Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye [PT 2]

Stacy Sutherland, guitar player for 13th Floor Elevators

"First thing to say about Stacy is, hell of a guitar player. Another thing to say about him is that he was a haunted man. He realized that the devil was after him. I’m not sure why he concluded that, but he did…He would sit there and play the guitar and the devil was 2 steps behind him all the way and he wasn’t sure whether that was because he was consorting with the wrong people or because he hadn’t prayed that night or because he was fooling around with fancy women or what…but he knew the devil was after him" - Sandy Lockett, Soundman for 13FE

"From the time he was 14 he was really a happy little boy…in the year he was 14 there was some big change in his life I never knew what. That time on he seemed sorta depressed…there were evidently a lot of things changing in his life at that time, sort of a sad look in all these pictures from that point on...I had one of the teachers say to me “well I think he was on drugs.” I asked him one time later “where did you get drugs?” And he said it was the clean cut college kids that came home from the weekends from over at Austin that brought it here…you couldn’t kick over a rock without finding some" - Sybil Sutherland, Mother

Stacy Sutherland was born in 1946, so he woulda been about 14 in 1960 - the year his mother noticed a dark shift in his character. Sybil Sutherland comes off as a very sweet, observant woman - but from another time where American culture was not as cynical and tolerant of blatant drug use as it is today. Given that, it would have been harder for someone of her generation to spot drug induced behavior. She obviously picked up on something being "off," but was probably hesitent to conclude her beloved son was a "drug fiend."

We read in PART 1 that "it could be argued that along with California, Texas was the pioneering US state for a non-academic psychedelic culture. Experiments with peyote and morning glory seeds began among college students in the early 1960s, and in 1965 use of marijuana and early batches of non-pharmaceutical LSD was common in hip circles." Given that Stacy seemed to be getting his drugs from "the clean cut college kids," the big picture comes into focus pretty easily. Sutherland was probably exposed to something too strong and too early, forever shattering his innocence and darkening his perception. How much of that was from drugs or some other outside influence, we can only guess. I'm gonna guess it was probably a combination of the 2.

"Back when he [Stacy] was in High School he used to go out to a certain teacher's house and I got kinda perturbed over that because here was a lady teacher who lived alone and she was probably in her 50s and all High School boys were going out there…I had myself been in her home and she had walls of books on religions. And he said “that’s all we do mother. Go out and talk about religion, you won’t believe that but that’s what it is.” And this may have been the beginning of some of this Zen and Eastern religion I don’t know" - Sybil Sutherland

Although the idea of young High School boys going over to some older female teacher's house to "talk about religion" might sound pretty questionable today, the cultural climate of the 1960s should be considered. It seems there was a genuine yearning for some kind of spiritual enlightenment going on at the time, which happened to coincide with the heaping of recreational drugs upon the population. I don't think that was a coincidence.

[Ann Elizabeth "Bunni" Bunnell, Stacy's wife, who allegedly shot and killed him]

The 13th Floor Elevators lasted only a few years. Their fame and recognition in the bigger picture of "the birth of psychedelic music" is something that has come to be more and more appreciated on a larger scale over time. Unfortunately, I don't think Stacy lived long enough to witness much of this appreciation. It seems his time on this earth only became darker after the Elevators, and during the years leading up to his death.

"I’d say well look at the band and the things that have happened to all of you. And if you were really right it looks like something good would happen and come of it you know and not all the bad things that have because Roky had gone to Rusk [mental hospital] and Stacy had gone to prison. I think he turned to drinking when he went over here to the state when they said there wasn’t anything wrong with him. They said true he has experimented with drugs, but he wasn’t addicted to any of them. But he does have an alcoholic personality. And if he doesn’t get a hold of himself this may be the route he’ll take." - Sybil Sutherland

A Montrose resident was shot to death today in his residence at 516 Pacific Street. Police identified the victim as Stacy Keith Sutherland, 33. Shot once in the stomach with a .22 caliber rifle, at 3:30 a.m., Sutherland died at 5:07 a.m. in Ben Taub Hospital.

Officers arrested a 34-year-old woman at the scene. No charges have been filed. - Houston Chronicle, 1978

The going narrative of what happened that night seems to come from "longtime friend and former Montrose neighbor, Jim Hord."

“Stacy had a very bad temper and the alcohol brought out the worst in him, but Stacy and Bunni brought out the worst in each other. The house was always dirty, and it was infested with roaches. Bunni wasn’t the best housekeeper. Every time I went over to visit, the condition of the house used to really bug me. Bunni had some really bad times in her life, but the time spent with Stacy was the worst.”

“Stacy was making threatening remarks and acting belligerent towards Bunni’s 15-year-old son, and when Stacy lunged at Bunni in an attempt to enter her son’s bedroom, she pulled the trigger to the .22 rife that the couple kept in the house for protection against burglars.”

Now here is what Stacy's mother had to say about that incident:

"I told you that she [Bunni] called me 3 times during the time they were married which was about 15 months. It was always at 3:30 in the morning, and told me she was going to kill him. And this would throw me into a panic of course and I tried to tell him [Stacy]…and he kept saying “she doesn’t mean it, she’s a gentle, sweet girl and she would never do anything like that” and I’d say “well why does she call me why does she - it was just like a different person. She was afraid of him and he had earlier bought a gun…and some shells and showed her how to use them…and the boy who lived with em, this Tony said that when they came in she was sitting in the kitchen with a butcher knife. And he tried to talk to both of em because they were both angry and they had been arguing earlier in the day. And they went out and drank some beer and came back and he was still angry…and he [Tony] tried to say something to him and he said Stacy said “keep out of this” you know “it ain’t your affair.” And he [Tony] said I went off into my room then and shut the door. Then I heard the shot. And when I ran in there she was standing with the gun in her hand."

Let's look at some numbers here. Sybil said Bunni called her 3 times, always at 3:30 am, talking about how she was going to kill Stacy [Can you imagine???]. According to the Houston Chronicle, Stacy was shot at 3:30am. The same Houston Chronicle article states Stacy was 33. But according to his tombstone, he was 32.

If the above is accurate, how can it be that Bunni just happens to shoot Stacy at the exact time in the morning she called his mother previously threatening to kill him? This points towards a pre-meditated action, or some kind of constructed narrative involving the number 33.

[13FE logo, found upon Stacy Sutherland's Tombstone]

With Sybil's recounting of 3 times being called by Bunni at 3:30 in the morning, the actual shooting at 3:30 in the morning, and the apparently innacurate statement by the Chronicle that Stacy was 33 at the time of death - that's 5 occurances of the number 33 related to this incident, and I'm guessing there's probably more somewhere. Other than just being spooky as hell, what is the deal with this number being all over the place?

