From time to time you find out something new.  It really isn’t new for it has been around someplace else and you just haven’t heard about it.  An instance of this is a religion founded in 1975 founded by Corky Ra in Utah.  It has as its central ideas and artifacts a Pyramid (based on the Egyptians), Mummification (based on the Egyptians) and deals with “higher knowledge” contained in the first set of Tablets (possibly the “Golden Ratio”) brought down by Moses from his contact with God and then, when the first Tablets were thrown down and destroyed, a second set, this time containing only the Ten Commandments, were produced.  The first Tablets, the Summum religionists believe, contained 7 Aphorisms and this knowledge was transmitted to Mr. Ra through telepathic encounters with Divine “Summa Individuals”.  The Summuns own a winery and produce Nectar which is alcoholic and estimate about 250,000 members nationwide (although they do not keep records). This is reported in the NYTimes this morning.

As someone who has written extensively on other worldly things once said, it is about time for a new synthesis of belief to make its appearance.  It seems as though, in Utah, this is the Summum’s time.  They are contesting the prohibition by the mostly Mormon city fathers  for them to set up in a park already festooned by Tablets representing the Ten Commandments, their Pyramid containing mummified dogs and tablets setting forth 7 Aphorisms.

I have not uncovered the 7 Aphorisms and cannot comment on them, but what they seem to indicate is a newer amalgamation of historical and spiritual bits and pieces that are summed up by “Summum”.

The usual suspects in events like this are the plaintiffs and the defendants and in Utah this would be pitting the small group of Summum-ists against the entrenched Mormons.  A court case has begun deliberations on the rights of Summum to display its Pyramid and purvey its wine in the midst of a public park where the Ten Commandments are on display having been years ago donated by a group of Golden Eagles.

I do not suggest any prejudice for or against the Summumists. People believe many different things which to others seem like nonsense or peculiar.  This manifestation of the occult has NOT been related to encounters of the third kind where aliens from outer space visit us here on earth.  I think it is interesting but its significance will have to be judged in court and by others who seem to be beleaguered by a small group of individuals brought together by the “sum of all things”.