A Ritual Technology for Self-Initiation
A PUBLIC LECTURE WITH ANTERO ALLI
author and director, ParaTheatrical ReSearch

from "Orphans of Delirium" (USA. 2004; 84 minutes. Antero Alli)

Thursday Sept. 13, 2007. 8pm, free admission
Fields Book Store, 1419 Polk St., S.F.

"True initiation does not require ritual to occur; it is a spiritual event.
At best a ritual can act as a device or a tool to assist the expression
and integration of genuine initiation -- that which has never occured
to one before and for which one can never truly be prepared.

The first initiation is Self-initiation -- the exposure of oneself to oneself.
This means to leave the self-conscious watcher behind and enter the
circle of participation. Words...images...explanations all belong to
the watcher. To the participant -- experience is everything."

-- Antero Alli

ANTERO ALLI
(click image for paratheatre bio)

Antero discusses his personal experience with group ritual dynamics in the paratheatre medium he has been developing since 1977, which has been documented in his book "Towards an Archeology of the Soul" and his videos, "Orphans of Delirium" and "CRUX". This ritual technology combines techniques of physical theatre, dance, voice and Zazen standing meditation to access, embody and express the internal landscape. Though this work is primarily non-performance oriented, it occasionally develops into public performance events. This talk also introduces the upcoming BEGINNERS' MIND PARATHEATRE LAB, an eight-week intensive for those wishing to actually participate in this process.

Antero Alli is the director of ParaTheatrical ReSearch, a core group of six ritualists working together in Berkeley CA since 1996. ParaTheatrical ReSearch is not affiliated with any outside school of theatre, ritual, magick, philosophy or spiritual practice but acts as a medium unto itself, complete with its own techniques, principles and prerequisites.

 

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