that doesn't quite make sense is that when Crowley asks where are your memories now? Gabriel says 'Everywhere'. Which strikes me as a really odd thing to say about a fly. Even if it is the only thing that's not bound by gravity.

So what is my extremely taken liberties and am I high??? theory you ask?

It was not Gabriel that responded to Crowley - It was God or some part of them that is somehow contained within Gabriel (without his knowledge).

I did warn you this was insane.

It was not Do you remember the morning stars, but I remember the morning stars. And you hear their voice saying it. It strikes me as extremely odd that Gabriel would describe a memory that is supposedly his, that is supposedly his first memory using God's words. He even refers back to it during the conversation he has with Crowley in the third memory (where he remembers putting his memories in a matchbox). He says "like when I remembered how it all began" - but why would he have used that exact phrasing when he wasn't there to hear what God said to Job? Only Crowley and Aziraphale were there.

The prophecy moment was completely weird and Gabriel was not even Jim in that moment. By this point Gabriel was very decidedly inhabiting the roll of Jim - book shop assistant who is sometimes called Gabriel. And by this point he is also somewhat aware or had accepted that he was once this person called Gabriel. So why does he look so lost in that moment - like he wasn't Jim or Gabriel? Who am I? What has happened to me? Could it be someone else also inhabiting the body of Jim, sometimes called Gabriel???

He says an "empty house", a house can contain things, many things. We know that living things can be containers. If a fly can contain something as expansive and large as the memory of a supreme archangel and still be a fly; why wouldn't a supreme archangel be able to also hold the memory of God? or at least some of the memories of God? "my head isn't big enough, not anymore". That is such an odd thing to say. Because it didn't make sense I kept rationalizing it for some reason as Gabriel being human now so his head isn't big enough to contain or recall the memories of an angel. But that's ridiculous and completely wrong, obviously. He's still an angel, he just doesn't have his memory. So if his head (his house) is now empty, they how could it be too small to remember things?

Unless there was something else taking up space?

Where is your memory now? Everywhere. I know this this scene had no God voice, but 'my head is too big', and 'who am I, what's happened to me' all are said by Jim!Gabriel. Normal eyed. Everywhere is just again a thing that doesn't quite make sense in context. But what if that was again not in reference to the fly, but rather in reference to God. That their memory was... everywhere? Scattered for some reason or the other throughout the earth, in different beings, in angels or humans or flies even.

If God or a portion of God's memory is in Gabriel then Gabriel not being present in his own head would allow another's memory space to, I don't know... answer questions?

It's honestly probably doesn't make any sense but hey what a concept right lol if you made it all the way here thank you!

Also just a random little note, I thought it was just interesting that it was Crowley that was involved with any real leads on Gabriel's memory. Not just finding the files and figuring out he wrote a note on the box - but every time Gabriel had any real burts of memory or gave any real answers it was when Crowley asked and not when Aziraphale asked. I don't know if it was just pure coincidence but I just thought it was something of note!

k byyyyyeeeeeee

[emmys-grimoire]

I don’t know if you have this one card but I found it rather interesting as it manages to give Solomon more depth. So I wanted to share it with you.

This is the Devilgram story by the way.

Anyways it basically goes that Solomon wants to create a box where anyone who is in it can only get out if they tell the truth. He enlists MC’s help to draw it, but lo and behold as always, both manage to get trapped inside of it. So they try to tell the truth about something they’ve previously lied about.

Solomon says he lied just the other day by giving Asmo a vague answer when He asked for his fortune to be read.

MC’s prompt are between having previously lied about a test that wasn’t easy or complimenting someone’s cooking they didn’t like. Let me tell you, the second was funny because finally we get to tell Solomon his cooking is bad. But I felt so bad choosing it since Solomon responds as such…

Yet this isn’t enough to get them out because MC helped, so the spell ended up changing. Now Solomon and Mc need to reveal a secret about themselves in order to escape the box. Leading us to be able to choose out of 3 prompts to ask Solomon.

• Does Solomon have a partner?

• When is Solomon’s birthday? December 9.

• What is something he hasn’t told anyone?

But let’s backtrack a bit.

All the way to Solomon’s profile.

It clearly states Solomon dislikes the ocean. I forget if it was on your blog or on Tumblr, but I remember someone posted once that the reason Solomon could hate the ocean is due to having one of his rings thrown into it. And so he had to search for it in order to find it.

But despite that possibly being the reason, or having such a bad experience with the ocean, this great magician still took the time to research the ocean. Enough to publish a book about fish habitats.

That’s dedication right there.

I wonder if this will be brought up again in the main story, since the only instance was Solomon trying to make a pact with Lucifer. And did Solomon ever find this ring?

Obviously I don’t expect that to happen this season as it’s meant to revolve around the 3 new transfer students….unless Thirteen has it 👀???

Anyways! I apologize this got so long and if you did already read this Devilgram story. But I found this to be interesting and kind of wholesome. Thank you for taking the time to read this if/when you did~

Take care and have a good day/evening.

