Bohemian Grove.

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The Bohemian Grove was established shortly

after the founding of the Bohemian Club in 1872.

The Bohemian Club's all-male membership includes artists, particularly musicians, as well as many prominent business leaders,

government officials (including many current and former U.S. presidents), and senior media executives.

Alex Jones' documented the first ever hidden camera:

Inside the Bohemian Grove Exposing the Dark Secrets of Occult Activities of the Global Elite. The bizarre pagan ritual of the Bohemian Grove, that is practiced by its members (all men), including both Presidents Bush, ...

Introduction:

Bohemian Grove is a 2,700-acre (11 km2) campground located at 20601 Bohemian Avenue, in Monte Rio, California, belonging to a private San Francisco-based men's art club known as the Bohemian Club.

In mid-July each year, Bohemian Grove hosts a three-week. The Bohemian Club's all-male membership includes artists, particularly musicians, as well as many prominent business leaders, government officials (including many former U.S. presidents), senior media executives, and people of power.

When gathered in groups, discussion of business often occurs between pairs of members. Important political and business deals have been developed at the Grove. The Grove is particularly famous for a Manhattan Project planning meeting that took place there in September 1942, which subsequently led to the atomic bomb. Those attending this meeting, apart from Ernest Lawrence and military officials, have included the president of Harvard and representatives of Standard Oil and General Electric. Grove members take particular pride in this event and often relate the story to new attendees.

History:

The tradition of a summer encampment was established six years after the Bohemian Club was formed in 1872. Henry "Harry" Edwards, a well-loved founding member, announced that he was relocating to New York City to further his career. On June 29, 1878, somewhat less than 100 Bohemians gathered in the Redwoods in Marin County near Taylorville (present-day Samuel P. Taylor State Park) for an evening send off party in Edwards' honour. Freely flowing liquor and some Japanese lanterns put a glow on the festivities, and club members retired at a late hour to the modest comfort of blankets laid on the dense mat of Redwood needles. This festive gathering was repeated the next year without Edwards, and became the club's annual encampment. By 1882 the members of the Club camped together at various locations in both Marin and Sonoma County, including the present-day Muir Woods and a redwood grove that once stood near Duncans Mills, several miles down the Russian River from the current location. From 1893 Bohemians rented the current location, and in 1899 purchased it from Melvin Cyrus Meeker who had developed a successful logging operation in the area. Gradually over the next decades, members of the Club purchased land surrounding the original location to the perimeter of the basin in which it resides.

Not long after the Club's establishment by newspaper journalists, it was commandeered by prominent San Francisco-based businessmen, who provided the financial resources necessary to acquire further land and facilities at the Grove. However, they still retained the "bohemians"—the artists and musicians—who continued to entertain international members and guests.

In the 1870s, Henry "Harry" Edwards was an actor with the California Theatre Stock Company, a founding Bohemian and the head entomologist at the California Academy of Sciences.

Membership and past attendees:

The Bohemian Club is a private club; only active members of the Club (known as "Bohos" or "Grover's") and their guests may visit the Grove. These guests have been known to include politicians and notable figures from countries outside the U.S. Particularly during the midsummer encampment, the number of guests is strictly limited due to the small size of the facilities. Nevertheless, up to 2,900 members and guests have been reported as attending some of the annual encampments.

The membership list has included every Republican U.S. president since 1923 (as well as some Democrats), many cabinet officials, directors and CEOs of large corporations including major financial institutions. Major military contractors, oil companies, banks (including the Federal Reserve), utilities (including nuclear power) and national media (broadcast and print) have high-ranking officials as club members or guests.

Facilities:

The main encampment area consists of 160 acres (0.65 km2) of old-growth redwood trees over 1,000 years old, with some trees exceeding 300 feet (90 m) in height.

The primary activities taking place at the Grove are varied and expansive entertainment, such as a grand main stage and a smaller, more intimate stage. Thus, the majority of common facilities are entertainment venues, interspersed among the giant redwoods.

A Bohemian tent in the 1900s, sheltering Porter Garnett, George Sterling and Jack London.

There are also sleeping quarters, or "camps" scattered throughout the grove, of which it is reported there were a total of 118 as of 2007. These camps, which are frequently patrilineal, are the principal means through which high-level business and political contacts and friendships are formed.

