Body Island Myth
There exists a series of four remote islands that have on each a temple, a shaman, and an initiation rite that when experienced in sequence lead to a spiritual vision. To pass through all four islands would lead an initiation candidate to a heightened spiritual state.
Body Island One
1a Island: Stone, concrete, tunnels, material, physical, lifeless.
1b Temple: Hewn of excavated and mortared stone, the temple is home to the material preoccupations of the candidate for initiation.
1c Shaman and Initiation Rite: A child’s skeleton with adult teeth expose within the jaw. The physical body of the candidate for initiation is divided into head, torso, appendages — contents therein are spilled out.
1d Vision: Physical preoccupations are seen destroyed.
Body Island Two
2a Island: A half-circle reflected by the sea.
2a Island, cont: Trees, plants, liquid, visible planets, circulation, rhythm.
2b Temple: Modern house split by inverted waterfall. Half-circle (satellite) containing inner anatomy, circulating blood.
2c Shaman and Initiation Rite: A being without skin, realm of circulation exposed. Visages of psychic intercessors emitting ectoplasm. Dark fluid bursts from the candidate.
2d Vision: Body is seen inverted, with the head as the root of the tree, torso as trunk, and appendages as branches.
Body Island Three
3a Island: A place of fire and billowing smoke; animal instincts and passions.
3b Temple: A mass of lions attacking prey in the form of a house.
3c Shaman and Initiation Rite: Shaman is unseen. Candidate is attacked by representatives of the twelve trials of Hercules.
3d Vision: Candidate sees the burning of their childhood homes, with representatives of the twelve trials of Hercules emerging from the smoke.
Body Island Four
4a Island: A landscape of places remembered by the candidate, merged into a collective whole.
4b Temple: A building of perpetual destruction.
4c Shaman and Initiation Rite: Shaman as a circle of glowing red pierces the candidate’s circle of glowing blue.
4d Vision: Initially unseen, but present. Then, candidate sees himself and loved ones as dead and arranged in a circle. Two forms of living candidate are seen large, one inverted and overlaying the other.