Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Skull and Bones and Geronimo

Goyathlay (one who yawns) was born in June of 1829 to the Bedonkohe band of Apache near Turkey Creek, a tributary of the Gila River, in New Mexico. He was raised according to Apache tradition and married a woman from the Chiricahua band of Apache when he was 17 years old. They had three children.

 

In 1832, a secret society known as "Skull and Bones" was founded by certain privileged male students at Yale University.

 

On March 5, 1851, some 400 Mexican soldiers from Sonora attacked Goyathlay's camp, killing Goyathlay's mother, wife and children. Goyathlay and the other men were elsewhere at the time.

 

Although he was never a chief, Goyathlay soon became a ferocious military leader. In one battle, he repeatedly attacked Mexican soldiers with a knife, ignoring an onslaught of bullets.

 

The Mexicans gave him a nickname, after St. Jerome -- they called him Geronimo.

 

Geronimo refused to acknowledge the United States Government. He fought U.S. and Mexican Armies for more than a decade. To his people, he was renowned for his "power" because he was blessed with profound spiritual knowledge and protected by Usen, the Apache high-god. He had the ability to walk without leaving tracks and was metaphysically gifted (telepathy, telekinesis). Wounded many times by bullets, he always survived.

 

In 1886, Geronimo was finally captured after numerous daring escapes and sent to prison in Florida.

 

Later, he became famous in his old age. In 1904, he appeared at the World's Fair in St. Louis and rode in President Theodore Roosevelt's inaugural parade the following year.

 

Geronimo died on February 17, 1909.

 

There is an ominous, windowless building on the campus of Yale University called the Tomb. It houses the secret society known as Skull and Bones. It's basically a private club for young men of privilege, many of whom go on to become captains of industry, Supreme Court justices, cabinet officers and presidents.

 

Only 15 new seniors, called Neophytes, are chosen each year to become Bonesmen. They are sworn to a lifetime of secrecy and must go through a series of rituals to become a member. For example, they're required to stand naked in the presence of other Bonesmen and recount their entire sexual history. Upon acceptance, Neophytes are shoved to their knees and knighted by a Bonesman tapping a sword on the Neophyte's left shoulder and saying, "By the order of our order, I dub thee Knight of Euloga."

 

Outlandish ceremonies are commonplace in the Tomb. In one ritual, a woman holds a knife and pretends to slash the throat of another person lying down before her, as Bonesmen yell and scream at the Neophytes. In another ceremony, Bonesmen wear devil costumes and pretend to perform satanic acts of torture on Neophytes who are also required to lie in a coffin at various times.

 

Death seems to be one of the major themes in the Tomb. There are more than a dozen skulls and several coffins scattered throughout the premises. Wall paintings are replete with scenes of death and destruction.

 

Also on display is a glass case containing one of their sacred treasures -- a bloodied knife and the skull of Geronimo.

 

Prescott Bush was a Bonesman. He and other members of Skull and Bones dug up Geronimo's grave at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, when stationed there in 1918 during World War I, removing the skull and some other bones.

 

Prescott Bush is the father of former president George H. W. Bush and grandfather of former president George W. Bush, both of whom were also Bonesmen at Yale.

 

On February 17, 2009, the 100th anniversary of Geronimo's death, his great-grandson, Harlyn Geronimo, filed a lawsuit in Washington DC claiming that members of Skull and Bones stole the remains of Geronimo decades ago. The descendants wanted Geronimo's remains turned over to the family so he could be reburied near his birthplace in New Mexico's Gila Wilderness.

 

Bonesmen are young men from wealthy and powerful families. In their circle, they can do no wrong. They have a lofty opinion of their position in society and strive to keep it that way. They refer to the rest of society as "barbarians." In their elite world, you're either a Bonesman or a barbarian.

 

Skull and Bones is a secret society that lusts for dominance and worships death. Its members are ambitious men of wealth and power who help other members reach positions of wealth and power. Their antics are infantile, sadomasochistic and disgusting. In all probability, the purpose of their satanic behavior is to compromise the dignity of its members to ensure a lifetime of loyalty to the society.

 

Once a Bonesman, always a Bonesman.

 

These are the true barbarians of this world.

 

In 2004, George W. Bush and John Kerry were the two presidential candidates. Both had been members of Skull and Bones at Yale, although not at the same time. Neither would answer any questions about the secret society.

 

This bloodline of influential families controls global banking, which in turn controls governments and the media.

 

The world is being methodically manipulated by a group of powerful people in high places whose ultimate goal is a One World Government with them in control. And the robotic masses go along with it because they buy into the programming of the educational system and the media. The greed-heads at the top, who want to control the world, feed off the greed-heads below, who always want more than they need or can reasonably afford.

 

Geronimo yearned to be free. It cost him the lives of his mother, his wife and his children, and eventually cost him his freedom.

 

"I was no chief and never had been, but because I had been more deeply wronged than others, this honor was conferred upon me, and I resolved to prove worthy of the trust." Geronimo

 

In February of 2009, one hundred years after his death, Geronimo still yearned to be free.

 

The sordid fellows of Skull and Bones have chosen to display Geronimo's remains in their private meeting quarters.

 

If there is any justice in this cold cruel world, they will turn over Geronimo's remains to his family, offer an apology, disband their insidious secret society of human depravity and exorcise the Tomb of its demons, preferably by an Apache Holy Man.

