Os Sacrum

In 2016 as part of , she took me back so tenderly, a Capital Fringe festival (Walker) performance in Washington DC, sacra performed os sacrum, a ritual for cleansing fear.

• The Gathering – Five to eight people are ushered into a dark room by a facilitator, who is alerted by a bell from within. They enter through the slit of a velvet curtain. They come with offerings of fears/losses/hatred/wishes.
• Confession – The priests (Braun and Okunseinde) invite the participants to give their offerings. The participants speak their offerings into a ceremonial staff wired with a recording device.
• Ritual of the Mixing – Their offerings are gathered & combined. Their words entered are analyzed by a computer algorithm to generate images (the act of mixing their whispers into something we all hear). The product of this mixing is the change to a video image on a table monitor.
• Liturgy –  Mixed offerings are transformed by priests. The priests “read” and interpret the screen to derive a prescription. 
• Communion – Interpreted offerings are translated and manifested into edibles (herbs, citrus, root vegetables) contained within a rice paper nugget. Each participant is fed by hand their own specific Communal nugget. 
• Benediction – Participants leave cleansed after consuming the edible, priests bless the congregation as they depart.