July 17, 2003

• 20 Books that Changed America . . . I can’t help but agree. check it out. I think I share Richard Craycroft’s enthusiasm.
  
  I’ve decided a smile can get you anywhere in life. Even if you feel like crap and the world is falling down, a smile and the right words to the right people at the right times could get you, say, a raise for example . People like people who smile . . .
  
  I’ve been writting something at work . . .
  
  At work I’ve been coming across this cult more and more as summer progresses. The cult is world wide, but it has caught our nation really bad, especially this month.
  
  I came across the cult and its bizarre practices at the pool. These cult members worship the sun. The most common form of worship takes place everyday. Members come to the pool (which must act as a temple or shrine of sorts) and consecrate oil by shaking it and then rubbing it between their hands. Often the oil is scented like tropical fruits and flowers; this is probably because the sun likes the tropics better. Once consecrated, members annoint themselves in the oil, which represents the protection they recieve. The more they put on, the more protection they are expecting from the sun.
  
  Once they are glistening with oil, the cult members dedicate a portion of the pool deck to their worship. They lay out brightly colored rugs on long pew-like chairs, I think it’s interesting to watch them as they then look up at the sky, as if to look for a confirmation of their dedication to the sun-god. Worshippers most often take the time to point their chairs directly towards the sun.
  
  Finally purified with annointed oil and sacred rugs, cult members humble themselves before God by removing most of their clothes. They leave only the legal essentials. Shorts are rolled up and down at once, straps are pushed off their shoulders, and hair is tied back in the plainest of all fashions.
  
  Sufficiently purified, dedicated, and humbled, cult members are ready for worship, which can take anywhere from 20 min. to several hours. Sun worshipers lie out, opening their souls to the sun. Most of the positions they adapt are uncomfortable, helping them focus on sacrifice and dedication to the light.
  
  Often dedicated cult members perform a ritual similar to baptism. After laying awkwardly in the hot sun for an hour or two, they will dip themselves in the cold pool, washing away their worries.
  
  Sun worshippers in general are a very focused people. It is not uncommon to see them meditating on their colored rugs, or reading what must be some form of scripture (an example would be the cosmopolitan).
  
  Perhaps the most interesting feature of the sun-cult is the way it attracts new members. After worshipping, the sun-god marks his followers according to their dedication. The marks range from a few freckles to the dedicated mark of dark, tan skin. The various marks have even spread the members into a sort of hierarchy, the lighter ones admiring the darker ones.
  
  While the cult seems most popular amongst somewhat overweight 40 year old women, it also attracts a younger crowd of teenagers. Authorities worry about the teenage influence of these occult practices. One such authority said, “It just isn’t healthy. Kid’s shouldn’t spend so much time [dedicated to] the sun . . .”

  • 10:17 pm
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