E SEARCH. Pte TT WATS 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION ae \acelon | PIERCING & SCARIFICATION @redicting the future has never been easy, or more people would be doing just that, Two hundred ‘years ago, Hegel offered a simple directive: the fu ture can be defined by “more freedom and more consciousness for more people.” Yet the most ca- Sual examination of history within the past hundred years reveals the truth of the aphorism: “One step forward, two steps back.” Despite millions of hours of study by scholars who have investigated Capitalism, Marxism, Trotskyism, Anarchism, Situationism, Surrealisin and other social/eco: ‘nomic theories purporting to show us humanity's future — Judge by results: how “freer” are more people today all over, planet Earth? We're in the age of the new feudalism. Sadly, much of the earth’s populace seem enslaved by terior / mental “chains” as much as physical circumstance. “Kill the inner policeman inside yourself!” said a Situa. tionist graffiti written on Paris walls cirea May 1968. The Surrealists militated against religion and monotheism, yet statistically, today more people than ever seem to be suc cuumbing to the three “religions of the book”; Judaism, Islam. and Christianity. The King James Bible says, “Thou shalt ‘make no marks upon the flesh,” presumably referring to tat- tooing and scarification, and these three religions all seem to control the body — especially its capacity for pleasure and adornment. Yet, the body (and the contents of the brain) is the only true “possession” any of us own — police can take away everything else and put people into a concentration camp, but humans will still retain theit bodies. Tt seems obvious that the full potential of the body for pleasure and beautification ought to be the birthright of every human, Why do so few people explore and “maxi- ‘mize” this potential? The IDEA behind the Modern Primitives book was big ger than the book itself: to chart out and present all the ways that humans have historically modified and decorated their bodies D-I-Y (Do-It-Yourself, without surgery / hospital- ization, and the attendant authoritarian hegemony and intrusion), and present this information unjudgmen- tally ... WITHOUT MORALISTIC COMMENTARY. (No religious guilt!) ‘Also, Modern Primitives presented this data in excep- tionally clear language and illustrations, from a variety of viewpoints. This was “amateur” anthropology / philosophy. / aesthetics / history at its most accessible — without aca _) demic pretentiousness. Result: the floodgates were opened! For “Body Piercing,” Yellow Pages telephone directory list- ings went from zero to dozens in cities all over the world. WARNING: Do not attempt any of the body modifications or practices described herei on doing any, go to a professional. Neither the contributors nor the publishers will assume respon: 20th Anniversary Edition For “Tattoo,” listings increased from single to double digits, ‘As with any artistic medium, body artists / practitioners aimed at taking the Art of Body Modification further. Im: plants represent « radical renaissance in themselves, More full-body tattoos which include facial, neck and hand tat- tooing have been innovated (e., “the Leopard Man"), along with literally dozens of piercings all over the body canvas. We interviewed one man in Germany with nearly a hundred facial piercings (he works at home as @ computer software engineer). How many body piercings is it possible to have? Our book, Modern Primitives, also aimed at restoring ritual, and staged suspensions (ritual hanging from hooks) signpost possibly the biggest growth territory for future artistic expansion. Dozens of iconoclasts all over the world have formed suspension groups which celebrate the phe ‘nomenon of “possession” and the attainment of the trance state, beyond endurance tests and other explorations of the shadowy area between pain and pleasure. Singing opera arias while suspended from hooks is just one of probably many more future Modern Primitive eross-pollinations be- ‘ween the arts, Meanwhile, the “Side Show” tradition is yet + being preserved by groups unafraid to introduce humor and entertainment into formerly “sacred” social ceremonies. ‘The full scope of body modification and extreme en- urance rituals appears here to stay. The personal has be ‘come social; the conceptual has become experiential; the regional has become global; the historical has become fur turistic. It remains to be seem how the development of new technologies will further extend and enhausee the body aug- mentations of the coming centuries. Meaitwhile, we can travel the world to find the latest “cutting edge” concep: tual/physiological breakthroughs unveiled in privately-onga- nized piereing conferences and other social gatherings. But as William S, Burroughs once ironically observed, “Itis nec- essary to travel. It is not necessary to live.” ‘All physically-felt body modifications are a form of time travel linking us with both the past and the future, as we reaffirm our relationship with the only “spaceship” we may ever intimately know: the human body. The body provides the portal facilitating our deepest explorations of both Outer and Inner Space — and this is an investigation which never ends, Beyond the horizon there will always be more cover, more to stimulate our imaginations, and more nieg to light up our world-view. The quest continues xe —V. Vale If you bility for the use or misuse of any information contained in this book. RE/Search #12: Modern Primitives 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition ©1989, 2010 RE/Search RE/Search Publications 20 Romolo #8. San Francisco, CA 94133. (415) 362-1465. info@researchpubs com ISBN paperback 978-I-889307-26-8 ISBN hardback 978-1-889307-27-5 Printed in China by Prolong Press Led er [Esscmcon] a” Frone Cover Photo: Bobby Nee! Adams, Hlsry Cross eatoo by Grog Kul: Baek Cover Photo:KenWerner Ise page Far Musafr Phoxo by Charles Gtewond Lar page Far Musfar Photo by bby Neel Adams ' -e rFEE (oan eno am ce ah TAC Ba EEO aE GrG tN HEU EEES 2 20th Anniversary Introduction 4 Introduction 6 Fakir Musafar 37 Tattoo Mike 40 ManWoman 30 Don Ed Hardy 68 Captain Don 76 Jane Handel 79 Wes Christensen—Mayan Culture 92 Anton LaVey 96 Leo Zulueta lyn Gallina 106 Bill Salmon 109 Sheree Rose 114 Lyle Tuttle 122 Vaughn 124 Vyvyn Lazonga 127 Monte Cazazza 133. Dan Thome 137 _ Hanky Panky 150 Charlie Cartwright 152 Greg Kulz 156 Heather McDonald 157__David Levi Strauss 159 Jim Ward 164 Genesis & Paula P-Orridge 182 Miscellaneous 191 Quotations ‘Sources Raelyn Gallina, 2009 Indexss INTRODUCTION a ana MODERN). Being ot this time; now existing. 2 OF er pertining the present and seen! Hien, o distinguished from the remote post perianing Wer aignating in the erent ogee period. 3 {Chorarinicof he presen petantiquated or sbolte. 4. Eve PRIMITIVE: 1. Of or belonging tthe fist Pertening fe say hme sale, xiginal,encent. AY Eeginnings encenty originally in ime, ot fist, 2. With the pontysimplicy or rudeness of cay times. 3. Orginal, oF Eppoved to derive rimory exapperedte secondary, rd Fe Moth, ste Applied to 0 line or gut from which some Connon or echoning begins or fee eve surace, og {Ode, equation, eperlian, ee, fom which anether sin seme (Moy dotted. 6 OF calor: Primary. 7 Anything from which omething eles derived. PRUAITIVIS. Aptis! in person whe prafrs] way fife which, ‘when judged by one or mare ofthe stenderdsprevaling In his ‘hn taciely, would be considered ene "advanced lst ei Ine” The prvi Bins the model fr his prefered ay of Ifeinavultore thet exsedoriraputedtohave existed ot sme time in the pos inthe calor of thls sophisticated doses the werd; in the experiences of his childhood or youth; in @ pepchologcally elemental ubvationl e even subconcious) ikl st cxbtence;orin some combinotion ofthese, Primi themes eppeer in elmes' all erature they are found in cow ical ond’ medieval Ierctre inthe lst Renelsanee. Men ign, in ha esay Des Cannibols, proses the happy ond irtaous ile of swoges living dose Ye nature; Pope envies the ‘nutored Inch: eth century interop reco fullest rion in Rownsos's plete deine ofthe ciken of idem seeps her- ferbood! vider upan Ute poetry of Riboud is a recrd ‘hones ef Europe end dogmatic Cistionty in fever of en Ofienel “fathelond” DIM. Lawrence makes emilar con= Stmnaion af Western dvlastion end advocates return tan ‘Sidor mode of living based an @ recognition of mons “bleed ature itv hove eiffered widely on the metre ofthe Sais ond weainesses of cvzed ie, the cuaes of thes evi, ‘he postive velue fhe primitive He ond the dogres to which ‘Sregenion'ethe primitive possible. PieetonEnyclopedio fect ond Poste ‘within ie eatry, rf pimive es thelexit elewhere in CODERN PRIMITIVES cxamines a vivid contemporary enigma: the growing revival of highly ‘sual and sometimes shocking) “primitive” body modification practices—tattooig, mult ple piecing, and searficaton,Peraps Nietzsche has an explanation: *One ofthe higsthat fray dre thinkersto despairisthe recognition ofthe fact tha thecal necessary for man tru hat out ofthe logical comes rauch thats good: It is so firmly rooted in the passions, in language it at in religion and generally in everthing that gives va to life, eat it cannot the athceawm without thereby injuring ll these beautiful things. Iris only the aloo naive peso who can believe that the nature ofman can be changed toa purely gical one” ‘Cikation, vith its emphiss on logic may be stifling and liethwarting, yet a cliche ldcnilison asto whatis"primitive” provides no sohtionto the proan: how do we achieve dh tegration ofthe postic and scientific imagination in our lives? There are pitfalls on both ‘Ses and what is absolutly not intended i any romanticization of "nature" or “primitive Soci" Afierall,advancesin science and technology have climinated| much mind-nummbing, repetitive bor, and imentions such a8 the inexpensive microcomputer have opened Up tanprecedented posites for indivical erative expression. ‘Obvicusy i is impossble to renurn to an authentic “primitive” society. Those such as the Tasadayin he Philippinesandthe Dayaksin Borncoare irevocably contaminated. Besides having been dubious) idealized and only paraly understood inthe firs place under seratiny ‘many primitie” societies reveal forms of repression and coercion (suchas he Yanoamo, who ‘ually bash ech others headsin, and Affcan groups who practice clitordectomy—remonal ff the citors) which would be unbearable to emancipated individuals of today. What is implied bythe revival of mexler primitive” activities i the desire for, and the dream of, 2 more ces. ‘Amis avalmost universal ecling of powerlessnessto*changethe work” individuasare hanging whattey ao have power over: dram fv. That shadowy zone berweenthe pica Sul the pachic ising probed for whatever insight and freedoms may be rechimed By giving ‘isble body eqpression fo unknown desires and latent obsessions welling up from within, Indias ean provoke change-howeverinexplicable—in the extemal word ofthe social besides ficcing up a creative part of themseles; some part of their essence. (However, ‘generalize preselyiation has no place here some people shouk! definitely no get tattoos. Fhaving » pring is no infallible indication of advanced consciousness as, Anton LaVey reimarkea, “Te knowm plenty of people who have had tatooing and all kinds of moxifications tortheir beides—who are really serewed up!")Ac as aways more he stg of he ie In hi Posada epoch in which all heat ofthe past has been ted, consented and repiond he st ic etry resng copa rl armouation by ‘Museum an Galery romaine the Homan Rady Fora 00 more thn ping on sins raring and erberaons “Got bc compreenisdwihoutalnowldg offic ior and nnvtholgy of ks beer. Ths fs ate pot cretion, a {vaysmorethan masse Ass tarts prounlon ing akin ss ener emacs 1 pogaacy ime to the mona iman condition Likes, no two pring canbe del, Secsic now ce tas orgie Theses modiicaons perfor it fron dnt with ae they “gone pao a pg recy fm the orginal wats of enon, and ae mt somthing tapped rom he cultural reser” Roger Cardia) Here that nied fnction Gf dae a sky fib Anallothecrosanonsbcarancsto personal pain ured which canoe be sued Alnough =~ wxicys machen fc-opatin esr and faster 9 cnt se oF Nevo Wonartrportd the murtingof no oa ciple figs ranging fren $2080 to $10,000" No dow ftir at tmp atconmecalation icjstaround the comer Thisbook presetsa we ang ofraonals ranging fom che fncional The aman makes sex mad otet™ 0 the ‘curmaganty pocticandnetphysea The arches are een inal emer mpi ee ‘iasainpynorposbetoinenicwevryoneo vance, Many (habe jects sare the experince: before Ne sas 2 Ed Hardy had ga cloning toon” on hk pers Tak Misfr was coactng vases priv als Borowed from