The pre-eminent camps are:

* Hill Billies (Big Business/Banking/Politics/Universities/Media/Texas Business);

* Mandalay (Big Business/Defence Contractors/Politics/U.S. Presidents);

* Cave Man (Think Tanks/Oil Companies/Banking/Defence Contractors/Universities/Media);

* Stowaway (Rockefeller Family Members/Oil Companies/Banking/Think Tanks);

* Uplifters (Corporate Executives/Big Business);

* Owls Nest (U.S. Presidents/Military/Defence Contractors);

* Hideaway (Foundations/Military/Defence Contractors);

* Isle of Aves (Military/Defence Contractors);

* Lost Angels (Banking/Defence Contractors/Media);

* Silverado squatters (Big Business/Defence Contractors);

* Sempervirens (California-based Corporations);

* Hillside (Military—Joint Chiefs of Staff);

* Idle wild (California-based Corporations)

Entertainment venues and gathering spots:

* Grove Stage—an amphitheatre with seating for 2,000 used primarily for the Grove Play production, on the last weekend of the midsummer encampment. The stage extends up the hillside, and is also home to the second largest outdoor pipe organ in the world.

* Field Circle—a bowl-shaped amphitheatre used for the mid-encampment "Low Jinks" musical comedy, for "Spring Jinks" in early June and for a variety of other performances.

* Campfire Circle—has a campfire pit in the middle of the circle, surrounded by carved redwood log benches. Used for smaller performances in a more intimate setting.

* Museum Stage—a semi-outdoor venue with a covered stage. Lectures and small ensemble performances.

* Dining Circle—seating approximately 1,500 diners simultaneously.

* Clubhouse—designed by Bernard Maybeck in 1903, completed in 1904 on a bluff overlooking the Russian River;[14] a multi-purpose dining, drinking and entertainment building; the site of the Manhattan Project planning meeting held in 1942.

* The Owl Shrine and the Lake—an artificial lake in the middle of the grove, used for the noon-time concerts and also the venue of the Cremation of Care, that takes place on the first Saturday of the encampment. It is also the location of the 12:30 p.m. daily "Lakeside Talks." These significant informal talks (many on public policy issues) have been given over the years by entertainers, professors, astronauts, business leaders, cabinet officers, CIA directors, future presidents and former presidents; these have been the subject of ongoing controversy, as the transcripts of these talks are rarely released to the public (though have been known to be used for such mundane purposes as reading for the lecturer's graduate students).

Women

Though no woman has ever been given full membership in the Bohemian Club, the four female honorary members were hostess Margaret Bowman, poet Ina Coolbrith (who served as librarian for the Club), actress Elizabeth Crocker Bowers and writer Sara Jane Lippincott. Since Coolbrith's death in 1928, no other woman was made a member. These honorary members and other women guests have been allowed into the Bohemian "City Club" building and as daytime guests of the Grove, but not to the upper floors of the City Club nor as guests to the main summer encampment at the Grove. Annual "Ladies' Jinks" were held at the Club especially for spouses and invited guests.

In 1978 the Bohemian Club was charged with a discrimination lawsuit by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing over its refusal to hire women employees. In January 1981 Judge Robert Kendall issued a decision supporting the practices of the Club, noting that club members at the Grove "urinate in the open without even the use of rudimentary toilet facilities" and that the presence of females would alter club members' behaviour. On October 17, 1981 the Department of Fair Employment and Housing countered the Kendall ruling by ordering the Club to begin recruiting and hiring women as employees. In 1986 the Bohemian Club went to the California Supreme Court over the issue, arguing that their freedom of association was being harmed; the Court found against the Club and denied a review in 1987, forcing the Club to begin hiring female workers during the summer encampment at the Grove in Monte Rio. This ruling became quoted as a legal precedent and was discussed during the 1995-1996 floor debate surrounding California Senate Bill SB 2110 (Maddy), a proposed bill concerning whether tax-exempt organizations (including fraternal clubs) should be exempt from the Unruh Civil Rights Act.

Symbolism and rituals:

Since the founding of the club, the Bohemian Grove's mascot has been an owl, symbolizing knowledge. A 40-foot (12 m) hollow owl statue made of concrete over steel supports stands at the head of the lake in the Grove; this Owl Shrine was designed by sculptor and two-time club president Haig Patigian, and built in the 1920s. Since 1929, the Owl Shrine has served as the backdrop of the yearly Cremation of Care ceremony.

The Club's patron saint is John of Nepomuk, who legend says suffered death at the hands of a Bohemian monarch rather than disclose the confessional secrets of the queen. A large wood carving of St. John in cleric robes with his index finger over his lips stands at the shore of the lake in the Grove, symbolizing the secrecy kept by the Grove's attendees throughout its long history.

