The 2018 Winter Para-Olympics: Closing Ceremony Pt.7

A continuation of Part 6; https://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/the-2018-winter-para-olympics-closing_42.html

Closing Speeches:

It is IPC protocol that each Closing Ceremony includes two closing speeches.

By the head of the host National Paralympic Committee (NPC). In this case Lee Hee-beom. Also by the head of the IPC. In this case Andrew Parsons.

The significance of these speeches was the speeches themselves. So while I do not mean to snub the speakers if you want to know the significance of these speeches you can simply watch or read them yourselves.

Nine days after the event I am now trying to trim this down wherever I can.

It is also IPC protocol that the closing speeches are followed by a formal declaration that the games are over. The UK broadcaster Channel 4 decided to edit out this closing declaration.

Commercial Break:

Channel 4 edited out the closing declaration so it could show some commercials. 

Salispury?!:

Channel 4's decision to include a commercial break was particularly poorly timed. Following the closing declaration the ceremony seamlessly moved to a sequence in which the Cauldron was extinguished.

This took the form of an ancient Korean Animist ritualistic dance known as; "Sal'puri."

"Puri" translates as; "To Purify."

"Sal" translates as; "An Evil Plague."

The Sal'puri ritual dates back from before the Three Kingdoms of Korea period. So prior 57 B.C.

During that time is was believed that illness was caused by evil spirits.

So although it literally translates as "Evil Plague" "Sal" really refers to evil spirits. However a Chemical Warfare agent like the one used in Salisbury could certainly be described as an example of a "Sal."

The dance involves a Shaman or witch doctor absorbing the evil spirits into their body. The dance then purifies that evil spirit by re-balancing its Ying and Yang elements into harmony. No longer an evil spirit it is then discharged.

Sal'puri can be performed at any time to exercise evil spirits. It is though most commonly associated with death.

The Shaman removes the evil spirit which killed the person to stop it travelling with them into the next dimension. This is important because many Animists - particularly Buddhists - believe in reincarnation. You certainly don't want to carry an evil spirit with you into your next life.

The Sal'puri often involves a prayer scroll in the form of a long handkerchief. This details the person, what evil spirit has afflicted them and what the ritual hopes to achieve. Recovery from the evil spirit or merely a peaceful journey into the next dimension.

So this sequence as really mourning the end of the 2018 Games.

While at the same time wishing it well as becomes reincarnated as, strictly speaking, the 2022 Games. Although if it comes back to life as the 2020 Games I don't think anyone would be too upset.

It began with a giant prayer scroll stretching from the Cauldron, down the ramp to the stage.

The prayer scroll then took on physical form and was used by the Shaman as she performed the Sal'puri dance. Wearing the traditional white of purity.

She was accompanied by a vocalist and a woman playing a traditional Korean flute - the Daegeum. Neither of whose names I caught.

I am not sure if the Daegeum player had an impairment in her right arm. However she was unusually resting her instrument on a stand. So you were certainly being invited to speculate on whether she had an impairment.

You may have noticed some similarities between this Korean ritual and Native American rituals. Particularly of Hopi Indians in Arizona.

That's because despite what Obama's warriors will try and tell you even Native Americans aren't that native. Originally they've migrated from East Asia and Russia. Bringing with them Animist belief systems.

Prominent on stage during this sequence was an earthenware cooking pot. As far as I can tell this has no role whatsoever in the Sal'puri ritual.

I think this pot's inclusion here was to encourage us to focus on the similar looking pot element of the Cauldron. Inspired by the Cauldron used in the 2016 Summer games this provided a talking point about efforts to combat Climate Change.

In less economically developed nations combating Climate Change can be something as simple as replacing open fires with wood burning cookstoves that use less fuel and therefore create fewer emissions. It is the role of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) based in the RoK to find a way to pay for such schemes.

During the Olympics the focus was very much on the Cauldron's legs. This made it resemble a; "Martian War Machine" from the 1897 novel; "The War of the Worlds" by H.G Welles.

In 1938 Orson Welles produced and directed a radio dramatisation of The War of the Worlds. This is widely recognised as the greatest Fake News hoax in US broadcasting history.

This turned the Olympic medal table into a symbol of where people think Orson Welles' production now stands in the all time list of US Fake News Hoaxes. After Obama's claims of Russian interference in the 2016 Election it seems to have slumped considerably.

You can't really play games like this at the Para-Olympics. Although efforts have been made by particularly the RoK to put the Para-Olympics on an equal footing with the Olympics the Para-Olympics still has an inherent competitiveness problem.

In any nation the majority of people do not suffer from the types of impairments seen at the Para-Olympics. So from this already small sub-group you've got to find people who want to do sport. For that even smaller sub-group you've got to find the people who are actually any good at sport.

This is actually well illustrated by the; "Good Odds" commercial by Paralympic sponsor Toyota featuring Lauren Woolstencroft. This actually debuted during the 2018 Super Bowl.

You can watch it here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sefscV3GvWM

It begins with Woolstencroft being born with a disability. It shows her odds of winning a Gold medal at around 1 in 1 billion. It then shows her growing and training as the odds shorten. It ends with her winning Gold and the odds being 1 in 1.

If you play the commercial backwards it shows the odds a nation must overcome to produce a Para-Olympic Gold medallist.

As a result nations with large populations always do well at the Para-Olympics. Through just sheer weight of numbers.

China is only really beginning to take an interest in Winter sports. Russia has been banned from these Para-Olympics sending only a small delegation competing as neutrals.

So the fact that the US was going to top the Para-Olympic medal table was never up for discussion.

It almost goes without saying that as the Sal'puri ritual ended the Cauldron was extinguished.

20:20 on 26/3/18 (UK date).