Television for Paedophiles, Deadheads, and Baptism for Idiots

While I was writing Saturn's Influence - Them Crafty Rugrats yesterday, I found a rather queer article on a website for Landover Baptist Church. The article is titled 'Rugrats: Television For Pedophiles'. I was thinking how extremist it was, laughable, just typical of some of these religious fanatics, so I thought I'd write a short post to make light of it. I had my title decided upon - 'Television for Paedophiles, Deadheads, and Baptism for Idiots', a sweeping generalisation - and had begun writing when I decided to check their homepage. Gift shop. Thongs. More precisely, a "What would Jesus do?" thong. Book Burning Club. Prayer Squad. And my personal favourite, Sin Patrol. Haha. It was around then that I realised it's not a real institution at all, it's a fictional church based in a fictional town. Satirical humour, which I'm a fan of (along with surrealism), and I fell for it! But that's because it's so representative of Christian fundamentalism and the religious right-wing, especially when you isolate an article from the rest of the website, it is very believable. And yet actual religious values can seem so archaic, so repellent, so unbelievable. Amazing really.

If it had been a genuine article, then I would have been making a point on how these organisations tend to use tactics to instil fear and divert attention away from their own sordid practices. Because while I'm aware of the perverse undertones that are bubbling beneath the mainstream, it doesn't justify the outrageous claims that these kinds of religious extremists come out with. In fact it seeks to ruin what truth there is behind it all. Extremists like this are frightened of their own humanness, feelings and impulses, so they point to faults everywhere but within themselves, if it means they don't have to face their own demons. In that respect, Satanism appears to have a better handle when it teaches that we must first give in to our carnal desires and indulge if we are to learn and evolve. Only it's not as simple as that, there are so many other factors at play, and on a base level it would just lead to overindulgence, there'd be no moderation. Things are bad enough as they are, the last thing we need is for civilisation to revert back to a lesser state, though that looks to be on the cards. Societal collapse is surely to be the last of our worries, it might even be the answer to all our problems.

If it had been a genuine article, then I would have been making a point on how these organisations tend to use tactics to instil fear and divert attention away from their own sordid practices. But it wasn't, so I'm not.

Saturn's Influence - Them Crafty Rugrats

And so begins the acknowledgement of Saturn imagery and symbolism in pop culture and the world around us. I first became aware of this phenomenon a few months ago and have since noted how pervasive it is. Yesterday it crossed my mind that in the 90's children's programme Rugrats, the character Chuckie wore a t-shirt with the planet Saturn on it - cool, right. When I did a quick search to clarify, I found an image of Chuckie and the others in their playpen. The association was instantaneous; the shape of the playpen in the shot resembles the Sigil of Saturn (or Seal of Saturn). I don't consider that I'm reading into it overly so, as I'm not very familiar with the symbolism yet, but it's the first thing that struck me. I had to compare both the pattern of the playpen and the Occult symbol, that's how unfamiliar I am with it currently, but it does bear a resemblance.

Chuckie, Saturn t-shirt, framed by... the Seal of Saturn?

Seal of Saturn.

It's quite a horribly complex symbol from this angle, but when you tilt your head to the right slightly, viewed as a diamond with an arrow pointing inwards from either side, that's exactly how it looks in the Rugrats screencap. The only thing that is missing is the line that runs through the centre, and maybe it would be pushing it a bit to suggest that his arms are supposed to indicate that connection, especially as they don't extend beyond the diamond. It's the Saturn t-shirt that gets me, that combined with the pattern that looks not too dissimilar to the Seal - coincidence?

This is merely one example I'm presenting of the phenomenon - 'Saturn worship'. Really it's just an observation and I want to keep observing and I will better understand the meaning at the appropriate time. But here has been the first example for you, as it was the most recent brought to my attention.

A wider view of the playpen, as it was intended.

Some interesting patterns on the show, I guess they are rather appealing. Notice, too, the cube/hexagon (which ties in with Saturn's hexagon and 'black cube worship') and the ball with a pentagram on it. Just an observation; indeed, these are also common shapes to children.

The rugrats, the checkered floor, the mother's weird hairdo...

Some of the parents, the checkered trousers, and the Venus symbol on Betty's sweater.

I think the designer had a thing for specific patterns - it's good, they're good, kudos! Children also respond well to certain imagery, which can encourage - or, god forbid, inhibit - their development.

Angelica casually wearing a 'Hail Satan' t-shirt and flashing the sign of the horns.

Angelica casually wearing a 'Hail Satan' t-shirt though, that's a little more concerning. What kind of an angel is this little brat? I was thinking it might have been from the series that followed Rugrats, which was known as All Grown Up! (or Barely Legal...), but no, it seems to be from Rugrats. Not that it makes much difference; it's a children's show. You follow it as a kid, you might follow it into early teenhood, that's the purpose of a spin-off. You follow. Sort of like Disney presenting sweet, innocent Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana before taking her through to adolescence and destroying the image, not a moment to spare. Sort of. But this is something else, another spectacle entirely, slightly less warped...

 

Anyway, that's enough for today's post. I'm in the mood to listen to some No Doubt. Hm, which album? Ah yes, Return of Saturn.

 

Click on the image to see how the album cover is alive with symbolism.