Cremation of Care:

Main article: List of Grove Plays

Each year, a Grove Play is performed for one night during the final weekend of the summer encampment. The play is a large-scale musical theatrical production, written and composed by club members, involving some 300 people, including chorus, cast, stage crew and orchestra. The first Grove Play was performed in 1902; during the war years 1943–1945 the stage was dark. In 1975, an observer estimated that the Grove Play cost between $20,000–30,000, an amount that would be as high as $122,000 in today's dollars.

The Cremation of Care ceremony was devised in 1893 by a member named Joseph D. Redding, a lawyer from New York. It was originally scheduled to follow the serious of dramatic performance (later known as the Grove Play) on the first weekend of the summer encampment, and served as a catharsis for pent-up high spirits. In 1913, the ceremony was separated from the Grove Play and moved to the first night to become "an exorcising of the Demon to ensure the success of the ensuing two weeks".

The ceremony involves the poling of a small boat across a lake containing an effigy of Care (called "Dull Care").

Dark, hooded figures receive from the erryman the effigy which is placed on an altar and at the end of the ceremony, is set on fire. This "cremation" symbolizes that members are banishing the "dull cares" of conscience. The ceremony takes place in front of a 45-foot (14 m) high hollow owl statue made of concrete over expanded metal framing and steel supports. The moss- and lichen-covered statue simulates a natural rock formation, yet holds electrical and audio equipment within it. During the ceremony, a recording of the voice of Walter Cronkite, a member of the Bohemian Club, is used as the voice of The Owl. Music and pyrotechnics accompany the ritual for dramatic effect.

"Dull Care"

Alex Jones and his cameraman:

On July 15, 2000, Austin, Texas-based filmmaker Alex Jones and his cameraman, Mike Hanson, walked into the Grove. With a hidden camera, Jones and Hanson were able to film the Cremation of Care ceremony. The footage was the centrepiece of Jones' documentary Dark Secrets: Inside Bohemian Grove. Jones claimed that the Cremation of Care was an "ancient Canaanite, Luciferian, Babylon mystery religion ceremony," and that the owl statue was Moloch. The Grove and Jones' investigation were covered by Jon Ronson in Channel 4's four-part documentary, Secret Rulers of the World.

Also filmed for The Order of Death was Jones' return to the entrance of the Bohemian Grove in 2005 where he filmed a protest organized by the Bohemian Grove Action Network that took place at the Grove's entrance on Bohemian Highway, only to discover a majority of the protesters engaging in an "occult counter-ritual" known as the Resurrection of Care, supposedly a counter-ritual against the Cremation of Care. Jones' narration for the film lambasted the protesters' actions and motivations from a religious standpoint. In 2005, Chris Jones (no relation) walked into the Grove when hired as an employee, and videotaped the Owl Shrine in daylight, even venturing inside the hollow statue. He also got footage of effigies, the lakeside, and select camps; as well as stealing a membership list. Chris Jones said he was propositioned for sex several times by the Grover's. Chris Jones was subsequently sentenced to three years in state prison for a lewd act with minors. Alex Jones included Chris Jones' video in "The Order of Death".

Actor/writer Harry Shearer (This Is Spinal Tap, Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons), who has attended at least one Bohemian Club event, wrote and directed The Teddy Bears' Picnic, a parody of Bohemian Grove mock pagan pageantry and drunken revelry.

Protests and controversies:

With its combination of wealth and power, Bohemian Grove's secrecy has been a target for protest for many years. The Bohemian Grove Action Network of Occidental, California organizes protests and has aided journalists who wish to penetrate the secrecy surrounding the encampment. Over the years, individuals have infiltrated the Grove then later published video and claimed accounts of the activities at Bohemian Grove.

BOHEMIAN GROVE MEMBERS PERFORMING THE “CREATION OF CARE RITUAL” NOTE:

THESE MEMBERS ARE YOUR PRIME MINISTERS, YOUR PRESIDENTS, YOUR GOVERNORS, YOUR COUNCIL MEMBERS, ENTERTAINERS ETC. LOOK IT UP.

PHOTOS:

References

Notes:

1. ^ a b c d e Philip Weiss, Masters of the Universe Go to Camp: Inside the Bohemian Grove. Spy Magazine, November 1989

2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Peter Martin Phillips, A Relative Advantage: Sociology of the San Francisco Bohemian Club, 1994.

3. ^ Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Image Collection. Breakfast at Owls Nest Camp, Bohemian Grove, July 23, 1967 . Around the table, left to right: Preston Hotchkis, Ronald Reagan, Harvey Hancock (standing), Richard M. Nixon, Glenn Seaborg, Jack Sparks, (unidentified individual), (unidentified individual), and Edwin W. Pauley. Retrieved July 15, 2009.

