CNN iReport

If it is not a religion per se, then Deadheadism has all the makings of one, including:

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A once-living prophet: Our Beloved Jerry

Saints: Saint Weir, Saint Hart, Saint Lesh

Iconography: skeletons in top hats, roses

Sacred ground: Haight-Ashbury

Folklore: bootleg trading and countless band "legends"

Archives: McHenry Library

Pilgrimages: in VW buses

Rituals: too many to list

Art: Our Beloved Jerry's paintings

Traditional Dress: tye-dye and patchouli

Revivals: mega-concerts with tailgate parties

Religious Bookstores: "head shops"

Spinoff Religions: RatDogism, PhishHeadism

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And needless to say, Music... lots and lots of fabulous Music.  All that seems to be missing is a holy scripture, but we must remember that the Christian Gospels were not written for about a hundred years.  We do, however, have many quotes from Our Beloved Jerry, in publications such as Rolling Stone, that perhaps one day will be combined into an authoritative Word of Garcia.

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Deadheads: they greet each other with esoteric phrases.  They leave one another encoded messages on the Internet about "bootleg swapping" and "tour schedules".  They line their walls with ticket stubs and other religious paraphernalia.  They meet at night in small groups, where they listen to the Gospel of Dead while burning incense.  When they are together, they are not easily trusting of outsiders, but they are always looking to create new converts.

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To those on the outside, the Grateful Dead are nothing more than a rock and roll act.  But many who have joined the cult claim it to be a religious experience, something truly unique, beautiful, magical, and uplifiting.  They claim that those in the mainstream culture can never understand what it means to be a Deadhead.

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Is it mass mentality, like the communal energy of a sermon at a megachurch?  Are Deadheads, holding boom microphones in the air, just like devout Christians holding their arms up in praise at a tent revival, or Muslims bowing to face Mecca?  Are their erratic dance motions like those of mesmerized believers at a faith healing?  Can they get a tax exemption?

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You be the judge!