Jonathan Kieran

The Virgin Mary (or ugly statues of her) have tended to follow me around wherever my roving gypsy spirit has taken me in life. There was the hideous image of Our Lady of Breast-Milk in my hometown of St. Augustine, Fl. Upon moving to California I could always find the In-n-Out Burger off the highway between Monterey and San Francisco by looking for the 40 ft. tall, stainless steel Virgin Mary statue nearby. (I called her either “Our Lady of the Double Cheese” or “The Virgin Who Ate Santa Clara” due to her humungous size.)

Now, local ski slope owners are planning to erect a grievously hideous lump of Mary-kitsch on my volcano.

Mt. Shasta in the Cascades has been a magnet for spiritual nutjobs of every sort for over 100 years—thousands believe the active volcano to possess extraordinary powers. It has “power,” alright, but I wouldn’t put that particular juju in the metaphysical category. Owners of the land hosting a popular ski lift are determined to erect a 20 ft. statue of Mary on the slopes in order to fulfill some sort of personal vow or vision or what-have-you.

As one can see, the proposed image is uglier than sin (the real Mary would certainly disapprove) and, aside from looking utterly incongruous on the pristine mountain, the selection of a distinctly Roman Catholic symbol has drawn the ire of locals for numerous reasons.

Perhaps it’s much ado about nothing. If the volcano blows its cork, Mary is going to be “assumed into heaven” real fast.

———————————

#VirginMary #VirginMaryStatue #MtShasta #AuthorJonathanKieran #JonathanKieran #WriterJonathanKieran #CaliforniaLife #OnTheEdge #NewNovel #JonathanKieranTheAuthor #JonathanKieranMusic #JonathanKieranArtist #Jericho #JonathanKieranJericho #JerichoAlbum #WritersOfInstagram #ArtistsOfInstagram #AuthorsOfInstagram #PopCulture #RandomCommentary