The number 33 came up in a previous blog where we were looking at the Great Seal of America on the $1 bill, which happens to include the same Pyramid/Eye symbol used by the 13th Floor elevators. We made the Masonic connection of 33 feathers on the eagle's left wing, and 32 on the right, having to do with degrees within the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. We observed that 33 + 32 = 65, the same number found above the Eagle's head, encoded within the 13 pentacles [5-pointed stars] within a star of David [5 x 13 = 65]. In Hebrew Gematria, 65 corresponds to the "Gam Yechad," which is related to an often used Freemasonic term, according to W.Bro. David Barrett. 33 also happens to be the age of Jesus Christ when he was crucified.

"The number 33 is associated with divine significance in the Bible and is often linked to the Holy Trinity and blessings. It can also signify divine favor and presence."

Point being, this number 33 has very relavant occult symbolic signifficance, especially considering the Pyramid/Eye symbol stamped upon Stacy's tombstone. We're talking about Hebrew/Egyptian mysticism, as appropriated by the Freemasons, who obviously chose the symbols which appear on the US Dollar bill.

Getting back to the narrative regarding the murder of Stacy Sutherland - The boy Tony, as Sybil recounts it, doesn't seem to mention anything about a neighbor, Jim Hord being there - even though Hord is quoted in the Chronicle as if he'd witnessed what happened. I feel like there's something fishy about this Hord guy, but I'll leave it up to you to decide. As far as I can tell, the account of Hord and Sybil Sutherland are the most specific details the public got regarding this tragedy.

So what actually happened here? The murder itself was tragic, and involved unstable individuals under the influence. Obviously domestic disputes can get violent, nothing so out of the ordinary there. But this was no average couple, as Stacy was, even then, a somewhat "famous" person of note. Especially in the annals of American 60s psychedelic lore. Whatever "magic" was behind this cultural movement, Stacy was most certainly a powerful conduit for that force, and willfully embodied that yearning for enlightenment we find so often regarding stories about "the hippies", which ironically led him down a path of darkness in the end. And according to Sandy Lockett, it sounds like the devil was there waiting for him. Lord have mercy, R.I.P. Stacy Sutherland.

CLICK HERE to read part 3

CLICK HERE to read Part 1.

Related blog concerning occult symbolism HERE

You might also be interested in reading my blog on Kraftwerk

This blog was researched, written, and continues to be maintained by 1 person. If you enjoyed it and would like to encourage more of them, donations can be made by clicking the button below.

SOURCES:

SOURCES:
Wikipedia
Archive.org
Lama Workshop - by Patrick "The Lama" Lundborg
Demon Angel: A Day in the Life of Roky Erickson
13th Floor Elevators - You’re Gonna Miss Me: Psychedelic Reprise, by Claude Mathews
theragblog.blogspot.com
austinchronicle.com
The MHMR tapes, filmed 1986 Austin State Hospital
Freemasonry.bcy.ca
You're Gonna Miss Me - A Film About Roky Erickson (2007)
F.O.I.A.

Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye [PT 1]

When most people think of 60s Psychedelic music, San Francisco usually comes to mind. But as the late Dave McGowan points out in his book "Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon", many of the icons of that movement originally convened in the LA area. Bands like the Doors, the Mamas and the Papas, Frank Zappa and the Mothers, the Byrds, the Beach Boys and so on. But then there was the 13th Floor Elevators, from Austin, Texas - arguably the very first Psychedelic band.

When asked what his definition of psychedelic music was, Erickson replied "That’s where the pyramid meets the eye." [20th Century Rock and Roll Psychedelia, Scott F Belmer]

Much has been said and written about the 13th Floor Elevators, but one curious detail that I find often seems glossed over is their prominent use of the Eye of Providence symbol.

What did the Eye of Providence symbol mean to most people who saw it in the year 1965? Let's remember, this was WAY before people like Jordan Maxwell, Bill Cooper, Art Bell, David Ike, and Alex Jones were sounding the alarm about The Illuminati and the mocking bird media. I don't believe there was this automatic paranoia, fear, excitement or even awareness of an "Illuminati" at that time. What there was, was a yearning for genuine spiritual experiences and "mind expansion." Given that, it is very easy to see how this eye in the pyramid symbol would resonate with that very endeavor. I mean think about it, who wouldn't have wanted the "secret password" to take a spiritual journey 13 floors up to the top of the Giza pyramid and meet the eye of god? You don't have to be a member of a secret society to appreciate the basic gist of the symbol, I'm sure it revealed itself easily enough to the average acid-head.

On that note, there was probably nobody more aware of the EYE's symbolic meaning than a common Freemason, as it appears prominently on their ceremonial aprons and artistic renderings going back to the 1700s, possibly even earlier. How we get from Freemasons to young hippies tripping on acid is an interesting connection to contemplate. Were Freemasons involved in the 60s psychedelic movement? I don't know, but let's take that trip and see where it goes.

"I came up with the Elevators part of the name," he claims. "The next day, after Clementine [Tommy Hall's wife] had slept on it, she came back in the morning with '13th Floor Elevators.'" - John Ike Walton, Austin Chronicle

"Though it's disputed amongst members, Hall said she [Clementine] came up with the band's full name and later added the 13th Floor for her lucky number."

Though the "elevators" part of the name seems to be in dispute, Walton [drummer] and Hall [jug player, lyricist] appear to be in agreement about Clementine adding the "13." But who decided to add the Eye of Providence symbol and how does this relate to what the band was supposedly doing?

“As you go up in levels of abstraction, it has the tendency of leading to one idea. That’s why the pyramid works as a model for consciousness… With the eye, it leads to perception.” - Hall, according to proxymusic.club

[Reverse side of the first 13th Floor Elevators album. Notice that in addition to the 13 layers of bricks, there are 65 individual bricks]

According to the late Manly P Hall [33° Freemason], there are 72 bricks veiled within the 13 level pyramid above, which relates to Jewish Mysticism/Kabballah [see previous blog HERE for more on this topic].

Besides the historical significance of America's original 13 Colonies, 13 is also a significant number within the esoteric context, meaning "many into one." Compare this with the 13 letters composing the latin phrase found above written upon the ribbon held within the eagle's mouth: E PLURIBUS UNUM = From the many, one. What did Tommy Hall say about the pyramid/eye symbol earlier? "As you go up in levels of abstraction, it has the tendency of leading to ONE idea." Sounds like he had a pretty good grasp of the intended messages contained therein by the authors of these symbols.