4. ^ Wallace Turner. "At the Bohemian Club, men join, women serve", The New York Times, 12 January 1981

5. ^ Inside Bohemian Grove from Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting Nov-Dec 1991

6. ^ a b OC Weekly. August 31, 2006. Nick Schou. Bohemian Grove Exposes Itself!

7. ^ Garnett, 1908, p. 6.

8. ^ Garnett, 1908, p. 7.

9. ^ Garnett, 1908, p. 8.

10. ^ Sonoma County Free Press. CounterPunch. Alexander Cockburn. June 19, 2001. The Truth About The Bohemian Grove. Retrieved December 7, 2008

11. ^ Sonoma County Free Press. Bohemian Grove Fact Sheet. Retrieved December 7, 2008

12. ^ SF Gate. Bohemian Club's logging plan raises plenty of sawdust. Jane Kay, Chronicle Environment Writer. Thursday, July 12, 2007. Retrieved September 16, 2008

13. ^ Louis E. Gelwicks. The Camps: Facts, Artifacts and Fantasies 1979

14. ^ Vernacular Language North. Bernard Maybeck. Bohemian Clubhouse. Retrieved March 4, 2009.

15. ^ a b c Domhoff, G. William, The Bohemian Grove and Other Retreats: A study in ruling class cohesiveness, Harper and Row, 1974.

16. ^ Starr, Kevin (2002). The Dream Endures: California Enters the 1940s. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195157974. http://books.google.com/books?id=9HnIh_auw9MC.

17. ^ Garnett, 1908, p. 19.

18. ^ Garnett, 1908, p. 25.

19. ^ Ogden, Dunbar H.; Douglas McDermott, Robert Károly Sarlós (1990). Theatre West: Image and Impact. Rodopi. p. 36. ISBN 9051831250. http://books.google.com/books?id=Sq2QACDO08UC&pg=PA36.

20. ^ a b c d Ogden, 1990, p. 36.

21. ^ a b Domhoff, 1975, p. 10

22. ^ Alex Jones. "Dark Secrets: Inside Bohemian Grove"

23. ^ Ronson, Jon (2002). Them: Adventures with Extremists. Simon and Schuster. p. 321. ISBN 0743233212. http://books.google.com/books?id=Okg6WBbMjzQC&pg=PA321. Retrieved April 18, 2010.

24. ^ Alex Jones. "The Order of Death"

25. ^ PrisonPlanet.com. Alex Jones and Paul Joseph Watson. "The Re-Infiltration of Bohemian Grove". January 17, 2006

26. ^ Infowars.net. Steve Watson & Paul Watson. "2008 Bohemian Grove Guest List Obtained By 9/11 Truth Activists." July 21, 2008

27. ^ New York Times. Movie Review. Dave Kehr. March 29, 2002. Teddy Bear's Picnic (2002)

28. ^ New York Times. January 23, 1981. AP. AROUND THE NATION; Bohemian Club Is Upheld On Refusal to Hire Women.

29. ^ New York Times. October 17, 1981. AP. AROUND THE NATION; Bohemian Club Ordered To Begin Hiring Women.

30. ^ New York Times. July 8, 1987. Katherine Bishop. RETREAT MAY BE CLUB'S LAST WITHOUT WOMEN.

31. ^ California State Senate. 1995-1996 Senate Bills. SB 2110

32. ^ a b c Kay, Jane (July 6, 2009). "No retreat from uproar over Bohemian Club woods". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2009/07/06/MNUU18ICIV.DTL. Retrieved 14 July 2009.

33. ^ Henley, Patricia Lynn. Metroactive, July 4–10, 2007. "Timber! Bohemian Club's long-term logging plan draws fire." Retrieved on October 1, 2009.

34. ^ Noss, Reed F.; Save-the-Redwoods League. The redwood forest: history, ecology, and conservation of the coast redwoods, p. 231. Island Press, 2000. ISBN 1559637269

35. ^ Zito, Kelly (March 15, 2011). "Bohemian Club's 100-year logging permit revoked". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2011%2F03%2F14%2FMN0S1IB053.DTL. Retrieved 22 March 2011.

