Lawrence Rubin, psychologist and counseling professor, is co-author with psychiatrist Mike Brody of Messages: Self Help Through Popular Culture. See full bio
In a previous PT blog-post, I challenged you to consider whether body piercing and tattooing are forms of self-expression or self-mutilation. I would now like to focus on an even more fascinating (pop)cultural phenomenon called "body supension." Certainly, it may not be popular in your neck of the cultural woods, but it is nevertheless an increasingly popular phenomenon worthy of consideration.
Body suspension, entails "hanging the human body from (or partially from) hooks pierced through the flesh in various places around the body." It is one form of body modification, which includes tattooing, piercing, scarification, gauging (expanding holes in the earlobes to acommodate increasingly larger rings), subdermal implantation (insertion of objects under the skin such as beads, crosses and horns), nipple and tongue splitting, body branding, ear-shaping...breast implantation, hair replacement and bodybuilding.
With regard to body suspension, those at suspension.org offer a variety of explanations for its appeal. They note, "There are many different reasons to suspend, from pure adrenaline or endorphin rush, to conquering ones fears, to trying to reach a new level of spiritual consciousness and everything in between. In general, people suspend to attain some sort of "experience. Some people are seeking the opportunity to discover a deeper sense of themself and to challenge pre-determined belief systems which may not be true. Some are seeking a right of passage or a spiritual encounter to let go of the fear of not being whole or complete inside their body. Others are looking for control over their body, or seek to prove to themselves that they are more than their bodies, or are not their bodies at all. Others simply seek to explore the unknown.
My first (second hand) experience of body suspension came while watching the 1970 movie "A Man Called Horse" starring Richard Harris as a British aristocrat captured by the Sioux. In the course of his integration into the tribe, he undewent the Sundance Ritual, which involved suspension from eagle talons that pierced his chest. I remember being both shocked and repulsed, and likely scared at a very basic level. Clearly, the powerful significance of the ritual was lost on me; much in the same way a full understanding of the modern-day practice of suspension lies just beyond my reach. I fashion myself quite liberal in my appreciation for the wide array of experiences that we humans concoct to stimulate, challenge, validate, elevate and enrich ourselves. Perhaps, this is the basis for my fascination with all things popular.
So, true to form as a psychologist, pop-culuturist and curious voyeur, I am drawn to this seemingly bizarre practice. Certainly we marvel at the grace and daredevil finesse of the performance artists of Cirque du Soleil, and gasp at those at the circus who swallow flaming swords or dance and controt above our heads suspended by their hair. Why is body suspension any different? Is it just the fact that they also happen to pierce their bodies with multiple high-guage and very very pointy hooks? May we not regard this too as performance art at the most personal level. Would this make the practice less bizarre? Perhaps it is the fact that many who practice body supsension are also tattoed and pierced, and thus 'fringe' people.
What if we consider the possibility that body suspension is a deeply religious experience for some? In fact, there is actually a Church of Body Modification which affirms that "It is our purpose to educate and inspire, to share ideas, and to help each other achieve our dreams...We assert and protect our rights to modify our bodies and to practice our rituals..We believe our bodies belong only to ourselves and are a whole and integrated entity: mind, body, and soul. We maintain we have the right to alter them for spiritual and other reasons. The Church of Body Modification promotes affirmation and growth of a more expansive perspective of our physical and spiritual being."
Fakir Musafar, an advocate of body modification (and as he calls it 'body play') sees the practice as a deeply spiritual act which entails the offering of one's body to deities through suspension (among other methods), and traces the art to ancient rituals dating back thousands of years, and manifest during the Hindu Thaipusam Festival, as well as more recently in the West as the Okipa practice of the Mandan Indians of Missouri. Tales of an English traveler by the name of George Catlin may have given rise to the story of A Man Called Horse noted above. In his writings, Musafar attempts to separate the spiritual practice of suspension from the attention-seeking, ego-driven behavior of some.
Author and journalist Terisa Green, Ph.D. applies the term "modern primitivism" to denote an array of modern-day body modification techniques that trace their origins to ancient societies and cultures and which include tatooing, piercing, suspension and cranial deformation. She notes that these modifications are used for a variety of purposes such as "a visible sign of a rite of passage, protection from evil, medical therapy, marking prisoners, showing allegiance, frightening enemies, creating sex appeal, displaying status and wealth, and even gaining entrance to the afterlife." For Green, these (sometimes radical) modifications of the body represent our species' attempt to transcend the physical, mental and spiritual limitations of the flesh.
So, what shall we conclude about body suspension? A manifestation of Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD)? Self-mutilation? Body decoration? Spiritual ritual? Performance art? Ancient rite of passage? Powerful cultural ritual? Bizarre behavior by a disnfranchised fringe population?
Is body suspension something to be dissected and analyzed by modern psychology or perhaps an ancient act better placed in the province of culutral anthropology? Whichever of these you choose, it is fascinating nevertheless. Take a look.
