Kecak trance ritual

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGXcnWUqV-Y[/youtube]

Kecak dance scene from Baraka

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This is (or was originally) a trance ritual in Balinese Hinduism, and a clip from the movie was played in Alpha Centauri (back when that particular gaming franchise was making some serious art and cultural commentary).

I saw that clip in the game when I was maybe 9 or 10 years old, and it resonated really deeply with me, I think in part because the intense movement of the hands here reminds me a lot of the stereotypy we do as people on the autistic spectrum.

Given the roots and purpose of this ritual, that makes perfect sense. Autistic people resort to stereotypy in order to transcend whatever stimulus they can't cope with, whereas the Balinese are using stereotypy to transcend mundane consciousness for religious purposes.

I'm of the school of thought that autism is primarily an issue of sensory overstimulation, and that our difficulties with socializing are accidental symptoms of our (often dysfunctional) mode of perception. Humanity uses ritual to transcend immersion in a given state of consciousness. In a religious context, it usually means transcending discursive thought in favor of meditative absorption (this is seen in Abrahamic religions as well and is either the purpose or a side effect of liturgy/worship, depending on your point of view). In an autistic context it means the kind of stimming we're all familiar with.

Every time I get excited I think about this dance (even though I don't tend to actually flap my hands anymore as an adult) and I just thought I'd share.

Baraka is one of the most amazing films. I have seen both the modern and older films. STUNNING
Thanks for the post