On the so-far final episode of his CNN show Parts Unknown, the late Anthony Bourdain traveled to Bhutan with Darren Aronofsky. Introducing their trip, Bourdain said: “I’m here because of this guy, my friend, the film director Darren Aronofsky; fresh off the unjustifiably horrified reaction to what I think is his masterpiece: mother!”

As Aronofsky later recounted, there in Bhutan he and Bourdain had performed a “Bhutanese death ritual” in what Aronofsky described as an “ironic” reflection about his time spent with the late TV personality. In the end however, this story maybe should not seem so ironic at all, based on its ample connections to Communism and Russian occultism.

https://youtu.be/4txLUUgJ2PE

mother! as ‘Satanic’ Allegory

First, a bit more about mother!. Aronofsky’s direction of mother!, which starred his long-time lover Jennifer Lawrence, was hailed by Lawrence’s long-time benefactor Harvey Weinstein as a “brilliant” “inferno” and “The Holy Grail of original… horror.“

“It should be clear to anyone reading that I think Darren is brilliant, as is his film. “– Harvey Weinstein on Darren Aronofsky’s mother!, starring Jennifer Lawrence

mother! is seen by other reviewers – beyond perhaps the biased Weinstein – as a kabbalistic or gnostic-themed film in the vein of the atheistic Aronofsky’s “Pi” and “Noah“.

When analyzed symbolically, mother! is proposed as a feminist allegory about the creation story, where the titular character “Mother” is married to a writer who is symbolic of the Old Testament God, and they are visited by people who are symbolic of Adam and Eve and humanity in general, leading to a surreal descent into chaos, ultimately ending with this presumable “Mother Earth” annihilating humanity for the horrors they have brought on her, despite what she has provided them.

In addition, the film has strong intentional thematic parallels with (Aronofsky role model-figure) Roman Polanski’s “Rosemary’s Baby“.

Thus, because the movie makes sympathetic someone who is adversarial to a symbol for God in an openly metaphorical reenactment of the creation myth, and plausibly takes its inspiration from a movie about satanic forces, I don’t think it is fringe or unreasonable to suggest that mother! may therefore be likely about proposing a sympathetic characterization of the devil.

It actually wouldn’t be the first time someone has accused Aronofsky of creating “sympathy for the devil” in the context of gnostic film making. Agree with his politics of feminism, anti-materialism, climate-change or not — all I am saying is this portrayal of the ‘opposition’ to traditional concepts of God in mother! is counter to what the Bible teaches in Genesis, and therefore it is by definition satanic (it allegorically portrays God as bad and the devil as good to the audience; perhaps moreso it proposes a dualistic dichotomy of divinity which undermines a notion of God’s ominipotence).

Maybe Aronofsky is an atheist as some claim, but it seems he also made a high culture non-literal satan movie (paying homage to a US director, who is one of the few also honored by Vladimir Putin directly).

Back to Bhutan

With that introduction that should give you a good idea of the world view of Aronofsky as consistently expressed through his art of film-making, let’s go back to that last episode of Parts Unknown.

Throughout the show, the intermittently happy and perturbed Bourdain muses on existential Buddhist philosophies as well as the nature of death:

“It is considered enlightening and therapeutic to think about death for a few minutes a day”…”life is but a dream“.– Anthony Bourdain

The episode comes to a conclusion with Bourdain and Aronofsky selecting Tibetan Buddhist offerings called “tsha tsha” which are  made from clay and sometimes include the ashes of the dead. The pair lights a fire made of incense and sit beside a river called “the Burning Lake” debating what so-called ‘Gross National Happiness’ means for impoverished Bhutan, within the context of increasing modernization, climate change, and materialism. Bourdain seems sad, perhaps even agitated in this scene. 

The episode ends with the placing of the tsha tshas in a crevice. This moment has apparently been the “ironic” “Bhutanese death ritual” which Aronofsky described in his recounting of his friend Anthony Bourdain. It does not seem this ritual was performed for any individual human, or presumably for Bourdain himself; instead it seems the ritual was in the context of the death of what a pure place minimally touched by civilization like Bhutan looks like when it meets the modern world. (No doubt the widely aired episode will ironically increase popular interest in visiting Bhutan.)

“It seems ironic now that on our last day of shooting we performed a Bhutanese death ritual. We debated the fate of the country, the fate of the world. He was perplexed as to how mankind’s endless hunger to consume could be curtailed.”– Darren Aronofsky on the ‘ironic’ death ritual he performed with Anthony Bourdain

Everyone in this Story is in Bed with the Devil’s Horrors

Finally we come again to the figure of Harvey Weinstein as central to introducing this narrative of Bourdain and Aronofsky. One must assume that whatever sadness consumed Bourdain and led to his death, he had a lot of rage in his life because of Harvey Weinstein.