So what is the significance of the 65 bricks found within the pyramid depicted on the back of the 13th Floor Elevator's album shown earlier? That happens to have Hebrew Kabballistic relavance as well, and is also found on the US $1 bill by way of the stars above the Eagle's head, which are 13 pentacles [5 pointed stars]. 13 x 5 = 65. The eagle also has 33 feathers on one side of it's wingspan, and 32 on the other, which has Scottish Rite Freemasonic significance. 33 + 32 also happens to be 65. I don't think these numbers are accidental, and someone in the Elevators' camp seems to have had a level of awareness regarding all of this occult information. I suspect Tommy Hall was one of them.

The above image of Tommy Hall appears in the 2020 publication "13th Floor Elevators: A Visual History." I think anyone can see that this was not some quickly captured candid moment, as Hall is clearly posing for the camera here. What do you suppose this means, and why would he want it included in the book? There may be a perfectly innocent explanation or perhaps it was just done randomly without much thought. But if one simply takes it at face value, the occult suggestion is quite obvious.

Harpocratic Eros, terracotta figurine made in Myrina, Greece, c. 100–50 B.C. (Louvre)

[Ptolemaic bronze Harpocrates]

[Aleister Crowley utilized Harpocrites mythology and symbolism heavily in his occult "magick" rituals (I believe that is an eye within a pyramid printed on his forehead BTW). Here he is making the same pose Tommy Hall is above. George Martin, of Beatles fame, also does this spontaneously in an interview when he was asked about whether the Beatles really played/wrote certain parts of their recordings.]

[Harpo Marx got his name from playing the Harp, apparently. I'm sure his silence had nothing to do with Harpocrates...]

Harpocrates (Ancient Greek: Ἁρποκράτης, Phoenician: 𐤇𐤓𐤐𐤊𐤓𐤈,[1] romanized: ḥrpkrṭ, Coptic: ϩⲁⲣⲡⲟⲕⲣⲁⲧⲏⲥ harpokratēs) is the god of silence, secrets and confidentiality in the Hellenistic religion developed in Ptolemaic Alexandria (and also an embodiment of hope, according to Plutarch). Greeks adapted Harpocrates from the Egyptian child-god Horus, who represented the newborn sun, rising each day at dawn. The name "Harpocrates" originated as a Hellenization of the Egyptian Har-pa-khered or Heru-pa-khered, meaning "Horus the Child". Depictions showed Horus as a naked boy with his finger to his mouth, a realisation of the hieroglyph for "child" (𓀔). Misunderstanding this gesture, later Greeks and Roman poets made Harpocrates the god of silence and of secrecy. - wikipedia

So what am I trying to say here, that Tommy Hall was/is an occultist just because he put his finger to his mouth in a photo? Well no, but consider this bit of dialogue found at freemasonry.bcy.ca:

Allan Vorda: Who came up with the logo of the pyramid with the eye? The pyramid and eye logo comes from the back side of a one dollar bill which states "Annuit Coeptis" and has exactly thirteen layers of bricks in the pyramid.

Powell St. John: It was one of those arcane symbols of which Tommy was so fond and so vague in explaining. Maybe it had something to do with Scientology. Tommy was very big on Scientology.

Now these names, Allan Vorda and Powell St. John - these are credible individuals historically and were either involved with the band directly or indirectly at various points in time. So these words carry some weight. And Tommy's involvment with Scientology is no secret, nor is his fascination with the esoteric. But why was this information found on a website for the Freemasonic Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon? Why do Freemasons care about the logo of some 60s psychedelic band?

The above interview exerpt seems to be on a page dedicated to "anti-Freemasonry." Anti-Freemasonry is a name Freemasons have given to any ideas/concepts regarding Freemasonry that they either don't want the public commonly knowing about, or that they feel is untrue and must be corrected for the record. But oddly, the page doesn't seem to be attempting to "debunk" anything. On the contrary, it hints that Tommy Hall may have had more of a connection to the Eye of Providence symbol than he let on - leaving almost any possibility on the table. I doubt it had much to do with Scientology, but I suppose it is possible.

[Roky Erickson and the Aliens, circa 1978-1981]

Bill Miller [the Aliens]: In Austin the whole scene was centered around 1 thing, which was the Elevators. And all the other bands were sort of patterned after the Elevators…the Elevators were designed from day 1, before anyone had ever heard them, when they were still rehearsing and planning the whole thing. In the very early planning stages the Elevators were designed to be a cult item. And they invested the Cult item. - from Demon Angel: A Day and Night in the Life of Roky Erickson

Why does Bill Miller seem to be going out of his way in the above quote to drive home the contrived nature of the Elevators? Perhaps there was a faction within the group that was wildly organic, namely the Roky Erickson component. But the Tommy Hall factor seems to me where the contrived part comes in, and it's probably fair to say that the band would never have existed without those 2 components coming together. While Erickson tends to get most of the press, I believe Tommy Hall's angle has been far less understood. His is usually explored from the perspective of glorifying his obsession with "spiritual endeavors," allowing it all to comfortably settle somewhere in the middle of Psychedelic hippy history, never to be quite understood or explained completely.

He [Hall] was a pharmacology major at that time he was in college and uh…interested in what drugs do to people. And he became more and more interested in that. And eventually came to the point where that was really all he was interested in, except music. - Sandy Lockett, Soundman

...I think he had a Master’s degree he was teaching the UT English department. You know he was a very dogmatic fella you know, wore a suit and was kinda chubby… - Spencer Perskin, Shiva's Head Band

[Ken Kesey "began writing One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in 1960 after completing a graduate fellowship in creative writing at Stanford University; the novel was an immediate commercial and critical success when published two years later. During this period, Kesey participated in CIA-financed studies involving hallucinogenic drugs (including mescaline and LSD) to supplement his income]

["The Acid Tests were a series of parties held by author Ken Kesey primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area during the mid-1960s, centered on the use of and advocacy for the psychedelic drug LSD, commonly known as "acid". LSD was not made illegal in California until October 6, 1966...27 November; Soquel, California: The first Acid Test was a party at Ken Babbs' house on 27 November 1965" - wiki]

[Owsley Stanley III aka "Bear," aka "Acid King."..."Stanley was the first known private individual to manufacture mass quantities of LSD...By his own account, between 1965 and 1967, Stanley produced at least 500 grams of LSD, amounting to a little more than five million doses...In 1963, he enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, where he became involved in the psychoactive drug scene. He dropped out after a semester, took a technical job at KGO-TV, and began producing LSD in a small lab located in the bathroom of a house near campus..He used his Berkeley lab to buy 500 grams of lysergic acid monohydrate, the basis for LSD. His first shipment arrived on March 30, 1965, and he produced 300,000 hits (270 micrograms each) of LSD by May 1965]

"He (Stanley) was the guy that whipped up the acid…at Berkeley, at the 3rd or 4th floor of the chem lab. On Campus, man! That’s the only place they could make LSD from scratch. Where they had the actual equipment." - Hank Harrison

Let's not forget that history seems to indicate that the rather sudden injection of L.S.D. into 60s American "counter-culture" seemed to involve College Universities [as well as the C.I.A.] Stanford, in the case of Ken Kesey. Berkeley in the case of Stanley. What was Tommy Hall up to at the University of Texas, where he was literally studying how drugs affect living organisms?

