Photo: Fakir with 19 inch waist, self-photo 1959
You'll find parts 1 & 2 of Fakir's in-depth interview in our archives. But to get you started on this final part, here's the question we left off with last week:
ALT.com: What were one or two of your most extreme rituals and what do you do to prepare for that sort of thing?
[Now on to part 3:]
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FAKIR: My most extreme rituals were: Sun Dance (an energy pull), Kavadi Bearing (a piercing ritual) and the O-Kee-Pa ritual (suspension by two chest piercings), Corseting to Nineteen Inches (constriction ritual). All required years, months, weeks, and days of training and preparation.
ALT.com: Have you been involved in any bad experiences with extreme rituals? What causes things to go wrong?
FAKIR: Yes, several times when I ignored the promptings of my Higher Self and let human passions lead the way. Intent, clarity and submission to a Higher Self keeps things from going awry.
ALT.com: You've been conducting rituals in your workshops lately and with very positive responses. What types of activities are involved? Could you tell us a little about why these classes are so powerful?
FAKIR: We love to do Ball Dances, Energy Pulls and Suspensions with others. When done right, these rituals call in powerful archetypes that are very real and infuse everyone present with a high form of ecstatic spiritual energy. We build an altar at each ritual and invoke their presence. They always come. Some are from Hindu culture, some from Sufi culture, some from Pagan culture, some from Christian culture and some from Native American culture.
ALT.com: Early on in your body modification you started reading about Sufis and sadhu and so forth. Were you looking for the spiritual connection to what you were doing, or did it just sort of click after you read about it? How did the spiritual aspect evolve as part of your explorations?
FAKIR: Yes, I was fascinated by the Sadhus, Fakirs and Sufi. I wondered what their austerities brought them, what was behind their often glazed and uncaring eyes. So I had to try what they did. And by personal first-hand practices I found the keys to my own Higher self and the unseen world. At an early age I discovered that BODY is the door to SPIRIT. And perhaps that's why we were given a body to live in in the first place!
ALT.com: Do you ever go into a ritual aiming for certain feelings -- numbing, pain, smothering, constriction etc.?
FAKIR: No. I go into a body ritual open to whatever I find there. No expectations. I just like a variety of experiences that take me to altered states. The methods may be different, but the places you go are often the same regardless of how you got there. Depends on your intention (attention). The important thing to remember when flirting with altered states is your intention: are you open to something different and new, something that may challenge previous beliefs or programming? An explorer of "inner space" must be extremely cautious where his or her ATTENTION is when entering an altered state. As I learned from my Guru many years ago:
Where your attention is, there you are.
What your attention is upon is flowing into your world.
What your attention is on you become.
ALT.com: What kind of openness does a person have to cultivate to maximize their growth in these experiences?
FAKIR: Openness to something new and extreme care regarding the focus of your ATTENTION.
ALT.com: If people are inspired by your pictures or ideas and they're interested in playing with body modification, what are some simple starter things they can do at home with themselves to sort of get their appetite going?
FAKIR: One can start by experimenting with any practice that employs the body. That could be Hatha Yoga, long distance running, BDSM, body modifications like piecing or tattooing or body building -- any practice that forces us to depart from work and couch potato mode and puts one in "fringe" consciousness. If the methods result in a "hunger" for more extreme altered states, they can contemplate participation in some group body rituals like our SPIRIT+FLESH Workshop.
ALT.com: Can you give us a list of all the body modification techniques you've tried or experimented with? Pick one that you think people don't know much about but should know more about and enlighten us.
FAKIR: Best bet is buy my SPIRIT+FLESH photo book and study the images. Copies are available, signed with a personal message, at: http://www.bodyplay.com/fakirart/index.htm
ALT.com: What direction are you going in your body modification path these days? Other than the Spirit & Flesh book, where can we go to find examples or demonstrations of your work?
FAKIR: Probably the largest and most fluent source for body modification practices and information these days is the BME web site and my "Fakir Rants & Raves" columns on that same site. Also my own web site with Body Play Online and Cleo Dubois's web site. [They do workshops together -- you'll find Dubois in our archives as a monthly columnist.] Here are a few places for further exploration:
http://www.bodyplay.com
http://www.sm-arts.com
http://www.bmezine.com/index.html
http://www.bmezine.com/news/fakir-all.html
http://www.dancesfilm.com