Bourdain’s contempt for Harvey Weinstein was perhaps reasonable, in light of the fact that his girlfriend – the Italian foreign national Asia Argento – was one of the principal accusers of Weinstein in the context of the #metoo movement.

Interestingly, Asia Argento’s father, the occult horror-film director Dario Argento has at times declared himself a proud Communist, who apparently opposed efforts to reposition American anti-Nazi wartime propaganda against Soviet Communism in the post-WWII years. A 2002 Guardian story on Asia Argento following her turn as an FSB spy in the film XxX showed she had a habit of collecting Russian dolls and had even named her dog after a Russian film director.

Congruous with the theme of occult in this story, and her father’s oeuvre, she is sometimes cited related to the death of Bourdain in the context of the occult and witchcraft (*– by Putin dupe apologists, nonetheless). Objectively though, she has apparently described herself as a witch, posed as Baphomet, and has multiple ‘jailhouse occult’-style tattoos too which may further support a belief she is factually into occultism. Those who point this out and praise Putin may miss the fact that this wellspring of witchcraft seems to objectively emanate from Russian culture (see the Reading List and also this link for a great start). 

Not resorting to conspiracism, it seems safe to say Ms. Argento grew up in a ‘communistic’ home which was focused on the macabre and occult themes in film, and also ‘influenced by Russia’.

There are more seeming connections in the art of the directors Aronofsky and Argento. Dario Argento’s occult film “Suspiria” is frequently compared to Aronofsky’s “Black Swan“ film, and takes its name from Thomas De Quincey’s late 19th century “Suspiria de Profundis“, which led to Argento’s “Mother Trilogy“, and is focused on: “The Three Mothers: Mater Suspiriorum – the Mother of Sighs, Mater Lachrymarum – the Mother of Tears, and Mater Tenebrarum – the Mother of Darkness.“

Harvey Weinstein notably had bought the rights to Argento’s Mother of Tears (the third film in the Mother Trilogy) in 2007.

Perhaps it is no surprise that Bourdain, in love with the director’s daughter, also delighted in Aronofsky’s apparent rendition of the concept, as presumably seen in the title. (Suspiria is getting a remake by the way, which could be an effective spiritual successor to this cinematic ‘active measure’ (Aronofsky’s mother!), with its apparent focus on occultism and sexual aggression.)

Breaking the J-Law and Breaking up with J-Law

Of course despite her recent turn as a political activist, fresh off her role as a Russian spy,  Aronofsky’s former lover and “America’s Sweetheart” – Jennifer Lawrence, the star of mother!; made much of her name working with The Weinstein Company too.

Lawrence has never made a claim that Weinstein sexually assaulted her, and furthermore has claimed instead that he has been a “paternal” figure to her (this confession was made to Oprah Winfrey, who herself was similarly close to Weinstein). From her starring roles in “Silver Linings Playbook” to “The Hunger Games“, her ascent as a leading actress and Weinstein’s influence were obviously closely linked.

While Lawrence originally defended Weinstein from accusations, she has subsequently publicly distanced herself from – and criticized – the man who apparently jump-started her career (and she also publicly split with Aronofsky citing age differences shortly after the #metoo story broke in late 2017).

Lawrence’s present non-sexual public dissociation with Weinstein can’t be parsimoniously seen as anything more than PR/image damage control. Perhaps her split from Aronofsky could be seen similarly.  (It’s clear she likes men who are significantly older than her – another area Polanski, Aronofsky, and Weinstein have reciprocal commonality in regards to younger women.) Bottom line, Weinstein likes Aronofsky and is close to Lawrence, and Aronofsky is close to Lawrence and his time with her overlaps her publicly amicable times with Weinstein. This is an intimate network. 

The Conspiratorial Politics of Anthony Bourdain in Life and Death

Notwithstanding suggestions of promoting ‘devil worship’, Aronofsky’s intimate proximity to The Weinstein Company/Miramax acolyte Jennifer Lawrence creates a concerning potential ‘conflict of interest’ when we also consider Anthony Bourdain’s proximity to Aronofsky. This is concerning because Bourdain was a leading figure in the #metoo movement, who expressed anti-Clinton ‘socialist’ politics, and his death was accompanied by a pattern in online conspiracy theories.

This seems suspicious, and might be linked to Bourdain’s recent time spent with Aronofsky – simply by the ‘death ritual’ heavy focus of the Bhutan episode, followed quickly by Bourdain’s suicide. By his own admission, Bourdain apparently saw Aronofsky as a close friend able to influence him to go to Bhutan in the first place.