I have this devil gram in my collection, but I appreciate you giving me your thoughts. It is a good Solomon lore dive.

There's a point back in season 3 when a drunken Asmodeus tells Solomon his cooking is not just terrible but it also comes with negative magical properties, and Solomon seems genuinely hurt by the comment. He asks Simeon to teach him but the lessons don't seem to stick. He's back to trying to cook in the cafe a few lessons later. It seems he's sincere in his desire to share his cooking with everyone, but he's not apt to get any better at it.

Solomon still has his ring (the Ring of Wisdom). He uses its animal-speaking powers in multiple devilgrams and in a couple events. We don't know if the OM canon is 100% identical to the biblical story (My guess? Probably not. Asmo revealed he and Solomon met when the former was drunk and sobbing at being rejected).

His contradictory relationship with the ocean seems to be a personality quirk more than anything: Solomon is fascinated by the ocean, but the ocean doesn't always treat Solomon nicely.

He's an interesting oddball, to be sure. I just wish we actually got more of a peek into his background in S3, particularly because a good portion of it was dedicated to us getting into the Sorcerer's Society -- which he founded and has a history with.

[gigslist]

Grateful Dead and Da Vinci Codes Updated

Branding is an important business tool of a musician’s or band’s marketing. A music artist’s logo is as vital a visual asset as a music artist’s stage wear and hair. And if an audience doesn’t remember you or your name, they will remember your logo. Modern music branding, as we know it, started in the 1960s. When music artists lived and worked with bands face to face. Some living together in��communes. The Grateful Dead is a USA folk blues jam band with a psychedelic cult following. The Dead, as their fans call them, came out of Haight Ashbury, San Francisco, California. The Grateful Dead symbol is the Grateful Dead lightning bolt.  “When the group formed in 1965, the Dead provided an American alternative to the overpolished and squeaky-clean Beatlemania still captivating the world. The Beatles, of course, would eventually come around in agreement. But it was the Dead, among other acts, who set the tone for the let-it-all-loose rebellion of the '60s. Could there be a better insignia than a tie-dyed skull to celebrate the revenge of the turned on, tuned in and dropped out? The Dead wove the image of the skull through much of their presentation, from album design to music-festival art. Two skull-based logos that hold up include the red, white and blue lightning bolt and the rose. The first was the creation of sound engineer Owsley Stanley, also known as "the Bear," who says he wanted to put a mark on the band's equipment so he knew who owned what at multiact music festivals. The Rose was the artistic work of Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley. The duality of virgin floral beauty and the cult of death was of a piece with the message of a band known for saying, "a friend of the devil is a friend of mine."” Time.com 2010  Haight Ashbury is full of Masonic lodges and Knights Templar churches. Many built in the late 18th and early 20th century. La Belle Epoque and Masonic symbols inspired arts and design in the 1960s and 1970s. Especially in Summer of Love music poster designs. 

The Haight Ashbury Street Fair logo, founded in the 1970s, features a pyramid with an "all seeing eye" on a bed of roses. Masonic symbol themes appear through many poster artists’ work of the era. Relaying a subliminal message.  The 13 point lightning bolt or Grateful Dead bolt as an example. The skull, rose, circle and lightening bolt. All are symbols of the Masons, Catholics and Knights Templar. The symbols' origins and early meanings before that are the mystery and the key. Knowingly or not, what artists do is keep these mysteries alive in the public psyche. In no small way. Their fans keep spreading the symbols in tribute art on anything that images can be applied to. Including permanent facial tattoos. 

Get somebody tripping on any kind of psychedelic and tell them something over and over and they will believe whatever that something is you are telling them.  This is how new age cults recruit newly open minded avid followers.  The quickest way to be a guru with a following who follow your every word is host LSD parties.   It is also how the Dead got such a huge cult following that has been multigenerational since the 1960s. Ditto for electronic dance music, EDM.

The Dead and friends were trying to open minds to the "truth of oneness" through music and psychedelics. While this is admirable in its concept, it has a double edged sword. The minds they opened were later drowned in new age space alien guru conspiracies on all kinds of drugs.  Give somebody any kind of psychedelic and tell them something over and over. They will believe whatever that something is you are telling them. This is how new age cults recruit open minded avid followers. The quickest way to be a guru with a following that follows your every word is to host LSD parties. 

Tripping is how the Dead got such a huge cult following. A cult following that has been multigenerational since the 1960s. Ditto for electronic dance music, EDM. I know EDM producers and DJs from the 1990s who are grandparents. hieroglyphs that in the 21st century we call heraldry. 

