ANIMALS - A CAUTIONARY TALE
We all love to watch Blake's 7. But some episodes are better than others. This means they get watched more often, so they wear out sooner. The bad episodes, however, may never be watched enough to get worn out. In years to come, they may be all that remains of Blake's 7...
Good afternoon. My name is Professor Barking and I'd like to welcome you all to the first in this series of lectures on some of the more obscure cults of the Late 20th and early 21st centuries. We open this series with "Terrorism, Teddy bears and Tarrant-bashing: Uncovering the Cult of the Seven".
This lecture would not have been possible without the recent find of one complete chapter of the Book of the Seven (something of a misnomer, as the Book was more usually a collection of magnetic or "video" tapes, rather than a traditional printed book), plus pioneering work on the reconstruction of a "VCR" enabling viewing of said chapter. As an added bonus for those of you interested in primitive technology, I will be presenting this lecture on "slides". Thanks are due to all those who helped fund and equip this lecture research. The episode will be shown at the end of this lecture, and there will be a brief discussion afterwards.
The Cult of the Seven is one of the most fascinating yet frustrating religious organisations to study. There is little hard factual information on video, audio CD or laser. Quite a lot of written and printed information is available, but sadly most of this has been written by outsiders, who do not always know what they are on about. The written information which can be proven to have come from cult members can be even less helpful; much of it is apocryphal, and often contradicts events which can be seen in the surviving fragments. Even more confusing is the fact that several of these written accounts seem to combine characters and events from the Book of the Seven, with characters and events from other religions, and sometimes even television series, making it very hard to draw any definite conclusions from this material. Also a lot of this material, termed PGP for some reason, deals with the suggested resurrection of the Seven, which would seem to weaken their position as martyrs (though this is not unprecedented in religions of that time; in writings of the Cult of the Great White Bird, one character was revered for laying down his life for his friends, even though he got it back again almost immediately). First slide, please.
Many different versions of the Book of the Seven exist in written form, from plain text to elaborately illustrated. It is unclear whether this is because they were produced by splinter groups with slightly different beliefs, or simply due to errors in copying over the years. As I mentioned in the introduction, the most popular format was video, but any tapes which have been found so far have been played until the picture has deteriorated beyond recognition. This chapter is the first one ever to be found virtually intact - next slide.
This slide (duplicated in the notes accompanying this lecture) shows a complete listing of the chapters of the Book of the Seven, though in some cases the name of the chapter is all that we have. Most chapters now have a brief listing of the contents, or some illustrations, though for others we can only guess at the contents. Presumably better copies of all chapters/episodes still survive in the hands of members of the cult, as no cult correspondence has ever been found expressing concern over "lost" episodes - something which has featured frequently in the writings of the Cult of the Big Blue Box.
Little is known for certain. Followers believed in the principles laid down in the Book of the Seven, consisting of 52 official chapters (or "episodes"), with numerous unofficial additional chapters. The Seven (actual names and numbers debatable) seem to have been a group of criminals (unclear whether guilty or framed) who fought against a corrupt and oppressive government - or were just out to make a quick buck. The central creed of the cult remains a mystery, though it seems to be a recurring theme of redemption from past misdeeds through working for the common good. Personal freedom is emphasised, although so is a sense of responsibility for one's actions. The tone of the cult is somewhat pessimistic ("Every silver lining has a cloud" is a phrase frequently quoted by members), though it does not believe in meekly submitting to the inevitable.
The cult has no specific aim that we know of, though in writings attributed to cult members there are frequent references to the "Fifth Series". So far we are still not sure what this is. Some other religions believe in different ages of mankind, or of the universe, so it may be a new age. Many religions believe that there will be a great apocalypse of some kind, after which only the true believers will be left alive, to create a new world order in line with their religious principles. Some researchers have suggested that the 52 "episodes" of the Book of the Seven in fact represent the 52 weeks of the year, and can be broken down into four distinct "seasons". Their theory is that the fifth series is in fact a longed-for new season - another thirteen chapters to be added to the Book of the Seven, at some unspecified time. This may be the case, but without further evidence it is impossible to be sure. Some scholars who feel that the Seasons theory is basically sound, think that adding another season would upset the harmony with the natural year, making it pointless, unless it is to be taken as a prediction that the length of the average Earth year will change drastically.