Tommy wanted to create this utopia in his own mind. You know, what drugs to take, when to take em…mescaline in the morning LSD at night… - Mikel Erickson

...it got to where the drugs were a problem for the other fellows. And…they were always putting pressure on me to get high with them…I just got to the point where I got tired being bugged about it…I saw the kinda consciousness that it was bringing about and it was paranoia. I tried to get Stacy to stop but they’d just argue with me…Roky’s 2nd acid trip….hurt him. Hurt me too. Tommy gave us too much. I had a real bad trip and so did he, but he didn’t admit that he had a real bad trip he kept on taking the acid thinking everything would get better. I quit! I didn’t want another one of those experiences…I was scared. But Stacy and Tommy and Roky were NOT scared. Consequently, they got in all kinds of trouble. - John Ike Walton [drummer for 13FE]

Now while you are sitting there contemplating all of these tabs of L.S.D. and how it coincided with the dawn of the 60's Psychedelic Revolution, ponder this: The first C.I.A. sponsored Acid Test occurred in November of 1965. Members of the Warlocks [later known as The Grateful Dead] were present. The 13th Floor Elevators were formed the following month in Austin, Texas in December of 1965. Where and how was Tommy getting his acid, and how crucial a role did this play in the formation of the Elevators?

THE MAGIC BUS

[Original bus taken by the "Merry Pranksters" who toured across the country promoting L.S.D. and other drugs in the name of "mind expansion" or something]

[Inside the bus]

[Larry McMurty befriended Ken Kesey when he attended Stanford University during the 1960–1961 academic year...In 1964, Kesey and his Merry Pranksters conducted their noted cross-country trip, stopping at McMurtry's home in Houston.]

"Texas was no stranger to LSD at the time of the Houston Acid Test in March 1967. In fact, it could be argued that along with California, Texas was the pioneering US state for a non-academic psychedelic culture. Experiments with peyote and morning glory seeds began among college students in the early 1960s, and in 1965 use of marijuana and early batches of non-pharmaceutical LSD was common in hip circles. Even obscure drugs like DMT could be obtained. All the elements of an underground culture were in place, the main difference to the west coast was that the early psychedelic phase in Texas was concentrated to one specific spot - the University Of Texas (UT) in Austin... Out of this bohemian college scene came artists and performers like Janis Joplin and Gilbert Shelton, and a foundation was laid for famous music venues like the Vulcan Gas Co and the Armadillo World Headquarters in the late 1960s and early 1970s."

"The UT and Austin also gave birth to what is generally considered the first psychedelic rock group, the 13th Floor Elevators who formed in December 1965 and had an LSD-oriented agenda from day one. With the help of the Elevators and reasonably open-minded scenemakers like writer Jim Langdon and radio station owner Bill Josey in Austin, writer/promoter Scott Holtzman and TV show host Larry Kane in Houston, the Texans were ahead even of the S F Bay Area with regards to "psychedelic" music. Holtzman wrote a newspaper column in July 1966 on how psychedelia was all the rage among teenagers in Houston, while it would be several months before the rest of the US caught on in larger numbers." - lysergia.com/MerryPranksters/lamaMerryPranksters.htm (via Wayback Machine)

"We played about 3 months before we went to California. And we came back to Austin after California and recorded our first album...They [Grateful Dead] were taking dope together but they weren’t making music together on the dope, if you see what I mean. Only later, after they were allowed to by Tommy and his bunch." - John Ike Walton

It seems the Texas psychedelic culture began with Ken Kesey's C.I.A.-sponsored Merry Pranksters stopping off at his friend Larry McMurty's house in 1964, then culminated into a full blown Acid Test at Rice University in Houston in 1967, which was apparently the last one. In between is where the psychedelic culture was cultivated, and centered around The University of Texas (UT), where Tommy Hall was studying how drugs affect people! And to quote the above article, "The UT and Austin also gave birth to what is generally considered the first psychedelic rock group, the 13th Floor Elevators."

Take note of Walton's quote above, where he states the Grateful Dead weren't making music "on dope" when the Elevators first arrived to the Bay Area 3 months after forming. It was later, when they were "allowed to by Tommy and his bunch." Now that is some very interesting wording, because he seems to be referring to a group of people Tommy was affiliated with that were SEPERATE from the band. And they apparently had control of who took the drugs, and it sounds like they literally gave the Dead permission to do so! This is backed up somewhat by Billy Gibbons [ZZ-Top] in the documentary "You're Gonna Miss Me" where he basically states that all the Bay Area bands were soft and folksy until the Elevators blew through town.

You might also be interested in reading my blog on Kraftwerk

This blog was researched, written, and continues to be maintained by 1 person. If you enjoyed it and would like to encourage more of them, donations can be made by clicking the button below.

SOURCES:

SOURCES:
Wikipedia
Archive.org
Lama Workshop - by Patrick "The Lama" Lundborg
Demon Angel: A Day in the Life of Roky Erickson
13th Floor Elevators - You’re Gonna Miss Me: Psychedelic Reprise, by Claude Mathews
theragblog.blogspot.com
austinchronicle.com
The MHMR tapes, filmed 1986 Austin State Hospital
Freemasonry.bcy.ca
You're Gonna Miss Me - A Film About Roky Erickson (2007)
F.O.I.A.

13, Freemasonry, and the Great Seal of the United States

The information on this page can be found mostly in parts all over the internet, but I wanted to gather it together here for convenience. In studying these topics, my hope is to keep within the tradition of the late Bill Cooper: to better understand how THEY think and work. THEY being the occultists who control our institutions and economies, so that we may, through knowledge and exposure of their mechanics, have a better chance at limiting or halting their insideous power over us and the world.

[In this early version of The Great Seal, notice the bird's elongated neck and particular placement of feathers on its' head. Is this an eagle or a phoenix? Also notice the 13 stars of David, or hexagrams - as opposed to the later adopted pentagrams, or 5-pointed stars.]

