T he B ody

AntropoCoSM
A realm whereby the human emerges as cosmic principle.
We imagine a cosmos outside of our mental experience
When truly it is a construction and constriction of mind
Reflected as atoms, molecules and cells.
These are some of the occult reasons
The body is considered a microcosm.
Humanity was said to be made in the likeness of God
Through our bodies and through our human lives
We encounter the beloved
And learn the lessons of our souls.
The Body is a stage.
Within, the play of our
mortal existence is written.
We experience the Divine
through love of another.
Isn’t our body a reflection of the Divine?

Alex Grey

Copulating by Alex Grey, 1984, oil on linen, 72x85 in.

 BODY WORLDS NANCY BURSON
Imaging the Universal Human
pg 6-8
pg 9-10

BLAIR MACKENZIE ART FUSION

BLAKE EXPERIMENT
Lachrymatory
pg 14-18
..
MUTTER MUSEUM THE LEU FAMILY
pg 20-22 pg 23-27

ERNTE FASHION HIGHER GLYPHIKS

SYSTEMS Gatherings on the Cusp
pg 29-30 pg 32-34

KRIS KUKSI INTERCHILL RECORDS

pg 35-36 pg 37-38
We all have bodies.  We have all experienced pain and pleasure.  The visionaries
in this issue of CoSM journal all treat the body as art material, a sculptural medium
charged with the mysteries of life. death and identity. STELARC ALEX STARK
Slicing into the physical form has been a passion since Leonardo and probably
The Body is Obsolete The Temple is the Body
prior.  Gunter Von Hagen’s “Body Worlds” exhibition, now touring the US,
has found a way to transform the beauty of our muscles, veins, and bones into pg 39-42 pg 46-48
permanent sculpture that can be put on view for an audience that has, until
recently, been kept at a distance from cadavers.
The art of tattooing has been a favorite subject at CoSM because of the many people
EVERYBODY IS A MODIFY
choosing to be tattooed with Alex’s art.  The Art Fusion Experience brought together SACRED MIRROR pg 51-52
a family of some of the greatest tattoo artists on the planet in collaboration with pg 49-50
MicroCoSM Gallery.  Then we have to acknowledge the piercers and body modifiers
of all kinds.  I remember vividly one of our first encounters with body modification, in
1984, when Alex was asked by the artist Stelarc, to put twelve shark hooks into his back,
arms and legs.  Then, Stelarc was pullied, naked, hanging from a “clothesline” strung up HISTORIC EVENTS COSM COMMUNITY
over 11th Street in the East Village.  Stelarc got a ticket for indecent exposure and pg 53-54 pg 55-56
causing a public nuisance.
Hanging from hooks, wearing corsets, and faces in jars are all a part of this
uncommon volume.  Alex and I send loving appreciation to all the contributors
and advertisers that make this zine possible. Special thanks to the hard work of
Eli Morgan and Marisa Scirocco for the extraordinary third installment of
CoSM Journal.
Love, p.4
Alex and Allyson Grey
 Published by
Cosm Press

Chief Editors:
Alex Grey, Allyson Grey Gunter Von Hagen’s Sculptural
Creative Directors,
Masterpieces
Graphic Design,
Production Audiences are universally astonished at their first visit
Eli Morgan, Marisa Scirocco to an exhibition of Body Worlds, the world’s largest
Advertising:
display of sculpturally dissected human
Contributing Artists:
Marisa Scirocco remains. Gunter Van Hagen, a
Alex Grey
Allyson Grey German pathologist, has
Andrew Zuckerman Contributing Writers: invented and perfected the
Alex Grey
Art Fusion Experiement
Alex Stark
preservation art of
David Heskin
Allyson Grey plastination. With
Eli Morgan
Kristopher Kuksi Andrew Ross Collins this technique, the
Marisa Scirocco Delvin Solkinson moisture of the
Eli Morgan
Nancy Burson
Eve Bradford
deceased body is
Sijay James
Kristin Speranza extracted and
The­­­ Leu Family
William Radacinski Naasko Wripple replaced by resin.
Nancy Burson The results are
Stelarc
Tiffa Nova
human tissue as
Web Master:
Osiris Indriya sculptural
Peter Terezakis
­­­­ Zena Grey media.
Mac Technical Director
Joe Saponare
CoSM Press
Website: www.cosm.org 530 W. 27th Street,
Email: Delvin@cosm.org Fourth Floor
Phone: 212.564.4253 New York, NY 10001

Cover Art: Heart in the Mutter Museum, photo by Andrew Zuckerman

Back Cover Art: Detail: Skeletal System, Alex Grey

CoSM Journal, published by the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, provides

a forum for the emergence of Visionary Culture. CoSM Journal
shares with it’s readers the work and stories of artists, thinkers, and
community builders who are dedicated to transformative living, and
committed to the integration of wisdom and the arts. CoSM Journal is
offered to inform, connect, and inspire this evolving global awareness.
The Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (CoSM), located at 540 W. 27th St., 4th floor,
is a sanctuary in New York City for contemplation and a center for events
encouraging the creative spirit. The Sacred Mirrors, on
display in the Chapel, are a series of paintings that allow us to see
ourselves and each other as reflections of the divine. CoSM
provides a public exhibition of the Sacred Mirrors and the most
outstanding works of mystical art by Alex Grey. The Chapel of Sacred
Mirrors is a 501(c)(3) organization, supported solely by
charitable donations from the community. If you would like to
make a contribution to the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, please send
checks to COSM, London Terrace, PO box 20668,
New York, NY 10011 or make donations on-line at
www.cosm.org

­­­­ p.6
 The invention of plastination is an aesthetically
sensitive method of meticulously preserving
dissected anatomical specimens and even entire
bodies as permanent, life-like materials for anatom-
ical instruction. The body cells and natural surface
structures retain their original forms and are iden-
tical to their condition prior to preservation, even
at a microscopic level. The specimens are dry and
odorless, and remain unchanged for a virtually
unlimited amount of time, making them truly
accessible. These characteristics lend
plastinated specimens inestimable value both
for training prospective doctors and for
educating non-professionals in the field
of medicine. Since the first exhibition in
Mannheim, Germany in 1997 more than
17 million people have viewed the interior
of the human body at BODY WORLDS and
BODY WORLDS 2, the most successful touring
exhibitions world-wide.