The cult had no specific holy sites, though members were suspected to congregate at theatres, hotels, and quarries - next slide. This video tape was found buried at a quarry, so it is possible that old, unusable copies of the Book of the Seven were buried as if they were people, a practice which does occur in some other religions. Large formal gatherings were called conventions. Here the Cult of the Seven seemed to exhibit some similarities to "rave" culture, which existed at roughly the same time, in that the venues changed frequently, and were advertised through a small selected network of contacts, enabling large groups of potentially subversive people to gather together without the authorities being aware of their presence. Rave culture was dependent to a large extent on drugs - the only drugs regularly mentioned by cult members are caffeine, and adrenaline and soma. We have not been able to find any specific rituals which were carried out at conventions, though apparently a popular pass time for cult members was "Tarrant bashing". Initially the significance of this term eluded us, as at that time the word "bash" had the seemingly contradictory meanings of "to hit" or "a party". Eventually a colleague informed me of the custom in some Hispanic countries at that time of "piņata" - next slide. This involved a papier mache effigy (usually of a horse or donkey, though in this case apparently of Tarrant) filled with sweets, which was suspended from the ceiling and hit with sticks until it broke, releasing the sweets onto the waiting children below. No wonder everyone enjoyed it. This slide shows an artists impression of the happy scene.
Unlike followers of the Great White Bird, which at one point seems to have been the official religion of the so-called "United" States, the Cult of the Seven was never the official religion of any one region, so very little official state sanctioned merchandise was ever produced. No single identifying logo was worn in public - possibly these were only displayed at conventions, though presumably cult members had some way of recognising their own - perhaps a secret handshake? - next slide. They often wore plastic bracelets, of varying, often crudely made, designs. Teddy bears were also popular, for no readily apparent reason. No reference to them can be found in any existing chapters.
The cult operated (and as far as we know, still operates) mostly in secret. Though it has often been the subject of ridicule, it has never been formally persecuted, but has sometimes been suspected of strange activities, in spite of being responsible for frequent donations to charity - the cult is similar to the Freemasons in that respect. The riots on one colony when private ownership of printing presses was made illegal were thought to stem from the cult's fear of losing the ability to produce and circulate its various publications. In fact, at one point the Cult of the Seven was suspected of overthrowing the government, though nothing was ever proved.
Suspected cult sites have been found all over the world. Most of these are in areas which spoke English at that time, though not exclusively. There are no obvious connections between some of these sites, leading to uncertainty as to how the cult spread. There does not seem to have been any formal missionary activity, no targets for numbers of recruits each year, yet the cult seems to have been keen to gather "new souls for the faith". Evidence so far seems to suggest that likely candidates for conversion were approached by friends who asked if they wanted to know more about the cult. Any sign of interest then resulted in their being bombarded with repeated viewings of the Book of the Seven. There is no record of anyone ever escaping after that brainwashing, though given the cult's emphasis on self determination and free will, they probably would not refer to it as such.
In this episode, entitled Animals (though some scholars have suggested a more accurate translation would be Beastly) most of the action centres on Dayna and Servalan - next slide - both women in positions of power. This is not commented on as being unusual, suggesting that this is a matriarchal society. Men have the menial tasks of flying and maintaining the ship. The character of Avon in particular seems quite passive, and does almost nothing in this episode (and in the other most complete surviving fragment - Harvest of Cairo, where he spends most of his time studying a rock!), though comments from various female members of my research team suggest that he may be there purely for decorative purposes - next slide - judge for yourself. There have been suggestions that Avon was the central character, based mainly on the fact that more icons have been found bearing his image than that of any other character. From the evidence of this chapter, it is hard to understand how this could be true. Of course it is possible that followers of the Seven may have had prohibitions against making graven images, which may not have been adhered to by any breakaway group of Avonites. It has also been suggested that the Seven were originally led by a man called Blake. Sadly, we know little about this character apart from his name and picture - next slide. He does not feature in any of the surviving fragments recovered so far. There are some similarities between images of Blake and Tarrant - maybe Tarrant was intended to be another incarnation of Blake, or possibly the curly hairstyle had some symbolic meaning now lost to us. Next slide.