According to Manly P. Hall [1901-1990, 33°Freemason] in "The Secret Destiny of America", part of the original designs for the Great Seal of America included the above peculiar looking bird, a phoenix. He references a book "The History of the Seal of the United States" [P. 1909] as well as his own knowledge of other symbols which ended up on the dollar bill: the pyramid and all-seeing eye. These symbols, when taken together, suggest that the individuals responsible for designing the Great seal were members of a secret society, or were being advised by them.

[Barton then came up with another design, which the committee submitted back to Congress on May 9, 1782...At the top is an eagle and on the pillar in the shield is a "Phoenix in Flames". - Wiki]

While mainstream sources such as Wikipedia consistently downplay, or even deny Freemasonic influence upon the Great Seal, they simultaneously admit one of the most high profile and influential individuals on the committees designing the seal was a well known Freemason and member of other secret societies: Benjamin Franklin. According to an article at www.freemasons-freemasonry.com by W.Bro. David Barrett, "Freemasons so far involved were Franklin, Jefferson, Houston and William Barton but none of the final designers were Freemasons. However we know that essentially they continued working with the original basic schematic."

So...multiple [known] Freemasons were on the committees making decisions about the seal, but DON'T WORRY, none of their Freemasonic ties influenced the FINAL symbols that would ultimately end up on it...

We know that the 13 step truncated pyramid on the back of the $1 bill was taken from an earlier Francis Hopkinson design for a $50 bill. Hopkinson was also on a committee for the Great Seal, and although it is not clear whether he was a Freemason or not, his father, Thomas Hopkinson, was a Freemasonic Grandmaster of Pennsylvania in 1736, and was personal friends with Benjamin Franklin. The Hopkinson family also had their own pew at Pennsylvania's Christ Church, one of America's early locations to hold Freemasonic gatherings, according to "Freemasonry in Pennsylvania 1730-1907".

Getting back to the "Phoenix Bird" image shown earlier...Manly P. Hall recounts a story given in the book "The History of the Seal of the United States" in which Benjamin Franklin "mistakingly" assumes the bird is a wild turkey, and was allegedly pleased with this as a symbol. Really? A big fat bird most well known for being at the center of the dinner table on Thanksgiving made a good symbol for America's Great Seal? I suspect this story was deliberately fabricated in order to downplay Franklin's symbol literacy/Freemasonic connections - or otherwise confuse the naive sleuth making connections between the founders and Freemasonry. But who knows?

As for the phoenix as a symbol, it has traditionally represented death and rebirth. The rising of the phoenix from the ashes would seem to represent the rebirth of a plan, a people, or an organization. Hall alludes to the goals of a secret society in reference to the founding of America, and their "Order of the Quest." He uses Masonic language consistently, referring to "the Great Architect of the Universe," which is a known Masonic term for "God." One symbol for this God is the all-seeing eye...

"Every Masonic Lodge is a Temple of Religion and its’ teachings are instruction in religion." - Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, Chapter 13 or 13th°.

Freemasonic apologists will liberally disown or embrace aspects of this influential 861 page tome, according to what they PREFER people believe about it. But there is no dodging the influence and importance of this book among Freemasons of the time, and probably up to this very day.

"in 1859 he [Pike] was elected Sovereign Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite's Southern Jurisdiction. He remained Sovereign Grand Commander for the rest of his life, devoting a large amount of his time to developing the rituals of the order."

I bring up Pike and the book "Morals and Dogma" in order to address this business of the number 13 and other Freemasonic aspects of the Great Seal of America.

"The eagle has 32 feathers on its right wing, the number of ordinary degrees in Scottish Rite Freemasonry. The left wing has 33 feathers, corresponding to the 33rd degree of the same rite conferred for outstanding Masonic service. The tail feathers number nine – the number of degrees in Chapter, Council and Commandery of the York Rite...The total number of feathers [upon the 2 wings] totals 65 which, by gematria, is the value of ‘gam yachad’ ( 3+40+10+8+4) [Psalm 133- Hinei ma tov etc] a phrase often used in Freemasonry." - W.Bro. David Barrett

I would also add that the 13 stars above the Bird's head, which are pentacles [5 pointed stars] also add up to 65 [13 x 5].

The "gam yachad" is related to the Tetragrammaton, a 4-letter abbreviation of God's inutterable name. And by inutterable, I mean that ancient Hebrew tradition forbade the speaking of God's name, even going as far as expressing the word GOD like this: G-D. The implication being, that the name was of course sacred and divine, and not meant for just anyone to speak out loud [Freemasons LOVE this stuff!]. And so starting with the 4 letter name REPRESENTING God, which is YHVH [Jehovah/Yeshuah], we have an entire number pattern evolving out of those 4 letters, all having specific significance.

E PLURIBUS UNUM = 13 letters. Meaning, "out of the many, one." The bundle of 13 arrows held tightly within the bird's left claw seems to represent this.

The numbers used on the dollar bill seem to mostly be derived from ancient Hebrew mysticism/Gematria. This is based upon the fact that Hebrew letters represent not just sounds and meanings, but numerical values. One could say the language itself is divinely inspired or magical. Whatever the case, 13 is most certainly not a BAD number within this system!

"Thirteen is the number that bonds multiplicity into oneness. For example: There are twelve tribes that are bonded into their father Israel (Yaaqov). Israel is the thirteenth. The meaning of the number thirteen is the bonding of many into one." - https://www.betemunah.org/thirteen.html

Where have we heard this before, "many into one?" E PLURIBUS UNUM. 13 letters, spelling out in latin: "Out of many, one." Albert Pike speaks about this in the 13th° of "Morals and Dogma" as well, getting into all of this material from the Tetragrammaton, the many into one, and the different permutations of the sacred name. You think MAYBE there's some kinda correlation here?

The latin numbers at the base of the pyramid say 1776, the year of the START of the American Revolution. It's also the same year a German philosopher by the name of Adam Weishaupt founded the Illuminati.

"1 May 1776 Johann Adam Weishaupt founded the "Illuminati" in the Electorate of Bavaria." - wikipedia

Ever heard of "Mayday?" It's an international distress signal meaning "emergency!" May Day also happens to be an ancient pagan celebration, marking the beginning of summer, traditionally held on May 1st. I will not elaborate more upon that, just thought it was worth mentioning here.