BODY WORLDS and BODY WORLDS 2 focus on

approximately 200 authentic
anatomy - individual organs,
horizontal slices of the body,
whole-body plastinates.
­­­
specimens of human
transparent vertical and
and 25 artistically posed,

Von Hagen is always pictured wearing a grey
fedora, reminiscent of one of Germany’s most
beloved contemporary artists, Joseph Beuys. Clearly,
Von Hagen is inspired to be an artist as well as a
physician educator. When one sees the meticulous
craftsmanship of the dissections and the breath-
taking complexity of what occurs under our own
skin, there arises a response both scientifically
informed and spiritually moved by the universal
human.

www.bodyworlds.com

p.7 p.8
Nancy Burson
Imaging the Universal Human Face

Universal Male Universal Male/Female combined

What’s in a face? Nancy Burson has been exploring that question

photographically for over 25 years. Before most of us spoke of digital
photography, Nancy Burson was investigating and patenting her
“morphing” technology in the early 1980s. Two monumental portraits of
The Human Face hover above visitors and commuters in the 60 Wall Street
Atrium. The male and female visages, compiled from a database of imag-
es generated by the artist’s Human Race Machine, use Burson’s morphing
technologies to combine portraiture with census taking, blending individual faces
with current population and gender statistics. Mirroring the collectivity of public
space, the resulting images echo the artist’s belief that we are all one, all connected.

An early pioneer of digitally manipulated photography, Burson began her

career as a painter and conceptual artist. Her patented “morphing”
software, developed as art and soon used by law enforcement, has
been instrumental in helping to age and locate both missing children and
criminals. For
­­­­­ the last 20 years, the artist has been mixing art with science
and technology to raise questions about our material existence. Her uniquely
individual art challenges our social, cultural and visual expectations, and with
compassion and wit, urges us to examine conventionally held perceptions.

p.9 p.10
www.nancyburson.com Universal Female
 LACHRYMATORY

Blair MacKenzie Blake has been studying, practicing, and writing about the Pale emerald moon upon the cata-
western esoteric tradition for over twenty years. More recently, he has been falque of engilded Qa’a, Prismatic sorpion
focusing his attention on the neurochemical basis of successful in crackling torchlight. Flame-rayed mummy
magickal workings (and paranormal activity in general). in a royal sarcophagus with painted vignettes,
Funerary jackals in black and gold and dull glowing
crimson, Spectral pageant of ancient Khem. Brown-
serpentine swathe cut with tools of the mortuary craft,
Turquoise bottle to gather the gemmed tears of the Pharaoh.
Delicate incrustation of a trepanned cranium, Purple gloves of
Hotepsekheumi holding the
treasure of sepia, Serpent- hooded gleams and the pelts of
magenta zebra. Lords of Amenta lifting the opal veil of a
beetle-black sun,Cadaverous phantasms of a harlequin
charioteer, Stars a-glitter in night blue over crocodile of river mud.

These lacrymals or lachrymatories were small vase, urns or vials that

have been found in ancient Roman sepulchers and were believed by lat-
ter-day historians to have been receptacles which contained the tears of
mourners. However, it is only a modern-day conjecture that these nar-
row-necked, tear shaped bottles were placed in tombs according to an
ancient custom of putting the tears of the deceased person’s surviving
relatives and friends in them as memorials of affection and sorrow as
it is very difficult to find any trace of such a custom in ancient writ-
ings. According to at least one student of esoteric Atlanteanology, the
Romans believed these tears had special powers and many of these
lachrymal urns contained representations of a single eye on them.
Often found in tomb reliefs from ancient Egypt, this was the
divine eye or egg of the sacred pregnancy whose true meaning
continues to elude both Egyptological scholarship and most
genuine seekers of hidden knowledge. On some reliefs,
the teardrops shed by the divine eye are shown
Incorporating a magical turning into wings.
vocabulary and nightside
symbolism, his first book,
Tears of prismatic fire collected in an engilded tomb,
IJYNX, a collection of occult
The Grand Dreaming of a Treasured Eye.
prose-poems, attempts to con-
Opal moons to hold with purple gloves
vey the ritually-machined ecstatic states that allow one access to hyper-di-
Spoken in a black tongue of a harlequin king.
mensions of consciousness and encounters with trans-mundane entities.
BMB is also the writer for www.toolband.com and www.dannycarey.org. BLAIR MACKENZIE BLAKE
p.11 p.12
 www.psymac.com

