We welcome everyone at Dragon Sanctuary sim where we proudly present an art installation by Viktor Savior and Orpheus Paxlapis as a tribute to Paulo Coelho's book "Pilgrimage".
In my blog I use Viktor's opening speech and parts for Art Installation's Tour.
Viktor: "This is a book about a Journey, about Simple things and Wisdom which we can find following the Road of Santiago in Spain. This ancient route exists in Real Life as well, on the North of Spain and a part of it being in France, and many pilgrims do this journey every year."
Viktor: "The Camino de Santiago, also known in English as "the Way of St James" is 582 miles long (937 Km) over hilly terrain. This northern trek typically takes 30-35 days for the seasoned hiker to walk from start to end.
Sure, this journey would be better done in RL but we understand that under major life's circumstances we all have over the world, it's very complicated.
We would like to offer an Experience for people to follow this road - The Road of Santiago in virtual, learning, reading, feeling every part of this way as it's possible in SL.
This is not an art exhibit. This is not for quick running through. This is isn't either RP or something, though it has similar points with interconnection.
We could name it as a Visual Experience. Where you are a part of this installation, part of the story, living, reading, connecting with other people or being alone inside it.
Everyone is free to choose its own way to go through this experience. We just offer our vision."
Viktor: "At the Entrance you may find general info about Paulo Coelho and virtual project in Rus/Eng/Spa languages, also the logos and LMS of co-contributors and places we took photos. Ther is also a "Road of Santiago" Group joiner for those who wish to have a bigger experience and communication about this book. In the info there are also links to PDF files of the book for personal reading."
Viktor:"The installation consists of 15 interconnected rooms-chapters with a path each visitor can follow, decorated according to each chapter of the book. There are photos we took as illustrations inside this virtual world, quotes from chapters and exercises, and the rooms have animated items that visitors can use to get a more complete experience.
At the end of the whole journey, the visitors will get the feeling of have lived inside the book, the incentive to read it, study it, understand it and, of course, receive their Sword as a real object to keep as a memory.
SPECIAL THANKS: 10 people contributed to this installation from Greece, Russia, USA, Mexico, Ukraine, Japan, France."
If you wish to make your personal journey over this book or have a guide, you may join our group ROAD OF SANTIAGO
secondlife:///app/group/38b9433e-9d59-4e3d-051b-51557993c868/about
In the real life, the strange road of Santiago, the most popular route (which gets very crowded in mid-summer) is the Camino Francés which stretches 825 km (nearly 500 miles) from St. Jean-Pied-du-Port near Biarritz in France to Santiago, taking around 20-30 days to complete. SL this road is shorter to do. And for me, it is a pleasure to be a guide in this wonderful work of art. I hope you enjoy the experience that these two great artists, Viktor and Orpheus, allow us to live. Let's all together follow the path through 15 rooms/chapters, and together we can view the spiritual exercises along the way, the scallops offering animation for a better experience.
BEGINNING
The Pilgrim is a true novel with a style of self-exploration, where Paulo tries to express to us through his journey through the Path of Santiago and the experiences lived, the need we all have to find our path in life, to give real meaning to it, to be better as people and to find a greater spiritual advancement though walking on the road of the simple people and with the spiritual exercises.
The Pilgrim is a story that Paulo tells in the first person. The story begins with himself, in an initiation ceremony as a master and knight of a magical order known as RAM and.. he loses his Sword, which he will have to find during his journey.
Throughout the installation that Viktor Savior and Orpheus Paxlapis have prepared for us, we will find different exercises that we can practice. The indications of the exercises are on a column. You will also find a photo that reflects the synthesis of the chapter and a small postcard next to it that you can take for free.
Chapter 1
THE ARRIVAL
Paulo Coelho, played by Orpheus Paxlapis, travels from Brazil to France to begin his journey along the Road to Santiago.
In France, our protagonist meets Madame Lawrence who gives him a pilgrime's symbols for the best way and gives him the necessary indications to meet Petrus, embodied in this work by Viktor Savior, who will be his spiritual guide during the whole journey.
Chapter 2
SAINT JEAN PIED DE PORT
Once he meets Petrus the one who will be his guide on the Camino, which got just in time to get Paulo away from a personal Devil that manifested his presence. Paulo and Petrus walk through the Pyrenees for 7 days. During this time Paulo performs the exercise of the Seed, which I invite you to do in this room.
Here you can practice the exercise of the seed, which you will find perfectly explained in the notes on the column and which you can do by sitting on the scallops placed on the mats. The first exercises of the 11 total we will find.