Dayna has come to the planet searching for Justin, an old lover. Information from other fragments suggests that Dayna had not seen him for many years. Given her apparent youth, she must have been very young indeed at the time their relationship began. Possibly this society did not have rules banning sexual relations with children, although the writings of cult members suggest that participation in this sort of behaviour was one of the accusations which led to the imprisonment of the crew initially. Yet another apparent contradiction. Dayna may be a later version of Diana of the Hunt, as she is often depicted in her aspect of the Huntress. This Diana should not be confused with the more popular Diana of South Ken - next slide - a saint responsible for several miraculous cures in England at the end of 20th Century.
Next slide - this is Vila - described in one fragment of cult writing as a god of wine. Wine at that time meant either an alcoholic beverage, or to complain incessantly. Either translation would seem to be appropriate for this character.
Suggestions have been made that the Cult of the Seven is an offshoot of Zen Buddhism - given the lack of respect for life shown in this episode, I think this theory can be safely discounted. Other religions are mentioned in passing in the Cult of the Seven - next slide - Moloch, for instance, was an ancient god featured in the writings of other Earth religions, though if he looked anything like the Moloch depicted in the episode of that name it is hard to imagine anyone being terrified enough to worship him. Avalon was an important religious site in some Celtic myths, though a definite link between this and "Project Avalon" has been impossible to prove. Pyramidologists have latched onto the titles "Sarcophagus" and "Harvest of Cairo" in a bid to suggest that the cult of the Seven may have links with ancient Egyptian religion. One researcher has suggested that the "drooling" which is frequently mentioned in the writings of cult members may have followed the Egyptian ceremony of the Opening of the Mouth - which is typical of the sort of nonsense we academics have come to expect from these amateur archaeologists over the years.
Space travel is in common use throughout. This was not the case at that time, as far as we know. Either more detailed information of space travel at that time has been lost, or the Cult of the Seven was inherited from contact with another, more advanced space faring race, or it was some sort of wish fulfilment religion created by the many thousands of people at that time who claimed to have been abducted by UFOs. The Greys of Anmrsh 3 have offered compensation for the few people they have admitted experimenting on, but even working non stop for twenty years, their hospital ships could not have abducted everyone who appeared on chat shows blaming aliens for every one of their personal problems/failures.
The Seven used two ships for space travel - next slide. This is a picture of the second vessel of the Seven, called the Scorpio. Although it was supposedly the fastest ship in space at that time, it does not look particularly impressive. Of more interest to us is the main flight computer - next slide - which, as you can see, does bear a striking resemblance to computers currently in use. Some choose to take this as proof that all the events referred to in cult writings did actually take place, though personally I feel it is more likely that there have been cult members working with computers for years, trying to shape their development to finally arrive at a computer that resembles the one seen on screen. Next slide.
Ah, the Liberator. Several models of the first vessel of the Seven have been found. Strikingly beautiful design. Sadly there is no information as to how it flew, other than cryptic references to "string" in writings of cult members. Argument still rages amongst the technically minded as to whether or not the green bit goes at the front. Just one of the many unanswered questions we have about the Cult of the Seven. It has been suggested that the cult values its secrecy so much that some members deliberately muddy the waters, as it were, removing historical evidence and planting rumours. Whether they have anything to gain by this other than malicious amusement is anyone's guess. Maybe they really do have something to hide.
Now, on to Soolin. Next slide, please.
"I'm most terribly sorry, master, but I can find no more slides on my carousel. May I offer my most humble apologies for this inexcusable failing on my part"
"Shut up, you useless hunk of junk! I knew I should have bought a Mac. I don't know, bloody education budget cuts..."
....Yes, in a possible future, it could be like that. Now watch Animals, watch Harvest of Kairos, yes, even watch Moloch. If we don't watch them, they will be all that remains. You have been warned...
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