On April 23rd, from

noon until midnight, eighteen
tattoo artists worked collectively in
MicroCoSM Gallery, blending their
styles to create a cohesive body of visionary artwork unlike any
individual artist. Six world famous tattoo artists, Filip Leu, Paul
Booth, Guy Aitchison, Sabine Gaffon, Titine Leu, and Michele
Wortman fused their talents to paint a unique four by eleven foot
diptych of Heaven and Hell. Heaven is portrayed by a brilliant
blossom of light spawning soulspheres, while Hell is a thorny
sinkhole of soulspheres falling into a dark pit. Twelve additional
tattoo artists/painters collaborated on eighteen exquisite pastels that
appear to have been manifested by one “hive mind”. Sharing ideas
and techniques while remaining open to constructive
criticism, the artwork produced is both edgy and technically superb,
each composition standing alone yet speaking for a number
of talented artists.
THE VISIONARY In the world of tattooing there is no room for error. Working on the
ACCOUNTANT, LLC canvas of skin means mastery of your craft under extreme pressure.
The tattoo artist must focus the creative flow within themselves to
give the client a piece of art that will be with them forever.
Creative intensity explodes when tattoo artists apply their technique
to fine art. Oil pastels, paint and canvas replace ink, blood and skin.
The Art Fusion Experiment produced extraordinary art amplified by
the element of collective consciousness.
The Art Fusion Experiment, a global movement of collaborative
Accounting, financial and management services artistry within the tattoo industry, has received accolades from
for non-profits, artists, & healing professionals reputable media sources, such as CNN and The Travel Channel, as
well as international trade publications. Major events have occured
in Berlin, Milan, Tokyo, London, New York, San Francisco, Boston
Kevin D. Sachs, Ph.D. www.interchill.com and
Toronto.
718-751-6181

econoshamanic@nyc.rr.com
p.14
 The Art Fusion Experiment began in 2000, at the “Tattoo the Earth Festival,”
hosted by renown New York artist, Paul Booth, and was
followed by a successful national tour in 2002 where many artists
participated, performing visual collaborations for thousands of
spectators across the United States. The life and work of Paul Booth is now
being documented for an MTV special program.

Featured artists
Filip Leu, Guy Aitchison
Paul Booth, Michele Wortman
Titine Leu, & Sabine Gaffron Live music by Ajja Leu & Dymons
fuse their talents to created (The Peaking Goddess Collective).
large collaborative canvases
of heaven and hell.
Guest Artists Zachariah Gregory, Liorcifer, Tim Kern, Dan Marshall, Needles,
Jon Clue, Cory Kruger, Matthew Amey, Joe Hegarty, Nick Baxter,
Jarrett DeMartino & Jon Jon executed color pastel performances for twelve hours.

Intended to increase awareness

of the fine art of tattooing,
Art Fusion Performances are
public events that offer insight
into possibilities for artistic
collaboration.
p.15 p.16
 Hell & Heaven Diptych, acrylic on canvas 66”x 48” Filip Leu, Guy Aitchison, Paul Booth, Michele Wortman, Titine Leu, & Sabine Gaffron

p.17 p.18

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At the heart of one of America’s
oldest cities lies a museum
literally preserving the
history of modern medicine.
The Mütter Museum at the
College of Physicians of
Philadelphia, boasts the most
extensive collection of
fluid-preserved anatomical and
pathological specimens in the
country; not to mention the
10,000+ medical instruments and
apparati, from as early as 1750
through the present. This makes
for an interesting sojourn into an
area usually reserved for those in
the medical field.
While some might be a bit
put off by coming face to face
with the actual livers of famed
Siamese twins Chang and Eng,
or the secret tumor of President
Grover Cleveland, there is some-
thing to be said for the mystique
of such intimate souvineers of
the once living. Where else could
one put a visual image to brains
of murderers and epileptics.
Science has infact brought us this
far so we may see ourselves. And
if the real thing leaves more to
be desired, there are still four
hundred anatomical and
pathological models in plaster,
wax, papier mache, and plastic.
p.20
 19 South 22nd Street,
Philadelphia, PA, 19103

WWW.MUTTERMUSEUM.ORG

HOURS:
10AM - 5PM, Monday
through Sunday, every day of the
year except Thanksgiving Day,
Christmas Day and
New Year’s Day.

Photographs by
Andrew Zuckerman
www.andrewzuckerman.com

p.21 p.22
Leu Fa mily My son, Filip, was the oldest and the only one interested in tattooing.
His first tattoos were on locals, fisherman and friends —
­ other kids.
For two generations the legendary Leu He started when he was 12 or 13. We didn’t have books on tattooing,
family has been inscribing people’s skin. but we had a Spaulding catalog with small images of flash. Filip’s first
From the beaches of Gao to the mountains job was enlarging these little images using a grid over the design.
of Switzerland they have lived their He was good and quick.
commitment to art and freedom.
Holly: What changes have you noticed in tattoo designs and the
Holly Lane and her husband Jon Jon had
the opportunity to interview the acclaimed people getting tattooed?
mother and son, Loretta and Filip.
LL : I don’t tattoo much any more and Filip’s clients are mostly other
tattoo artists. There are a lot more tattooers and more coming from art
L ore tta L e u - Family History schools these days which has
Tattooing fell into our lives by chance. improved the quality of the
My husband, Felix and I, were both artists work.
travelers, hippies. On a summer trip to Yugoslavia, my mother was
buying some rugs and we went along with a friend who had two tattoos. Holly: When did
We hung out in our van, made tea and played bongos. It was very hot, you leave India to
so our friends were only wearing sarongs, when young people from the open the shop in
village came up to the van waving money at them, saying “tattoo tattoo Switzerland?
tattoo,” thinking they were traveling tattoo artists. That’s when Felix got the
idea that tattooing was something he could do for a living that would allow us LL: We moved
to continue our lives in freedom. Back to England we went to see Joe, an old to Switzerland in
tattooer we knew, and asked if we could watch and learn from him. ‘80 or ‘81. Felix
We hung around the tattoo shop watching Joe work and getting a feel of the was Swiss and I’m
blood, sweat, and gore of it all. Felix taught Swiss/American.
me to tattoo before we went to India where Tattooing was
we lived for two years in Goa. tolerated in this
We rented a house on the beach and area of Switzerland,
tattooed mostly travelers for money and so we settled down
locals in exchange for fish. and opened the Leu
“Family Iron” with
Filip.

p.23 LEU FAMILY, Bombay,India,1981 p.24

paintings by Y MARIA (Loretta Leu), 2004 “Mandalas” acrylic on canvas, 30 x 30cm each people for life. I remember being in India as
a little kid and being sent to find somebody
I didn’t know with a pyramid on his right
Holly: Filips tells me you’re shoulder blade. I liked the idea of identifying
painting again? somebody by their tattoo.

