Future Rituals

A ritual is conducted in a basement room painted pink and gold. Twelve robed figures are kneeling in the shade of a gigantic rock, their feet tucked into elaborate slabs or wrapped in the thick, leather clothing of a giant cavemen. One arm hangs beneath the statue, a leather pouch that looks like any other. A hand pours a potion from a vial and a voice says, "This is not the time to die."

The ceremony starts with a cleansing of the body's toxins (which include alcohol, caffeine and tobacco).

As soon as the ritual begins a low chanting can be heard. A mirror made of obsidian and glass covers the room. The stone floor is filled with a large quantity of burning wax.

Then the figures, clad in flowing clothes and garlanded with flowers, chant an all-encompassing ritual chanting, "We, the living gods," with a final, mournful lament. Afterward, the spirits, or "nations," who've been called to join the dead, are moved up the pyramid and buried in a "nostalgic mass," which is then covered in rocks. Once all the spirits are buried, the whole pyramid is topped with a layer of golden wax.