"The God of That Place": Rituals of the Yellowjackets Cannibal Cult

Supernatural, strange pagan beliefs and mysterious gods has been a large part of folk horror.

I loved stories of the supernatural. Yellowjackets being one of them, is much more enjoyable to me than having a story about unscientific and inaccurate depictions of psychiatrist disorders. This post is assuming that the supernatural aspects is real and behind the events. An examination and compilation of how it manifested, and how it is worship throughout the show.

My favorite episodes are Doomcoming, Shauna baby delivery, the dances with the feast of Ben's head and Edible Complex. The music and combination of the flesh, visions and sensuality reminded me a lot about The Wickerman, Ju-ON:The Grudge II and Ringu. The story maybe entirely different, but the groupthink in the Wickerman, the invincible power and mystery of the supernatural of the J-horror combined to form a beautiful synergy.

The Supernatural in this show is a manipulative god. A god who enjoy watching the group hunt and It provide sustenance to keep the hunt going.

I. How the Religion Start and Grow

The Rise of the Lottie

When the plane crash, the survivors arrived in a forest and a cabin with a unique symbol carved all over. After a seance, a girl who might be schizophrenic, started speaking French and see the visions of the future, which kept being confirmed. Through this girl, the god took hold over the group. Because her vision are poignant, she provide hopes and draw followers. Food arrived as she said. It speaks to the girl, who already have daddy and mommy issues, and she looked toward to it like a surrogate parent.

When she was beaten to nearly death, the group fearful of losing their link to their the spirit that provided them with food began the hunt. So far the Wilderness provides the roasting of Jackie, the flesh of Javi, a bear, some birds. Enough to keep them alive, enough to see them suffer.

The Crowning of Natalie and Shauna

Lottie, however, is not meant to be the leader. One, she is too docile. She was also too nice. When to save her, they ate a boy. She gave the leader position to Natalie, thinking that she was the Wilderness favorite. Which might be true, because the Wilderness want to see them survive and dancing to his strings. Like playing The Sims, it want its toys to have some agency. Lottie visions were gone.

Natalie helped the group survived, but she can't control the group. Shauna and Tai took over, and Lottie made Shauna leader. When Shauna being the most bloodthirsty of the group get to lead. The visions came back. Lottie suddenly understand the feelings that the Wilderness want. In the feast where they ate their teachers, she sings and dance in happiness, and axed a man who stumble into the feast. She now knew the will of the Wilderness and hellbent to see it into reality.

She saw the visions of the queen, and she want to bring that out to the world.

Shauna and her offsprings

Throughout season 2, while Lottie provided emotional support to the group, the coming of Son of Shauna also provided them with rare joy. Lottie with her "hearings" with the Wilderness, saw the son as more the Wilderness baby not of Jeff or Shauna. She believed it will change everything but the Wilderness took the baby. It was until she met Callie, that she realized what the Wilderness will is in the new girl.

To Lottie, Callie (like the reincarnations of Sadako and Kayako in the sequel to their beloved film), is the manifestation of the will of the Supernatural.

The Wilderness also add visions to Shauna, making her believe that the group ate her baby. A mental torture to turn Shauna into the sadistic nutcase in season 3. All within its desire to see the group hunt and human beings.

II. The Possessions and Weapons of God

The adults survivors are the favored human weapons of the god. So far, while Lottie is the one who heard the Wilderness the most. Every other character is touched. What are the likelihood that Tai, Lottie and Misty with their weird mental wiring, happened to be in the same plane?

Travis kept seeing visions that came true. Not willing to be its puppet like Lottie consent to be, he tried to get into the other side, to talk directly with it. Natalie reject it, but she seems to believe to it exists. She despised it, as it played with her till the end. Van considered her life saved by it, and Tai, the dark one, is guided by it. Melissa have now being a convert.

Shauna and Misty distrusts its existence, but their kill counts, must have greatly pleased this God. Tai, the conscious one, also performs the god's will without much needed encouragement. Misty directly killed more people in this show more than the others. Putting the vision of Shauna baby being eaten, was a master move. Tai, along with with killing her dog, and being a politician, continuously shown the no-eye man.

III. The Rituals to Appease the God

While the god doesn't show itself and speaks directly in English, the group came up with their own rituals

Tree Circles: Lottie preaching the word.

The Hunt: created by the group, with the suggestion of Tai from the fear of Lottie's death by by starvation raised by Travis. Involving the pack of cards, an evolution from the lottery.

The Feast: Started with Jackie, and made into tradition by Shauna. Filled with dressed-up and bon fires.

Blood Sacrifice: this is Tai's own ritual. It works in getting her the state senator post. Melissa seem to do one with Van.

Shrooms and Gas-induced Visions: This is for the prophets. Travis, Akilah and Lottie. Natalie, in one of her drug-induced state, got a visit, that led to the event of Travis death.

IV. Doomcoming and Why the God is Worshiped

The god might be worship in that area, before the plane crash. But the new religion, started with the highschoolers who crashed into the site.

In this remote part of the earth, the Wilderness provides. It is the source of their food, their survivals and the source of their entertainment. The storyteller, Van, encouraged its spirits among the survivors. Shauna using it as a pretext to have a party where she can have fun. Tai having purposes. Misty happy to belong.

Doomcoming is where much of this originate. The visions of the shrooms, the dances, and the environments make everyone lustful, lose their reasoning, ready to hunt and butcher. Humans became animals. However, it was as Shauna said, they were having so much fun. Even in the Mari feast, Shauna and Lottie was feeling so at ease. As with other rituals, they were having fun, and they may have been the one creating the God with these rituals. (Similar to a short story Ryū by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa where a real dragon manifested from a lie after the mass believe it)

Misty was still having fun as an adult. Tai, the dark one, is having the time of her life eating meat again. Van feeling excited about life.

V. Future of the God?

In many folk beliefs, the pagan gods lost their powers when they lost their believers and followers. This one, whether or not they believed them, the god has them as followers. The survivors are either relishing with the thought of the hunt, or planning it. Tai, who had been sacrificing to the god, are planning a murder

Lottie sacrificed her life to bring Callie into the mix, the future is bright for the religion.