BELTANE
‘ continued from prevrous page
A Beginners’ Guide
The May Queen Representing the s earth. the May Queen leads the ‘ ceremony. casting off her winter . disguise at the beginning of the ritual to reveal herself in a maiden aspect more suitable for summer. The Green Man The Green Man is the May Queen‘s consort. representing growth
’ and fertility. He remains in ’ winter garb until the celebrations climax when ’7’ 1. he is symbolically killed and stripped. allowing him to be re-born into summer. . White Women Warriors These. along ' " i with the Blue Men and drummers. form the May Queen‘s court. Their 5 f” role is to be 1,”) ‘ focused on the ' ceremony. ensuring the orderly progression of the seasons from spring to summer. Blue Men Not to be confused with nymphs from the water point. the Blue Men are Druidic in origin and are responsible for making sure that each aspect of the ritual is correctly carried out. Court Drummers The drummers provide ordered beats to drive the procession round the hill. They are the counterpoint to the Beastie Drummers. The Fire Arch Before they can set off on theirjourney. the procession must first pass through this arch. which is seen as a gateway into the world of the supernatural. Air Point As the May Queen‘s court proceeds.
it passes through points representing the four elements in order to collect energies. This point is populated by sylphs. who put on a performance inspired by air.
To Beltane
Earth Point The goblins who inhabit the Earth Point are responsible for baking the Beltane bannock. which will be divided among the performers at the end of the evening. Water Point The Sea Hag. a watery equivalent to the May Queen. inhabits this point. along with her nymphs. They are distinguishable from Blue Men by their pastel blue paint. Fire Point The sprites of the Fire Point engage in a mass of fire-swinging and blowing as the May Queen travels through. . V Red Men As the procession “ ' .1.“ passes underneath the "'1’ observatory. it is ambushed by the mischief— making Red Men. who try and tempt the White Women Warriors from their duties with lewd and lascivious behaviour. Beastie Drummers These drummers accompany the Red Men in their assault on the procession. providing wild and organic rhythms to counteract the marching beat of the Court Drummers. The Acropolis Stage The ceremony climaxes here with an ecstatic dance of rebirth from the Green Man. after which the May Queen lights the bonfire. Alongside the fire show at the stage. these represent the twin fires of the ancient Beltane. The Bower The May Queen and her court retire to the bower to enjoy the festivities. and it is rumoured that it is here where the white women can finally take ’4 up the advances (4' ’ of the Red Men.
ANNABEL CHONG MOVED FROM OBSCURITY to celebrity in the space of ten hours. That is how long it took her to sleep with 251 guys and take a rather unique place in the Guinness Book Of Records. Thereafter followed spots on the tabloid TV likes of Jerry Springer and The Girlie Show, a talk to the Cambridge Society, the disappointment at seeing her record beaten and now a documentary. Sex: The Annabel Chang Story paints a rather turgid picture of the fall out from the self-titled World's Biggest Gang Bang.
Grace Quek created the Annabel Chong persona and turned to pornography when she became disillusioned with university life. ‘I have always been very interested in pornography,’ she says. ‘I'm a porn consumer. I became like, "wow, this woman turns me on so much I wonder what it is like to be her?" I felt the need to find out for myself because I don't believe in taking my knowledge from secondary evidence.’
Despite the ensuing criticism and personal attacks - including one from Bret Easton Ellis who called her a bimbo — Annabel Chong has no regrets about partaking in the World’s Biggest Gang Bang. ‘I’m happy that I did it,‘ she says. ’It made my career and opened a lot of doors and I think that what happened later made me grow up really fast. Getting cheated out of 510,000 dollars makes you very savvy, very fast.’
Chong was worried when she first sat down to watch the film. She had been dating the director Gough Lewis and during shooting they split up which made the film a little darker than she would have liked. ’It is a very depressing film and Gough is a very depressing sort of guy,’ she says. 'We didn’t exactly part on ood terms and the film could
'My first e ort behind the camera sucked but as stroke material it was fine; you could more or less wank to it.’
Annabel Chong
have been a real hatchet job. Certain statements I made and events in my life were taken out of context. Take for example the scene where I'm cutting my arms. What actually happened was that this was the day of our break-up. We were both extremely upset and both of us engaged in self- mutilation and filmed each other doing it. By including that scene and removing himself, I did not feel it was very fair.‘
She has not seen or heard from Lewis in four months and is now making her own film about the experience of being a documentary subject. 'I'm very fascinated with the idea of poking fun at being a celebrity and getting