LL: I actually never stopped, Holly: Do most people come to you with a clear
though a lot of other things have picture of what they want for a tattoo, or do they
taken precedence over the years give you artistic license?
­— kids, building up the business…
Since Felix died two years ago, my life FL: I don’t like to pick an image for people.
has changed a lot. I still take care of our When people are screaming in pain they should
business, but I have more choices of how I spend be getting something they want, not what I want.
my time. Painting again has been good for me at the age In tattooing you must make sure the person
of 60. I do only souvenir tattoos, for friends or other tattooists now, not for wearing it is happy. Sometimes I have a great
money but just for the hell of it. This year it’s Om signs only. idea for a full body tattoo, make drawings and
promote an idea, but I can’t do everything I
F ilip L e u want. Some people come in with precise ideas of
their own and totally cramp me. I like tattooing
Holly: You started getting into the tattoo simple things. I don’t like to do hyper-realism.
business when you were very young. I love every single piece I wear. They are all good
Were there ever moments when you felt memories and I’m proud to have them. I walked
tattooing wasn’t for you ? out of Alex’s Chapel thinking Alex should
design a full body tattoo. He’s not restricted
Filip: I didn’t care for it much when my parents by tattoo design and is outside the profession.
started. I didn’t see the point of hurting yourself. I saw a suit that Giger spray painted on the body
I believed that we’re all perfect beings created of a woman wearing a jumpsuit. It was all bio
exquisite so why mark up your body? But it grew mechanical -- an incredible and totally stunning
on me. The sheer exhilaration of doing some- piece. In a magazine I saw a pair of legs that
thing painful and dangerous sucked me into were good, but it stopped at the waist. The top
tattooing. was already done with other tattoos. People that
commit to great tattoo ideas usually have already
Holly: Did you ever rebel against your parents? given away “real estate” before they learn to do
it right. An arm or two arms is done before you
FL: Yeah, I quit tattooing during a midlife crisis get to work with the rest.
in ‘93 when I went off to become a musician in
Spain with my brother. Being an apprentice is Holly: You’ve been tattooing for twenty years.
difficult. I was a difficult student for my dad, What changes have you witnessed and what do
being a teenager, and fighting back and shit. you see in the future of tattooing?
He was a good teacher, but very stern ­— “Do it
properly or don’t do it at all”. You’re marking

p.25 painting by Filip Leu, 2005 “Thingfish in New York” acrylic on canvas, 194 x 80cm Jon Jon: Backpiece by Filip Leu, in progress p.26
 FL: Tattooing has improved incredibly. The quality of drawing has exploded
raising the whole level. Having informative magazines on newsstands has
improved the quality of tattooing. There weren’t so many suppliers before and
you couldn’t get an apprenticeship.
The bad side is that there are more tattooists and hoards of bad tattoo artists,
but people are starting to recognize good tattoo from bad tattoos. They’re less
likely to go to somebody doing poor work. They’ll travel and even look for
a tattooist they’ve see in a magazine.

As for design, Tibetan is coming in again. It was Hindu for a while, Japanese
always. Styles are more simplistic and bold which is a good thing. Working
with larger needle groups has changed my tattooing. Nobody was using these
when I started and I was scared to use them. Now, I
promote it. Bigger tattoos can be made in one sitting, it makes for better heal-
ing, quicker work, and you don’t over work the skin.

Holly: How do you feel, doing huge tattoos, putting someone through such
transformation, such a shock to the body coming from you ?

FL: I took a break after 10 years because of the pressure of that. You create
the tattoos but it belongs to the person who got it and you feel responsible.I
worry about someone coming back in 10 years to scream at me for fucking Himalayan Voices’
up their lives. That’s why I don’t do faces. How do I know that they’re gonna Vibrational Alchemy
be able to deal with it. People do things on impulse. I’d drawn a half a dozen
back pieces for myself but the one I’m wearing I drew it and got it done in
two days. Tattoos don’t really chase people away - just the opposite. It’s like
a magnet. I’ve met so many people because of my tattoos. If you tattoo your
face, though, you move into a whole other realm. It’s very heavy for people
to accept. This man Lucky, was tattooed all black -- his eyelids, nostrils, lips,
ears… everything. He has all silver teeth, white hair and blue eyes. It took me
days of being around him to just see his face, all I could see was ink. I actually
admire what he did. He’s beautiful, but I wouldn’t do it. My throat tattoo is
the most visible one so far and in every country I’m worried. America is where
I get the most compliments. Everybody talks to me.
­­­ At

for Schedule see:

Himalayanvoices.com
p.27 COSM.org
 Ernte Fashion Systems
envisions a new body, a new
form, as the very site and
structure of dynamic resyn-
thesis and recombinant
hybridizations found at the
explosive Ground-Zero
of modern techno-cul-
ture and the fall outs of
techno-mysticism, a new
hybrid clothing for a new
hybrid body. Originally
estalished as a multidis-
ciplinary arts unit, rooted
primarily in the traditions
of the arts and sculpture,
fashion and design, Ernte
Fashion Systems was
officially launched in late
2003, consisting of Evan
Sugerman, Tiffa Novoa, and
DM Kishi, signifying a rad-
ical refocusing on the body
itself as the locus of produc-
tion and experiment.
p.30
p.29
 GATHERING AT THE CUSP:
Embodying Visionary Culture
by Delvin and Eve
HIGHER GLYPHIKS

