Shamanic Sequences: Gateways between the Corporeal, Virtual and Spiritual Realms

Abstract

This thesis explores the multi-dimensional aspects of space by engaging three primary “modes of knowing”: the corporeal, the virtual and the spiritual. The crossings of these modes are investigated through the development of three characters in a film; Kira is the earth-worshipping goddess; Kisho is the cyborg, a permanently uploaded information-seeker; and the Shaman is a shape-shifting lightworker. These characters evolve from the distillation of specific readings related to each of the aforementioned modes as well as from interviews and experiences that assist in their development. These readings range from Novalis and Ashley Montagu on corporeal knowledge, Donna Harraway and Neil Spiller on technologically enhanced trans-human states and Fritjof Capra and Alex Grey on the intersection of ancient mystical teaching with recent findings in quantum physics. This exploration is followed by the design portion of the thesis: a short film where each character occupies a separate world in the dystopian future. The radical and regenerative possibilities of their crossings are what the film initiates.