 

On May 1, 2011, Osama Bin Laden was sitting on the floor in an upper room of his secret compound in Pakistan, watching TV, which contained a significant number of pornography channel options. That evening, a U.S. Navy SEAL team stormed the compound and sent Osama Bin Laden off to that special place in another dimension where 72 virgins welcome every mass murderer with delightful acts pleasure as a reward for a job well done.

 

The U.S. intelligence code name for Bin Laden was Geronimo. This code name has offended those who have descended from Geronimo's Native American Indian tribe.

 

The Native American Indian understood the spirituality of the earth and the sky, and the nobility of all the living creatures.  They could not comprehend the antics of the white men who sequestered them onto reservations to learn to become like the white man.

 

Perhaps the white man is stupid, selling his soul in the name of progress.

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Quote for the Day – "All we wanted was peace and to be left alone." Crazy Horse

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Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a few dogs and where peace is a state of mind.

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Sunday, July 11, 2021

Hotel California

I lived in the Los Angeles area for 11.5 years (1975-1986), where I also moved a dozen times within the area for various reasons, including a 5-year marriage and subsequent divorce. I particularly liked the village of Topanga, in the hills between the San Fernando Valley and the ocean, above Malibu, and lived in 3 different locations in those hills.

 

The first place in Topanga was a nice A-frame on a hill. The guy who rented it to me told me that the building up at the top of the hill, less than a hundred yards away, on the corner of the dirt road to the rental house, was the original Hotel California, presently occupied by other musicians.

 

This was no surprise to me since Topanga was home to many musicians, artists, writers, performers and various other misfits. Plus, the building looked like one of those old Spanish Missions that exist in various places in California. I would occasionally sit outside on my upper balcony, with a cup of tea in the morning, and meditate while viewing the splendid structure at the top of my hill -- such a lovely place -- such a lovely place.

 

The A-frame was one of my favorite places I've called home over the years, having lived now at over 50 addresses in 12 states. But a computer contract at the other end of the Valley forced me to move on once again after a year or two.

 

Yes, indeed, I once lived just down the hill from the original Hotel California, immortalized in the song "Hotel California" by The Eagles.

 

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway;
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself,
"This could be Heaven or this could be Hell"
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say...

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year (Any time of year)
You can find it here

 

(lyrics -- Hotel California)

 

The Eagles (Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, Randy Meisner, Don Felder) are one of the world's best selling bands of all time, having sold more than 150 million records.

 

Formed in Los Angeles in 1971, The Eagles have had 5 Number-One singles, 6 Number-One albums and have received 6 Grammy Awards.

 

Two of their albums (Greatest Hits & Hotel California) were ranked among the 20 best-selling albums in the USA, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

 

Hotel California was one of their greatest songs.

 

Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget

So I called up the Captain,
"Please bring me my wine"
He said, "We haven't had that spirit here since 1969"
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say...

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
They livin' it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise)
Bring your alibis

 

(lyrics -- Hotel California)

 

Since I have been writing many non-fiction books containing various scattered topics, I decided to finally write a piece about the original Hotel California -- so I did some research. Unfortunately, my research brought me back to earth about the location of Hotel California.

 

Apparently, Don Henley and Glenn Frey wrote most of the words. None of the band members were from California and as they drove into the Los Angeles area at night, they could see the glow of lights on the horizon.

 

Hotel California is "basically a song about the dark underbelly of the American dream and about excess in America, which is something we knew a lot about." Don Henley

 

There is no Hotel California -- it's an abstract vision of the hedonism of Southern California and the self-destruction of the music industry in the late 1970s.

 

Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said "We are all just prisoners here, of our own device"
And in the master's chambers,
They gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can't kill the beast

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
"Relax, " said the night man,
"We are programmed to receive.
You can check-out any time you like,
But you can never leave!"

(lyrics -- Hotel California)

 

Glenn Frey used the phrase "steely knives" in the lyric as a playful acknowledgement to the band Steely Dan, who had included "Turn up the Eagles, the neighbors are listening" in their song "Everything You Did."

 

"Hey, I didn't make a big deal out of Hotel California -- the 18 million people that bought it did." Glenn Frey

 

Glen Frey of the Eagles passed on to the Grand Hotel in the Sky, at age 67, on January 18, 2016.

 

Thanks for the music -- Rest in Peace.

 

* * *

 

Hotel California -- you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.

 

I always liked southern California, particularly the funky Topanga area. Even though I checked out many moons ago, I can never really leave because I still have fond memories and many friends lingering there.

 

After doing some research on the property up the hill from the house I rented, I learned that it was built in the 1930s as a country club.

 

In the 1940s, it was renovated into a gambling house owned by infamous Los Angeles gangster, Mickey Cohen, and operated by a former vice cop.

 

Over the years, it had become an American Legion hall, a theater, a boarding house, a celebrated artist's retreat featuring chamber music, etc.

 

By the time I lived nearby for a couple of years in the early 1980s, the place was badly deteriorated, with some musicians and several feral cats living there.

 

In 1989, a local artist bought the property and spent some 25 years renovating the property.

 

It is now called Sublime Topanga Villa -- "a horticultural retreat for the rejuvenation of mind, body and spirit, and for the preservation of our natural, architectural and historical heritage."

 

If you're ever in need of rejuvenation of mind, body and spirit -- check out the Sublime Topanga Villa and get your head screwed back on.

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Quote for the Day – "California is where you get to start over." Tracy Chevalier

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Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a few dogs and has fond memories of Hotel California.

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