Moondog’s Invocation of the Yule Goat
Moondog is this year's Master of Invocation Ceremonies.
As goatwatchers around the world await the annual invocation of the Gävle Yule goat this Sunday, Halcyon Magazine is keeping a watchful eye on this favorite Pagan deity. As Master of Invocation Ceremonies we have enlisted Moondog, the great late Viking of Sixth Avenue who for 25 years stood as the lone American High Guard of Norse mythology. Moondog will return soon to the pages of Halcyon Magazine’s. But first, let Moondog accompany this great moment with his Invocation.
The Gävle Yule goat returns once again.
Only one thing excites me more than the annual rebirth of the Gävle Yule goat and that is his death. I know what you’re thinking: get a life! But if you take the time to get to know this pagan God via the city’s two web cameras, you might just find yourself becoming a goat watcher. Make this 43 feet tall Norse temple a part of your life and you will thank me when you log on just in time to see flames lick his body.
Goat burning has become a good old Swedish tradition
It is my hope that one day we all can appreciate the sheer symbolic depth embodied in the tradition that is the non-sanctioned burning of the Gävle Yule goat. (Remember that Thor’s goats Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr pulled his chariot long before wicked pagans ruined Christmas.)
In fact, during the Gävle Yule goat’s 42 life cycles, he has been burnt down at least 22 times and severely beaten at least four times, usually by brazenly drunk Swedes who’ve decided to take tradition into their own hands. My first riveting goat burning experience was in 2005, when Santa and the Gingerbread man attacked him with burning arrows and I watched him go up in flames from my work desk in Santa Monica. Another memorable attack was in 1976, when a female student drove her parents’ Volvo into the goat, destroying its back legs.
The goat survived the last two years, because he was impregnated with a flame retardant chemical. But this caused him to absorb water, making the usually darling goat look like a dull wet dog. This year, the goat commission brags about having upgraded him with whiskey-scented straw from a local eco-friendly distillery. More importantly, it appears that this year’s goat is not fireproof, which means that…. Well, let’s not give anyone any wrong ideas. We’ll keep you guys updated. In the meantime, you can watch the goat here.
November 28th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Ahh, the great Norse invocation of pagan deities. All hail viking shit.