Now some will say, "Weishaupt resided in Europe, and there is no proof of this "Illuminati's" presence in America during the revolutionary era!" Well actually, yes, there is. In the form of written correspondence between George Washington and GW Snyder, from https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-02-02-0435:

"It was not my intention to doubt that, the Doctrines of the Iluminati, and principles of Jacobinism had not spread in the United States. On the contrary, no one is more fully satisfied of this fact than I am...[follow up letter] The idea I meant to convey, was, that I did not believe that the Lodges of Free Masons in this Country had, as Societies, endeavoured to propagate the diabolical tenets of the first, or the pernicious principles of the latter (if they are susceptible of seperation). That Individuals of them may have done it, and that the founder, or instrument employed to found, the Democratic Societies in the United States, may have had these objects—and actually had a seperation of the People from their Government in view, is too evident to be questioned." - George Washington

While we are quoting the above correspondence, let's address this often exagerrated point that "hey, George Washington was a Freemason too, bro!":

"to correct an error you have run into, of my Presiding over the English lodges in this Country. The fact is, I preside over none, nor have I been in one more than once or twice, within the last thirty years.

Sure, Washington was an admitted Freemason at one point. But attending 1 or 2 meetings within a 30 year period does not sound like a very "active" card-holding member to me. It seems his identity as a Freemason has either been deceptively downplayed by himself, or deliberately exagerrated by others for various reasons.

In conclusion, George Washington clearly knew about the Illuminati's existence as well as the very real threat they posed to the early efforts at American independence. So those who try and make others feel silly for talking about this stuff are themselves either ignorant, or are "playing dumb."

Regarding the Illuminati's classification as a Freemasonic organization - I would say if anything, they were an extreme rogue faction, or simply a group of infiltrators, obviously with a nefarious secret agenda. I would be very wary of ANY organization calling itself "The Illuminati" to this day. Besides the fact that the name carries some very negative baggage, any organization purporting to be a descendant of such an entity is most likely a fraud of a fraud and can't possibly have anyone's best interests in mind other than its own!

Although it is rather easy to count 13 layers in the above pyramid image, it's far more difficult to discern how many bricks compose these layers. According to 33° Freemason Manly P Hall, as well as other more modern sources, such as mastermason.com, the 13 layers are made up of 72 stones or bricks. Wikipedia:

"To overcome the problems posed by the doctrine of God's transcendence, the early Jewish mystics developed an emanation theory in which the alphabet played an important part. They taught that the universe was divided into ten angelic spheres each one governed by an intermediary or emanation of the divine. There were seventy-two inferior angels through whom the intermediaries could be approached. Contact with this celestial world was achieved by manipulating the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. [...] This invocatory technique may be traced through the works of Joseph Gikatilla to the famous thirteenth-century Kabbalist Abraham Abulafia"

This relates, again, to the Hebrew Gematria composing the inutterable name of God, reduced down to the letters YHVH, in its simplest form. It seems that the existence of this number 72 within the Great Seal was less well known, but acknowledged over the years by those initiated into the mystery schools - further contributing to the obvious fact that the individuals who came up with all of this were, at some level, members of a secret society.

[Above invitation reads: "Brother - You are desired to meet the Master, and Brethren of N°[2?] Ancient York-Masons at their Room on Arch Street - on Monday next at 6 OClock in the Evening - Philadelphia Anno Mundi. 707 - By Order of the Master Edwin Robinson - Secretary March 25th"]

Freemasonic apologists will generally acknowledge that the evocative "Eye of Providence" symbol on the $1 bill was/is used by Freemasons - but they claim it was not used by them all that often back in those days.

"As far as can be established the All Seeing Eye was adopted by Masonry in 1797." - W.Bro. David Barrett

That's funny, because the first book I came across online documenting Freemasonry in Pennsylvania 1730-1907 contained the above image, engraved in 1759, a good 15 years BEFORE the Great Seal of America was put together. It's probably fair to assume it [The Eye] was used by Freemasons earlier than 1759 as well, but apologists will then say "the Eye was commonly used all over the place, not just in Freemasonry!" The problem with this argument is that it doesn't DISPROVE that the symbol as used upon the dollar bill is Freemasonic in nature! It only provides the possibility that it doesn't necesarily HAVE to be Freemasonic. But that's assuming one completely ignores all the other esoteric symbolism, concepts, and numbers as being consistent with Freemasonry.

ANNUIT COEPTIS = He (God) has favored our undertakings. NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM = A New Order of the Ages.

"Novus ordo seclorum" was not intended to mean (nor does it correctly translate into) "new world order."...And Thomson said the motto refers to the beginning of a new age – an American era beginning in 1776. The pyramid's rising rows of construction help illustrate this new series of generations...Thus together, the words signified the beginning of the new American Era commencing from that date seen at the base of the Pyramid." - W.Bro. David Barrett

While the above may all be true, the larger occult agenda behind it all is not automatically DISPROVEN by simply not addressing it at all! A "new age" under God is very LARGE language, which does not make one immediately think of a mere country being born. For example, when we hear about this "Age of Aquarius," we are not talking about a specific geographical location, we're talking about EVERYWHERE. This quick dismissal of the translation being "New World Order" might be technically correct, but is Barrett's "correct" translation necesarrily that much different than what a "conspiracy theorist" might assume? If anything, "New Order of the Ages" sounds even more ominous and far reaching than "New World Order!"

Brother Barrett's knowledge of the numbers embedded within these symbols is quite apparent on the page where many of these quotations were taken from. And yet, he doesn't seem to mention anywhere that the pyramid has 13 levels to it and 72 stones/bricks. While pyramids may not have been used during ceremonies, the numbers certainly have signifficence. Which indicates to me that he is deliberately downplaying the occult significance of the pyramid here, and it's potential connections to Freemasonry. Especially given his specific reference to Hebrew Gematria/Freemasonry earlier in counting the Eagle's feathers.

The front of the dollar bill often gets less scrutiny. The seal of the Department of Treasury contains a shield, a scale, a chevron with 13 stars, and a key. Scales indicate balance and measure. The chevron can be seen as a Masonic square, also used for measurement. A key represents authority, but can also represent a KEYSTONE, especially if we view the chevron/square as an ARCH. What street was that earlier mentioned Masonic event being held on? Arch Street.

It is true that one can probably see or hear whatever they want in anything. But there is a difference between mere "free association" and consistent double and triple meanings pointing towards the same thing. The allowance of "plausible deniability" provides an escape route for those either too skeptical to see what is right in front of them, or too steeped in secrecy to admit what is actually there. Numbers, in particular, are difficult to contrive into a consistent narrative of this scale.

According to the late Jordan Maxwell, this is a little Owl hiding in the artwork. Owls are nocturnal and hunt at night. They can see in the dark and can turn their heads completely around and see what is behind them. The Owl is wise, because of this, and makes for a great symbol in Secret Society allegories. If we "see in the dark," we see what others cannot, we operate, we hunt in the dark, where others cannot see.

