THE LIFE-DEATH-LIFE MONSTER AND ALL OF ITS PHENOMINAL CYCLES

A COLLECTIVE NARRATIVE BY

RW RUEHLEN

There is a varying, yet undeniably shared, sacrificial ceremony that has been practiced for millennia by many tribes of people, each with its own subtleties and nuances that play off of the culture’s unique needs and perspectives of the world at large. One form of the ritual is united around a bull or cow. Once a year, the community ties down the animal before being sacrificed. Then each member of the tribe confronts the bull, or cow, and whispers all of their wrongdoings, sins, mistakes, or problems into the animal’s ear. After all of the members have spoke to the bull they, as a whole, crush the animal together so that no one particular person is responsible for the death of the creature. Afterwards there is a huge celebration surrounding the sacrifice. 

Another very similar ritual is one where a sick or disturbed person is tied to the animal. A shaman enters into a state of deep communication with the ailment of the person tied to the bull. After the sickness has been confronted by the shaman, the ill person is ordered to jumped over the animal an allotted amount of times and then sit next to the beast and whisper all of their desires into its ear before he or she sacrifices the animal and is healed. A common thread can be found in the Western system of the confessional booth in a church, or even more contemporarily lying on a couch confronting oneself with a psychologist. 

All of these rituals are essentially the same, although they have changed through time or from culture to culture. Each ritual allows the individual to confront their personal demons, exorcise them, place them into some other entity and then sacrifice that part of the self that damages them. It is a practice of death and renewal, and in many cases is integrated into a larger community that shares the concerns of the individual. With the advent of the Internet, and the now booming social media networks growing larger by the day, we can see this ritual morphing once again yet still holding its fundamental necessity to alleviant one’s soul and confess. Confession and rebirth are deep-rooted pieces in the puzzle of the human condition, and by viewing these rites through each cultural lens we may understand ourselves a little clearer. 

I have chosen to call this collective narrative of work “The Life-Death-Life Monster and all its Phenomenal Cycles”. Each separate piece or “chapter” is a glimpse into the overall story of the many cycles of renewal that each individual may go through time and time again. The central piece, or confessional, is the main theme that ties the other nine smaller works together, since it is focused around the moment of fruition, sacrifice, and cleansing. Each of the other “chapters” are states of psychological maneuvering, whether they be distress, mystery, guidance, uncovering, travel, birth or death. It is a rare person who is able and willing to die and be reborn on their own without the aid and comfort, the direction and intuition of another being. We all seek community to assist us in difficult and plentiful times, and the confession, with its positive and negative connotations, is an essential tool that makes humans what we are and what we may become.