THE OWLS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM Bohemias symbol is an owl, which has been in use since the first year the Club started. The owl has come to symbolize the wisdom of life and companionship, that allows humans to struggle with and survive the cares and frustration of the world. The owl is found on all Bohemian materials from matchbook covers and doormats to the most elaborate Club publications. For $34.00 you can even own an owl-emblemed sports shirt. A forty foot concrete owl stands at the head of the lake in the Grove. This owl shrine was built in 1929 to serve as a ceremonial site for traditional Bohemian rituals and is used yearly for the Cremation of Care Ceremony. 1910 marked the first ceremonial burial of the cares of the world during the midsummer encampment and by 1913 Care was being cremated during the first weekend of the Grove (Annals, 1972) The Cremation of Care Ceremony was produced as a play in 1920, wherein a High Priest standing before a huge pre-historic alter, is confronted by Dull Care wrapped in the chains but not dead because Bacchus, the only warrior Care fears, is truly dead (18th Amendment was passed in 1919). Good Fellowship arrives, but lacks the sword necessary to kill Dull Care, and can only imprison him and Care still sings out through the prison window. At last Bohemias Spirit emerges and proclaims: Down with all fears! And up with your cheers, for his (Cares) mocking is turning to sobbing and tears. But Care responds: Call Bacchus from the grave... long as he is dead. I sneer at Great Bohemia! Aha! Aha! Good Fellowship then takes the torch from the priest at the alter and burns Care in his prison, thereby purging the demon Care from the sacred Grove. (Thompson Archives, 1920) This ceremony has been rewritten on several occasions but the theme is still the same. The addition of the owl statue in 1920 allowed for the voice of the owl to be incorporated into the ceremony. Care is still dispatched yearly in a fiery death that symbolizes the initiation of Bohemian fellowship. In recent years Cares cremation has become one of Bohemias more infamous ceremonies due to published descriptions by G. W. Domhoff (1974) and John Van der Zee (1974) and numerous newspaper articles and protestor literature. The highlight is the Cremation of Care, an elaborate ritual... in which an effigy of Dull Care is engulfed in flames... (L.A. Times 5-26-87 p.1).
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 00:52:49 +0000
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