On the other hand, some think this is a little spider, weaving the web of patterns making up the background of the bill, which can also have occult connotations. I tend to lean towards the Owl theory.

One final note on the Freemasonic concept of "God." As Albert Pike's quotation earlier rather unambiguisly states, "Every Masonic Lodge is a Temple of Religion and its’ teachings are instruction in religion." So who is the God of this religion then? Is all of this liberal borrowing from Hebrew Kabballah pointing towards Jehovah? I don't think so. Although Freemasonry borrows heavily from Kabballah in some instances, it also borrows from Ancient Egypt, Sumeria, Pythagoras, and just about anything else esoteric.

What Pike's Scottish Rite has done, is they reduced God down into the vague concept of "The Great Architect of the Universe." Or just "Deity." They then allow the potential candidate to CHOOSE WHATEVER NAME for that God they prefer. Jesus, Mohammed, Shiva, Krisna, Buddah, Quetzalcoatl, Lucifer, etc...Basically, they have you plug your God(s) into the Freemasonic console and you can now address your God as "The Great Architect of the Universe." To these Scottish Rite Freemasons, God is just another word for your individual faith. And as long as your faith is plugged into the Brotherhood, you will be as loyal to the brotherhood as you will your God.

You might also be interested in reading my blog on Kraftwerk

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The Queen's Reich [PT II]

The band Queensryche certainly had their 15 minutes of fame, but it wasn't much longer than that. In other words, their mainstream success was rather short lived - despite having been active since 1982. While there are many reasonable explanations as to why a band might find great success to be fleeting, I'd like to spend some time considering those which will likely be viewed as descidedly less reasonable, and far more diabolic.

[Queensryche's 1990 album "Empire" was their most commercially successful. EMI is the record label the band was under contract with at the time. The yellow lettering is my own, and is being used to highlight the fact that EMI is curiously embedded into the album's artwork.]

[Chris DeGarmo (L) and Geoff Tate (R)]

Although Queensryche has come to be known as a rather volatile entity over time, this was not always the case. They appeared to be one of the more solid units out there for many years, up until the departure of Chris DeGarmo. He was often the band's articulate spokesman publicly, and seemed to be the main songwriter, having written "Queen of the Ryche," from which the band got its' name. In fact their biggest (only?) major hit "Silent Lucidity" was written, we are told, soley by him. So his rather low key departure in 1997, which was not officially announced publicly until the following year, left fans just as confused as they were dissapointed.

THE DARK EMPIRE

[Malcolm Dome (R.I.P. 2021) was probably the most influential journalist in Heavy Metal during the 80s, and probably played more than a small role in elavating QR from obscurity to international recognition]

“I’m not sure what I feel about the band right now. Whenever we finish a record, I think it’s time to leave. Or we should split up. I am drained, and fed up. I don’t have the energy to deal with the other guys. I get annoyed with them all, because I feel they’ve let me down. But then, I also think I’ve let them down. Is that the way all musicians think? It’s that love/hate thing we have, isn’t it? Empire is maybe the worst album we’ve ever made, or the best. I can’t judge it.” - Chris DeGarmo

The above DeGarmo quote was taken from an interview Malcolm Dome allegedly conducted in July of 1990 "off the record," then put "on the record" in 2014 on his loudersound.com webpage. If DeGarmo really said this in 1990, it certainly gives perspective on his decidedly low profile exit 7 years later.

It's strange to think that the album which brought QR mainstream success would be one he might consider to be their worst. As a fan who purchased the album when it came out with great anticipation, I thought it was just ok, but certainly the weakest they had done up to that point. Admittedly, there is a certain satisfaction in discovering that DeGarmo may have been honest enough to know it wasn't their best artistically. I'm sure EMI was holding a proverbial gun to their backs insisting they "lay some golden eggs or else!"

"I was questioning the long term stability of the group by that point. The level of internal and external dysfunction was unacceptable to me. Apparently, no one else was paying attention, or bothered to compare the successful elements and priorities of our past to our current trajectory." - wiki

The above was also taken from a Malcolm Dome interview, and is the one shown on Wikipedia as of the day I typed this out. As far as I know, these are the only detailed quotes allegedly given by DeGarmo to the press concerning his exit from QR - which has always be shrouded in a bit of mystery.

[British magazine Kerrang! had a huge influence upon the 80s Heavy Metal world, and took a strong interest in QR from very early on]

The UK's Kerrang! magazine [with Malcolm Dome at the helm] was largely responsible for QR's sudden arrival upon the international scene. Dome was also there during the peak of the band's financial success, and managed to capture what I believe is the most raw, candid interview of DeGarmo. He's also there at the end of DeGarmo's journey with QR to get what seems to be the most detailed, and possibly only direct explanation from DeGarmo himself regarding his exit.

Part of me thinks Kerrang/Dome was just THAT powerful and important that DeGarmo would choose to confide in them exclusively among all the other press options. Another part of me wonders if this is all far more contrived than most fans would ever guess. Especially given the strange manner in which Dome claims he held onto the candid 1990 interview with DeGarmo only to release it 15 years later. The timing just seems a bit...too calculated.

One very basic and tangeable fact is that the band's longtime record label EMI decided to file for bankruptcy on behalf of their American subsidiary [EMI is a British record label]. We are told this left the band high and dry during their 1997 "Hear in the Now Frontier" tour, which is coincidentally the one during which DeGarmo decided to quit. Financial support became unstable, band members weren't getting any younger, and behind closed doors DeGarmo wasn't such a happy camper after all - so maybe it was just a good time for smart people to jump ship and find another career. But was leaving a sinking ship so easy?

REAP J LAM

Don't get me wrong, I hold no ill will or negative feelings towards any member of QR. And I certainly do not wish an early death upon any of them! But it has come to my attention fairly recently that just about every band that enjoys mainstream popularity for a period of time, ends up with a dead member or 2. And I don't mean by age or "natural causes." I'm talking about the long list of dead musicians with suspicious circumstances surrounding their untimely demises. Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones, Kieth Moon, Jim Morrison, Lynyrd Skynyrd band members, John Lennon, Randy Rhoads, Curt Cobain, Chris Cornell, etc...I once read that a member of the Rolling Stones stated "the only way outta this band is in a coffin!" So the question I'm going to ask here is, was QR's 15 minutes of success cut short because a suitable sacrifice was never made? Could it be that the band was simply "past due" on their "payment," and this is why everything went wacky?