National Gaprapiy ae age Al share in common somieonpntictowhich jac icdinaknd ful Wmmimene thy ave ponte thr aon dnd thease mnedum of expresion. Increvsng he aes topic forbes autem ity oftigethooughy pate oon Bones eal morceau Tex someting bisnseel isinextrcably inerrvined with a flood of alien images and cues + implanted from media programming and advertising. But onc thing remains fairly cerain: pain isa uniquely personal ex perience; remains loaded with tangible shock vali. The most Extreme practitioners of SM probe the psec eritory of pain insearchofan‘ukimate mystical proof thtintheirrestonship (becween the “S" and the “MP, the meaning of “rus” has been ‘explored to ts final limits, stopping just short of the inflie tion/experiencing of death itl The central, pivotal change in the world of the rwenticth ccentury—the wholesale de individuslization of man an Socicty-has been accomplished by an inundation of milions of | mass produced images which, acting on human, bypass any “logical” aries of resistance, colonizing the memory ces of any eeceptive viewer within range. Alnos unnoticed, firsthand Seaperience” and un selfconscious creative activites (hobbies such as whicding or quitmaking) fave been shunted aside in favor of «pase intake of images which the brain finds “peas urable” and “relaxing” watching TV. The result: people all over the world share a common image bank of spurious memories and experiences, gestres,rolemodels—even nuances of varius linguist es, ann rom thao eee Hermano JER the bites commercial ‘Our minds are colonized by images. Images area virus. How docsa vis work? "Viruses are not cells they are made up merely of oucicmzrial DNA or RNA. Bur one nse host call the vin insinoatesitselfinto the cells eplcative processes bbyataching toits DNA or RNA, and tricks thecllinco produc ing moceviisesthrngh the same mechanisms the cell uses to copy its own genes. Thus saboraged, the cll not only fais 10 perform its intended function, but als is forced to help the Enemy maultiph” (Robin M. Henig, Vue, March, 1988) In the ‘Cover painting from Astounding Science Feton, June 1952. absence of truly unigue, first person experience in one's own RINAcoded memory cell, how can one feel confident about ‘one’ basic “identity”? And by extension, how can one, lacking, ‘unique experiences, crate something truly eccentric? Viral tery experience possible in the world today-—from touring, ‘Disncsland to tracking on photo sarin Africa—has already been registered in the brain through smaes oma movicor TV program —an apt word indeed. (We are programmed, but for ‘what? Where doestheimageendandealitybegin?) Iiscynically appropratethathewon! fae(apopcorrlatvofthe academic ‘Sgn, simulation") has condorably seed into the working, vocabulary ofthe 0s Al the “modern primitive practices being revved—s0 called “permanent” tattooing, petcing, and scrfisation un Serscore che realization tha dcath isl, the iam Reaper ys be stared straight in the fice, unflinching as part ofthe coo: fining straggl o free oursces from our complexes, to get to know our hidden instincts, ro work our unaccountable aggyes sions and sity devious urges. Death remains the sandard whereby the authenticity and depth ofallactvtiesmay bejadged. ‘And [complex] eroscism has always been the one implacable enemy of death. Irs necessary to uncover the mass of repressed desires ing within the unconscious so that a Naw Erin tmbracng the common identity of pain and pleasure, delirium and reason, and founded on a full umlatge of ei and perver ‘Soa, may arise to inspire adialyimprone xia reltions. “All sensaal experience Functions to free us from “normal” socal restraints, to awaken our deadcnedl bodies to life All such, Activity poins toward a goal the creation ofthe “complete” oF “imegrated” man and woman, and in ths we ae yt prisoners digging animaginary tunnel to freedom. Our most inesimable resource, the unttered imagination, continyestobe grounded inthe only truly precious possession we ean ever have and know, ann which iso to do with what we will ce Pan V.ValeFAKIR PAUSAFAR Photographer Charles Gatewood first introduced Re/Séarch to Fakir Musafar i January, 1982 at a Chinese restaurant. Dressed in an expensive business suit and tie, Fakir looked the part of a 52-year-old Silicon Valley advertising executive. But during the course of dinner he proceeded to remove his tie, insert a large bone through his nose, and work two 3/4” steel circlets into each earlobe, remarking,“There—I feel much more comfortable.” Then he unbuttoned his white broadcloth shirt and inserted twin pearl-handled daggers into two holes in his chest, forming an open “V” pattern. Nobody else in the restaurant seemed to have noticed the transition from modern executive to modern primitive. The startling yet smoothly achieved transformation was accompanied by a brief autobiographical account citing an early influence by National Geographic and Compton’s Picture Encyclopedia. Fakir saw the “pri depicted in their photographs not as objects of derision, but as role models signi ing a forgotten direction for future development and evolution. By the time he was twelve, Fakir had begun a systematic, personal exploration of virtually every body modification and ritual practice known to man—all done clandestinely until the ’80s. Since the release of the 1985 film Dances Sacred and Profane (in which he did the primitive rituals of a Sun Dance and a Kavandi Bearing), Fakir has given numerous lec- tures accompanied by slide shows, “live” demonstrations of rituals and practices, and showings of Dances Sacred and Profane for which he is the booking agent. He has pub- lished a series of publications titled Body Play, and has been featured in several videos by Charles Gatewood and others. Fakir is now world-renowned for his workshops, per- formances and publishing. What follows is a condensation of conversations conducted from 1982 to 1986, and is representative of his philosophy and thought to that date. ANDREA JUNO: Le the binning, HE TAKIRCT as born August 10,1980, at Aberdeen inthe Norheaser once ‘of South Dakors Araverycarhage was aware [was an abe, Fn belong, ‘where T'was. Whatever was anita, ‘ational and sensible to me was nna ral and repulse to other people. From the very Beginning | jasedidn scem to fie tr fom ‘Until 1 reached puberty 1 had some range powers lke kinesthetic ability—sometimes I could make Senll objects on a table, like plying. ‘ars jump, Ive into trance tates Jot, and sa faces mel and change— specially when adults were talking and [couldnt go outand pay. Atavery faith age Thad a great desire to foe scrong sensations in my bod. VALE: And wien did shee tings agin? 1B FOne summerwhen Twasonly sis ‘orseven, my dadtook ne tosomedusty ‘amival We swaman ina diving sit Photo by Bebby Noo! Adams.Fokirreshapes his limbs with tight metal bands descend into atankof waterand something like lighting hitme, Then we went to the tenin.one show. There a man was being esto san Tew wa 5 going on Rit hen had An incurable desire to make marks on and put holes in my body {fel these od sensations ancl do things with my bod ‘When Twas going t0 school, there was immense cultural conest about people from other lands: “Oh, isn this quaint? ‘Those crazy cannibals And the (pre-1940s) encyclopedias showed erthing: naked natives were ike burterflis and roa People in er culture dnt quite consider them human beings ivedthrongh a period during whichalltheencyelopedias were rewritten and expurgated. Affer WWI, photos like these were ‘eleted, along with theexplanation ofthose practices. They were ‘ot considered fit for growing chiren—too bizarre. ‘And of cours, like lot of people, I grew up tempting my primitive lust by reading good oki Nasional Gayraplc. Te Ewakened a eof people's consciousness, Taken asa whole, the ‘lel National Geagraphic:constzate quite a compendium and ‘survey primitive practices Since World War I they've adopted a new “huumanitanan” policy since they finally got around to ‘omsdering these "nanves” 2s human beings, they can show them naked anymore! “Theatrs used 10 regularly show travelogue movies. One that influenced me al was called Parygomn foumey. Tve had people in New York, Hollywood, and at the Smithsonian Inst tte hunting archives and vaults fora print ofthat movie. Bat ‘think they all been destroyed! V7 What sis about? WE The daughter of Theoore Roosevelt and a man named ‘Armand Denis went on “The Denis/ Roosevelt Expedition just prior to WWIL They photographed the most bizare body practices in the world and pat themall together in one move. It twas released in 1946, I-was a shocker, believe me! Ie contained some ofthe bes footageoF African women getting: ‘women getting giraffe necks (who start at the age of Jewvandi-bearing in Tai fantastic fi The act of doing this slow piercing and surrendering to the experience isa transcendent spiritual event. But people in this culture have few precedents for such an exercise in self-transformation ‘Sos youth Iwas an avid reader, and stating with “A."T read through the entre st of Compion Pknwe Engebptias ‘These wee pre WWI, and showeda lotof primitive people, ike a buy from Burma with interesting designs tattooed on his thighs the first Iban tattoos saw: Belts another phoko of a young man fiom New Guinea swas the caption “He must bethe alk of his village, for above all ‘things his people admire small waists andl well spiked roses” ier the castor 2s for young men to be constricted in tight bls, A fither would take his son to a matemal uncle and sy “Safer my son to bear the Inbuei” (bur is the tight band around the waist), The maternal uncle would sa, "Yes,T accept ‘our son, Will the son accept the Tburi™ And the son almost $hvays says "Ves? because it's shamefil if he does. “They wrap a very tight band around the boy's was and he * hasto wear it day and night, regardless whether he can sleep and ‘ator not. And finallvhe wes tusedto it Later he does have some choice inthe matter he can sy, "Td like my Ttibae replace” which means they paitoneon:hat’ stifle, wider tnd tighter. Usually the pro reson is froma tight loth toa bark belt. The result of this initiation constriction cs the yourh incredibly Il in the midkle—wasp, Ibitoe from New Guinea wears the Hiburi waist belt Then theyoungmenbe come dandies and st around fd par feathers in hei hae and decorate theie bts al dy. In a sense they become kind of efieminate in their society, while the women as sume the powerand provider role, (Ts was a matriarchal Society where women select men for mates. A male with small waist was prized be cause he couldn’ eat 100, Inuich and bea barden onthe ‘woman prosider was sc rated, 0 T became an Ibitoe toseewhatitwas like andfell in love with the practice. [were shamans They envi Soned the marks, 1a toced them on the body, ana then the person who gotthe tattoo was whole, Complete, Te was their pattern, their mark, and Without that mark they were incomplete. That’ prt of the magic of the BV: How about your * wert Inia oie 2 Hi di sa ppo? WE Wel, Igrewupsur rounded by Indian cul ruee in South Dakota Strong echoes ofthe past. About ewo thins of the state of South Dako in Papua New Guinea woman with tattoos. through skin. haven carly photo of myself emulating Ibitoe garb, with avery tight waistband, T wore that frequents for more than titty years and it had quite an effec on me. My torso became tally re-proportoned: chest expanded like a pouter pigeon, waist permancrtlyFixedata small diameter (24"t0 28"). Nottoomany pope cn cm approximately the same size waist from age 18 ‘Alocof phoxos Ttook back thenare examples fea se pho ‘tograpy;somewer taken with ide flding camera, Utica tring tothe shuttr burton, ineupthelens, move ckand pal he string andtake the pita WV Ture ben he csv fom ofa andar mt afr ite? Pes. Istareddoingthem nsecret,generallyinthebasemeat ‘four house. Arage 13, for example, made my firs piercing in| the foreskin of my pens, [think modem primitivesare bay, not ‘made. Faly childhood experiences only open the door to what's already inside. Ifyou had very strong inclinations in a previous liesime, and did certain practices hike change the body to 3 different shape, coos, form and siz, then when you'te bor) gain, no matter what culture yxite born into, youre going to want io do what you did before. Ar eas thar’ my explanation formysele Sony firs picreing wasnt quick Tewas done with clamp with a sharp pone that presses litle by litle. Te takes many hhours—in this case about a daj—before the ite stud came popping through the other side, The ac of doing this swe piercing and surrendcring to the experience is a transcendent spiriualevene But people inthis cule have Few preedents or sch an exercise in self transformation, Talso had the desire to mark