36. ^ Clinton Bohemian Club Heckler "Clinton makes 'naked' attack", CNN video, October 26, 2007

Bibliography:

* For a definitive look at the history of the Grove and the composition of Bohemian Club members and their social, business and political affiliations, updating Domhoff's book (below), see A Relative Advantage: Sociology of the San Francisco Bohemian Club by Peter Martin Phillips, current Professor of Sociology at Sonoma State University in California. Phillips attended events at the Grove and conducted scores of interviews with attendees in his research.

* Domhoff, G. William, The Bohemian Grove and Other Retreats: A study in ruling class cohesiveness, Harper and Row, 1974.

* Field, Charles K., The Cremation of Care, 1946, 1953

* Fletcher, Robert H., The Annals of the Bohemian Club, Hicks-Judd, 1900

* Garnett, Porter, The Bohemian Jinks: A Treatise, 1908

* Hanson, Mike, Bohemian Grove: Cult Of Conspiracy, iUniverse Inc, 2004

* Hodapp, Christopher; Alice Von Kannon (2008). Conspiracy Theories & Secret Societies For Dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. ISBN 0470184086.

* Hoover, Herbert, Memoirs, Vol 2: The Cabinet and the Presidency, Macmillan, 1952. Hoover was a prominent figure in the Grove's history and coined the phrase: "The Greatest Men's Party on Earth".

* Hotaling, Richard M.; Wallace Arthur Sabin, George Sterling, Bohemian Club. The Twilight of Kings: A Masque of Democracy, the 16th Grove play (1918)

* Ickes, Harold L., The Secret Diary of Harold L. Ickes, Vol 1. The First Thousand Days, 1933–36. Simon and Schuster, 1953. Ickes was Secretary of the Interior during the New Deal.

* Isaacson, Walter, Kissinger: A Biography, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992, (updated) 2005. Contains a brief reference to his attendance at the Grove and fame for his performances in various skits.

* Maupin, Armistead, Significant Others, Chatto and Windus, 1988. A fictionalized account of the grove, as described from the point of view of one of the major characters in the fifth of the 'Tales of the City' series. Sympathetic and well informed, it includes an accurate description of the Cremation of Care ceremony.

* McCartney, Laton, Friends in High Places: The Bechtel Story: The Most Secret Corporation and how It Engineered the World, Ballantine Books, Updated edition,1989. For the network of links between the Californian-based and privately-owned Bechtel Corporation and members of Reagan's Cabinet, along with their camp membership in the Grove.

* Nader, Ralph, The Big Boys, Pantheon, 1987. Contains a chapter on high-level businessmen and the tightly-held secrecy of their Club membership.

* Nixon, Richard, RN : The Memoirs of Richard Nixon, Grosset & Dunlap, 1978.

* Quigley, Carroll, Tragedy And Hope: A History of the World in Our Time, G. S. G. & Associates, Incorporated, 1975. This book serves as the basis for many current conspiracy theories and studies of socio-economic elites.

* Santilli, Armand, The Boys at Bohemian Grove, Xlibris Corporation, 2004

* Schmidt, Helmut, Men and Powers : A Political Retrospective, Random House, 1990. He states in his memoirs that Germany had similar institutions, some of which included such rituals as Cremation of Care, but that his favorite was the Bohemian Grove.

* Shultz, George P., Turmoil and Triumph: Diplomacy, Power and the Victory of the American Ideal, Macmillan Publishing Company, 1993.

* Stephens, Henry Morse; Wallace Arthur Sabin, Charles Caldwell Dobie, Bohemian Club. St. Patrick at Tara, 1909 Grove play

* van der Zee, John, Power at Ease: Inside the Greatest Men's Party on Earth, Harcourt Brace Javonovich, 1974. The author waited tables at the Grove in the summer of 1972. The book has a comprehensive history of the Grove and an extensive bibliography.

* Warren, Earl, The Memoirs of Chief Justice Earl Warren , Madison Books, 2001. A frequent attendee, Warren mentions the Grove in his reminiscences.

* Watson, Thomas J. Jr., & Peter Petre, Father, Son & Co. : My Life at IBM and Beyond, Bantam, 2000. An IBM CEO gives an insider's business perspective on the Grove.

External links:

* An Elite Alliance March 2006, article on former NASA head and current LSU Chancellor Sean O'Keefe's participation in the Bohemian Grove.

* Images of Bohemian Grove, ca. 1906-1909, The Bancroft Library

* Old Bohemia, New Bohemia Compares Bohemian Grove and Burning Man, Forbes Magazine.

* National Review. September 11, 1995. William F. Buckley, Jr. On The Right. Newt Draws Fire. Rebuts stories of men running around naked at the Grove.

* Save Bohemian Grove The website of the group that brought suit against the Grove for its logging practices.