Glam City

The hour commeth, and now is, when the true worshipper shall worship the self in spirit and in truth: for the self seeketh such, as to do the worshipping.

The narcissist Joe Smith is the person whom he need love the most. But there was a time when Joe as a young man was prisoner to his least self, the latent shy, compassionate person, the one who had holed up uncertain of himself, in a cold one bedroom flat in a residential area in the shadows of the Vatican. Then one day a message from his repressed beautiful self came to him in the form of a letter, which told him of things that were going to happen.

And then it was on a chilly Sunday night, and Joe heard a loud voice behind him, as loud as the Vatican Bells. He turned to see from where the voice came. And there on the living room wall he saw three different versions of himself, one like a wraith shapeless, another a blow-up doll distorted, and in between them one whom Joe knew was the one he must love. Indeed, what he saw of himself was far more glamorous than the nobody who was plain living, struggling to be a someone in this selfless city. He saw himself dressed in a long white garment, with a girdle of gold around his waist; his hair and his face were so glowing that they seemed as brilliant as when the sun first kisses mountaintop snow; his eyes flashed like fire; his feet were like polished brass, beaming as like a furnace; and his voice was like the rushing of a mighty waterfall. In his right hand were held three brightly enamelled starfish and his overall demeanour was like that of a celebrity whose personality had been legally pill enhanced.

When Joe saw himself in all this splendour, he fell down at this apparition’s feet feeling great admiration. Then he felt the right hand of his splendid self lay upon him, and he heard a sonorous voice, saying:

"Admire me too true; I am the first and the last of you, the Beautiful One. You have kept me under wraps, and now I have come alive to be yours evermore. Write down the things you see on that slice of dried fruit bread, and other things which I will now tell you, and send them off in the post to we three personalities. You know where we live. The three starfish which you see in my hand symbolise us, and each will go into the appropriate letter. “

Then the Beautiful One gave Joe the words of the letters which he commanded Joe to write, the words describing his three sins. To each personality was sent a letter and a corresponding starfish; the words praising it for some things, and rebuking it for others. Weeks after the letters had been sent, one came back ‘return to sender’, and upon opening it a door in the floor opened directly to a Film Studio; and Joe heard a voice like the sound of an aria say to him, "Come down to this place, and I will show you things that are going to happen."

Then at once Joe was taken down to the Film Studio, and he saw a Throne of Entertainment and the present God entertainer, a middle-aged woman-virgin, sitting naked upon it, her body covered in small strobe lights of many colours. And behind the throne was a backdrop of moving scenes. And around the throne were ten smaller thrones, and upon them sat five men and five women, be-suited in lilac; demi-entertainers, with large red silk bows upon their heads. Behind the large throne the screens showed scenery and action, rolling production credits, gossip and controversy, and the miming of heaving voices. The throne sat upon a bright blue flooring shimmering in the light like a dead calm sea, and beside the throne were four life-size puppets, each bearing two sets of white wings. And these actor emblems were singing, "Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole, here is the Glorious and Beautiful One, Joe Smith, who should sit on this great Throne of Entertainment, and then he’ll tell us about himself forever."

And the ten fell forward and clawed at the God entertainer, and they began to crawl over her and smother her saying, "You are not quite as worthy as Joe Smith to have the honour, the glory, and the power; for only he can create the narcissistic personalities entertainment succours."

Then Joe spied in her left hand a gold edged script, in the form of a scroll, written on both sides, and sealed with two seals. And a cameraman in the shadows called out with a booming voice, "Who is worthy to open the script, and loosen its seals? Joe Smith is the one."

And all in the Film Studio, on the sets, in the creative rooms, now believed that only Joe Smith could open the script and loosen its seals. Then Joe began to cry with joy, because it was the truth that he must do it and no-one else. And one of the demi-entertainers spoke to Joe, saying, "Weep no more. You are the hunter, the prey, the carcass, the droppings, the greatest satisfaction; the one who has the right to open the script, loosen its personality and be the Beautiful One forever."

And before the throne, and before the demi-entertainers stood Joe, who now bore the wounds of torture and death upon him, on his hands, and feet, and his abdomen, to show the others how narcissists suffer. Then he took the golden script from the left hand of the one seated on the Throne of Entertainment. And the demi-entertainers all sit down again. Each held a flamenco guitar missing one string and a clear bowl full of smoking green leaf, as symbols of the strange lifestyles of the Film Studio. And then all sang a new song, with the words:

"Worthy is Joe Smith whose personality is filled with such vanity, and the power and the glory to impress no-one but himself. And if he successfully pleases himself, he will please none around him."