my bod, so by the time 1 reacheal high school Thad already nade litle hand needles and tattooed some designs on my chest. The fist one Idd turned, ‘our to bea holy symbol of North Afia, a protective “bug” of the Bedouins Tdi several more, Ar this point I had not researched how to tattoo, or the history of design, oe amyhing—T just kT took some of my mothers sewing needles, ved them tghly together, dipped them in some india ink and pushed them into my skin. The nk ran doin the needles, enter the priced skin and lo and behold, when you wiped the ink away, there was a ‘mark that didnt go away! BV Wa dit yon be wr tao din on? WE Innervisions Similar, I suppose, to Balinese textile pattems that ame from altered satesandripsto another world Same for the one on my back. Any tatoo that dit come from inside your is not for you. Sometimes the tatoo artist in primitive cules Eskimo Indian with tattoos made by pulling sooty thread the 1930s as Indian res «rations. It was the one Tast dead hopeless place sshere the White Man brought in Indians feom as fr sway as Hoda, So there were Indians of al cueures and tbal bckgrounds mised togetheron South Dakota reservations ‘Atancarlyage! sufferedthesamerocuring nightmare once ‘or twice a week Talked down a dusty street, with incredibly Toogblack castiron sewer pipes stacked up agains great ellos brick building Tr was high noon, and I wasall lone Tad to et from lito tl bypassing these pipes T knew it was risk, bat started walking dwn this stect looking at these menacing pipes And every titse Thad this dreary, bythe time I reached the Iniddie there would be 2 huge rumbling sound ike an eat «qvake, and ll the pipes woul! come crashing down and crush te, Twene throug this again and again threnigh my childhood, Later on in eT found cut sh this meat Te dream symbolic ofa realexperence adnan Indanbody Atthetine the Trains were being wiped cut inthis previous fi, had been an Tran adand at about age 22 was involved a intertbal wae WV: Whar happened, secifaly? E This event occured along the South Dakota/Minnesora border Fim suppose towarn our tribe ofan ambush. Tr iding aaponyalongthebanks ofthe Yellow Bank river where opposition Indians had madea trap of logsand debris pled very high with some way of cutting it oose to bury anybody coming alongthat tral As Iwas going down the rail, chey ca this loose and Iwas cnushed, T didnt know T was dead, and T tied to engage in ‘combat. Bur Tonly had spirit body and coulda’ tight. 1wandered around for about 90 years nearthat spot une reincarnated inthis bax [My mother came from a Minne sota German farming family with ten children. She had been a maverick —the First female to defy the Prussian iron fisted rule of her father She broke away to Aberdeen Business College and met 2 charming young, aiator—a barn Srorming airmail pilot ho had just Started a small ailine company, They met ata Halloween party. T grew up in the back cockpit of i plane LV: Where lid you ct the nae Fair Mus? BLE Troma very cary Rilo Bele It cr Na feature, which [ot out of the paper and saved, Isillhave't. The orig foal Fakir Musafse was an 19th century Safi who wandered around for eighteen years with daggers and ‘other things stack in his bod He was eying to educate people he mysteries he had discovered, bur they cin understand bhim or pay much attention hime Finally he died ofa broker bear. waist to 14". ‘At age 13, for example, | made my first piercing in the foreskin of my penis. | think modern primitives are born, not made. Early childhood experiences only open the door to what's already inside BV Youie ge very crypts of your prctcng yor rita ‘How i ht cme alot? BEE: When T was doing my early experiments, I was into anything to do with fir, light, or elects. [learned how t0 take gunponder, fireworks, batteries, and also do photography. WV: Wane ye erin dey ou“ play arses? BEE T soon lermed the vakie of constrictions or encumber ments. Anything tha’ fixed on the bod fora kong period of time changes your outlook on lif. Techanges your relationship Tolife andthe body youre ving in you putom a tight betand weir for 20 hours, strange things will happen to you. Not just physically, bu to your consciousness psycically and spiritually! Inthebasement I found sore old chains and wrapped about 100 pounds of them around me and lanked around in ther for hal day wen my parents Were gone. [shor a photograph of mysel? ‘vith a crue remote control string set up. Taleo found it was easy to push needles through my body I just di this without any encouragement, nobody kev clipped on clothespns in fans on my box, [temporarily pierced myearsandmy nose, And made photos oll these experiments (OF course you didnt rn down and ger these develope a the photo shop. ‘My unele had loaned mea file camera he had gotten in World Wiel Hed been a “Johnny Doughboy” and had kept in his pocker a 1915 vest pocket folding Kodak camera. When I started shooting my photos WWII vas going 00, an film as hha to find —it was rationed, But every now and then some ‘would ariv, and Tl rush down and waitin ine and get aro oF 127 Verichrome film. Taught myclf developing by reading a book, and that's where these picturescam from, Phese areata prints I made [photos show progression of teenage Iitoc wast ‘raining, piercing, etc] Wh cid ou ln abou pin? WF One ofthe firs altered states you can kam isto separate your consciousness from your bod. You don walk away fr Your body, yon don’ separate from your body, but the part of 19 using belt to constit hi Fokirat age 19. you that fels and thinks can separate from the feelings inthe boy its So that makes it posible for you to push a newle through. You dont fel the pa, the day feels the pain, and you observe the body recording or fling sensation. Then isnot pain, IFyon can learn to separate your consciousness and your stention Irom your bod you can do almost anything t it and ou doo' fel pain! Hall your acention is locked in your boxh and not focused outside the body or on a specific body point, oul el pain, That's one ofthe irs lessons leaened That'san kered sate, And there are hundreds ofeiferentkinds of altered Tina visy i a denigration, a cultural conceit, to label someone who does these kins of activities a “primitive” There ae diferent societies and cultures on earth, and they\e all ‘developed diferent was, Either they exteralize, or they inter nalize. If they extermalize, they develop tools which become technology or organized ational science. Thats what the West ermulture is Or they can intemalize and develop the other way ‘whereby they can do all kinds of physical things wich magic. At “this poine in history. both approaches are starting to merge WA Tovrea sux adverasing exci, ngbt? EET suppos 50; ist year we grossed almost five million dollars Although to me, tha ise realy succes. F could moxe buildings with magic—tar succesful WAY: Be she smeing goat abt being able exis in lath orl fui WE Of course, And I appreciate both approaches. But Tm sayingii’snoceasy 10 bea magic person ina technical culture In college T rook physies, chemistry, and Fecame a am radio ‘operator and but transmitters out of scrap They worked realy ‘well bue mach ofthe time Idd these science things by fst "Actually, science is magic Take a ky: most people don’ really know bow it works, bur they trust it—to them relly magic. They get into this ron pony with no fire in its belly, and if they go through 2 litle stual with this key, putting i in the right place and turning ithe right way, something wll happen. “Magic worksthe same say—allofa sudden somethingwillcome tolife—the car will come aliveanx moveand take you where you ‘want to go, Reople don’ know An i works or why, butthey test itand works at last mos of the time, "The movie Ltele Biy Man showed what magic eltuce is abou, and what-a kid went through growing up ino cul ‘ures—I could identify with Dustin Hofman. The old grandpa {goes upon the hill to die, and everything's very serous Ie tas ‘oraininhisface, nothing happens, and he say, “Wel, youknow hhow i is wth magic-somiimes ie work and sometimes it loci Ha ha ha™ WAP: Phuc rere i vita. My frie ene in Dances Sacred and Profane issn yu aria his sed pos whee ube eis toad as exyserions ual. Suey yous laying ol PE Yes, knocking golfbllsaeoss the acted ground! PeoplePhoto by Charles Gatewood. intiscounty ae thems too seis Magee be more plas Backro the biographywshen [was 7 Ihad been doingthese practices for ail, andl had explored altered tates Arthe sme time I was purtering in the basement making explosives and batteries as well as developing and processing film so I could recordmybodypla So onevenings, weekends, orholidays when mm parents went somewhere, Iahvays would try to stay at home 0 Td have an opportunity to do these things aloe. Thad to be very secretive; I couldnt let my parents know about anything T was doing. They would never understand. Te was out oft range of experience in tis embodiment or anyother, ‘My parents had sent me toa Lutheran Catechism School ‘where F assumed the atiude of nom-resistance: no matter how silyit might seem, [did anything they told me w do justo stay ‘oa of trouble. Twas desperarcy afrid of looking like a kooky I knew I couldnt continue on doing what I thought was right if Iooked like 2 kook; they would come down on me, So 1 vas well behaved: the pastor wanted anexplanation of tansibsian sition, [would give iteloquenty!Tthoughtitwasacrock of hit, ‘of course. And *He died for your sin"—T never could under stand that one! I didn't ee lke a“sinnee” Besides, only Tean di orme;noone else can. Tknew that instinctively and nothing Was going to change that “Another thing that always bothered me was:they forced yo to eat exactly on time, three times a day. coulda understand this wanted the human right nottocat, but they woulda'allow that. There were many other things that were offensive tome: had to curmy har, and didn want to cut my hai. Tyas forced to liveavery regulated, limited life, and my only relief was when Thad a hobday or week when they went away and I could do something For cxample, wh Ina 71d Gist Thad not sep 2bhots an pu saps in aac pal ropes thraigh nthe cxnlncofmy bod (hy book dh Pan documentssome ofthis) Aer thud Bos dating for hours th ths bgging chan azo my ben, Tas geting wo gry, wey ote dered ae hyper ale ower depelackof dcop At3AM [seed ashing melt the wal lgsand torsonght The only catchwat nase sare could gt fos, cape ny arms went umio adic ane pose hat Ten saffocte Acta Iwaneed sn eapenence ha asrighron he od och ny gots boy ey seco thea ars inhooks myelin ean and hadaconsiousour ofthe bea experence—an heres nothing se quit ke that. You hve abd fun efi you can walkthrough wal cron you can ay inthe pose, or walk forward or Cavan tin just ie wang another rons ec walk ito or ft or go back atossndyearsanl oe wbas gong ones arenolints Hoes, this ou obly experience can be ting in tha ou have to trl go diaugh al the mpm of ra dea And you fed thom acute. Noms wots ey op sole yur ams go mn yey is your ches, ou go through ll the sensaons Of downing Or abating, yt youve not ded And you wondes, “Why a Trot dest? hen ther’ hzsing and a eligi and you stow yur eyes work an youe al eng things with phy she Artis poi { ut becomes head my conscious ally tenon lost in he very contr of my bea i sal Conan of my heart betng, bf ike ve been hungby Since lng rope and sung betwen wo stone walls My body goes ana! ons! ma fom one wall oth othe, ut isa my heartbeat Tn fang the poser at makes ty body go. Then ata crucial moment wen this sesaion 1 ined song, her opltesometingbeaksand The 4 high pitted sound ke bel ingng By now as ote with no senaton of ody or wight coc ayhing—jst warm and como Then fay, im became avare coi ce, and did kc iT wee dead no Irwas a halva xperment for scence Tredze I vas rely dead afl weeded coulda be thinkingande aware of nyching cool [loka ands the toy pinned agains he colin wall an hough,“ canbe Inking st nae Inthe sate Thad noisy andi cxpercne aly dates of knowang who as Toss not Socks a Bb of consciousness that was ally ery ice and ‘One of the first altered states you can learn is to separate your consciousness from your body. That makes it possible for you to push ‘a needle through, You don’t feel the pain; the body feels th 1 discovered thatthe only time youre aware oftime, iswhen, out ina dy Beas tm bongs omar: 3 par ting green, having leaves and leaves alingof® And your body belongs fo ranure-“we dont ov tists we ute itis ikea house we lve in, You ive in a house bur che house isntyou; ies your house and you do with tas you please—if yon -wancit pink, you paint it pink! Backto body phayand modem primitives theyal sem to have this understanding that you iv in tis body but you're not yout bod. Although they may appear to be