The con-
sciousness of visionary culture exists large-
ly in multidimensional, polylocal space. When we
gather together as a community around a specific
intention, the consciousness of the culture is given a
body, a tangible site for that consciousness to interact
with the world.
Gatherings are cultures embodied.
Because gatherings are the body of visionary
culture, as we intentionally evolve their form and
content, the culture itself evolves.
We can trace the lineage of conscious
gatherings from ancient shamanistic rituals and
mystery cults all the way through the beat and
hippy generations, the psychedelic and rave eras,
and into the emergent cusp culture. These gath-
erings form a transcontinental network, connect-
ing diverse communities into a unified planetary
culture.
Templates are being created on a global level,
offering integrated strategies for evolving the
paradigm. What emerges is an experience that
synergizes the intellectual stimulation of a
conference, the interactivation of a workshop, the
artistic inspiration of a gallery show, the independent
sustainability of a tribal market, the experiential magic
of ritual prayerformance and the ecstatic release of a
dance party. These events unfold in a dynamic environ-
ment, created through hybrid sound design, live multime-
dia streams, sacred altar installations and visionary art.
As the embodied consciousness of the cusp, these
gatherings provide vital temporary autonomous zones
where creative connections are catalyzed into world building
collaborations. A circuit is being created, a network that runs
between self and community, nature and technology, vision and
experience. Navigating through the onslaught of the present, we
gather together to observe the intention, integrate the ideas, apply the
designs, celebrate the moment and seed the future.
p.32
 On October 29, 2005 find out what ancient and future
mysteries are revealed when you enter the King’s Chamber.

Born in the spiritual underground of the Pacific

Northwest in 2001, the Oracle Gatherings are a
growing series of mythical events, workshops and
forums by a collective of visionary artists. These musi-
cians, performers, seekers and eclectics influence modern tribal
communities through a 23 card Oracle Gathering’s Tarot Deck. This
deck encompasses a range of archetypal themes, including The Gypsy, Behold the
Buddha, Atlantis, The Gift, and so on. During each closing ceremony, a card from
the deck is drawn giving the theme for the following event. By infusing spir-
it and celebration, many people have found an open, inviting community with a
commitment to Self Realization, Integral Communication, Planetary Healing
and the co-creation of Sacred Space. The Oracle Gatherings have
cultivated an organic, ritualistic environment, growing to include
artists from all over the world. Those who have been to an
Oracle Gathering have come to expect ceremony, music,
dancing, education, yoga, meditation, healing, sanctuary and visual
art for the 18th Oracle Gathering.
The King is requesting your presence at a special gath-
ering at his Temple featuring musical guests Cheb I Sabbah,
Osiris Indriya, Michael Manahan… plus a midnight ritual
prayerformance directed by Isis Indriya.

For those seeking more: www.oraclegatherings.com

Evolving the potential of the first

precedent-setting Syneregenesis 2004, SF,
this event will be a full day and night of vision-
ary art culture. Including interactive workshops with
Alex and Allyson Grey, San Francisco
Robert Venosa and Martina Hoffmann October 8, 2005
A Cultural Visionaries Panel mediated by Erik Davis
Live set by Bluetech
A Collective Art Show of primarily new original work
Ritual Prayerformance
Dancefloor Activation
Tribal Market of Independent Artists and much more. ..
This event is serving as a powerful catalyst for the (r)evolutionary creators of our time
to converge and co-create a portal through which our collective vision is crystallized and
potentiated: a Synergenesis.

Contact: eve@ladyapples.com www.synergenesis.org

MARTINA ROBERT ALLYSON
HOFFMAN VENOSA GREY ALEX GREY

p.33 p.34
As one of the
emerging artists
in the movement
of Fantastic Realism, Paracite & Host
Kris Kuksi has become a mixed media 33” wide
profound messenger of the
subversive and illusionistic ambiguities
deep within the human psyche.
His sophisticated and enchanting paintings suggest both outrageous and perplexing
juxtapositions that serve to invoke wonder and mystery. From an obscure location of
rural America, Krus Kuksi is amused by the macabre and enigmatic, as his images are
enmeshed in successive layers of in-congruous and bizarre subjects. Producing in a
world ruled by hackneyed and intrusive contemporary art, Kris Kuksi has continued
in the old masters tradition of finely crafted techniques and disciplined anatomical
study. He borrows from the inspiration of hallucinatory patterns and shapes deep with-
in the delirium of paranoia and obsessive behaviors for a means to create. His beautiful
yet peculiar compositions stand to last as the work of a keen observer fascinated with the
inexplicable circumstances of the human experience.
www.kuksi.com
p.35 Immaculate Conception 60 x 45 acrylic on canvas 2001 p.36

