# Bohemian Grove "owl" on the $1 bill
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-grove-owl-on-the-1-bill/534727
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
**Created:** [April 2, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-grove-owl-on-the-1-bill/534727 "2010-04-02T13:37:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@missyvanwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missyvanwinkle)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-grove-owl-on-the-1-bill/534727/1 "2010-04-02T13:37:22Z")
Ever since I was a kid (and still had the eyesight to view the little guy unaided), I knew the creature in the corner of the dollar was a spider – an energetic fellow who spun on all the lovely “web” engraved on our monetary unit.
What say ye Collective Wisdom?
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### Author:  [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-grove-owl-on-the-1-bill/534727/2 "2010-04-02T13:54:08Z")
Well, I can’t see the owl, but I can find Cecil’s column:
[Do U.S. leaders perform satanic rituals at Bohemian Grove?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2931/do-u-s-leaders-perform-satanic-rituals-at-bohemian-grove)
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### Author:  [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2010, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-grove-owl-on-the-1-bill/534727/3 "2010-04-02T14:07:38Z")
It’s obviously a wombat. Or Mary Magdelene.
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### Author:  [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-grove-owl-on-the-1-bill/534727/4 "2010-04-02T15:01:37Z")
Since I helped Cecil with this column, I’ll respond: accusations that the item on the dollar is a spider actually back up the Bohemian Grove conspiracy hypothesis for some people, as one of the long-held mottos of the Grove is “weaving spiders come not here”, and this motto appears on a plaque at the Grove.
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### Author:  [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-grove-owl-on-the-1-bill/534727/5 "2010-04-02T15:37:02Z")
It’s a spider. Don’t see owl at all.
But since when do conspiracy theorists let reality get in their way?
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-grove-owl-on-the-1-bill/534727/6 "2010-04-02T15:38:50Z")
How do you know that the Bohemian Grove folks don’t own all the magnifying glass companies and force them to put a special filter into all the lens? Huh? How about that? Huh?
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### Author:  [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-grove-owl-on-the-1-bill/534727/7 "2010-04-02T16:10:48Z")
Cecil didn’t mention the details, but I actually sat through nearly 3 hours of conspiracy theory videos on Bohemian Grove; I really took one for the team in doing that. I wanted him to use my description of the “undercover” conspiracy theorists running around the camp: “It was like watching a high school A/V club looking for werewolves at a Shrine Rodeo.” Cecil didn’t think it was that funny; perhaps it’s not.
As a follow-up to the column, I’ve attached my rough notes of the videos, edited slightly for readability.
> [@](#):
>
> Una’s Notes on Alex Jones’ videos: The most telling one is the 2-hour extravaganza of “Dark Secrets: Inside Bohemian Grove (2000)” (“Order of Death” focuses on another alleged infiltration by a camp worker, with more poor footage). The video is rife with images of the Klan, Hitler, Presidents and world leaders, atomic bombs exploding, etc. Both “Dark Secrets” and “Order of Death” even feature a photo of Aleister Crowley. Many popular Illuminati groups are named as being possibly connected or else just name-dropped, including, well, the Illuminati, the Freemasons, the Trilateral commission, Bilderbergers, New World Order, etc. Oh yes, the Federal Reserve is also heavily involved, which I suppose makes sense… The video quality is average to poor, and a large amount of the film is Jones talking to the camera about his theories. There is a particularly bizarre segment filming them checking luggage at an airport, boarding the plane, and flying, which lasts from 15:40 to 18:18. And I thought “oh yeah, I came to find out about a secret cult which is hell-bent on ruling the world, and you’re showing me the intricate details of checking luggage. Thanks, I’ve never seen that before!"
>
> He meets up with Channel 4 (UK) reporters, and Jones goes into great repetition about how the rituals are “Babylonian” and “Druidic”, and are everything but real human sacrifice. He refers many times to the “Cult of Moloch”, with the owl of course being the symbol of Moloch (as far as Fierra and I can tell, it really isn’t)…he refers to Leviticus in this or one of his other videos, and from this supposes that since a) the statue is really of Moloch, and b) Moloch wants babies as sacrifices, therefore c) the Bohemian Club is sacrificing babies. He uses “enhanced” video (given how poor his video of the ritual is, one could hardly “de-enhance” it) to show how either a real or symbolic baby is burning in the flames. At 22 minutes in the video he refers to people tampering with our food supplies…I was waiting for a “precious bodily fluids” line. He then babbles on about the UN, World Court, WTO… At 27 minutes he says probably the most sane thing in the entire film, which is the activities at the Grove are “like a big kid fraternity.” At 31:40 he brings up black helicopters in detail. At 32:40 he makes a comment about his own sanity. I-R-O-N-Y. Then there is a lot of dumbassery around the camp not worth mentioning because it’s BORING. At 1:19:00 he makes a comment that based on the grainy out-of-focus dim video he shot of the Cremation of Care ritual, “some occult experts” say a “real adult sacrifice” may have been developing. He also makes reference to “Masonic Rites from Scotland”, and I have to say that there were bagpipes playing at the camp in the video, which means that either the Freemasons were involved, or people…just wanted to play and listen to bagpipes. The climax of the entire film, the ritual itself, seems entirely unimpressive.