backward, people like Australian aborigines inow something that people here don't [know And thats the reason they ean poke holesin the body they «an tatoo it, they can decorate it—it' al usta joyous ving,expression of decorating your house—an expression of the life farce tat lives in the house, To not do these things is nat 0 Tiesto deny the purpose of why we're here. So, thar'swhat 1 discovered (or rediscovered) at seventeen, Aver this experience, my recurring nightmares disap. peared, my strange powers disappeared—alotof things changed Forme. [felt more comfortable inthis sange societyand [went ‘on tocollege to become an electrical engineer. I did just fine for two years until [hit higher mathematics where Igor tonal os. “Then [became an English major lcould write sonnet after Shakespearean sonnet eflortlessy—something that's very dif cult for some people, Buc poctry is akin to magic—Twas back on home tur "AJ iit mnacte—ba id you get dof the cabin wal? WE: Lsuspece my higher being ganded me back and made the robot body automaticaly ac, because my ams were orallydead, mny legs were dead, and some parts of my body didn't come t© lite for hours! After T gor release from the wall Teollapsed and ‘wasthereon the floor forsomerime. The whole experience lasted abeni five hors and Twas our ofthe body for most ofthat. But “once youhavetharexperienceyonwantitagain—itssobeautfl! So my whole life has been a constant exploration, exped ‘mentation and searching, And again it comes down to body play-the body ia crucial clement. I's very hard to make music Dorplay Tibetan bowlsor work magic spells without a body—you canto ansthing inthe physical world without a bods As time has gone by a magic power has accumulated 1 use iinbusinss; [dont make business deciionsinarational, logical tvay, And Tve nin into a lot of other business people—very Successful mult millionaire, corporate people who, when push Comes to shows, finally admit that they make their most impor tant decisions on a magical basis Because if they had to use Fational means they'd have no ck, Buton the othr hand, you rust also have shill, ivellec, rationality, discipline, and high standards Ranetioneflectively Fokir as the "Perfect Gentlemen”, 1959. " [shins impossible for aman ings o progres less eheiare cain magia eens tar occ petal Whether they've done experi by Knowles people or Bnd gh the sill gem t work ntheend: Those cease called ites of Passage They shouldocsr alibi, dane tic uber, oryul never exer boc ely matte person Sorte he sword allo poopie wth mide age cts ad Chidtiteinesors—people shove never had ate of pasa ‘Non ge them 2 ste of pasage they amet ne! Teenagers Sill wakon th edge of buling, sctch thee als inthle ov wth sty pi, orameziyg” run off and gta tatoo. I mus be physi emus be pall ast be Bod a i Should kavea mack Those are chaos fa eo pss It's a denigration, a cultural conceit, to label someone who does these kinds of activities a “primitive.” I think ewould be more humane if wehad wise people who were trained in magical arts to actually conduct young people through ritesof passage because they ‘ment. If you were an Indian lad who had just reached puberty tnd whether you liked it oF not had to undergo a San Dance ‘ceremony-—had your chest pierced and had to p fee over many hhours—you invariably would be thrown into an altered state oF two, And experiencing, these altered states is what matures people— intellectually, emotionally or spisitualy WA: Be beara pple port clang i ther is afer a mo FA lotof people have si thar. The purpose ofthe atroois| to-do something for the person, t0-help them realize the dividual magic laren within them It seems the purpose of the Fokir’s hand-made corset with I waistF:Ldoan ordeal by sealing up: all body openings are sealed ‘pf several hours. Also gild myself. Al: thought ityou totally gilded yourself, you would die after few hour. F: That's © myth from the movie Goldfinger. i's reasonably safe, although some gilts toxic. ve been very careful to find a gilt and a woy of deing this that isn’ toxic; a way of applying ‘and geting it off But you willrun into problems and develop tremendous skin rashes, et, if you don't gett off, se0n enough, VI thought thet if you had a tiny untouched area at the base of the spine, you'd five. F: No, that’s a nice myth but i's not tre You do need to breathe through your nese and your mouth—if yu stop that, you're in trouble! Imavern word sto wipe ot dfn. The genes of pants, binds, and animals orginally generated more difference, mone variety. Now weve got this great oppressive force that trying to homogenize and make everything the same! And that we must resist and fight, because chat’ antlife! Evil is “live” spelled backwards, Whatever would tend ro crush the individual expres sion of life in people—that is ei Alter that experience a age seventcen, I did more serious ‘experiments lke: Kavandi bearing, where I went out of my body and floated above it. Encumberments: I pur these on and wore them for weeks sometimes, and tha'sahelhusa experience that 1 recommend to anybods. Constrictions: tight bands and belts ll cover Penetration, bed of nails, hook hanging by flesh hooks. Trrtooing, Yoga, Contortion, Piercing. Suspension by hooks they do this in Ceylon for 4 or 5 hours. Enlarging my nipples. More Ibitoc experiments. And this was all secret an privat. “There was more: isoation—in the mask Gilding you can do that for 3 or 4 hours. Corscting—the “Perfect Gentleman” [see photo] was another elasdc experiment forthe Fakir BV: Wh did wou stare appearing pil... boning obey BW F.1n 1970 [go very friendly with the Ril Below Te Or Not ‘Wax Museum franchise owners in San Francisco, and appeared (on a Bed of Swords. We had mobs you wouldnt believe. Iwas ‘our in the tree with chains on drummingupa crowd, then Tran bback into the museum. 1 had a platform night athe exit and was lying om a bed of swords, and as people lef they thought it was another wax dummy. One lady came over and poked me and sluicked, *Ohmigod, that’s aaa posan!” Tappeared in the Renaissnce Faire whenit originally opencd. in Los Angele, Idrove down in my Mercedes every weekend for ‘month and appeared as the Fakic In 1975 L appeared briefly at the Bondage, Fetish & Leather Ball in Los Angeles and disap peared when all the flash cameras started it was fn. “Then in 1978 T totally came “out of the closet” as “Fakir ‘Musafae a the Tattoo Convention in Reno, [hooked daggers in my chest and whieled around in chains, chopped cabbages, and did yoga postions. Then [aid on arackof machetes, and a belly dancer stood on me and did alte dance. Sailor Sid broke bricks across my back while I lay on the Bed of Nails. Then I found a hotel cart that vale use, hookedt upto the holes in my chest and pulled the belly dancer onthe cart across thebalream floor fora finale (WAY: Hid oe view pain ding our rtuals ad ceremonies? Wl E-Foemethereisno real pain, only one thing—enarin, I's rice to have sensation through a body, because then you know youte alive. Ifyou stub yourtoe againstthe bed you can fee pain because is sagt, Burt you can be trained i karate wo knock your toes against a brick until ic doesn bother you, You have a Sensation but i'snoc unexpected, so that sensation gets mudd Fakir on his bed of nails.The negativity of pain strong, unexpected sensation} only exists for people who are relatively undeveloped. If you have enough training, instruction and practice, you can transcend, transite or changea sensation toanything,you wish, Themore you focus your attention on the pain and shift it, the less it bother you. The body feels the sensation, bur you can learn 10 jousness fromthe sensation and then quickly separate your cons itisnt pain anymore ‘That's whar I do when T hang by fleshhooks. People say, “That'sincredibly painfil!” Tsay, *No, i’Sexsatc is beautifull They say, “Youre crazy —how can that be?” Isay,"It depend on your training, how youve conditioned yoursef ancl what state Your gointa” If, ata certain point, don’t make a transition when Tmabout ro go.up on flesthooks, I cant doit. Lsay,"No—ean do ittoday" COxily enough, the more intense pain (sensation) is, theless localized it becomes, Like lying ona bed of rails—the first ten ‘minutes you're conscious of maybe 10 of the 40 pointsyou'e on Afcerawiletheyallrend to merge one into one another, and afer ‘more time you don feel like your laying on nails tall You'd be surprised how expensive a bed of mails is these days! They shouldnt vary more than 1/8", otherwise youll ip and one or ‘5.0 will poke you rel hard, andl hat distract you, ls best to lay ‘onyer tummy mainly because ther’smore padding on the front cof Your body. In the hick you hit the banes of your spine People should all ty the bed of nails—it doesnt cause any permanent damage, so why not—you might learn something! People are often sugprised-—it just isnt what they though i wouikd be, You ean disconnect your consciousness on the bed fof nals; i's unpleasant only until your perception shifts. You tan feel this happening sageby-stage WV Tare doubts that xen your kind of traning can transcend fan experience like bving under the electric prads and wires of an “Angentine wrturer You're probably right. Thar’ non consenting brutality something, lsc. I doube if many people being torcured in the Inquisition eyined it A loc of torture was intended to be fatal (Crucifixion was intended to be ftal—Jesus dda neat yoga tick when he survived the cross. That particular crucifixion hus been ped and discorted into big cult—the biggest cule know! Bh V185 fieny ew such a ese gal fife ra cnsciousnes—is 9 universal pervert, EF Tr took long time and alot of “experiments” before I sv the White Light and finally met my Maker face wo face. It was curing a hanging ceremony. And Idamped my (ego) and went through all these steps: [Was not infrontof people, Iwas notatraidtofee strong, Sensation; [was not afraid to get sexually roused and go beyond ig; Twas not afraid to go further ye and drift up into nirvana nally I coud leave that state and awaken o realize there wasa calm, surging White Lightjustabove me,andesaid, “Hello! im you!” And you can't anagme the love I felt. Tv talked to a few people whole had the clinical death experience and what many ‘fthem fet was exactly the same! CE 1 Coo let the id of mado priv”? ILE The whole purpose of moder primitne™ practices isto femoreand ne apneic fa it ‘gpl. Too much structuring somehow destroys an) possiblity ofinccimuic bredichrough hs zexpetinces “Modern primitive ia term [thought had coined in 1967 ‘when T met Bud “Viking” Navarro and Zapata in Los Angeles Wetsed the tenn to describe a non tial person who responds {primal urges and does something withthe bods. There ean increasing trend among cen young peopl now gt pred alndtatoncd Some do tas "rea respontetoprimalurges and Some do for "icks—they aren’ serous and dont know what theyre doing People are geting piercings in places where no ‘ne should ge them! One gil gota pireng ikea beauty mark Shove hee i, but anything se wore would et caught in her teeth! She had ge up. Thad a problem with one young man who wanted re ruber balls sewn on him, T knew whee they should be placed bute hep saying, "No, Twat them here and here™—he hac shade up hismindto pa them inplces where you cat sew thm (Moder Primitive Zapata,Fakir, in 1954, with two weights sewn on, 2. weights and twelve 40x. lead ‘on; where they don't bounce and feel good. Solhe put one on his stemum and then realized iewouldnY work. Sometimes people ‘ac the “‘primicve™ spirit bu then go off on their ow fights of fancy, totally ignoring something that took thousandsof years oF| ‘sal and error by people who dic his fl time tying find out what fsall about, forthe bes effects, Bodybuilders are a modem-day accepted manifestation of body mexlficaion. How do they do what they do? By a sem muribtory process ripping muscles that have to reprens, and ‘when they regrow they get grosser, denser Tey literally rip the muscles apart—that’s what they're doing when they ift weights in a bodybuilding course. Then they have to ea tons of protein so the building process fist. ‘Most other cultures revere androgynous characters and people who are different—fools, midgets, nuts—as “god-like.” In this culture these people could only find a place in a camival. Physical difference frightens people in our culture more than anything else. You can be aberrant a hell mentally, poi cally socially, but de anc ite ching physcal—para bone in your ypose—and boy, you're in troable! Theyil let you do almost ‘anything as long. ast isnt physical Most other cultures revere androgynous characters and people who are different—fools, midgets, nuts—as "god like.” Inthiseulture these people could only find place ina carsival, burthen