Bourdain’s jaded and public positions on the 2016 election provide additional insight for what follows. Specifically, Bourdain was critical of Hillary Clinton for her proximity to Harvey Weinstein and her failure to condemn him. When presented a choice between dining with either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, Bourdain indicated he’d prefer to be with neither and expressed disdain for them both. (He seemed to have been a democratic socialist politically, based on his support of Bernie Sanders’ policy (if not his supporters).) Further, Bourdain did not feel that the Russia collusion was the primary issue with Trump, moreso it was his personal finances.

While Bourdain had dined with Barack Obama in the past, he also used his program to spread conspiracy theories about Obama’s visit to Laos, couched in a generally anti-CIA, anti-imperialist narrative directed at the USA.

All of these views are acceptable to have, there’s nothing inherently illegal about them under freedom of speech. In fact, maybe it is not Bourdain to blame at all for his Communist worldview, but his parents, who he seems to imply were  both members of CPUSA:

“I’m a bit of a red-diaper baby.”– Anthony Bourdain – Parts Unknown, Season 4, Episode 2, Shanghai – aired September 28, 2014

So I can guess he was getting bedtime stories read to him about imperialists out of Pravda as a baby, who can blame him for being fed Russian propaganda all his life?

However, here in Bourdain’s politics is the point where his death meets obvious Russian information warfare TODAY, regardless of what his views in life were. It is clear he claimed he didn’t like Putin, but he has aided Putin’s plan in life and now in death (willingly or not).

Following Bourdain’s suicide, several conspiracy theories emerged about him having been actually murdered, and it was hypothesized in these narratives that it was due to his imminent exposure of American politicians and “elites“, (particularly Hillary Clinton) regarding child sex conspiracies  (see: 1 and 2 ; Update: also Alex Jones’ Infowars). This “pizzagate” occult style of conspiracy seems to have been particularly amplified by sources leveraged by Russia during 2016.  

The sites which peddled the Bourdain conspiracies – Yournewswire and NeonNettle – were connected directly to the promotion of Pizzagate and QAnon conspiracies in 2016. 

Alex Jones requires little introduction as an object of interest in spreading pro-Russian and Syrian conspiracy theories, or as the progenitor of the ‘false flag’ / ‘inside job’ of 9/11.

Should I be surprised that John Hogue – the purveyor of 9/11’s best selling book (on Nostradamus) – is also covering the demise of Anthony Bourdain in the context of “the irrational and factless-based hysteria about Russia in the US“? (It wouldn’t be the first time he and Alex Jones churned a story together.)

It is also observed that Russia has amplified certain aspects of the #metoo movement – especially those related to Weinstein – for what are presumably information warfare purposes (much like conspiracy theories).

Coming to Something witch which may Resemble Conclusions

So let’s just take a step back and look at this Bourdain death objectively.

1. Bourdain was hanging out with a kabbalist close to Weinstein, who has been the long-time lover of Weinstein’s leading actress, and performed an ‘earth magic‘ “death ritual” with him. We often see a fascination with the occult, kabbalah (such as conspiratorial beliefs about blood sacrifice/ritual murder), and satanic practice tied back into Russian cultural warfare and active measures (these links being several of many examples on this blog and in this post). 
2. Bourdain’s own lover Asia Argento was one of the principal accusers of Weinstein. It is evident from the public behavior of Bourdain that this must have factored heavily in his personal thoughts and feelings. She is observed to have ‘occult’ symbolism on her body, and her father was a Communist horror film director invested in occult themes. She may have actually described herself as a witch. Lastly, she has apparently spent significant time in Russia and has been influenced by Russia.
3. Bourdain grew up in a Communist household. Recently, Bourdain made a public scene about his disdain for Hillary Clinton within the context of the Harvey Weinstein scenario (nor did he help Donald Trump to be fair – but he broadly articulated disillusionment with the US political system, and shows himself to have had socialist political views). In this sense, he amplified the Weinstein controversy in a way which damaged Clinton’s election prospects among liberals. This fits the contours of what we know about Russia’s goals for subverting democracy in the 2016 election. Bourdain played down a Russian element inherent in claims against Trump.
4. Then, following Bourdain’s death, two news sites (which are not patently Russian) but which were associated with spreading the Pizzagate and QAnon (see Roseanne Barr) conspiracies in the 2016 election cycle created new conspiracies which continued to target ‘pedophile elites’ and the Clintons in 2018. (This seems a clever recycling of old material as we often see with Russia.) In addition, other known churners of Russian disinformation like Alex Jones’ Infowars contributed to the conspiracy theorizing. These sites seemed to have played off of the adversarial political narrative which Bourdain embodied in life, relative to his public disrespect for Hillary Clinton specifically.

I am not saying Bourdain was murdered, but I am proposing that his death has apparently become a ‘weaponized suicide’, simply based on the facts.  I am also suggesting that Russia may have ‘weaponized Weinstein’ too, in order to hurt Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. There seems to be evidence to me of this. Sex-based ‘kompromat’ is one of the most common ways people become assets of Russian intelligence.