>
> “Order of Death” has far more “entertainment” value and less “factual” value…I can’t believe I wrote that. It focuses more on the “satanic” symbolism and “Moloch-worship” aspect, with ties to the “global elite,” and thus is much more humorous. About 1/3 of the way through he claims there are actually 4 effigies burned, not 1. It claims that the owl is hollow (and full of A/V equipment) and it shows the metal, reusable effigies. A choice quote “…if your neighbor was carrying out mock human sacrifices…would you let them walk your dog?” There’s a piece on how Harry Shearer, voice of Mr Burns on the Simpson’s, made a parody film of the Bohemian Grove titled “Teddy Bears Picnic”, which seems sort of funny. As are the hippies protesting the “evil camp” halfway through. Oh yeah, halfway through we have footage of Wicca hippies (Wippies?) protesting the evil of the camp. OMIGOD, about 60% through there’s Wicca hippie a guy who sounds just like Mr. Van Driessen from Beavis and Butthead. Two-thirds through, we have old hippies chanting, while Jones makes comments about “slave ships” and “face-scanning cameras.” Mayan symbology is now invoked…huh. Anyhow, back to the film…oh, now it’s Santeria practitioners…and NPR reporters? “Luciferian death cult fanatics…” Oh great, now he’s bringing up Kali and Hawaiians “throwing virgins into live volcanoes.” Now more stock footage of tarot cards, witchcraft etchings…Next we go to his ambush of David Gergen, who for his part does not comport himself well under pressure. Now he goes into tons of stock occult footage, and talks about séances in the White House. He finishes with a long tirade about Freemasons, Hitler, Skull and Bones, the Klan, the Golden Dawn…hey, Jesse Jackson is a 33nd-degree Mason, who knew? Wait, now there’s a whole heap of Egyptian symbolism, and claims that evil devil worshipers of the Babylonian slave state are ruling the world.
>
> And I started to think “you know what? I don’t care if the leaders of the world worship Moloch, and I don’t care if they’re all 33rd-degree Masons. What I want to know is what the hell are they going to do about jobs creation and the deficit? I’ll vote for the Loch Ness Monster (or Mo-Loch Ness Monster…) if she’ll whip up a spirit of bipartisanship to help end this recession.”
>
> After watching the videos, I went through extensive deprogramming via watching the last 5 years of my videotape collection of _The McLaughlin Group._
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### Author:  [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-grove-owl-on-the-1-bill/534727/8 "2010-04-02T16:23:17Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#):
>
> Una’s Notes on Alex Jones’ videos:
If anyone remembers the recent thread where **Jetblast** prved that Jimi Hendrix was a shape shifting alien or some such, one of his lines of “evidence” was an Alex Jones book.
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### Author:  [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-grove-owl-on-the-1-bill/534727/9 "2010-04-02T16:43:29Z")
Just for the record, I think that: “It was like watching a high school A/V club looking for werewolves at a Shrine Rodeo.” is a wonderfully descriptive sentence. Well, done, Una. I hope your brain recovers.
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### Author:  [@berkeleyhills](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/berkeleyhills)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-grove-owl-on-the-1-bill/534727/10 "2010-04-02T16:44:40Z")
The Bohemian Grove isn’t the club where you want to go for dark secrets. Check out Los Rancheros Visitatodores, the super wealthy men’s only club based in Santa Barbara. I worked for them for 6 years, and have pictures of the rich & powerful businessmen & politicians, up to and including U.S. presidents in their drunken frolics with each other and blow up dolls. These guys are amazing.
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### Author:  [@wombatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wombatz)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-grove-owl-on-the-1-bill/534727/11 "2010-04-02T23:47:27Z")
I have worked at one of the camps at the Grove for years, and I can tell you it is way more boring than you think.
I could sum it up as this: Lots of old men (average age is about 65) drinking martinis, smoking cigars, talking about golf games and boat ownership. About a third are actors, artists, and musicians who are guests, paid for by the wealthier people, to enhance the artistic atmosphere. They are forbidden from talking business or politics (that’s what the motto means, “weaving spiders come not here” means no weaving business deals). Many are very rich, and look forward to the Grove to hang out with other rich guys without anybody pitching to them their get-rich-quick schemes. They go to escape their wives and hang out in the woods with the boys for a week, the same as a blue-collar boys-only fishing trip tradition but with better food and servants.