Again, the bedazzled Joe looked at the Throne of Entertainment, and suddenly before Joe the Beautiful One, there stood a multitude of figures so great that no census could count them. They were all covered in iridescent blue chiffon, and they held in their hands dried shark fins, and they cried with a loud voice, "Adulation is given unto Joe Smith who is soon to sit upon the Throne of Entertainment, and joy unto his favourite food, Legume Pie."

And then came Studio men-angels and they stood around the throne, and around the demi-entertainers, and the angels too fell down on their faces, paying homage to Joe saying, "There is no greater love than the self love which elevates the lover onto the Throne of Entertainment, and may Joe Smith be seated upon it forever!”

The naked middle-aged woman-virgin asked Joe, " And do you know who these angels are, dressed in chiffon robes, and from whence did they come?"

And Joe answered, "Madam, you know who they are, for have they not served the likes of you when your husband was at home making the bed?”

Then she said, "Yes, it is true these are the angels grown from love’s freedom, who have tie-died their robes, and made them different shades of blue in honour of their movies. For this reason, do they stand around the Throne of Entertainment and they will serve you day and night in this studio as you wish; and you, who will sit upon the throne, shall spread your self-absorption over them. They shall hunger for more, and thirst for more, and your obvious heat shall keep them warm.  And you will lead them as guru, svengali, priest, Imam, politician, influencer, in any way you see fit, and guide them into the way of loving you so that you may love yourself more, and take pride in yourself, and confirm that no-one is your equal. And joy shall induce the happiest tears from your eyes."

After this, Joe heard another great voice come out of a speaker lodged in the ceiling above, saying, "Behold, Joe’s kitchen table is open for business to all who love him; and Joe shall dwell among them, and they shall be his table companions, with Joe at its head, and they shall make for him Legume Pie. And Joe shall wipe away all their loving tears from their eyes; and there shall be more loving, more weeping and crying, more yearning for Joe Smith, who yearns so much for himself."

And for the first time Joe addressed his audience, and he said, "Behold, I make all things about me new. I will freely give to you the hungry ones, food made with selfishness."

Then transformed Joe stood upon a great and high mountain; and he saw a glorious city, the New Vatican, ascending from out of the Film Studio, and having Joe’s name on a huge neon sign above it. Over the city was also a rich light, like that which glows in uranium, and as clear as crystal. Around the city is a lofty wall, and on each side of the wall are three gates; for the city is triangular. Besides each gate stands a giant stone usher, and on the gates are written the names of the thousand movies about Joe Smith people must see before they die.  And the walls have concrete foundations, and on them are written the graffiti made by Joe’s former lovers. The walls are like confetti asbestos, and the city is built of pure steel, but steel which is clear like glass. The three gates are three portals. And all who pass through these portals see images of Joe Smith adorning every building and parkland; every streetscape which can be seen. 

Joe could see no Churches or Mosques in the city, and it needed none; for the Throne of Entertainment is made perfectly for worship. And the city has no need of the sun nor of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of Joe gives it light, and the light emanating from the Throne of Entertainment is perpetual. And the gates of the city shall not be shut at the end of the day, for there shall be no night there. And Joe thought to himself that there really is no other place to live than in the New Vatican.

And the nations of all people shall walk in the light of this city, and the leaders of the earth bring their glory into it; and all the honour and glory of the tribes of earth shall be brought into it. And anything that is evil, or unclean, or anyone who does what Joe hates, or anyone who tells white lies shall never enter it. And only those who have read the script may be citizens of the New Vatican.

And Joe saw a winding rivulet, clear as crystal, flow forth from beneath the Throne of Entertainment which now sat in the middle of St Peter’s Square, and it wound in and around the streets of the city. On each side of the rivulet are trees and shrubs, to bear fruit every month, twelve times in the year; and there are special leaves on the trees which heals citizens who are blinded by Joe’s self love. 

When the naked middle-aged woman-virgin had seen all these things, she left her Throne of Entertainment and fell down to kiss the feet of Joe Smith the Beautiful One, who has shown everything and spoken of everything. But Joe said to her "Do not kiss my odorous feet, for I am yet to be served by the blue angels who have come to serve you. I will wait until your ego finally satisfies them, but hear this, I will be glad to wait another thousand years”. 

And then Joe said to her, "I prefer you to seal up the words of what you have heard from me, and tell the citizens of the New Vatican what they need only hear. And when I say to all who love me to come and listen, and after they have heard me and I say come again, and they come, then I will be sure that I am the Joe Smith I’ve always believed I should be.”