organic electronica
for expanding minds
Interchill Records is a Canadian independent downtempo label located off the coast of
British Columbia on the enchanting Salt Spring Island. With a focus on the sound of
global diversity, Interchill has been compiling new world electronic music since 1995.
Born out of the underground rave boom that swept the world during the early 90’s,
Interchill was founded by Andrew Ross Collins, a DJ with a degree in philosophy, who
launched the label for the classic multi-sensory chill rooms of the early east coast
parties. Andrew’s mission for Interchill Records began with an intention to showcase and
export Canadian ambient music across the globe. His seminal compilation, “Northern
Circuits”, established relationships with artists like Adham Shaikh, Mere Mortals and
Legion of Green Men. Soon after, he and label manager Gordon Field released the
second compilation, “Magnetic Blue”, which was more global in scope with additional
artists from the US, the UK, and Germany. Now, after 10 years in operation and 19
albums in its catalogue, Interchill Records has soundly established itself as a major player
in the contemporary music scene by releasing high fidelity downtempo electronica from
artists all over the world.
Known for the unique style they call “organic electronica for expanding minds,”
Interchill explores the liminal space between established genres of music. ‘Organic
electronica’ refers to the nexus point where nature and technology intersect, where the
fusion of the analogue and the digital have given rise to a proliferation of novel musi-
cal forms. Compressing the space-time continuum, electronic music has pushed the
parameters of sonic bandwidth beyond anything ever experienced, bringing the past
into the future and the history of music to the fingertips. With the global village now
virtual, Interchill’s interest is to connect and inspire people across the planet through
hybrid sounds infused with the power to expand the imagination into the realm of
infinite possibility.
With the rapid changes occurring in the music industry over the past few years,
Interchill has begun exploring digital distribution and other creative ways to get their
music to more people. One strategy has been to incorporate the label into Mariko
Music Publishing. Founded and run by Andrew, Mariko Music offers the available
Interchill catalogue for license to film, television and digital media.
Shambhala Music Festival 2005, BC, Canada
Andrew Ross Collins
One of Interchill’s most popular albums is Gaudi’s, ‘Bass, Sweat & Tears’,
which was produced in London and released last year. The album features 42
accompanying musicians and traverses the spectrum of world music genres
while maintaining Gaudi’ssignature bass soaked dub vibes throughout.
www.gaudimusic.com
Focused on the territory where East meets West, Interchill’s signed musicians, The Kaya
Project, take the listener on a percussive and lyrical journey through Middle Eastern
infused downtempo. Their acclaimed album, ‘Walking Through’, and their soon-to-be
released album, ‘Elixir’, incorporate material recorded while traveling across India, Israel
and Thailand.
Look for the immanent release of “Dissolving Clouds”, a diverse compilation inspired
by dancehall and dub styles. With chunky low rider grooves and world beats for the
psychedelically inclined, check interchill.com for audio
samples and tracklist.­­
Naasko Wripple is an event producer, DJ/A&R and media consultant. As Invisible
Productions, he has worked on events along the West Coast, in Australia and at
the bi-annual Boom Festival in Portugal. As a DJ he has been actively involved in the
underground global dance music culture since the early 90’s and is currently a label
representative for both BC-based Interchill Records and Native State Records. He is
soon to launch the Spectrum Series on Interchill later this year with a compilation
of shanti music designed specifically for yoga and healing spaces. For 2006 he is
putting together a new compilation based upon elemental and ecological themes.
www.interchill.com
p.38
 STELARC THE BODY IS OBSOLETE

STELARC is an Australian-based performance artist whose work explores

and extends the concept of the body and its relationship with technol-
ogy through human-machine interfaces incorporating medical imaging,
prosthetics, robotics, VR systems and the internet. The interest is in alternate,
intimate and involuntary experiences.
The EXTENDED ARM is constructed with the aesthetic of the THIRD HAND,
using materials like stainless steel, aluminium and acrylic. The pneumatics
are all for the operation of the manipulator. It is a five-finger human-like
hand with some novel capabilities. Its functions include wrist rotation, thumb
rotation, individual finger flexion with each finger splitting open. Each finger
can become a gripper in itself. The EXTENDED ARM acrylic sleeve fits over the
right arm whose fingers rest on an array of four switches allowing the actuation of
pre-programmed sequences of motion of the manipulator.­
A six-legged, pneumatically powered walking machine has been
constructed for the body. The LOCOMOTOR, with either ripple or tripod
gait, moves fowards, backwards, sideways and turns on the spot. It can also
squat and lift by splaying or contracting its legs. The body is positioned on
a turn-table, enabling it to rotate about its axis. It has an exoskeleton on its
upper body and arms. The left arm is a pneumatic manipulator, human-
like in form but with additional functions. The body’s arms guide the
choreography of the locomotor’s movements and thus compose the cacophony of
pneumatic, mechanical and sensor modulated sounds.

“We have never had a mind of our own and we often perform
involuntarily, conditioned and externally prompted. Ever since we evolved
as hominids and developed bipedal locomotion, two limbs became
manipulators and we constructed artifacts, instruments and machines. In other
words we have always been coupled with technology. We have always been pros-
thetic bodies. We fear the involuntary and we are becoming increasingly automated
and extended. But we fear what we have always been and what we have already
become - Zombies and Cyborgs.”
p.39 p.40
S T E L A R C
On July 21, 1984,
­­ Alex Grey had the privilege of meeting
Stelarc in New York City. Sponsored by Mike Osterhout, Director
of Mo David Gallery, Stelarc was about to accomplish one of his
spectacular suspensions, “flying” between windows across 11th Street
in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Alex was invited to insert
twelve huge shark hooks into Stelarc’s back, legs and arms for the
suspension performance. Unsuspecting crowds on the street witnessed
the naked spectacle. Stelarc received a summons from the police for
causing a public nuisance, and onlookers received an indelible
impression of one of the most remarkable art heroes of our era.
Photos by Allyson Grey
p.41 www.stelarc.va.com.au
p.42
 The Future Calling Us
Site Selection and Capital Campaign

The Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (CoSM) is temporarily located in the Chelsea

art and club district in New York City. Since opening in September ‘04,
CoSM has become a diverse interfaith community organization, providing a
stunning installation of Alex Grey’s most widely appreciated works of
transformative art. Serving as a center for the integration of creativity
and mysticism, CoSM is a unique pilgrimage place for contemplation and
spiritual renewal.

The Chapel of Sacred Mirrors is seeking a permanent home. A capital

campaign has been initiated to raise $6.7M for site purchase and a building fund.
Donations of all sizes, including leading donations of $500K and more will
be essential to meet this goal of realizing sacred architecture to represent the
CoSM community.

The property CoSM is seeking is an empty lot or a building with surround-

ing property within an hour of the center of New York City. The structure
will contain the Chapel, galleries for the permanent collection and rotating
exhibitions, a theatre, a library, classrooms, offices and a kitchen, and must
be a minimum of 10,000 square feet. The land surrounding the CoSM
building will be a garden/park for meditation and sculpture.

