Monday, January 25, 2010

creepy megachurch

Over the weekend I had another Back to School/high school/boarding school/group trip dream (of course). All I can remember of that part is a very rudimentary dorm situation (metal bunk beds), and a girl I actually went to school with referring very matter-of-factly to herself as a lesbian. This was surprising because, although I wouldn't have been surprised to discover that she was, she came from a very conservative family. I was a little in awe of her courage in being so open about it, in view of her background, although the implication seemed to be that she saw it as a spiritual burden to be borne and fought against. I guess that made it a little easier for her to be open about it.

Anyway, the rest of the dream was in the same cultural vein. I somehow ended up in a gigantic megachurch. It was more of an alternate universe, really. Instead of being just a church, with the usual seating-and-platform setup, it was a vast domed structure, with the dome duplicating a sky. It was filled with houses as far as I could see, like your average suburban housing development with largeish houses crammed very close together on very small lots.

The houses were arranged around a central mountain-like contraption. It was very tall and narrow, modeled after the rock columns/mountains you see in pictures from Asia, and although I knew it had been constructed from scratch it was a very convincing facsimile. There was a walkway with railings spiraling around it all the way to the top (which disappeared, or at least appeared to disappear, into clouds). A children's choir was arranged all along the walkway, conducted from below by a woman in a yellow satin robe (I think the children were similarly garbed). She had to crane her neck all the way back and wave her arms at the sky, but they seemed to have no trouble following her (although I wondered about the acoustic viability of such a setup).

The inhabitants, from what I saw and overheard, were very excited about taking part in this alternative living experiment. The whole thing was extremely creepy.

1 comment:

Leah said...

I love the alternate reality megachurch idea.