that faded oar of vogue, Now you canthavea ten in-one show anymore because allthe freaks aein institations or they've been patched up with plastic surgery or something —mademore Fakir, in 1965, shown bearing 24 oF attached with fishhooks. ‘pound weights ‘normal, Since 1945 its been impossible ro havea freak show —1 know some people who tried o find enough freaks to have oe, and they couldn’ find any! Isa helluva world: you cant even find freaks anymore! Everyone “has” ro look the same! ‘There are other cultures that are vey tolerant of physical dlfferences,butery intolerant of social or political diferen ‘most tba caltares are that wy. They fel very ehecarened and tlont like people to come up with strange philosophics, They ‘don’ mind if you have hones in your nose or wherever you want top em—thae dest frighten them tl. WV What ave the ney sm can modify she Dod? LE There are bascall seven different ways you can modify or work on the Body, seven categories of body play: 1) contortion 2) constriction 3) deprivation 44) encumberments 5) fire 6) penetration 7) suspension, recently aw a photo of a young gil in England who had started putting thin metal bracelets in her car piercings. She started with 2, and now has about 20, which relly stretch out the earlobe. And she has no connection with any cul or group, she ust works with her folksina hotel. She started doing tis on her own, spontancoust She just wanted big earholes and a lot of earings—thar’s the way the primitive urge works. WV People ae abs ating: wy should you do hing like get pond or gt taconed? Tougpne us thre resins 1), regions spoiual ‘benefit, 2) sel sans or for adornment; and 3) cual pease BLE Wel, neve all suffering rom alo of repressive condition {ng which you can undo in just a mental way: Most oft has 0 cdo with sexuafry and seaual energy. Iyou get into any practices Of other cultures youe bound to be invohed with a lot ofBODY PLAY |: Body Pay by Contin; “Bending Bone” “Distention” ‘Gymnastic comtortonisen, Yoga exercies and Find practices of Sadhus, che "Scavengers Daoghter tnlargement of piercings, cupping high Ree! shoes, oe finding, stetching par ofthe body et 2. Body Pay by Consriction: "Compression ‘Bona, ight ligatures and belts corsets the ching (ike ber o denim) core, body preses, et 2 Body Pay by Deprivoion: "Shut OF" "frozen Fasting, sleep depevation, fatigue, restriction of movement sense oltion i boats, cages, helmets, bodysuits, bags, et 4 dy Ply by Encomberment: “Wearing iron Heaty bracelets, ankers eck omamentation,foowweat, -manaels, encasement, cai 5. Body Play by Fire. "Buer-Our ‘Sun ann lect (consan and shock) steam/heat baths and boxes, the pack” branding and burning, a inthe Japanese kyu" treatment et 6 Body Play by Ponerton:“nvaren” Hagelaton, being petecd,panctord, spiked or kewered, tattocing, bed of as, bed of swords, ita ike hai, ‘oth or chemical agent, 7. Body Play by Suspension: "Hong Up" lung on acreny the “witches eral” suspended by wrists, hs wis ankles or flesh Book, ssp ‘contictions or multiple plersings ete sexaltyin other statesand guises thararent even acknowledged as being, in exizone in this culture, And a good shamanisic answer to Why do tee tinge? is BECAUSE IT'S FUN! I's more fin than gesting ona busand going to work in the morning. I's ‘more fun than goingto college and getinga Ph.D. Te’smore fan for you, and it can sometimes be a ot of fun for people around you [means shar’ wrong with chat the al against having fost Experiencing ecstatic states: why would one want r0 ex perience an ecstafic state? Well, you might ear something out Pinching ordeal: clothespins put on body for several hours, Photo taken in 1948. of it, You might be able to help others. You might sce other worlds. There may be al kind of reasons, but basically you do it because rs fan! Why no? WV: Theres another angie— ths nctvves bard as anything! ME Yes you dontthave tohaveamilion dollars for apolo pony. Enyindy bas ter im Indy and if they only realized it, they're five wo do with it what they wil. often think about this when ‘walk dowin the street and see someone who hasan ideal bod for certain kinds of things “If they only knew what they could do with thatbody that would be sensational” Bur they just wouldnt understand if you tied to tlle. Ina more female oriented culture lke in India (as opposed to ours, which is very aggressive and male oriented, witha great deal of suppression of the female nature in doth males and females) its considered perfectly rational to do things like alter and “mutilate” the body—that’s a part of their tradition. Their acide i, Why noc” Whereas we say, “This crazy—why do dnc? Especially ic hurts! know the ida is odious and alien to cur culture that on) would daiioteyimpose restrictions on movement and freedony fof the body; but mankind throughout history has akvays done this. The lessons that can be leaned an! the ite that can be lea by doing ths far tanscend what can be learned by being am [rphscserywhere Bite be pcre wasof my grancother Fifer eddng des Ir wasaken about I whe she was 2 ee Scots ase with zy haan a ny, beled 1 was Incekeyely cortng sx explored when on ivy young itgets ar and ater ayou bt olde InthefonesLreadalooforctloren are magarine— thar wast ony soe the word oftfonmation det conc trina Ofc magaines ofthat 1800s arand 1900 Uke Eusbvonan’ Doma had a prety eishy comer om ‘Ali ar there na anon fey cers acy of ha Soa be sitet tS ame ancsie unerguda {in rsp reuedin ery Ente pnts Froplcwho wee tally onthe use of acy Because ahs Eine you coud te thromn imo prison for pacing ayo is Yih te agssne eld Fay ta primed oof his kindofmatr and ia itecorct ews to backwhen Thad he coe Pusins I covered bay urges and boy ay posal, The tight waist training of the Ibitoe teaches them that they are not their bodies. You are not your body, you just live in it. AJ: What sh sexual angle in all is? IE Helpless women with small waist isa sexual turn on for ‘men, Is alsoa sexual tim-on for women, if they adjust and take tothisbody taining, By the carly twentieth century onlyactresses and burlesquesype people went for waist taining, like Anna Hill, Ho Ziegfekts wife—she hada 16 inch waist AJ: So only people on te fringe of sxiety would do his acres ‘aad esate pnp, in a sone i Eronlylived onin those few special people JudgeRoy Bean, the “Hanging Judge,” fel in love with Lily Langrree who was famous the world over for one thing—mainly her hourglass figure with ts 18" small waist WV: Whos the snc fous? LE The mos: famous corscted lady of all time was Ethel Granger, who hada 13 inch waist—barely enough room for her spinal column, But she was in great health until she died at about the age of 83. Her husband died yeas before; he didn’t wear a corset, She worked at a corset shop in London and lived inthe Suburbs, she used to ride a litle motorbike every day aboot I inl to this corset shop where she assisted people WV: How dis get into corey? Hier husband Will was a male who loved the domination he could ever, and she went along with it very willing. By the ‘mid 30s her 26" waist had been relaced to 16" and er ears had been pierced many times. By WWII her waist was down to 13" and her nose and nipples had also been pierced. Will and Ethel ‘were really woofthe mest outrageous Moder Primitivesin this centusy—pioneers! She's been in the Guinmes Bao’ of World Record for a long time ‘She lived healthy, fll life Her hushane Willwasa college professor and he didnt make much money, so they lived in fehtive poverty all thir life in Peterborough, England. Even 20jomen of South Afriea wear This Ndet Ndobel cellars for life, The other fencumberments they wear for long though shewasthe world’s smullesswaied woman this wasnt worth penn. Nobody was intrest inthe world’s smallest ‘waisted woman ‘Wil di in 1967 and eve unl 1974 when she ded ‘of atural causes, ander corset was removed Ofcourse boxy fad been mies evn without a erst she measured about 16-17 inches around the wait, She alsohad hugeholesin he ars and her noxe al all ver her bod published Hite booklet ‘ontaining defi al of her biography, which Wil wrote V: Wi ce had exeptonay sal ns? EE Mackmoisle Polar wo was a show biz lady had a inch wait As ate a 1917 people were sll dong this These themselves down toa smaller size, getting used to these corsets Then they would have these clegane, costly gowns made of, anal they were stuck they couldn take i off they wanted to ‘wear these gowne-—this waste thing that kep them going! Elzabeth Taylor was corseted ins number of eal mes, lke Reine Cnty nd Caton Hot Tin Rov T have some ‘movies in which Diana Dorsis outrageous. Ain the 50s there were some contests and Mitzi Gaynor was cord down to bout ISinches. WAY: Don think ceting ic dag igh if ogni tong unghie WFO, yes, definitely MAJ I hie lgeenlatng? Not real A, i enfances sexual capeienes: Theres nothing ike being extremal ight laced youre as.a male and raking love with woman wo’ carey ighilaced. This somthing that you cannot experience anyother yall our imernal organs ancl your sexual componcis ae in diffrent postions, with differ tensions and so on-—there's mechan {al basis for this Ivey ecstatic We: But lade ot making cots? E After Tleft the service, Twanted 0 be lighting designe, ene designer, or technical director of theater So Tcameto SE Sate and bere rotly immersed in theater~bascaly tech theater This was the ime ofthe batik days with guys sting around playing Mute and reading pocty Thad bs in couple masa and worked with people ‘who de costuming, The vaguest thing tome was cotunag 1 Ke litle or noingabout bt ke was an essential part cftheter So Took every costiming cas they had Inthe costume clas eamed how tomate orignal pattems for anybody of any syle, of any period. Tcould ste ott witha bey must wear his beaded weights fer a 30 dey ch to things then: women inthe past would slowly tain a” waterclorsetch then gotoativeperionwho i going to bet character and then make a pater for thir boc taloring ithe sketch ‘hich was evolved through research Ferone ony projets scan 1880s ball gown, becuse twas the most compl cated, epi ing could fin nh proess Tbscovered that bodies werent shaped the tae in the 1880s, women wore conse that mae them incrediby diferent propor tioned, Tvs making he gown fora ginny chiss who was the je, ad dee Fe Snybady bese obey was shaped right! 1 found outta corsa eid and that there were no ors avabl Lasko, “Why fio? What a core and how ist made” So Tarte researching corsets, the underpin nings of thon elegant gowns ‘Aer If schoo Tiscover through tril and err that the orginal const patterns inooks didnt work, becuse way back then woman eal sone, hi tks wee Shorer—al the proportions were dren “The upper chest was mich smaller than is no, womens chest ave expe and be come bigger "earned how the ongital corcirs worked, and how to sures maps plirg wi oe Shapes When you finaly et tht shape, you can cata thi to Brower nd youve gos costume to fir somebody. THE Original cones had made woven wicker ike that sed for a Chait) to these eorsted shapes. They hada great knowlege of ‘anatomy ail phisilbgy: thy ha to Kaow the aestecs and practic mechanics ofthe materi theywere working withthe ‘hole thing Jim Ward and I both took PFIQ into the adult book market, and the gangster types you have fo deal with rejected them in horror. They could comprehend plain old hardcore sex—fucking and sucking—but putting a needle through a nose?! S01 remade corset mannoqins for modem women. Thad 2 book with figure dimensions or some 200 women tat had ten inmusil shows, from laps Sto 50 years old. Ton ct hey el ino aboat Si roups, 0 Tad a mannan foreach oneof dow 5 bas gure shapes of modem wom’ beads. Then Lalered the mannan slowing forthe amount fofespanson dat would cccur inthe upper chest when youve onatite the walt. Theres alo a file expansion on the totomthe hips end to go out ie bt more, and inthe orca that ws deta they ike to ar with somebody ‘who was rather chunky ann them inf ors, case you had have some material to sp. Ithcy were too anny and slender was iil, becuse they may arcu witha ray soul we, but then there anit ch to push aroundthe abject of he corset to push you around ito rent place, andhen ou end up with ely dierent Figure So got my mannequins done, covered them with papier smace may times and crew my patterns dey onthe ded pape Then tookthe paper cui ol oer adit thu Thadoxset pater! Thad the pisces Thad study he wy ifs const the wa the bit of the dora re gore were—alths end [ended up making cont and fromthe very Fist oncom they eres access Thad mad he fist new pate or mone dis years and they worked!Padung girls who ore ‘already have 6” to 8” {Pll ws about some curentday cet wearers 1 E-One of my first corset customers was a lady who was the wife of