The ceremony is like a hokey school play with a nice pyrotechnics budget, but far from being sinister. It’s called " The cremation of Care" and is symbolic of leaving their worries (cares) behind for the time while they are there.
I know it is so tempting to believe that it’s a conspiracy, but it is simply too big for a conspiracy to work. You can’t have three thousand people with a secret, with hundreds of worker guys like me hearing it all, and expect it to somehow stay secret. The truth is far more boring than your imagination.
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### Author:  [@critter42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/critter42)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2010, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-grove-owl-on-the-1-bill/534727/12 "2010-04-03T04:22:28Z")
> [@wombatz](#):
>
> the same as a blue-collar boys-only fishing trip tradition but with better food and servants.
You mean the servants at our fishing trips could be BETTER? :eek: :smack: 😃 😃
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### Author:  [@BigBertha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigBertha)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2010, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-grove-owl-on-the-1-bill/534727/13 "2010-04-03T05:24:47Z")
Away dull care!
I understand they also do it to entertain Alex Jones…
you know, you Can find a drawing of Cecil on the 2 dollar bill.
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### Author:  [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2010, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-grove-owl-on-the-1-bill/534727/14 "2010-04-03T06:54:15Z")
> [@wombatz](#):
>
> ```
> I know it is so tempting to believe that it's a conspiracy, but it is simply too big for a conspiracy to work. You can't have three thousand people with a secret, with hundreds of worker guys like me hearing it all, and expect it to somehow stay secret. The truth is far more boring than your imagination.
>
> ```
I understand they maintain that the Manhattan Project was their idea.
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### Author:  [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2010, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-grove-owl-on-the-1-bill/534727/15 "2010-04-03T08:31:03Z")
> [@wombatz](#):
>
> You can’t have three thousand people with a secret, with hundreds of worker guys like me hearing it all, and expect it to somehow stay secret. The truth is far more boring than your imagination.
It doesn’t require all of them to be involved, and unless you have the place bugged you have no idea what these people are discussing. Or you might have, but let’s pretend they are shooting the breeze with like-minded, well-intentioned other men.
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### Author:  [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2010, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-grove-owl-on-the-1-bill/534727/16 "2010-04-03T08:39:14Z")
> [@berkeleyhills](#):
>
> The Bohemian Grove isn’t the club where you want to go for dark secrets. Check out Los Rancheros Visitatodores, the super wealthy men’s only club based in Santa Barbara. I worked for them for 6 years, and have pictures of the rich & powerful businessmen & politicians, up to and including U.S. presidents in their drunken frolics with each other and blow up dolls. These guys are amazing.
And do you think these very ambitious men ever _really_ completely put business on the back burner? No matter how hard they play, there is _always_ a deal to be done.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-grove-owl-on-the-1-bill/534727/17 "2010-04-03T13:56:49Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#):
>
> And do you think these very ambitious men ever _really_ completely put business on the back burner? No matter how hard they play, there is _always_ a deal to be done.
And you know this because of your close personal acquaintance with the very rich and your years of experience traveling with them on vacations and getaways?
Or do you just _know_ this?
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### Author:  [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-grove-owl-on-the-1-bill/534727/18 "2010-04-03T14:15:12Z")
As far as business deals, numerous interviews which I read from past members state that there is a very strong prohibition on business, but nonetheless it does get discussed. There are also presentations and lectures which are definitely intended to be “business” - one example was a General who did a lecture titled something like “gentlemen, I need the B-2”. My impression from the research I did for Cecil is that there’s much more of a prohibition on business rather than politics.
I don’t know if anyone remembers it, but one of the many things wrong with Obama’s choice of the “wise Latina” was her membership in a similar secret club, [The Belizean Grove.](http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/19/sotomayor.womens.club/index.html)
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### Author:  [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-grove-owl-on-the-1-bill/534727/19 "2010-04-03T14:43:06Z")
Here’s a [link](http://whatisthepyramid.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/dollar_spider.jpg)to a pic if you want to see it blown up.
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### Author:  [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-grove-owl-on-the-1-bill/534727/20 "2010-04-03T14:43:52Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> And you know this because of your close personal acquaintance with the very rich and your years of experience traveling with them on vacations and getaways?
>
> Or do you just _know_ this?
You don’t have to be an esteemed expert in human history to know that people with power and influence tend to extremes of behaviour and self-service, if they aren’t kept under a tight rein.
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