Prince Philip Worshipped As A God

Status: Strange but true
Poor Prince Philip never seems to get that much attention, overshadowed as he is by his famous wife, the Queen. But he can console himself with the knowledge that the residents of Tanna, a volcanic island in the Pacific, worship him as a god. UPI reports:
Members of the Yaohahnen tribe have developed their own form of cargo cult, belief systems dating to World War II, when U.S. military planes dropped boxes of supplies by parachute that some Pacific islanders believed had come from the gods. The tribe, who live on one of the islands in the archipelago country of Vanuatu, decided that Prince Philip, consort of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, brings prosperity. The islanders realize that the prince, who celebrated his 85th birthday Saturday, is not immortal.
"We want him to spend the last years of his life here, because we believe that when he returns as our god, his powers will make our wrinkles disappear and we will have many wives to attend to our every need," Jack Naiva, the Yaohahnen chief, told the Daily Mail. "He won't have to hunt for pigs or anything. He can just sit in the sun and have a nice time."
Philip has sent the tribe pictures of himself. But Buckingham Palace said the prince is not planning to move to Tanna -- or even to visit.
It's the line about wrinkle removal that gets me. Are the Yaohahnen especially concerned about their wrinkles? And why would they think Prince Philip would be able to remove them, given that he's not exactly the smoothest-faced person in the world?

On the subject of cargo cults, Smithsonian Magazine ran an interesting article a few months back about them, specifically a group of South Pacific islanders who worship an American named John Frum.

Religion

Posted on Tue Jun 06, 2006



Comments

At least he has somewhere to go if the Queen gets pissed at him and keeps him out...
Posted by Nettie  on  Tue Jun 06, 2006  at  05:22 PM
Or even *kicks* him out... :red:
Posted by Nettie  on  Tue Jun 06, 2006  at  05:23 PM
Cargo cults are real, and have been darlings of anthropologists since the second world war.
But worshipping Prince Philip?
That has to be a joke.
I mean, even Fergie has to be in line for deification ahead of the Royal Consort .
Posted by Big Gary  on  Tue Jun 06, 2006  at  06:33 PM
Ever read 'The Gods Must Be Crazy"? It's a hoot!
Posted by stork  on  Tue Jun 06, 2006  at  06:57 PM
Big Gary, the Prince Philip cult is real. I've long been fascinated with cargo cults and the John Frum Movement in particular and in my reading on the subject (yeah, I'm a friggin' weirdo), I've come across the Prince Philip thing in the past.

I have a great idea for a TV show or documentary involving the John Frum cult. Anybody reading this a producer with some money to spend on a really oddball and creative project?
Posted by Cranky Media Guy  on  Wed Jun 07, 2006  at  01:45 AM
The Prince Philip cult is "real" but that doesn't mean that it isn't also a joke. Friends of mine who have visited the area said that the islanders weren't serious, they were mocking Philip. They call him "Big Fella Blong Misses Kwin" which is a joke because in their culture a man can't belong to or be subservient to a woman. They also worship/believe in John Frum as do all of the cargo cultists of Vanuatu.
Posted by Killer Bob  on  Wed Jun 07, 2006  at  06:50 AM
said that the islanders weren't serious, they were mocking Philip. They call him "Big Fella Blong Misses Kwin" which is a joke because in their culture a man can't belong to or be subservient to a woman. - Killer Bob

Be carefull here. First, for the vagaries of Pidgin English. Don't take "belong" too literally. Expressions in Pidgin can be odd. For example in southeast New Guinea, a bald person in Pidgin is "Fella him blong no grass".

Also, there can be differences between what is acceptable in native culture, and what they perceive acceptible for non-natives, especially those of a special status.
Posted by LaMa  on  Wed Jun 07, 2006  at  07:24 AM
Clearly the wrinkles thing is like Jesus dying for everybody elses sins - Prince Phillip will one day return and take the islanders' wrinkles upon himself, so that they may live eternally in smooth-skinned peace.
Posted by Owen  on  Wed Jun 07, 2006  at  07:36 AM
I'm thinking the wrinkle thing is more of a combination of the Christian belief that the afterlife will provide a new healthy perfect body and possibly a tribal associate between wrinkles and age. So they think he will make them young again in the afterlife and in thier language / culture that translate to "take away our wrinkles". Just an idea.
Posted by TWM  on  Wed Jun 07, 2006  at  09:36 AM
Makes sense...you know my idea is more fun though. Prince Phillip absorbing the wrinkles of a small island full of people and coming out looking like Churchill the insurance dog after a week in the bath...
Posted by Owen  on  Wed Jun 07, 2006  at  09:49 AM
Those islanders are probably more realistic than you think.
What they're saying is they'll get Prince P. to do their washing and ironing for them.
"Making the wrinkles disappear" should be a small price to pay for being worshipped, eh?
Especially since nobody else is vying for the priviledge of idolizing the idle Mr. Queen.
Posted by Big Gary  on  Wed Jun 07, 2006  at  04:43 PM
I think that the Royal correspondance and encouragement of allowing the Tanna people continue to believe that 'Prince' Phillip is (Lol)the Son of God is cowardly disgusting and the British Administration should be ashamed of themselves for contuinung their beliefs and they should have been directed to the Gospels of Christ instead, but oh that would be too difficult for freemasonry Prince Phillip and the Royal admin for he prob does idolise himself as a god of which he never was and never will be.
All thats happened is that some western supplies for US troops in the 1930's dropped from planes during the war onto the island of Tanna,and a visit by the Royal family who typcically was then worshipped as they were the wealthy 'White people' its all about the elite who are not godly trying to play god. I pray the Tanna people will know the truth from all Christians and that the Holy Spirit will speak to their children. Amen
Posted by Anon  on  Thu Nov 26, 2009  at  09:44 PM
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