During the exercise on the seventh day, Petrus' anger is unleashed. They have taken 7 days to do a path that is done in 1 day because they have been going around and Paulo has not realized it since he was more aware of the goal (recovering his sword) than the path.
Chapter 3
THE CREATOR AND THE CREATED
In this chapter Petrus teaches Paulo to observe the moment of NOW to be present in what he does at every moment, to be aware of what he lives, and to enjoy it. To find within what we are used to every day the miracles that we do not manage to see through routine and for this he uses the exercise of speed, which of course I invite you to try yourself. How easy it is avoiding to see so many details and senses we have taken for granted instead of appreciating the now more.
Chapter 4
THE CRUELTY
We now move on to Cruelty chapter. Here Petrus talks to Paulo about dreams and the importance of these, not the dreams we have when we sleep, but the dreams we all want to achieve in our lives and how important it is that when a dream is frustrated it is essential to keep dreaming and explains the three reasons why we sometimes give up on our dreams.
The first symptom is the lack of time when we complain that the day is too short. The second symptom is our certainties, we assume we are wise, just, and correct with the little we ask of life. The third and last symptom is peace, life, for now, does not ask colossal things of us, we put aside the fantasies of childhood.
Even so, in the depths of our hearts, we understand that we have given up fighting for our dreams, to fight the Right Fight. Here Petrus gives Paulo the golden pin and explains the exercise of cruelty as a means of being generous with our dreams and self-aware.
Chapter 5
THE MESSENGER
Here, by the Queen's Bridge, Paulo is tempted by his demon, through a ball and a boy, who uses three ways to tempt him: with a threat, with promises, and by showing the weak side of using a child to tempt him. Paulo emerges victorious from this special "combat".
At that moment Petrus tells him that it is time to call back his demon because the only way to deal with him is to accept him as a friend, listening to his advice, but never letting him impose the rules, for that is a requirement, first, that he knows what he wants, and then that he knows his face and his name.
This personal demon is the messenger. Petrus explains how to call him through the Ritual of the Messenger.
Chapter 6
THE LOVE
Their next stop is in an inn they take a rest, hearing about a weird rumor that is about an old lady who, because of a curse a gypsy told, has ended up living in solitude away from the rest of the village. Petrus and Paulo decide to visit the old lady.
In this part of the journey, Paulo has a difficult encounter with a dog that at first seems docile. The animal hypnotizes Paulo who begins to feel strange things inside him and to speak in a language unknown to him. After the dog's attack, Paulo is overwhelmed by love. It is time for him to learn a new practice: the water exercise.
Chapter 7
THE MARRIAGE
Once in Logroño, they find this village getting ready to celebrate the wedding of the local Mayor's daughter, which is a big social event. Petrus invites Paulo to take a break from the road and join the celebrations.
Here Petrus explains to Paulo the three faces of love. Petrus and Paulo join the party and enjoy the fun and joy of the bride and groom. In the middle of the party, Paulo understands that the practices of RAM only make sense if they are performed by the same person. Petrus gets drunk and is up to Paulo to take him to the hotel. This time Petrus for a while is not a guide anymore but one more simple human like any other.
In this part of our tour, there is no RAM exercise, however, there can be an exercise of reflection on love, wisdom, or the transmission of the teachings.
Chapter 8
THE ENTHUSIASM
Continuing on their way Petrus and Paulo arrive at a ruined hermitage of a long friend of Petrus that used to live there. Here Petrus talks to Paulo about Agape: absolute affection and to experience this Petrus tells Paulo to perform the Blue Sphere Ritual. This is one of the rare times the guide can join an exercise with pilgrim.
After performing it, Paulo feels reborn. Agape is the enthusiasm, the love is all encompassing that we lived as children and that little by little we lose throughout our life making us feel that we lose the real meaning of our life. Agape is what Paulo felt after his encounter with the dog.
This ritual can be done alone or in a group, I invite you to go inside the blue sphere to feel again the enthusiasm of our childhood.
Chapter 9
THE DEATH
Under the mood of the Blue Sphere still, Paulo has a feeling of a presence on the road. At the start, he does not understand if it is real or not, but he notices a nun passing by them. This vision is a manifest of a past soul walking on the road of Santiago and at the same time, it is a good omen that fills Paulo with confidence to continue.
