Talk:Helter skelter (ride)

A bit sudden?
Pardon my lack of wiki editing skills breaking up the format with my little insertion here, but feel free to fix it however you'd like. As I understand it, it's bad form to introduce something the way "the prosecution" is introduced in the current form of this article. We're going on about some ride at a fair, and then, bam, "the prosecution" -- wait hold the phone what? I don't think you're allowed to do that! And certainly not within the same paragraph as another topic, at least... - Anon
 * Quite agree. Prosecution?!?! What prossecution. I've taken out the whole section since its already covered in its own articles. --BrucePodger (Lets have a beer) 22:04, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

Page name
I want to move Helter Skelter (amusement park ride) here, leaving the Beatles song at Helter Skelter. I will fix Helter Skelter (disambiguation). Please speedy delete this page (a redirect, nothing substantial coming in) so that I can proceed. Thank you. --kingboyk 01:47, 28 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Done. --kingboyk 02:58, 28 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Why was it undone without discussion or justification? "Helter skelter" is the fairground ride. Helter Skelter is about the song. The disambiguation scheme I had in place was logical and helpful. Restoring it. --kingboyk 03:20, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

Tarot
I would like to see information about the origins and history of the helter skelter fairground ride. It bears a resemblance to "The Tower" in the Tarot (and I am thinking of the Rider-Waite pack) in which the high are brought low by false beliefs. The Tarot teaches that we live life after life. "The Wheel Of Fortune" in the Major Arcana shows the cycle of reincarnation. The wheel of existence turns. In one life we are high-born and in the next we are low-born, and then high again. The Tarot uses symbols to teach ancient truth about life. The helter skelter is a tower with a helical staircase, like that of "The Tower". (It is actually a double-helix, which has an interesting correspondence with the structure of DNA!) I suggest that it is probably symbolic of the hermetic teaching, found in the Major Arcana of the Tarot, and also in the meaning of the phoenix of Celtic mythology. (The phoenix plunges to it's death and bursts into flames, only to be reborn from the phoenix egg left in the ashes, from which it rises again and flys vertically upwards into the sky - symbolic of reincarnation.) I think the parallels to western celtic and hermetic teachings that predated and survived alongside christianity are obvious, and that an article on the helter skelter that does not explore the origins, cultural relevance and, very possibly, any intended and/or associated meanings of the helter skelter, is not complete. It is certainly an archetypal design and concept, and it is difficult to imagine that it was not in any sense designed to express existing cultural, universal and unconscious meanings. Thank you - posted by Elizabeth Jane.

Manson family category?
I don't understand why this is necessary, as the article already makes reference to Charles Manson directly. I will remove unless someone objects. - IstvanWolf 22:30, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

I agree, take out the box about the Manson family too!!! --Tinned Elk 02:28, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

I think the majority of the article just needs to be redone. Its short but all over the place. Very confusing. Strutt 17:03, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

Term used in the US?
I have removed the image of the slide at Coney Island as it was definitely not a helter skelter. I also have removed references to the term being used in the US as no evidence is given for that. A helter skelter is defined as a spiral slide around a tower - there are other types of slides found at fairgrounds but they are not helter skelters. I am also very dubious about the other names given in the article such as Canadian slide and Alpine slip as I suspect these are not the same thing either but as there is a reference for that, which I don't have access to, I've left it in. The only one that seems likely is Lighthouse Slip as the tower in a helter skelter does resemble a lighthouse. Richerman   (talk) 18:50, 22 October 2017 (UTC)