There is a vein of thought that was common in ancient cultures that dreams were not only an important part of being human, it was a divine practice that provided healing, insight and prophetic ability.
The term Dream Incubation is a scientific term for something ancient and unexplained, so it has a universal appeal in that it forgoes superstition but allows for the interesting effects dreams have on our consciousness to be explored.
Choose your own adventure, every photo is a rabbit hole, every fragment of the story …. is …..a part of a whole.
Tunnel: a. My exploration of Space creation and the book Sacred and the Profane inspired a direct experiment in Ritual Incubation and the creation of a Rabbit Hole.
Tunnel: b. If the exploration of dreams for the sake of healing was a common practice in the Ancient world, what were the techniques, can we duplicate the factors and what ultimately does it say about this thing we call Reality?
a. Cosmic Reunion Festival 2 was a Burning Man type event in the heart of America, and the Cosmic Artist, making fringe Art for the attendees. What began as an experiment in social space creation, morphed into a one of a kind weekend event called Ancient Incubator.
b. C.A. Meier was a big fan of Carl Jung and built his own medical career exploring the themes set down by the famous Psychoanalyst, even becoming President of Jung’s Institute. His fascination with Ancient Incubation and the healing effects from sleeping in pagan temples would inspire my own Incubators.
a. Months of experiments and dumpster diving, would build slowly into a unique creation. The first Ancient Incubator. This story is a strange one, as the act of forging team, merging energies, and one long summer weekend became a story of magical madness.
b. Mircea Eliade is a personal hero to the Project and his book Sacred and the Profane is a primer to the act of Sacred Space creation. Can forging a “setting” aid in the healing process and is sacredness only a religious experience?
a. After the strange success of the Ancient Incubator 1, I was offered a chance at number 2 rather quickly. The Blanket Fort Festival in Benton Park was a very different affair. One night, in a historic but neglected inner-city park, with live music and anyone randomly appearing within the sacred space. A story of public experiments.
b. Explorations into these ideas of dreams, therapy within sleep, healing and sacred space drive the future forward in ways we can not imagine. Was Terence McKenna right in his ideas surrounding the Archaic Revival? The rites, ceremonies, and methods of our ancestors are our legacy and on wonders if merging is a better prospect than abandonment.
a. Ancient Incubator 1,2, 3 and 4 are now destroyed. These were temporal temples, designed for a purpose. 3 and 4 also featured as “forts” in the abandoned woods around the Meramec Highlands. #3 was flooded out during a major river flood, and #4 was destroyed by teenagers. Short story, but a part of the whole none the less.
b. What if sacred temples and spaces are all around us? The Indigenous people’s of the world claim the sacred mountains and caves litter the landscape as common as rabbits. Surely they all can’t be special, scream the land owners who ignore their dreams
a. The 5th Ancient Incubator is under construction and pushes the project into unknown potentials. _–__coming soon_
The visual evolution of the Ancient Incubator
