Harvard’s Cultural Studies Club is about to do something that they deem as significant to their club’s purpose that may make the heads of some alumni spin like Linda Blair’s in The Exorcist. They’re holding a “Black Mass” on Harvard’s campus.
The mass is scheduled to happen on Monday, May 12th at Harvard’s Queen’s Head Pub. The Satanic ceremony, a direct parody of the traditional Catholic mass complete with a “non-consecrated communion host,” will be performed by a sanctioned member of The Satanic Temple. This is the same group that is also trying to get a Satanic statue placed in the Oklahoma state capitol. The Temple said they feel the ceremony isn’t meant to invoke supernatural entities or actual devil worship but more of an expression against traditional religious authority dating back to the days of witch-hunting. That’s why they also plan to offer a stream of “commentary and historical context” as they perform the ceremony.
Of course, Harvard’s Extension School was quick to point out that they have nothing to do with the organization of the mass. They did note that they encourage their clubs and groups to “speak and assemble freely” but they also made sure to point out that they don’t “endorse the views or activities of any independent student organization.”
However, even if you are among the faithful, you have to admit that the “Black Mass” is deeply embedded in pop culture and worthy of examination. The dark art is well embedded in classic horror movies and heavy metal acts such as Alice Cooper and Coven that famously included recordings of Satanic chants and a poster of a mass reenactment in their first album Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls. You can learn more about this kind of stuff by visiting your local library checking out our article on 20 Things You Didn’t Know About Satan.
We’re also pretty sure that some of the people who became such a strong of popular culture had to sell their souls to Satan in order to make that happen. Which could lead to a lot of fun Harvard conspiracy theories, too–but let’s check out a video, instead. Yeah, it kind of looks like cosplay, but it’s fairly informative. Sorry that it doesn’t turn into an orgy, though. We’ve had equally bad luck in real life with those things…
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaMndsqZmNE]