As we can see in the photograph, during this part of the path Paulo feels a strange presence that he wants to run away from, however, Petrus stops him and tells him that he has to face it. When Paulo turns around he sees the dog again. Fear grips his body until a silhouette crosses between the dog and Paulo, that presence calms him and the dog flees the place.
Petrus then explains to him that his fear caused him more damage than the dog and that when fighting the Good Fight one must never forget that attacking or fleeing is part of the fight, what is not part of the fight is to remain paralyzed with fear.
To help him fight this fear, Petrus tells Paulo to perform the practice of death through the exercise of burying himself alive. While Paulo performs this practice, Petrus continues the Way to Santo Domingo hotel waiting for Paulo to finish his exercise at his own pace. Facing his morality.
Chapter 10
PERSONAL VICES
Petrus invites Paulus to stop and pray for the only thing that can defeat a pilgrim when he seeks his Sword: personal vices.
Here we can take a short stop to offer a prayer in order to get stronger to continue our way.
Chapter 11
THE CONQUEST
Petrus challenges Paolo to climb a seemingly impossible waterfall. Paulo refuses, but Petrus makes the climb before him, proving to him that it is possible. Paulo crosses the waterfall and manages to climb up to his guide.
Here is an example that the teacher can only show the way and prove by his own example that the task is possible. And the student must go through this road on his own.
After showing him that even impossible problems have a solution, he teaches him The Breath of RAM, which they can practice next to these stones.
Chapter 12
THE MADNESS
We are in Foncebadón, here Petrus teaches Paulo the exercise of the shadows so that he learns to discern the good decisions from the wrong ones.
Again, in this chapter, the dog comes one last time, looking for Paulo to defeat him. And at this moment, when Paulo has to face him, he can no longer avoid this battle. Putting aside his fears and facing his demons, it is up to Paulo to defeat them. Although the victory came at too high a price, he could hardly continue on the pilgrim road.
Chapter 13
COMMAND AND OBEDIENCE
In this chapter, it is important to know how to listen.
A person who does not know how to listen cannot receive the advice that life gives us at every moment. Petrus teaches Paulo the Exercise of Hearing, which would help him to make the right decision.
Here Obedience is not meaning a blind following to the one who is giving the task or command. It is about listening to what is told and being up to everyone to put in their thoughts before taking any action.
After this Petrus asks Paulo to lift a fallen cross on the ground. Paulo tries his best, fighting against the pain of the wounds he got from the fight with the dog, but he cannot lift the cross until he remembers the Exercise of the Shadows: The wrong solution will tell you the right one. Remembering the exercise of the Seed helps him to achieve his goal by finally lifting the cross.
Chapter 14
THE TRADITION
The path is almost about to end and Petrus says goodbye to Paulo, who has to make the rest of the way alone as the duty of Petrus being a guide Paulo is over.
Petrus asks Paulo to perform the RAM Breath exercise again and reveals to him the secret of the path: If he finds his sword he will have to teach the Path to someone else to find all the answers inside his heart. After that, he teaches him the Dance Exercise, which he must perform the next day, and disappears.
The next day Paulo arrives at the meeting place and performs the dance surrounded by Templar knights, one of whom was Petrus. But at the end of the ritual, Paulo still does not know the secret of his sword.
Chapter 15
EL CEBRERO
Paulo continues his journey in solitude without discovering the secret of his Sword until suddenly something explodes inside him and he realizes that all the way the only thing he had done was to try to find out where his Sword was, but he had never asked himself why he needed it and why he wanted to find it.
He has just discovered the secret of his Sword: When someone wants something, he has to be very clear about the purpose for which he wants it.
Paulo continued on his way until he reached a fog that enveloped everything. Inside him, he heard an voice of a woman telling him that he had to go ahead.
Heeding this voice and guided by a lamb, Paulo arrives at a old chapel in El Cebreiro. When Paulo enters the hermitage he finds his Master there with his Sword. Paulo was already worthy of his sword because he knew what he had to do with it.
ENDING OF JOURNEY
We hope you enjoyed this journey as a personal interpretation from Victor Savior and Orpheus Paxlapis. And you were able to understand the meaning that Paulo Coelho wanted to convey to us through the story of his personal experience in the book "Pilgrimage".
We invite you to make your personal journey along the Santiago Road through this installation (or other places in the SL) and practice all the exercises.
Along with your personal Sword you get a Ticket to go back home, to modern world. You can get to the exit through this teleport. Thank you for being with us till the end of this strange journey along the Road of Santiago.
PILGRIMAGE at Dragon Sanctuary