I think Harvey Weinstein has done most of what he has been accused of — but his proximity to major Democratic donors became easily weaponized, in a way which presumably benefited the Russian strategy to support the election of Donald Trump at the expense of Hillary Clinton. Russia may have been willing to ‘burn’ their boy Harvey in order to sow the chaos they were looking for.

Since his arrest, Weinstein has telegraphed strong messages that his prosecution has parallels to the HUAC-era in Hollywood; suggesting that there is more politically to the (Weinstein) #metoo story than initially meets the eye. My exploration of the backgrounds of his associates like Madonna also seems to indicate a very heavy communistic influence, particularly in relation to the practice of Berg-style kabbalah and modern Russian non-linear warfare connected to postmodern ‘Art War’.

The contours of the #metoo story have apparently remained useful to Russia in the context of attacking Donald Trump’s extremely morally weak position on gender issues and past sexual conduct. Similarly, there are figures who strongly condemn Weinstein at the opposite end (‘NRA-pole’) of the obviously Russian information spectrum.  As an “active measure“, #metoo has shown it has great utility for a “two sides” game as Russia likes to play.

Even Aronofsky’s mother! makes Art War-like symbolic reference to destructive dualism in the promo materials for the film (via the Playboy Bunny cover–like hidden imagery of a cigarette lighter which is adorned with the pagan ‘Wendehorn‘).  Much like the seeming evoking of the satanic Rosemary’s Baby in the advertisements for the film, this may also be regarded as an occult symbol about the film’s context of male and female strife (specifically seen in the ‘The Devil’ tarot card in the context of popular occultism). In the context of mother!, the Wendehorn is a clear statement about the creative and destructive potential of opposing forces. (Dario Argento and his Mother Trilogy are notable for their concepts of ‘diabolical duality’.)

From top to bottom, the death of Bourdain is a hair’s breadth from many kinds of Russian cultural warfare (apparent sex-based coercion, close ‘Communist’ connections, online conspiracy theory, kabbalah/earth magic/paganism, satanism, etc.), and his political narratives in life and death did seemingly aid the Russian cause — coincidence or something more?

I don’t see Bourdain as a willing Russian influence agent, but I think he could easily have been a so-called ‘useful idiot’, easily influenced by the right people because of his political convictions, intimate relationships, and the ‘active measure’ he might have found himself in the middle of.

Altogether, given these many examples, I would point out that Aronofsky’s use of “ironic” to describe the so-called Bhutanese death ritual does not seem appropriate; consider this definition from Merriam-Webster:

[Irony: an] incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result

Does this look unexpected, or engineered to you? Perhaps it has all been a coincidence, or a case of simple opportunism? (Of course I assume that Aronofsky had no clue that Bourdain was suicidal, as that would also not be ironic. Certainly performing a death ritual with a known suicidal person and encouraging their beliefs about leaving the world would not seem to lead to an unexpected result, if that person were to soon kill themselves.) 

But I think it is really worth asking; given the many connections to the ‘evil empire’, could Bourdain have possibly been pressured psychologically into suicide through this network, or even willingly ‘weaponized’ his own death for political purposes? Surely there seemed to be forces on ‘both sides’ of Bourdain influencing him, specifically those knowledgeable about ‘dualistic’ occultism. But he also might have himself grown up in a household where both parents were ‘communistic’, and he probably was a consumer of Soviet propaganda by default, early in life if this is the case. It seems objective he’d maintained political views which today aid Russian political/cultural/information warfare as well. In the end, Bourdain’s politics seem to have been shaped by a Russian legacy, which makes it all seem less coincidental.

Whatever the case about how he lived his life, it is evident someone is taking advantage of the death of Anthony Bourdain for political reasons today through the use of conspiracy theories online, and the parsimonious suspect can only be Russia. 

* P.S. Could it also be ironic to observe it is apparent Putin dupes like Rob Dreher (link again to proofs of Putin fanboydom) who are advancing the idea that witchcraft has to do with the Bourdain death?  How might this inform Russian active measures clearly focused on ‘conquesting’ conservative Christians? Could they possibly accept that Putin seems to model himself on long-standing Russian ideas of Antichrist tied to the Orthodox Church? It seems similar to how these types of people have identified Hillary Clinton with ‘occult conspiracy’ or even ‘a satan’ in the flesh, due to Russian propaganda campaigns. ‘Ironically’ they seem to follow, rather than condemn, this behavior. Christ and Devil, the Tsar clearly plays both sides. (See also if you haven’t; 1.) this and 2.) this )

P.P.S. Notwithstanding Aronofsky’s own Russian heritage, I am wondering what, if any – connections he might have politically to the old country, given the continuing core occultism in his projects that is also apparently present in the apparent ‘historical design’ of the Russian propaganda system .