“The way I feel right now, I don’t know if I have a future, and I am not talking about just as a musician. I am not suicidal. But I have doubts. Real doubts. I don’t even know why I am talking like this. It won’t make me feel any better. Probably by tomorrow, I will be upbeat and shiny again. But I always question whether I want to carry on as I am. Maybe I will pack my bags, walk out of this hotel, out of this life and start all over again. But I’ve not done that so far, so why would I do it now?” - DeGarmo, according to Malcolm Dome

Note, the above quote was supposedly from 1990, the dawn of QR's most financially successful era. Now I don't want to exagerrate and try to blow it up into something it isn't, but where have we heard "I am not suicidal" before? Isaac Kappy and John McAfee are two fairly recent examples I can think of. High profile individuals who were obviously taken out shortly after publicly stating "I am not suicidal." Was this DeGarmo subtly confessing to something the public wasn't supposed to know? Was there a genuine fear within the group that someone was gonna need to get taken out soon? Even if DeGarmo never said these things, why would the highly respected and influential Malcolm Dome print it in 2015 and tell us Degarmo said it in 1990?

RIKKI RACHTMAN:...and it seems like now the Seattle music scene is basically dominated rock and roll...I mean is there any reason that you think all these bands now are coming from Seattle? DEGARMO:...Boeing has been conducting chemical experiments on the Northwest region - I'm totally serious - for quite some time. And we...were fortunate enough to be asked to participate in this experiment as were some of our friends and everyone..."

The above quote was taken from a youtube compilation of QR interviews. This particular segment was conducted by Rikki Rachtman on MTV. He was, of course, referring to the then Seattle Grunge movement, which was blowing up at that time. It's a relavant question, because Queensryche was this anomoly of a band from Seattle, an area that wasn't really on the map musically at the time they formed. Yet here they were, international prog/metal/pop veterans of the Seattle music scene, confronted with the prospect of being made obsolete by this new Seattle "grunge" sound.

Being that DeGarmo was allegedly studying to be an airplane pilot around the time he did the above interview, it is interesting to consider why he would jest about a conspiracy involving Boeing, of all companies. Boeing is, of course, one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of Airplanes in the country, among other things. Seattle's King County Airport also sits on Boeing field, a place I am sure DeGarmo is thoroughly familiar with.

A quick search on "Boeing Chemical Experiments" will yield quite a few results detailing various court filings ranging from Boeing employees/relatives to regular civilians - all claiming to have suffered as a result of chemical exposure originating from Boeing locations. While Boeing does have an undeniable history of catastrophic hazardous chemical waste management [search: "santa susana field lab boeing toxic spill"], I have not found much to specifically back up DeGarmo's possibly made-up comment. But it's an odd, almost non-sequitur kind of thing to joke about on MTV, where hundreds of thousands of people are watching. If you view the video, it's actually kind of hard to tell if he's being serious or not, even though he states "I'm totally serious." And I'm not the first person to observe this behavior in DeGarmo...

"I am still unsure whether DeGarmo was playing a game, or genuinely baffled by what life at the time had given him. The feeling I had was that, in purely musical terms, he felt Queensrÿche were dead to him. It was to take seven more years, before he quit. But the underlying context was that he had no more to gain from being in this band, and they had nothing more to achieve with him. So, is Empire the band’s finest album? Or the start of a decline. Your call." - Malcolm Dome

“Oh, I do that every so often. Maybe this is all bullshit, and I am acting out a role, and you just happen to be the chosen audience. Can you tell whether what I’ve said is real or imagination? Perhaps I’m challenging you to find the truth from the fiction in Chris DeGarmo. Maybe I want you to tell me. Because I don’t know. You can print anything I’ve said just now. I may thank you, or hate you for it. Or both.” - Chris DeGarmo, as quoted by Malcolm Dome

Again, Dome published the above quote from a candid interview conducted right about the same time as the MTV interview with Rikki Rachtman. It's a little tough to imagine DeGarmo's voice uttering the above words, as they evoke a decidedly sinister tone I don't think I've ever gotten from any of his other interviews. Did he really say these things, or did Dome simply publish these words years later in order to control some sort of unwanted narrative surrounding the band? I suppose both can be true.

To say that Geoff Tate seems to have lost his mind around the year 2012 is fair, but it is also fair to say the band's music and live performances had lost something well before that. Call it bad management, an identity crisis, lack of funding, a loss of the ability to work together productively, or just a very dry well of creativity - the QR ship seems to start slowly and painfully sinking around the time of DeGarmo's exit and the EMI bankruptcy. This eventually culminates into the disastrous 2012 incident in Brazil, where Tate allegedly punched and spit on band members while on stage.

[Q: You have actually toured with Kiss…played with Maiden, Dio…but before that you were really on the local circuit, weren’t you? Geoff Tate: Actually no. We’d never played live before. I think the first show we played was 4000 people or something…]

Let's step back and remember QR's "humble" beginnings. First gig: opening for Dio, playing to something like 4000 people. No paying dues in the club circuit, just straight to the top and off like a rocket. The rest of the 80s was constant tours opening for just about every popular hard rock and metal band in the US, Europe, and Japan. No real hits, countless awkward band photos and "fashion statements," curious shifts in sound with each new release, but always accompanied by impressive music which did not seem to know where it was going exactly. Yet EMI kept pushing the group, until they squeezed a big hit out, a good 8 years or so later. Doesn't sound like a recipe for profit, and the eventual bankruptcy of EMI America doesn't exactly take away from that observation.

The stresses of success and the toll it takes on a band to get there, even if only for 15 minutes, is a topic covered in many music documentaries - as are urban legends regarding deals with the devil in order to obtain fame and fortune. While the former is pretty much an agreed upon cliche, I think most people would also agree there is a grain of truth in the latter, if only conceptually. But what if this is more literal than fans would ever suspect? Would it better explain the seeming dedication to chaos we saw erupt within QR during the weeks and years leading up to the Brazil incident, and after? Was the seeming attempt by Geoff Tate to take the band over really just his way of gaining control of something that was destined to consume him? Was all the legal mayhem and scrambling for control of the name and revolving door of musicians based upon the same fear shared by all original members of the TriRyche [3rd Reich] corporation? Was DeGarmo's exit related to this, and is that why there seems to be so much intentional vagueness behind his decision to leave QR?

I wish nothing bad upon the members of Queensryche, or anyone else - and I can even appreciate some of the material they have all put out since the split. But it seems clear to me that the QR ship has been mortally wounded, perhaps deliberately from the inside, seemingly with a desperate hope that the Dark Lord will just turn his head away in disgust and think, "fine, but you will never play with the big boys again, losers!"

Click here for PART I

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