Humanities most pressing current issue is facing responsibility for the state
of environmental destruction. The Chapel of Sacred Mirrors can serve as
a model of transformation in this beleaguered world. CoSM has begun
searching for a “brownfield”, an industrially polluted site in need of
bio-remediation. Combining science, creativity, and spirituality to
restore the health of this poisoned place, CoSM could build twenty-first
century sacred architecture on the site. Becoming a showcase for sustainable
architecture and a model of successful earth therapy, CoSM would
represent the potential eco-metropolis that New York could become.

Celebrating unity and diversity, the permanent Chapel of Sacred Mirrors,

will be designed and created by Alex Grey in collaboration with some of
the most outstanding visionary artists of our time. The neighborhood
selected as the residence of this valuable collection of art will draw visitors from
all over the planet. With a home of its own, the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors will
www.heartriver.org endure as a sanctuary for the creative spirit.
www.cosm.org
 Of all the trans-cultural characteristics
common to the great world traditions, the association
of architecture with the human body is one of the most
vastly disseminated. The Vastu tradition of India, Chinese Feng Shui,
Egyptian Temple architecture, the Inca Seque system, and the
Greek canon of proportions have one thing in common: a reverence
for architectural space as a reflection of the human body.

The Inca, for example, patterned their entire kingdom on the idea that
hyperspacestudios.com Cuzco, the ancient capital of that enormous empire, was the umbilical
center of a giant body of land. The word Cuzco literally means belly
button. From this center at the heart of the empire, 41 rays of energy,
known as seques, radiated to all points of the empire, connecting lands
as far as modern-day Colombia and Chile to the temple of the Sun, the
Korichancha, at the very center of this body made of earth. The Inca
believed that the cosmic energies necessary for human life streamed into
the dimensionsof space and time through this umbilicus. Through this
connection, the forces of Heaven (the Hanakpacha or Upper World) and
Earth (the Ujupacha or Lower World) were harmonized and balanced
in the realm of humanity (the Kaypacha or Middle World).

The Vastu tradition of India echoes the centrality of the Inca ideal. According
to Vastu theory, architectural space is inhabited by a mythical creature, the
Vastu Purusha, who was said to be created from the sweat of the God
Shiva during a titanic struggle with demons. The body of Purusha fills the
building space completely, with its head in the northeast and its feet in the
southwest. The center of the building, which corresponds to the Purusha’s
navel, is an area that must be left open in order to allow for the entry
of cosmic energies. Also know as Brahma Stan, this central area is the
residence of Brahma,the god of creation. The center of the structure is
seen as the entry point for reality and the manifest world.

p.46
alexgrey.com
 In ancient Greece, the idea of an umbilicus
in physical space can be seen in the ompha-
los discovered in the ruins of the Temple
of Apollo at Delphi. This carved stone was
meant to represent the navel of the world, and
on its surface are patterned the rays of energy
that correspond to the terrestrial magnetic
grid. The location of this temple, and the cave
to which it was related, refer to the central
position of the mountain as a symbol of
the axis mundi, or cosmic pillar around which
ordinary life revolved, as the great drama of space
and time churned forth the experiences of humans.
In Chinese feng shui the centrality of space is acknowledged in
the concept of the Tai Chi, the “great ultimate”, a location without dimensions at
the heart of a structure through which cosmic energy is understood to stream
into the realm of manifest reality. Also known as the “central ridge beam”, to
signify its importance as support of all of existence, the Tai Chi is the place
where reality and the Void of non-existence connect. This transfer of vital energy
or chi is what animates all of consciousness and brings life to the inanimate.
The movement of chi in and around a structure is compared to the movement
of energy in the human body. The main entry of a building, for example,
is often called the ”mouth of chi” to signify the qualities of chi that are necessary
to promote prosperity, health, and longevity for the structure’s inhabitants.
Each area or sector of a building is also understood in feng shui
to have a direct correlation to a body part, organ system,
or metabolic function. The center of a building’s front
area, for example, is associated with the element of
water, and with all bodily functions involving
fluids. The bladder and kidneys, as well as
the reproductive system, are therefore
correlated to this area. Conversely, the heart
or lungs would correlate to the area locat-
ed at the center rear of the space, an area
associated with the element of fire.
The idea of space as a mirror of the
human body also includes allusions to
the proportions and distributions of
parts within the structure.
p.47
The Egyptian temples of antiquity, for example, were
designed to reflect an ideal proportion as exempli-
fied in the body of the Pharaoh, the human
incarnation of the divine realm. By
patterning the building’s design to the
divine proportions of the emperor’s body,
the sacredness of the space was thereby
enhanced. As the temple grew in size, the
size and scale of its component parts were
made to retain their proportionality to the
canon derived from the divine body of the
ruler. This is can also be seen in the
proportional system of the Gothic
Cathedral, which was often seen as a
reflection not only of the divine body of
Christ, the earthly son of God, but also
as a reflection of the numbers and ratios
which the platonic system allocated to the
divine order inherent in the physical world.
The English unit of measurement, the foot, is a late
allusion to this idea.
This ideal was carried into the Renaissance, and is part of the canon of pro-
portions which Leonardo and Michelangelo, among many others, used to
design and proportion buildings, paintings, and sculpture. Collectively known
as the anthropocosmos, the western ideal of patterning images and spaces
on the divinely proportioned dimensions of the human body is at the very
foundation of both Classicism and the Neoclassical revival that culminated
at the end of the 19th century. It behooves us to understand that many of the
state capitols or regional banks which grace the village squares of so many
American cities, are patterned along these lines, and that in its proportions
and dimensions each of these structures reflects not only the cultural pecu-
liarities of their times, but also a much more eternal allusion to the human
body as the source for divinely inspired space.
www.alexstark.com
p.48
 Every Body Is A Sacred Mirror
Color photographs of over one hundred nude people, each individually posed
directly facing the viewer, comprise this unusually confronting, and sometimes
arousing, exhibition at MicroCoSM Gallery. The photographs were taken by
the artists, Alex and Allyson Grey, founders of the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors
(CoSM), sponsor of the MicroCoSM Gallery. Each image of a naked
participant is placed within a carefully crafted 12 inch high metal frame
replica of the Sacred Mirrors frames.