a microbiologist. They were loners and strange and withdrawn and lived ina itle house with gas lights, decorated likeitwasthe rao the century Inthe eveningsthey read poetry to.each other, and so on, And she dressed in corsets and gowns and of course her figure looked perfectly Ith century They had a nice fantasy going, and who's to say the quality of thee Be \wasn' preferable to more “modern” existence? Especially since they combined some of the best aspects of past and present. Allche couples Lknovw invohinga womanvith asmall wai are extremely secretive, They don't want anybody to know any thing abour this. People don’t realize how strong living skin is, There have been tales of Indian Sun Dancers who have jerked against the cords for 24 or 48 hours trying to break Ve Was bppened 0 your caret lunes? Afier several years of effort found I couldnt make aliving from corsets there wasnt enough interest back hen. Toulda't set enough orders to make ends mect. loved it, though. Then | met Ruth and Lou (BR Creations); they took i over and now have a thriving business going, so maybe I was just a couple decades ahead of my time! They started putting ads in Harper azaar and have been doing well for the last four years. T appreciate the fact that I get a 10 percent royalty. I spent a year tramning her how to make them and I gave her my original pattems, which took several years to refine When Rath first started, we thought ifshe made 3 corsets amonth that would be big time. Now she's got 3 ladies working for her fulltime, and she cant keep up with the demand, The business is growing and they'e selling to straight people now, nor us the kinky circuit Like bridal salons—it'samazing where theyre sling these things. They rn anadin the New Tonk Times and got ton of orders from it ENCUMBERMENTS, NE Thearca of encumberments is very widespread. Primitive peopl, bya large, do not wear mach clothing, and they tend topata lor of very heay stuffon the body. Why?[ laughs] Whars n Fakir stretches his neck with metal the purpose in thi Tes a resteon; is ing to limit physical movement ally when mebrcees weigh Spoons spice! ‘One ide ior by ely anchropolo sis was these were very macho son State wanted vo keep women belpes Andee col: Howes turd ou that many ofthe socicics wherethe women ane the eacumbermets are matrhal. The women ofthe Cano Indians in San Bhs, ‘Mosio wear tight armbands and eghanis anda bg ing nthe nove, yet they un he Cole andl themen wat todo ‘As far a8 the fw remaining tes throughoutthe world who wear encumber ments go, the prevaling idea i none oF them canbe brought int the 20h century ooking ike that "No, we cat hae this in the word we rns abolish an if these people wort top this silines El them! Genocide that he aii of the South Affansand. ft of peopein Beal Thee atudes urea hurd yeas behind the times bortheye gore guns! And some oF these practi will only sre on fly tt LV: Are there examples of encumiberment in Wistern society? WHE Back in the ys of Marke Amine cur, dere was éncumbermentby coving Laisa weighed 98 punter Aeses tnt weighed 78 pounds with hoops and atx of thet Bippery. Although this form of encuberment wast exact Jntna And also it mot hd the body. To hike the body is ountespinitve—dnprtant po! Ando expres the ani ‘rge isto show the Bay whstever you pt hight boy, ‘ovphasizes the body Thr aig dfnence here 15 lw dd he Bare mon wth neck ok fenton? IE Wal they go arund and sw wood and pound lle and do the normal cores They're quite fancoal wth cea resicvons ou calook down yeuhaveto end fromthe wast {o do that Bur theyre regarded as beutiful and spec and theyre treed with ret care 1 line ge wal stat out wth sings about 3.1/2" long Usual greases about 7/16" Soyou cn count the es and approniae the hight ofthe vnge have photo of one toma howe eck slot 12 snches long thats aber the Jongest one Lever fxn fs ey common fora gil to ba bout 9 primary col (tines 7/1 ser necks 3/8"oog) There was 3 legend tharfhewomen gor tinal, they joa pu a rope through the cols and hang, than upinthchoxe Thareimedouttobe uneruy in fact the Societys match and wore tend to sun hin Bye Tee ae the suc nae? BE Uoaly 2 very soft brass that can be bene very es, wih nora of cop South Ameticon Indians reshape because they don't seem to corrade; they seem to stay pretty shiny MAJ What hngpensis f f ta the in undernea? WE Tr probably peels and corrodes and god knows what happens to it under there. I's probably hasd to wash, especially since they wear the fing all thee life Theresa picture ofan x ayofa Padang woman’sneck from National Gographie which clearly shows how the neck was stretched. They also printed another photo ofa woman who had her coil removed, and you can see lite striations where the coil had been around her neck BEV: Whe een acing more people wich consriting metal cres sanwnd heir arns Hl LE This is alla resurrection, a resurgence, a Renaissance of primitivsm, Te may be a bit superficial, the reasons may not be there, the experiences may not be complete, the commitment may noe be very deep, the depth of what cheyre doing may not bbe very much, bare Revertheless it stil isa resurrection andl a renaissance of the primitive urge that's heen with us since the ‘beginning of man, ‘Back in the days of Marie Antoinette’s court, there was encumberment by clothing. Ladies that weighed 98 pounds wore dresses that weighed 75 pounds with hoops and a lot of other frippery. Vs Dopo lo ifthe were wit nc oils ver daar? WF Wal, there are photos of ladies carrying babies on thie back. [ve tried putting as many encumberments as I can stand around my arms, legs, body and so on. I's quite an experience tohaveallthat on and go out and dance vigorously fora couple ‘of hours. You finally loseall sensation of weight and you feel very light—its really a strange feeling, I know, because Pve tried it ‘Theresa lesson to be learned he "Nuban girls wear armbands with a purpose of making aem grooves. The groove is permanent ifyou get it deep enough and do itlong enough WA: Wh do ye get pois of faring, gngrene? WE E-Walifyou go about any of these things Sow thet gangrene. There are tales of males who went for tighter fighter armbands uncil ther arms hung uscless and couldn’ be used, But Think they're folklore. IS amazing how you can constrict the arms and limbs and not do any damage. Just like ‘Mrs Granger, who lived perfectly healthy life with every organ ina totally different place than iewas when she started You can igetacclimated or ajusted to all f this restrictions to the point ‘wherei’s more normal to be with tthan without. And fanction| juite well. I's probably impossible for most people to damage themselves the pain would force ehems to quit long before they could doany permanent damage Besides, one of the things you learn from wearing encum bberments is a certain kind of patience and cooperation with nature; think of the time cycles ofthe sun, the moon, and the cath, People who try to stretch a piercing out earn they might have to work forthe next five years 10 get a good result! People getexcited when they hear about Sadhus in India stretching the penis, and I sy, "Sure, but you have to do it day and night for a ear or rwo—nothing but that! And during thar time you don't ‘work fora living” Well, thas body modification! Take MrsGranger withher 13" waist; shehadrocorsee¢rain for maybe 7 or 8 years, Look where it gor her, however! But it takes damn long, I akes a patience that people today have no concept of, If you're an African woman with 15-pound brass anklets and you have to travel to another village—no big del, you get up and lank long those 10 20 miles. Nobig deal you _getused tit. So i’snoca shor 50-yard dash; thisis ike running ‘marathon every day all day long for years! To get the primal urge out to those degrees requires very heay commitment ETT AY: Thee’ the soma prs of yo andthe tee the Sal” rth donb hoc? AE sarted ot as an amateur magician andbecame an export showman. Te aways bon fascinated by magi; when Twain junior high schoo! T stated doing magic shows, rt 1 ted tentrloguism, My grandmother gave me a lide dammy and I Ieaned howto ale wth my mouth closed: ey, how are you there! Ha haha ha wentup in fronrofalarge group ofpeople tna paricipatd ina tant show backof foot and T go the cepie eli Ive cer had upto that time, There was somthingverysickabont thin Sincethen mypathhscensary Ben crossing wath serpin, nl fnlly me the px of venloguits V7: Hl shat bgp? IE Mybrorirroldme "Youve got to met this Rob. He’ Bren in show busines and he's sennnoqus” Since Tc to doves, to, ane Thad dene stage magi, we met and became fa fends ight any Hob soon met ay who ws friends wth pope like Art Linkletter She desde she wanted to bscome 1 producer, and persed Papa Langendor® (ofthe bread company) t0 sponsor“The Happy Hiolsum Show” Bob Knew I had waning it wating theater and rcio proctcton,s0 thy hired me 0 design stand come up with a daily scnpted show wich a sunning po. Treas living down on the peninsula, oF quit my job and moved to San Francisco and started tng ina couple of oom onthe third floor ofthe Dorchester hotel wre thes tse to film Sete San France Webi a ile sion the basement of the Broadmoor hotel across the street tere Bob had a litle apartment. Ou litle children's TV Show went on for about 8 months ona loal station, Tproded ciectedand wrote the sho and he acted int be waste sr He was very good technscal but he was the Sikest man have evr met He used to take rats and mal them toaboardand dowfycutthemapar. And hekatedhis dummy ‘hey ab gt eas of theism! Tvs the one who had to eps, because he'd poke ee ont in hated then we'd have to doa dow the nex day a there was no way to quickly ct cammy repaired in San Francisco gets eye back in a fnoving) so [have to do it. And thete was cl connected shih teabotate ent! Venntlogs dealing with magi, br in avery sage vey, And most people who dabble ventiogusm dont realy tinderzand iar theyre doing When yx get good at you actualy ata pont of being abe to conjure up thing, or dra Spin energies and whats relly happening when that army atrsalvesprobubia ltl of mati acting in the dummy isnot just aang with your mouth closed” Irs a spooky Kind Of magi Dvd of Ng hal an excellant sequence ents theme Othe ln hate relationship wth he amy And yo my not be dealing wih al dhe pres kindof forces you might daw some rel malign energies ike Bob cide dew ate, he ew te not abgmnt frees. could ae a back in te telnga head of Buchenwaldthi gy was ell ev i temember one ime I conffoned hin air Pd fund the remains of ashe ha lied apart, and he sts *So i? SO ‘wha if trtare ats? The oom fe ike he had conjured up ‘nant tbl malcvlen spirits there was the est fing the codes draftin there har made youabsourl sive up He §pea. Thatwas the most hore thing hae ever fein my “The lars weeksof the show were el; we had totake Bob to.a pci jst to keep the show going. The min dary “Happy Folsom kee tuning into a mean, nay saci cae acter on camera ane had t do take afer retake When the Show ended Bob went to Ausra then back Texas (his home Sere) and finaly ended up inthe Teva See Penitentiary for ‘moles young gr Idorknow what inal happend im. aFokir bears the "Spears of Siva” in a Kavandi-bearing ceremony, Photo by Mar KAVANDI WE Another penetration ritual is kaandé fearing which is not ddone by sadhu professional holy men—ordinary people in India do this, usualy in February during a festival—trial bythe spears ‘of Siva, A similar ritual is donc in Affica, This actually is an imeresting wayo getinto an altered stace— most ofthese people set very ghs-cyed anl ecstatic doing this, A framework is placed around your body and locked on; sharp ros with points are suck into the skin, then you rise and ‘dace and walk and move. The more you mee, with the rating and vibrating of the spears, the deeper they go into our skin, and the longer you do it the deeper they go into your skin. So, you don't fee pain as you once knew you can_ get into a great sate of ecstasy and you can flip off, which, Pre done a couple of times, into’ totally al: tered sate—in two cases Thad a real outotbody experience. I just rally left my body, lied out of | it, floated up above and watched this body ike a robot running, around, going crazy, with these spears jangling and Kavanel-beering in india Te er Chester Tdestribed my experiences and he sad, “My so, Pm sory 1 have to tell you this, but youre ine. You should goto the rneatese mental hospital and turn yourself in!™ said, But what about St Join ofthe Cross? What about St. Theres of Avi? ‘They had these kindof experiences! “Oh, i they? Welln that case you'd better come back tothe church? [ughs] He switched in midstream! ‘Aer this [moved to the country for 2 years in general soleudeand isolation and just worked on my ae ike Tid, T ‘would stato fel myself going intoatrance when wassiting infront of ry paittnus. 