The community gathers around the hole to witness the ritual (figure 1.1)
- This article is about ceremony. For the episode of the same name see "Taking The Stone".
"Taking the Stone" is the general name of a form of ritual suicide practiced by the Clansmen of the Royal Cemetery Planet, and "The Gathering", the ceremony that surrounds it.
While it is not clear if this ritual occurs in other locations, the ceremony and ritual as observed takes place around a deep cylindrical pit, of unknown depth, but perhaps as shallow as 60 meters, (approx. 100 ft.) but likely much deeper. A Clansmen, or Clansmen "initiate" (like Chiana), the ritual participant, steps onto any of a number of stone "piers" that extend over the hole, while the rest of the community gathers around the hole to witness the ritual and participate in the ceremony (figure 1.1). The participant raises both arms over its head with elbows out and bent, with the wrists pointing inwards (figure 1.2). The fingers are splayed wide and contorted, perhaps to mimic agony. The participant bends its knees and takes on a somewhat agressive posture, contorting the face and pointing it upwards, while making a loud, wide vocalization, like a scream. The gathered group members respond, repeating the gestures and vocalization. The ritual participant then throws himself off this projected rock into the pit.
The participant raises both arms over its head (figure 1.2)
At this point the ritual can take one of two forms. The first, the participant decides not to complete the ritual and activates a "sonic net" to catch them before they strike the bottom, and they return to the group to attempt the ritual again at a later date. Aeryn pointed out that this sonic net was a aerial descent technique used by Peacekeepers, but it is unclear if the technique was the same used by Peacekeepers or if it was an analogous technique. In the second form of the ritual, the participant either decides to fall to a noble death or fails to correctly activate the sonic net. In this case the participant dies upon impact with the bottom of the pit.
However, like all cultural expressions, this ritual is based in a larger cultural context.
Analysis & Speculation (non-canon)
On the unforgiving Royal Cemetery Planet high levels of an unnamed form of radiation, in the subterranean network of caves where the Clansmen live, have given rise to two parallel cultures among an unnamed Sebaceanoid species: the Clansmen and the so-called Lost Ones.
The Clansmen are those young people, under the maximum age of 22 cycles who have not yet completed the ritual of "Taking the Stone." They inhabit the network of caves that apparently underlie much of the planet's surface, and where the radiation is the most intense. The Lost Ones are those that have aged past 22 cycles, refused to undergo the said ritual, and have begun to suffer from the negative effects of the radiation, and therefore exiled from the community to the lower levels of the caves.
It is unclear whether the radition levels are lowel or higher in the lower caves, but in either case, the Lost Ones die sooner or later as a result of possibly either radiation poisoning itself or the cancers that likely result thereof. It is also unclear what the eventual life expectancy is for a member of the Lost Ones after they leave the Clansmen.
While little is known about the Clansmen and/or Lost Ones culture apart from what is seen in the episode, (2.03 "Taking The Stone"). It is likely that the ceremonial form of "Taking the Stone" arose as a conscious response to impose a form of order to defy the chaotic ravages of the radiation. This may imply that the arrival of the radiation was rapid, perhaps occurring in the course of a single generation, and that the new ritual was created as a means of defying the feelings of powerlessness that arose as a result of dramatically shortened lifespan. It is also possible that the ceremonial form arose in the midst of a pre-existing culture that addressed the problem of short life-spans in a different way. Without further data, these are only two of many possibilities.
Episode(s)
- (2.03 "Taking The Stone")