Massive satanic show "Gates of Darkness" held on the streets of Toulouse

Lilith – a demon woman. Photo: theatlantic

For the past three days, from October 25-27, the show "Guardian of the Temple – Gates of Darkness" was staged in French Toulouse, where huge demon statues paraded through the city, writes theatlantic.

Three gigantic robotic puppets of mythological creatures took part in the performance across the city: Lilith the scorpion woman – half-woman, half-scorpion with spider legs and ram horns, Ariane the spider-woman and Asterion the Minotaur. This performance was staged by the French street theater company La Machine.

Prior to the performance, the Catholic Archbishop of Toulouse, Guy André Marie de Kérimel, issued a statement expressing concern about the display of esoteric and "satanic" symbols in the show.

He announced that he would conduct a "consecration of the city and archdiocese to the Sacred Heart of Jesus" on October 16 at the Sacré-Cœur church to protect Toulouse from "dark threats" this artistic event is fraught with. "There’s something gloomy, especially after the beheading of Marie-Antoinette during the Olympic ceremony," said Archbishop de Kérimel. "In a world full of division and war, this attraction to darkness stirs old fears."

Meanwhile, François Delarozière, artistic director of La Machine, expressed his confusion over the controversy. "I believe we are witnessing the return of a form of puritanism," he said. "We all have the right to express ourselves freely, without censorship or prohibition." Furthermore, Delarozière, allegedly preparing for provocations, decided to adorn his character Lilith – the "Guardian of Darkness" – with an earring in the shape of an inverted cross. In his view, this was intended to "symbolize the tension caused by the show."

Priests and believers attribute the cultural gap to the disappearance of Christian culture and the rise of esoteric popular culture, which has become very successful, especially in bookstores. “It’s the culture of our times,” said a city-center priest, who agreed with the archbishop’s initiative. “Some people are hurt because they understand the symbolism and feel their faith is being attacked; others are unaware of this religious culture and don’t interpret it in the same way.” These differences lead to misunderstandings.

In Mesopotamian mythology, Lilith is a deity associated with the wind and depicted as a she-wolf with a scorpion tail. She is also a demon-woman included in Jewish Talmudic tradition as one who kills newborns and seduces men to create other demons. In Kabbalah, an esoteric Jewish tradition, Lilith is the first wife of Adam, created from the same clay, unlike Eve. Adam banishes her for rejecting him, and she becomes the serpent responsible for original sin. Since the 1970s, Lilith has become a symbol of feminist movements against the patriarchal order, notably in the United States.

As the UOJ previously reported, French queer artists claimed they parodied precisely the "Last Supper" at the Olympics.

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