1 fk ike a seulpture, very si. An at these moments, sometimes when I was sitting i front ofa painting or sometimes a night when Twas sleeping, 1 would Justexplode out of my body into dhe inner voi, and fel ehis Incredible, sewing energy going higher and higher, earjing me up. ‘At fis this was quite frightening, Basically you're drop ping off your body and your spiri is breaking feee, and when ‘you leave the body, that's death. So even though this was like a preview of death, in anether way its return into the center of being, which is ecstasy. And to be in that center of being, without the body awareness is a condition that you can't describe .... And it was always totally spontaneous. I dic knows what te hell was happening: it scared the hell out of me. Burthat experience wasto happen fairly regulathy for yearsand years Tstarted dreaming I had a flaming third eye tattooed in the middle of my forehead. And in terms of my first marriage that was the straw that broke the camel's back. My wife was really upset when I did my hands, but when it came fo my face— WY And sou alo stated imeorporating the swastika in ow art E_MW5When Iwas dreaming of the name ManWoman Lwas dreaming about the swastika. [started incorporating int some of my art and of course that ended tor of peopl ha Jewish rend, too, nd they wer all quite pred sro shy Twas using ie Bur now, anybods I personally know likes the asta eee thy asc wth me and what Ti incase creative ene, good ick, divine power Is the center ttyour ou being which the god bing within you Thats what the svasila ill abou and has beea fr thaands oF T have literally thousands of pages of documents on santas and thet otgias and migrations A hey Historical source an 1894 Smithsonian Insitute early teportinwhich Toms Wien dun inaeiseessy one vata hats one ofthe best, “The Hinds wsed the swastika for centric. Allthe Budd hisessed they pater liked the one that aces tothe let All tgough the Orient is used both wae: right and lee Acruly, sts thesghe facing one, ad som he left facing one~they' wo diferent words—and the its Gonsiderst male a the er female (Eiecs faced eight) The Nom American agians ive selifor centri in both directions a wel Did you novice that we herein Canada pronounce it Swas eka? The orginal word was Sanskrit. Tere ae other fame, ike foe Aloe of people do quits with a svasia patter and alt the foot pttrn, not realiring the deriva ton My mother iw had abig ed gu wth age swash inthe center, ara she hung t up onthe ine oe day and the Aigo told her, “You Know Margrc is met gtd Of tht hing” se euch ut laughs] “Another name issemmadon. Thc Hopis sy the symbol txpresnte the migration ofthe fe erga ees the Scandinavians call the Hammer of Thor. There's even a Stamaip lineout of Tecan that has the swastla on tei beats withaneaplaationon thir postcards In can heres 2 Swat Launtry Ihave phoros oftheir tracks a uk inga In Germany the word swasika docsit exist that Language; they use the tem, chabert” wich nears hooked or wise crow So f yon use the word swasia Germany the people won nan wit your ing ‘Many poople write me kters of thanks, because they loved the simbol of the sian bit hated the stigma a3 socited witht Anda lof hm scnl mi things; one woman Sent mean at do purse fam the 1920s made of bck cloth sth iver besdwork swastika allaroand the ver sp. Thaveanineediblecollcionof ait from all overthe world hat covers thousand of year of history ofthis ymbol 4The Edmonton, Alberta, gis’ hockey team, crea 1916, being used as beafl sign, A le of itis of local Non ‘American origin. Many ofthese were houschold things. Like, The gor trvet for an old flairon which you heat up on the stove thas swash on the sand De got ted rowely ble Slo, Good Luck ening jars, cracker tins, brooches fom the Victorian era with inton mibies,hapins. Theres 2 branding io fom San Antonio, Texas. a facet taps a loc oF lohing Boy cout penny that has swastkason ts Masonic penny wit swash, Coca Cola wat fob that says*Dank Coca Cola cents in bottles” The University of New Mex ico yearbook sed a be ld Te Sons sid thasa vasa on heeovertherevasalsoa, Shasta Hotlin New Mexico. ‘The Boy Swoutsof Canada and the Boy Scots of America both hae svastea badges the Canadian onewasa badge of thanks given to somcone who had done fivor foe the Hoy See burwho want necessatilya Boy Scout, The American one was 2 badge of courage it wat called white swastla, and was famed by staying ou overnight by yourself in te woods with ‘no spec equipment ors young boy this was quite ar "the Sass townspeoplein Omari bad basal ears theyhave a uniform in thir museum from the eal days with 2 big swastika on it There were wo gi hockey tums one testhe FarncySwastkas wh ved 7d mls douafiom where Tas borm and they were the champ in 1922; have photos ofthem. There was hockey team rom Edmonton, Alberta, sth bg swastika on ther eaters have photo of them that dates rom T916 Ive gor a 1908 Simpson Sears (the ‘Ganadian eronof Sears) Catalog with was braceletsand Barpin advertised Tne crly pst ofthe century thre were these gil cubs all oxee Noms Amica eich vere founded by Lai Fle Journal, ane sol wall over theirlitchope chess, ct Tike si, the symbol was found on buildings even ones in San ranciico—thee very beauty done and yu notice theres no tine of any Nazism about the sgn the sastkas are ‘ery square and even and pr together ina very decorative way. Thive cures of moi sau hors rom te Univer siy of Mattabs in Winnipeg The Furey Courthouse has swans borderallin most. Pm constantly geting ent nov imate, and we havent ven stared talking about the Bad Hist swastika which covers dhe Orient ‘When you sce swastias used in such an innocent way — that what realy ispreses people Tse Tate gave me his grandmother’ ver brooch earnga swastika wth vines and Kees surrounding was fom 3 Temperance Society, Ive sot postcards you would’ believe, hat sy, God Hess You” Stina bigewazla below, PrnortheKindof person who wants {0 stand motherhen s muscu, but I dtntely hope my Colleton ges nt some major muscim St some point, or at least gocs on tour, because education, BEV! Dad ya ery oe en ta? EMU: Geno Muscum in Calgary were planning a big show withme Twoofthe cst sted dscoveringalhese clits inthe cnocmotscllecion of Canadians and folk ikea Charles Russell bandanna which had sas all ‘vce the an Frere Remington ae considered the two sreates coutoy artists tht ever lv. However, the Ba Both Soca ge wind of and put pressure onthe museum to shueitdowat—vhch unfortunate because it could have been such an amazing and enlightening show toe cyte es pal tals Be done inanefforcodestroyall aces ofthe snail. In libra in Genmany, Tor of books ant old periodicals ave had traphics involving the svasta destroyed oe defaced! I you bra plas model ofa Laftwafe plane, usally the svasas are eoned or blocked out “An exellent Bri vation history journal published a photo oft reared Finish ait free plane The Finnish ar force, fom 918 vo 1944, had blue svasitas on tei plane that was th symbol long before dhe Nazi adopted They Changed ie when the Resins stared shoting them down thinking they were Germans But his ourna shah x nal alloverthe world, published photocf this Honish pine vith the swastika intact ad now its been banned from German! Just forth one vant Se Josh peopleareensitve about the swastika, but I dink German can be almost more sens tre it ikea gil tip. don’t collect any Nazi stult—none. People don’t need that reinforced; the Nazi use of the swastika was only about 10-20 years, ‘compared fo the thousands of years the swastika has been around. don’ collectany Nari stuff—none. People have brought ime swords and guns and you name it—things T could have resold to a collector for a huge profit, but I just sid, “No. Thanks for thinking of me, but no thanks” Because people don't need shar reinforced; the Nazi use of the swastika was only about 1020 years, compared tothe thousands of yearsthe swastika has been around: t disappears into pre history IV Did sou say thee waa tom called Soastiba? MMW: Theres a whole town in Canada called Swastika, Ontario. They found a mine there called the Swastika mine in 19IL, and the next year they found another mine which they called the Lucky Gross mine (which is just another word for swastika). During WWII the government ried ro change the name of te rown to Winston after Churchill), brthe people ‘went outa night and tore down all the Winston signsand put the Swastika signs back, A drugstore there put out a little ‘matchbox that aid, “Hitler be damned—this is our sign since 19221” Ifyou tlk to almost anybady who was born belore the war, lt of people sill remember the swastika being used. So, one of my major efforts in life is to detoxify or repatriate the swastika, No. 1 is my ovin personal enlighten ment, No. is my art, and No. 3 is edueation concerning the swvastika—the fact that it isa beaurifil, great symbol. T can't think of a more powerful symbol. I'm sorry forall the Jewish people who are upset about me and my swastikas—Tve got Jewish friends, But what ean Isay—ie'sa beaurifil sign and we ‘need to re-ehucate people ‘My basic stance is: I think the swastika itselFis innocent; 4“it’s innocent of what was done in its name. Museums and institutions that relyon grants have rejected my ar; there sony 4 cerzin range of what they can do. When they step into an Aareathat'Ilupset people, theybackoff.Ittakesone nutty person, to persevere and hang in there, and maybe in the end start a new trend of awareness WV: So you heen’ been senduly porwented for our sonst People talk about god in terms of Love, Truth and all these ponderous concepts, but what about creativity? The people who! think are closest to god are poets and dreamers and writers and artists. 1 Pm prety iggy and eal thes tts and Socof people would probably thnk ec nthe come tpand fase me Thaw tis kas ved memanyatine ook lea bier thar could take people apart, anf] go into croweled ho springs, istaneyT ger edom!Alshough—things srechanging. Tis i For Wort, Texas—my second wits a dens, andwe ent theeforacourse shea taking Twas unloading iste ute unk wile che wea and ee cae fanning back and sid, “Weve gto goin ibe back wa! There huge consentionof Bs bomber its rom WW inthe bby! (nwanaeunion) But whatcold dot grabbed the tess and, wearngacuofT shir with my as she ing headed sag tre the Rondo Any tend oF there ye wee all fers mys were teling me all their old homing stories They used to shoe st sastkas, nah ‘funy ting happened tome: met phoeographerwho vaste taken wy syastasand everthing ted he ook date photogaphswhicite placed nashowoftroe phos alery Te eatorsor Onde ier magarine meso” Painting by ManWoman. and asked him to submit an article on me, bur when they received the package they suddenly rejected it because they ‘were “afraid ofthe controversy it might generate"! I couldn't believe it—with a name like Ota Biker it seems ike they shouldn't be afraid of anyehing! WV Ya loo pape ar afd of taboo information HEMUW: Yet to me the swastka’s the most auspicious sign I «ould think of, and the mase universal—more tniversal than the cross, Teall over apanand China; everywhereyou'dfindacross here you'l find a swastika ther, lke on tombstone ortemple ‘or church o bell I's often in the center of the breast of the ‘Buddha-it's called the immaculate heart of Buddha, which again is another reference to inner being—the divine center of everything, I curt think of a more universal symbol thaa the ‘swastika it's used by every culture and religion, And [have proof postive from an eld American encyclopedia of Jewish history that it was used asa decorative motif in symagog ‘Now there are nwo theories. Did the swastika loom up from the collective unconscious, as Jung would sy, or did the swastika migrate? [thinka litte bit of each HAJ: TU ns abe sme of the swastibas on your arm IE MW: Sometimes the swastika has curved arms, or hooked arms, of more than four arms (it might have six arms). Some are hooked in on themselves, some are hooked out and have lite fet; some are short—dhe arms are short, and that’s the ‘one that was used by the Hopi Indians. This one with he lttle scimitae things is from the Islamic religion. The one with the spiralson the endis from Affica, The swastika inside the heatt was called the Immaculate Heart of Buddha, ‘The one with the curvedarms, crescent moon and dot was from the Jains in India who are total vegetarians; they wear a mask and sweep the street as they go because they don’ want to inhale a bug or step on an ant—they don't want to kill ‘aptbing so they kinda take it to extremes. The one of the Stat ‘of David with the swastika inside is from India and ie’ called aymnira, A mantza is 