#the cult of abraxas is so inclusive for including women we won !!!

[tenderhungering]

I thought the grove and the cult were the same thing? Now I'm confused by the fact that they may not be? Then how did Jack find out about the cult in the first place, it had to have been before Minnie passed, because I believe it's hinted at that the deal he made with the devil is what killed her, and that he just put her out of her suffering by her own command. So how did he find the cult? And then why would the grove have such importance (I also thought that the grove was what was being shown during the photo sequence during Jack's hallucination near the end) if you can explain please do! /Nf

hi, anon! i'll explain a bit of the different groups and my thoughts on where they overlap!

the grove is something that actually exists in real life! it's a private gentleman's club that is made up of some of the most powerful men. some of these include past presidents, executives, high ranking officials, business leaders, artists & musicians. they do a two week encampment together during july in this very large land they have (called bohemian grove!). they have different camps and I suspect the owl in the film was supposed to let us know that we were in Owl's Nest (one of the camps!) since the founding of the club, the bohemian grove's mascot has been an owl, symbolizing wisdom. a 30-foot hollow owl statue made of concrete over steel supports stands at the head of the lake in the grove. it designed by sculptor and two-time club president Haig Patigian (wonder if this is why carmichael's ;ast name is haig, hah). the owl shrine has served as the backdrop of the yearly cremation of care ceremony. imagine the grove as some place where the rich and powerful men can basically say "this is for boy's only !!!!" and pretend as though they are the most hedonistic men ever without any care for the world. they do have some suspicion of it having to do with the occult but they basically get to roleplay pseduo-pagan spookiness. they're what is shown in the beginning of the film in those black and white images.

as for the cult, they worship a demon named abraxas! they're the ones that are confirmed to have done human sacrifices and where lilly came from. this is a "real" cult in the film. i tried to research a bit more on abraxas and i have seen some different things but i think carl jung describing abraxas as the "god of all gods" perfectly encapsulates what the cult is for. they are the ones that jack seemingly sacrificed minnie for as she was killed using their dagger.

i've got a few ideas of how jack stumbled upon the cult here and here ! however, i have no doubt in mind that there is an overlap between grove members and some of the cult ! they love powerful people and it seems as though they think being in the cult will lead them to said power. really, even the network in of itself is a cult of some sort that you have to sacrifice everything for and in front of the camera in order to show everyone just how bad you want something.

i think both were something jack ran to in desperation and he has been damned by both hence him seeing both of these at the end. he kneels before the owl (kneels before power!) and drinks what i assume is blood to demonstrate what he is willing to do for the cult - an initiation of some sort.

i hope this cleared some things up or made sense ! wrote this a bit rushed so my apologies !