The Two Spirit Sweat Lodge will facilitate a private Sweat Lodge Ceremony for us. The Sweat Lodge forms part of the ceremonial life of many First Nations. Sweats may be conducted as a preliminary to other activities, such as a fast or may also be done for healing. The purpose behind all of these, however, is simple spiritual cleansing. This Sweat Lodge is planned in preparation for the Spirit + Flesh Hook Pull happening on August 28th. The lodge is designed to provide a safe, sacred place where the participants can concentrate on their intent for the ceremony. These spiritual intents occur through the heating of sacred stones that our in the Sweat Lodge and receive blessed water on them to create steam.

Sweat Lodge Date and Time: Friday Evening, August 20, 2010. Location: North Vancouver (address to be sent to registered participants Fee: by donation to the Two Spirit Lodge on August 20, 2010.

Elwood’s Body Modification will be holding our annual Spirit + Flesh Hook Pull. This incredible spiritual ritual provides a safe space to explore yourself, the universe, and your connections with others. Spirit + Flesh is a ritual began by Fakir Musafar (the undisputed father of the Modern Primitives movement) seated in the history of body modification, pulling elements from piercing rituals from around the world such as Chidi Mari, Thaipusam, and the Sun Dance. This ritual involves piercing the flesh and pulling on it to reach an ecstatic state. He called this ritual “Spirit + Flesh”. This is the form of the ritual that we are carrying on today. It is a flesh hook energy pull, where participants will be pierced in a ritual setting, with a sterile needle and hooks on either side of the heart chakra attached to a rope. The rope is then attached to an immovable object or another person and the participant pulls from the piercing, feeling the energy of everything around them. This ritual can be used to celebrate a passage, mourn a loss, heal old wounds, explore one's self, connect with a partner and connect with a higher power or any other purpose that suits you. This ritual is about you, and every other person who is part of this and making it happen. Connections are made that will never be severed with distance and time. This is the kind of activity that creates Tribe. The piercing will be done by Elwood’s Body Modification piercing staff. We are looking for people who would like to drum during the ritual, if you know someone who may want to join us to drum this day, please pass their contact info to Louise (see email below).

Spirit + Flesh Hook Pull Date and Time: Saturday, August 28, 2010 Location: Lower Mainland (address to be sent to registered participants) Fee: 100$ for participants 15$ for witnesses/support people on August 28, 2010

To register or for more information, contact: Louise at louise@elwoodsbodymod.com