Discussion Group Report

The notion of "saint" Elvis has been explicitly sanctioned not only by the tabloids but also by the Washington Post, says author Gary Vican.

Saints, as charismatic mediating agents between our everyday world and remote, powerful spiritual forces, have existed in all religions, as well as outside conventional religion. In early Christian and present Orthodox religion canonization, a saint has been informally elected by the collective belief and action of his followers. Saints of vastly varying backgrounds and life styles, including those despised by their contemporaries, have been allowed. Furthermore, there has been a profound difference between the image of the saint held dear by his followers, and the historical reality of the individual, who may not even have existed.

Even within the conventional topology of western saints--martyrs, confessors, ascetics, etc., Elvis, in the eyes of his ardent fans, has his place as a martyr. In his vita literature of adoration, we learn that the King's last thoughts as he lay dying on the floor of his bathroom were, "This must be like what Jesus suffered." Purged from the King's factual life history are any evidences of drug abuse, obesity, or paranoiac violence. It speaks instead of a dirt-poor southern boy who rose to fame and glory; of the love of a son for his mother; humility; generosity; superhuman achievement in the face of adversity; profound spiritualism; and painful premature death at the hands of his own fans, whose merciless demands for his entertainment exhausted and ultimately killed him.

Max Weber pointed out that the charismatic person ("saint") is not identifiable by any specific behavioral or physical characteristics, but rather by how he or she is "treated or endowed" by followers. The charismatic's behavior may strike non-followers as inappropriate; nevertheless, what counts is not saint-like performance, but audience reception and reaction. Among the ranks of charismatics there exist the likes of Jesus Malverde, a mustachioed brigand who was hanged as a bandit in Culiacan, Mexico in 1909.

Consistent with the "charisma package" of early Christian saints, gradually Elvis began to cultivate latent spiritual and miraculous potentialities; he became an acknowledged healer and a self-proclaimed messenger from God.

The saint has his holy place; this is how we know him and where to find him. A holy place can be the home of an important relic; the site of miraculous waters; his home, where he may still be living; or the place of his bodily remains. The soul of the saint is believed to dwell there. The tourist goes there mostly to see, but the pilgrim has a distinctly tactile notion of travel. The latter wants to see and touch the place where the saint was present in the body. The holy is concentrated there, and its power is susceptible to retransfer through contagion; the pilgrim takes away a package of the holy earth around it. Saints go to the holy place on special annual holy days. A close spiritual bonding occurs among the pilgrims. Shared worship and veneration, encompassing a belief in the resurrection of the saint, take place. The travelers leave something behind to acknowledge publicly their encounter with their spiritual "friend"; this may be an elaborate custom-made image set up in a prominent place, a bracelet, a ring, a tiara, a plaited girdle and belt, a simple greeting or prayer drawn on an available surface, or graffiti. All of the above elements of saint adoration are present in the pilgrimages to Graceland, the holy place of Elvis veneration. Yet Elvis' "sainthood" is strikingly different from the conventional Christian sort in one respect. His role is not seen as being an advocate before God.

Vikan concludes, "As the early Christian saint was a product of and a window upon his world, so also is Elvis Presley," In the words of his friend, Anna Norman, "Elvis, you've become such an icon for our time."