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Keeping Up With The Conspiracies.
By Yona Dervishi — Written on Aug 26, 2021
Fans can barely contain their excitement about Kanye West's third listening party for "Donda," which is set to kick off today at Chicago's Soldier Field Stadium.
West's listening parties have already been high-profile affairs as fans await the new album.
Yet amid the anticipation, people are now raising concerns about West's listening parties, believing them to be "ritualistic" in nature.
Why do people think Kanye West's 'Donda' listening parties are Satanic rituals?
Currently, there are Tiktoks floating around the internet speaking of mysterious "dreams" that reportedly featured images of the artist stealing souls. Others claim West is trying to contact his mother, the album's namesake, from beyond the grave.
"The whole city of Atlanta needs to be praying and covering themselves spiritually," warns a stitched-Tiktok.
Celebrity conspiracies have been around forever. Ones about Kanye definitely aren't new. Yet fans, internet sleuths, and conspiracy theorists are joining forces to piece together all the apparent "signs" of darker forces at play.
Kanye West reportedly handed out blood-colored drinks at the party.
One Tiktok points to a mysterious red drink West was allegedly handing out at his listening party, noting that it looked like blood. "Even if it isn't real...you know what...symbolism is everything," it reads.
Tiktok user @divinelyyas expressed her belief that the stadium's seating was created to form an energetic grid to either "seal energy in for rituals or to hone in on people's energy better." Many spiritual practices follow similar ideologies & practices such as crystal grids and sacred geometry.
Kanye West's merch featured hexagrams.
West's merch also raised suspicion on Twitter as attendees were spotted wearing shirts with hexagrams printed onto them:
"Ever since I have seen videos from the #DONDA concert, I can't shake it from my mind," wrote one concerned Twitter user. "I wonder why exactly Kanye is performing a ceremonial ritual. I can only think of two things; either attempting to be a mortal god, or regret for how far he has climbed already #witchcraft."
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Kanye is open about his Christian faith.
Beside his acclaimed music and artistic vision, West is also known for being a devout Christian who regularly references religious themes and figures. He even has his own Sunday Service, which features prayer alongside worship, non-traditional hymns, and reworked gospel versions of popular songs.
Christianity is seeped in occult symbolism.
Though too complicated to fully delve into, it's worth mentioning that many Christian (and other Abrahamic) religious symbols are linked to early pagan ideology. The Christian cross, for instance, is believed to be modeled after the Ancient Egyptian ankh.
And prior to the cross, early Christians used other symbols such as the dove, fish, and anchor.
The hexagram, along with the pentagram, is also a symbol that's commonly demonized. The best known example of it is the Jewish Star of David. In the Christian sense, it's considered the Creator's Star of Creation and represents the six days of creation as well as the six attributes of God the Creator.
Even in the context of the Catholic Church's Holy Communion, one Twitter user pointed out similarities between the religious practice and West's supposed "Satanic blood drinking."
"Came across a video on TT that had big conspiracy theory vibes about Kanye," the tweet states. "I was worried until I remembered most folks don’t even realize they take part in a blood ritual once a month at church. Choose how you want to see things."
Regardless of everyone's personal beliefs, it's safe to assume that as per Internet culture, the conspiracy theory will linger on. It'll be interesting to see how today's performance will fuel the flames.
Yona Dervishi is a writer who is currently working at YourTango as an editorial intern. She covers topics pertaining to self-care, radical acceptance, news, and entertainment.