::ThirdStoneSunCelebrants::

The night was a mix of dark droning music, mythologized liturgy, and absurdly strange ritual. It was an event provoking and exploring the experience of the outsider.

Our August Vespers was an unique event. It was billed as an out of town group, Third Stone Sun Celebrants. This was only a ruse , though we created its own mythology (and blog & twitter account). The theme of the event was exploring the theme of the outsider, the Other. We dressed up in robes, performed strange rituals, and chanted liturgy—all of which mirrored Christian practices though they were taken out of context, made strange and unfamiliar.

The crux of the experience was that there was no explanation of what was happening. It wasn’t until afterwards, when we took off the robes that we talked about each other’s experiences. For an outsider to come into a regular church service, they can easily feel the same sense of anxiety or fear as people experienced during the event. We attempted to create that same experience for those in attendance, to then be able to talk about how others may feel that experience and what we can do to help the Other orientate themselves through the strange territory of normal church life.