MYSTERY & CATACLYSM OF A MOORISH ORTHODOX CHURCH LODGE, by Steve Aydt and Mustafa al-Laylah Bey

"The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun," by William Blake

“We are more closely connected to the invisible than to the visible.”
—Novalis

Beginning in 1990, the [Eulessynian] Hot Tub Mystery Religion (HTMR) celebrated Greater and Lesser Mysteries in two sanctuaries, both on Silent Oak Drive in Euless, Texas, bounded by miles of dark woods surrounding the Trinity River. Fueled by Dionysian excess and theme park aesthetics, Epopts sought to create installation-variations on the ideal of the pleasure dome, inspired by the imaginations of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Moorish Luminary Doctor Jabir ‘abd al-Khaliq. Prince Krazie, Son of Yippie, a reformed COINTELPRO fink, artist and charter Epopt, described a typical rite as,

“A small speck of light and beauty in an unreal, sick world…receiving the most holy sacraments from the most high of the highest…black light…strange sounds, music…naked nymphs splashing in the rippling water.”

It was in this heady vat of high-minded fun that Forbidden Books, a local cafe and bookstore, rose to the surface, caked in luridly colored sargassum like some rubber-clad, hyper-saturated B-movie creature. ‘Zines, Re/Search, the Amok catalog, titles from AK Press and Autonomedia all found their way into our hearts and minds through that tavern of blameworthiness. It also served as a community center for the extraordinarily weird. HTMR pamphlets and samizdat erupted like wildflowers proclaiming “Big FUN!” and urging the reader to contemplate the koan: “How much fun can you have before someone tries to stop you?” Oh, how we’ve tested this axiom and its boundary repeatedly and under conditions both mad and sensible.

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ANNIE SPRINKLE: The lost interview

In 1998, I was working with my erstwhile fiancé, a gifted graphic designer, on a book-length project filled with art, essays and interviews. Previously I had edited two well-received ‘zines including The Eulessynian Hot Tub Mystery Religion, which netted me dozens of new friends. In the subsequent years I had accumulated a wealth of material intended for the new project. Reaching out to artists and writers I admired, I was overwhelmed with contributions. Sadly, the project never came to fruition and a few years later my creative partnership ended in an equitable divorce. Of the material I had accrued, almost half was lost irrevocably in a computer crash. Until last week I thought that my interview with post-porn artist and feminist Annie Sprinkle, who had been very kind and accommodating in responding to emailed questions, was lost. Last week I uncovered a cache of documents, including said interview which, after 13 years, appears here for the first time. After so many years, I want to thank Annie Sprinkle for her time and thought.

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CULTURE WEARS: “I guess I do have an unusual look…”

Name: Melinda
Spotted: Subway, NYC

NOT: What’s your influence for what you’re wearing?

Melinda: The sixties girl groups and the Ronettes, also Sophia Loren. Part belly dancer maybe. My boyfriend, he likes Lady Gaga, and he wants me to dye my hair blond. I did that once, and I got a lot of attention, but I always get a lot of attention. I guess I do have an unusual look, but I’m just so used to it.

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CULTURE WEARS: Mali + Malcolm X = NYC

“This is a culture.”

Name: Angel Manuel DeGarcia
Spotted: Broadway & 12th, NYC

NOT: Could you tell us about what you’re wearing?

Angel: This is a culture. It comes from Mali through Sudan, influenced by the sixties when we were deprived of knowing who we were, and colleges were not feeding us education about our culture. Dashikis were worn back in the day which was a stepping stone for me in learning the cultural patterns on top of Malcolm X and the times, both politically and socially. All of this synthesized into a kind of learning period for me. I took all of this knowledge and internalized it. And this is your transformation.

____________________

Sent in by Onalistus Reveler and Daisy Jane Danger.

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