Filip Leu Titine Leu

In an extraordinarily courageous offering of trust and vulnerability, 125 men and

women volunteered to contribute the image of their nude bodies for display.
Each participant undressed and posed by standing in front of a black wall in the
Chapel, palms forward, like a figure in the Sacred Mirrors paintings. All ages
(over 18), ethnicities, and body types volunteered to take part in this community
based performance after three full moon ceremonies, held at CoSM each month.
The exhibition “Every Body Is A Sacred Mirror” suggests that we are all
reflections of the divine.
p.49
MicroCoSM Gallery is an exhibition space for visionary and contemporary sacred
art located in the Chelsea gallery district of New York City.  MicroCoSM exhibits
experimental art projects and artworks with a focus on spirit and transformation.
Serving a growing creative community, MicroCoSM Gallery is associated with the
Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, CoSM.
p.50
 All of us know we should not pre-judge others, not judge a book by its cover.
Does this feeling of acceptance apply to people who modify their body beyond what
is normal? Extreme is relative to perception. It is human nature to fear what we do
not understand. What is “normal”? Everyone modifies their body in one form or
another to help show on the outside how they feel on the inside. Wearing a bra or
shaving a beard constitutes body modification, but the stars of the independent
feature “MODIFY” have gone beyond ordinary physical alterations.

The finest most well spoken, talented surgeons, piercers,

tattooists, cutters, body artists, and pioneers of body
modification in the United States, show and tell it all in this
Committed Films motion picture. Starring in this film
are more than thirty of the most amazing
modified people that have ever lived, such as
Fakir Musifar, father of the modern primitive
movement, and the body artists that have
changed them forever. Jason Gary and
Greg Jacobson produced, directed and
wrote this film featured at the Tribeca
Film Festival (among others). They traveled the country
filming more than fifty body modification procedures including
tanning, waxing, piercing, branding, scarification,
genital beading, elective amputations, body building,
tattooing, tongue
splitting, non-surgical
implants, plastic
surgeries, trans-gender
surgeries, and every-
thing in between.

MODIFY explores why these people chose to permanently change their bodies,
their thoughts on the difference between body modification and mutilation, their
feelings on discrimination, addiction, religion, and the legal limits regarding the
right to choose what someone can or cannot do to their own body.

p.51 p.52
 ONE
COSM Benefit Party
Los Angeles, CA, March 2005
­­­COSM, in collaboration
with Kandice and Andrew
Kaos of Kaos Creations and
branches of the Giving Tree,
lovingly organized a Benefit
party in L.A. on March 5th,
2005. It was a wonderful
success! Many old and new
friends got together for a
terrific evening of music,
dance, and performance.
On May 7th 2005,
Gaden Shartse monks
visited CoSM creating a
sand mandala dedicated to
p.53
ART OF COMPASSION
Chapel of Sacred Mirrors
New York City, April 2005
Avalokitesvara, the
Buddha of Active
Compassion.
The evening included
a slide talk by Alex
Grey on the Buddha
of Compassion, an
empowerment
initiation, deep chanting,
ritual dance and a
performance by
Ray Ippolito and the
Waves of Life.
P.54
 2 4
1 3

29
5

6 7 28 30
8 9

10 11

12 13

27 31

15

33

14
16 17

19 26 32

18 12. Eilene Rose & Mike Garger

20 21 13. Vibrata Chromodoris,
Anita BabaVida 34
23
14. Zachariah Gregory, Ajja Leu,
Alex Grey, Daniel Symons 23. Kevin Sachs
22 15. Eve Bradford, 24. Oliver Vernon,
Nikki Scully, Lynzee Dava Linx Zachariah Gregory
16. Sky Bear 25. Andre Bastos,
17. Eli Morgan, Imani Melissa English, Marisa Scirocco
18. Paul Booth, Jarrett DeMartino 26. Kristin Speranza
19. Mark Henson, Alex Grey, 27. Paul & Juliette Crisafi
24 25 Roman Villagrana 28. Chris Longo
1. Andrea Serbonich, John Baxter 20. Marisa Scirocco, Lynzee Dava Linx, 35 29. Marcy & baby Davis
2. Sharon Fulcher Delvin Solkinson 30. Allyson Grey & Eli Morgan
3. JemalWade Hines, Moksha Sommer 21. Dave from Papa Roach 31. Larry Harvey & Alex Grey
4. Tanja Vulin, Eli Morgan 5. Eli Morgan 6. Alex and Allyson Grey 22. Linda Worster, Dan Walters 32. Holly Lane & Evy Boyer
7. Marguerite Barnett 8. Allyson & Alex Grey, Lindy and Richard Grossinger 33. Zena Grey
9. Alex Grey, Andrew Contreras 10. Lisa Lynne 11. Marguerite Barnett 34. Jon Jon & Phillip Leu
P.55 35. Willam Radacinski P.56
 www.galleryinthewoods.com

www.sacredlight.to

Thank you for supporting

www.parashakti.org visionary culture by reading CoSM Journal.
We are all cells in a larger body with our individual parts
to play, working together for the common good to grow and heal.
Remembering this reminds us that we are not separate. We are the
connected body of humanity. If we keep this in our hearts, there are
no strangers, only aspects of ourselves that we have not met.
The mission of CoSM Press is to ignite the transformative meme by
publishing work that connects and inspires us all.
Peace and Unity,
Eli Morgan & Marisa Scirocco