The Dead’s skull iconography was more likely inspired by the Day of the Dead festival. A popular Latin American theme in California, featuring skulls and roses. The lightning bolt may relate to the first time somebody takes LSD or mushrooms. Their minds get opened to other realities and ways of thinking.  Masonic and Knights Templar institutions have large visible ornate buildings in Haight Ashbury. The symbols on the buildings are a language and they are history books. There is nothing mystical or extraterrestrial or even Biblical about the symbols. The symbols on the buildings are history books. Not the histories taught in school books. Bible miracles and winged angels and demons with superpowers don't actually exist. If you think they do, you've had too much screen time. Step away from the phone and game console and the remote… like now! In Masonic and Knights Templar lore the Grateful Dead symbols are common symbols. The skull, lightning bolt and rose relate to the Holy Grail Bloodline. San Graal is the original name in French. It means Sainted Blood or Holy Blood, another name for royal blood. The big secret is that Holy Grail, in a nutshell, is just another name for Royal Blood.  Before written words as we know them, histories got written in symbols. Jesus was a King of Kings, so he was a royal. A King of Kings is an emperor. Royals have always recorded their family histories in a form of pictorial hieroglyphs. In the 21st century we call it heraldry. 

Heraldry is a symbol relating to an event or career in a royal’s life. Such as a ship for a navigator or a tower from a land that an ancestor ruled. A flower from a poem an ancient ancestor wrote in the Bible. Sometimes the symbol meanings are related to royal status. A coronet for a prince and heir. Each symbol is not an isolated abstract. Each symbol is rich with history and back stories and the people those back stories are about.  Symbols are a kind of shorthand to record dynastic epics. Line up symbols and their stories with other symbols and whole libraries of lost history appear. Different versions of history to our school history books and Bibles. Histories with kickass women rulers, women scholars, women warriors and women priests. They didn’t need Bible miracles or extraterrestrial super powers or fantasy fiction. They had the real thing. "Whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.” Jesus Christ from the Gospel of Mark  In Stanley Mouse and Anton Kelley’s skull and roses logo, are symbols of Mary Magdalene of the Bible. From the Bible, “I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters…”  Song of Songs II, also called the Song of Solomon. It is a love poem written by Mary Magdalene to Jesus Christ.  

The historical Mary Magdalene was of Greek descent and a royal. Magdalene means "Great Queen", an empress, the same as Catherine the Great. Ancient monarchs had god avatars and symbols. Roses are a symbol Venus, a goddess of love and was once a real person. The real life Venus was an ancient ancestor of the historical Mary Magdalene. This is how the rose is in Mary Magdalene’s lexicon of symbols and Christian icons.

Floral and leaf wreaths with ribbons are ancient Greek and Roman headwear. It denotes them having Gods and Goddesses for ancestors. The head wreath with ribbons is the headdress of the Goddess Nike. A goddess who is also syncretistic with Mary Magdalene. Nike is the goddess of victory. Her Greek name is Bernike, the ancient version of the name Bernice.   The story gets confusing from here. There are at least two historical Jesus and Mary Magdalenes. Both were emperors and empresses and other elements of their stories the same or similar. This is why it took 20 years for the Council of Nicaea to create the Biblical Jesus and Mary Magdalene. The Bible is allegory, so are all religious stories around the world. Modern researchers and Bible orators tend to forget or don't comprehend this. So we get new age garble, such as calling the lightning bolt a Satanic supernatural S. Or that Bible miracles really happened like in Hollywood movies depict.  The truth is that there were no Bible miracles involved. The Bible is not a book of history and was never meant to be history. The Bible is a book of morality tales and redemption stories. Paraphrased religious folklore from many different religions. Its characters loosely based on people who were deified royals. All religious stories are based on deified royals.  Owsley Stanley’s Grateful Dead skull has a 13 point lightening bolt. The lightning bolt is a big clue to the identity of the historical Jesus of the Bible.  “Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.” Psalm 18:14 King James Bible Arrows can mean both a battle and or symbols on a military shield. Both people that the Biblical Jesus became based upon were emperors. Both entered Judea as military commanders with huge armies. The insignia the army’s shields were lightning bolts. Their battles recorded by scribes in allegory as many lightening bolts raining down. Both had secret marriages to an empress, a Magdalene. All these people were deified, and other shared stories. One also foretells the coming of the other. The Second Coming has already happened. Fans in the 21st century write tribute fantasies about the Grateful Dead. Flying around with wings and super powers and lighting bolts shooting from their guitars. What these creative followers are talking about in allegory is the Grateful Dead’s music. But imagine 1500 years in the future, somebody finds the writings and artworks in scattered pages. 

They don't know the backstories, but try putting them together into a book. Some other people make a cult from that book. They make movies and documentaries to tell the people the book is a real story. People start to believe the Grateful Dead flew around with wings. They start to believe that the Grateful Dead shot lightning bolts from their guitars. Total Bill and Ted moment.

2,000 years in the future the Grateful Dead are paranormal space aliens with laser rifles, flying around in UFOs. Their followers watching augmented reality concerts in the sky. Chanting their church's holy mantra “Beam me up Jerry.” And Phish Food ice cream their holy sacrament.