2 sound that provokes this inner divine thing, anda yanera isa graphic symbol that provokes the idea of divinity and divine energy, The one called a snastiheo has three docs on the end of each of the arms, and that one was Painting by ManWeman, 45" x 60" 5 my? ong) Waite Gee pati eefound on all the gold bars that came out of King Solomon's Mine, so that’sa Jewish swastika right there. The one with rel ‘harp litle hooks is Mexican; it looks Aztecan, This one's a svastika, One from India—don't know if those ae bied beaks or itl pairs of pliers or what. ‘A los of the same swastikas can be found not only in {Greece but also in China and Japan. One with the dots inside cach of che arms is from Tibet. These are so many variations. (One called Gai’: Howes from Lapland is made of tree arrow shapes, each pointing. differen direcion and suggest ing that god encompasses all directions. Theyre like little roofiops so this was elled! God's House, ‘One of my major efforts in life isto detoxify or repatriate the swastika. No. 1 is my own personal enlightenment, No. 2s my art, and No, 3 is education concerning the swastika—the fact that it is a beautiful, great symbol. ‘One was from Males; Imet aki in New York who ran up tome on the street and sid, “Oh, have a ook at my ring!” It had these curving, comma like shapes on the swastika and he ssid thathis grandmother as Basquc. I ster saw thisalso used (nthe isle of Malta, ‘My ltd smiling swastika with the arms and the legs is next toan octopus from ancient Greece; it's Mygenean, WV Till xs about the Jongh crs ME MW The Starof Davidisactally woinrerlocked triangles: ‘one pointing up, and one pointing down, The upward point ing one signifiesthe earth, andthe downward one heaven, just, Tike fire ani water; they'e opposites. They're interlocked, so huasicallythe Starof Davidisa smbolof wholeness. The Cross, the vertical and horizontal that intersect, i the intersection of material and spirit. Same with the swastika: it’ ikea zig and a zag, that have overlapped; male and female energies. All that againis similar tothe vin-yang where the two cosmic opposites arcembracingeach other, symbolizing wholeness. Al the great religious signs seem to be symbols for wholeness and oneness of spiricand material gether. “Hany yu mec sheath sti scalars yous? MV? Loosely we're the International Friends of the ‘Swastika—something like that. We haven't offically organ- ied; we're individuals who just work together. There ae aso ‘thee people who correspond Thad heard about the town of Swastika in Ontario, and in 1972 wrote a letter to the Postmaster asking if there was anybody in the town who could tell me about the history ofthe townorwhy the name Swastika had been chosen, T wrote rice and didn't get an answer. Finally, [called up the Telephone ‘Company andasked fora phonebook whieh covered Swastika, Ontario—if you pay fori, you can get it. went through the phone hook and scat a letter to everybody—the fire depart: ment, the drug store ... ‘There was a "Swastika Research Laboratories" theyre 4 gold assay office, and I got a nice letter from the owner telling me they had a swastika on their sign prior to the war. He suggested T write Carolyn O'Neal, and gave her address. Tote her a letter, and she didnt reply for the longest time. Then I gor a very hesitant letter. "This is a bri history ‘ofhow we got the swastka”—very guarded ones Twrate back and sent xeroxes of almost everything I had, and she couldn't resist She wrote me buck and sent some photos, and I sent her more things. A year after that first lertcr she wrote, “I don’t know why you've bothered with just a housewife in Swastika, Ontario, because Tim a nobody, but this has been the most fabulous year of correspondence T could possibly imagine!” ‘Now we¥e dear friends, She runs the Kirkland Lake Northern History Museum; Kirkland Lake is a bigger town next £0 Swastika, which is only 700 people. “About a year later she wrote, I got letter from strange person in Germany, and Pm passing, it on to you.” It was addressed to the Lord Mayor of Swastika, and came from a lite town in Germany. The sender called himself *Guru Swastika,” He called himselfa “world conscience artist,"andhis| ‘ca had fous swastkas on itand a photograph of him with a swastika on his forchead above a German inscription, "To be 2004" Iwrote hima letters“ Surprise—you have abrother over: here in Canada!” and sent him material, and he sent both me and Carolyn photocopies and photographs of things from his Afier two years of correspondence with these two, WHAM! comes another Jeter to me from Chicago. I bad written tothe Theosophical Society headquarters in Chicago, because 'd heard theyhad used the swastika, The actual symbol was a metaphysical conglomeration incorporating a seqpent ‘swallowing is tai, a swastika a Star of David and an Ankh, ive years affer my first inquity they sent me litle pamphlet, pilus a lerter from Douglas Youngblood, *T went to the Theo sophical Society pursuing my swastika research, and they gave sme your address” Ir tamed out he was writing a whole ency- clopedia on the swastika. WV: Did ou all ect? ME Mv:0n Easter, 1985all fourofusmet a Swastika Ontario and had a fantastic meeting. Douglas Youngblood brought me ‘xcroxed volume ofis swastika encyclopedia and it practically filled up the trunk of his Toyota. Now [Ne gor 2 much infor Wealihadlitte gifs for one another A ffiend of mine had made four suffed swastikas out of plush, and T gave onein red to. Guru Swastika from Germany, nein blue to Carolyn, and fone in yellow to Douglas. They had brought swastikas ofall shapes and sizes and we traded—it was a real swastika swap) British Columbia Television aired a 10-minute segment ‘onmeand my swastikacollection on BC-TV News. I gorlecters fiom people telling me, “Ive gor this lle tinker left me by my grandmother,” and another guy started to correspond with burt was too much, so I sent his address o Douglas and they've been corresponding ever since and getting good infor: ation trades, T think this isa ice international effort ro teach people about the whole history of the symbol. Ifyou look ata paper. back book rack at a drugstore about half of the covers have swasttas on them: Nass from Outer Space, Nazis from Brazil, [Nacis from Anspwiere, When you see that, your bload’s sup posed to run cold, People say to me, “Ie's foo cary Too many Jewish people have memories; 9 many German people have ‘memories? Bur every day now it’s being imprinted on every bodyasa symbol of everthing thaesevil and fascist So think, “Ic isn too carly it's ner too early to re educate peopleabout anything” Think about it—maybe Attila the Hun or Genghis Khan ‘or William the Conqueror bac a symbol on a flag when they ‘went out and conquered people, so everybody they conquered hated that symbol, but i's gone out of our consciousness —we don't even remember it. And it could have been a cross, oF a Star of David or a crescent moon and stars. There are still people in India who absolutely detest a crescent moon with a lial star because ies symbol ofthe Muslims who once tried to conquer them. WAS: Te ineresting m contemplate just what will happen 10 the callie unconscious when symbol as widespread as the svat is tainted. The swastika has been around as a primordial, bolic “rnb for couric, what Kn of las tothe wna a een Irought atest when an archetype asimportantas thas gts tse? The collective somboic language just becomes poorer — les profound.IE MW: T\e offen thought that if aliens did land, they might hhave swastikas on their sips and we'd think that they'te cyl! ‘So we have to teach people that i'sa good symbol forthe res ofthe universe. Ifyou were blck and somebody burned 3 cross fon your lawn, how would you feel about the cross? That certainly could prejudice your view of what the cross was all about. WV Tells mare about your dream notebooks MW: My dream book is called The Book of Astonishmen it’ literally thousands of dreams. And the dreams will go in sequences, a if trying ro teach me something. A symbol will recurin dreams fora month or wo, and then another symbol will appear and develop, like my dragon motorcycle—cvery he would surge on this dragon moxoreycle which was ike kundhlini or your sesual/spiriual energy. And I don’ differ ‘entiate between the sexual and the spirtualsone takes form and the other doesnt. Thae’s how I gor into secret doctrine of the Holy Fuck and the Celestial Serews the kundalini experience up your spine is your sexual/spietal energy taken up to higher levels. ‘One of my key dreams was: was walking up a ravine, and this gigantic black beast was following me. It was all black and shaguy, with the body ofa bear and the head ofa bl. Taw up fon he bank this shining king in golden armor, and I shouted, “Will you save me from my enemy2" He said, “Yes, Twill arn you into a root, and you will grow intoa great ree such as the ‘world has never before seen. But frst!” ching! he drew his sword: “You must be cut up into 4 thousand pieces and be buriedin the ground!” He went hac, Ick, back—choppped me upino a thousand pieces and buried me, And for several years after that [dreamt abour being cut up, dissected, and roasted fon a spit. [laughs In the dreams I would go into rooms and there would be pothing bur cutup pars of bodies! Te was the idea of looking within yourself anki understanding all parts of yourself absolutely and totally in order to free yourself from centanglements, prejudices, hang-ups, marrow minded out looks, negative thoughts, andin general nerything that we need tobe ree of. MAJ: In aches, she fis step is purefction MV That's right—this is the inner alchemy. So now it scoms that whole inwardlooking search through all the en tangled inner workings of my “se” has come to an end, and it’s pouring out the other way: ewas invisible because the root is underground; but now these roots are full size! For 20 years Tve been underground; it was like the whole art world was shut to me.I seemed to intimidate thems every. body ignored me. WAY: Bus that etabomens i abs locked into the stats gu. If ym ave vision an creativiy MM: TIL win—Til just outlive the suckers! People have awakened tremendously since 1965, All that garbage buried i the human psyche for centuries has been bubbling up to th surface; we have to look at it before we can transform and grow tothe next stage where weean take universal responsibilty for ‘our actions. If we went into Space right now and met other civilizations, we'd just spread diseases—weve got to cure ‘ourselves frst before we can go ou to that next stage. Tm ‘optimistic about where we're going. Par of i ir painfal—is like, “Hey, look a this horsible ugly cancerous growth that’s inside your own soul”—you berter cur chat ou and get rid of it and grow. The only way is o pea it up and unblinkingly Ys And maybe mate fin out oft MW: And my dreams are so sich in humor. All of my art Pieces come from dreams, like*Hope Soap: sees through dit!” and “Truthpaste:fightsdecay and" Harmless Boxing, Gloves” and “Our Lady of the Immaculate Contraption” —all of those sas which ate really rich in humor are all straight out of dreams. My dreams have this incredible sense of humo WV: Pop art lifted she tbe against ua én at, MW: Plas the taboo against humor in religion has been lifted. Religion used robe serious—morbidly serious and grim: sin, despair, hellfire and damnation—all of those things are 50 ‘hon humorous. But I think humor sone ofthe greatest divine ‘qualities; afterall lif’s such an inerediblejoke! (laughs) I don't Know how we'd survive without our sense of humor WV? That’ how ww surrie, MVE Those are bellyeology baby blessings. Fve done them n more than 50 women. WAL Did they have greot births? MVE Yeoh—they have! Asa matter of fect, one woman had child die. She ciscovored thot I did this, and said, "Oh, you've ‘got to bless this child, cause my fist one did” I didi, It wos @ perfect child, and then she came back and asked mo to do the nex! one, She moved away, bt seid," have anothor child, Im coming back!” Idon't attribute magico this, but she somehow: INV: How did you start out doing thar? ‘Man¥lemean, Doctor of Bellycslogy 1M Inthe sates, me and ny fiends were doing a et of body pointing t communes and sos celebrations anal that: One dey up cameo pregnant lady and painted her, and that's how belyology started. ve been doing them ever since The belly bution forms a fantasti nose, ond women just Seem tlove it had « whole show af ebout ity photographs ‘of my belyesogy painting in a gllry. They made a poster, ‘end a whole sting of wemen have contocted me; Imad ene palnting vse eouple days ago, Women at hal stage of preg ‘naney fel ugly endrjete, and when I do tha they brighton Yight up I kind of lightens up the whole experience