The following is a recount of a cheek skewering done by a professional body piercer/modification artist. I hope that this recount of my experience will offer an insight into an age-old ritual that has been trans-culturized to fit the needs of our modern 'sub-society'. I genuinely hope that someone reading this will go on to discover something in life that they may have otherwise missed out on had they not read this. I must also ad that one should always be aware of risks and go to an experienced profession for any procedure.
At A Glance Author pseudon Contact pseudorequiemfordivinity@graffiti.net IAM pseudon When It just happened Artist Jason Odd Studio Modern Epic Location Hood River For a little over a month Jason, my piercer, and I had been talking about different ritualistic procedures (suspensions, kavadi, etc.). I had been doing a lot of reading on different rituals and figured that doing a cheek skewer was within Jason and mine's capabilities and readiness. After several chats through email and phone we decided that we could do it as soon as he got back from the APP convention and had some spare time to make the jewelry. So we loosely made plans to do it on the weekend of the 15th knowing that something could come up and mess up the plan.
I showed up to the shop that day just like any other time I have shown up there. I greeted Jason and we chatted for a while as I looked at the goodies he brought back from the convention in Vegas, looked at the skewers he had made, and discussed various events, irrelevant topics, and the cheek skewering for a while. No one was around besides us and it had apparently been a slow day so it seemed like a good time to go ahead and do the skewering. Being able to do this without interruption would be a definite plus.
The skewers we were going to use were hand made by Jason through out the week before. They were about 6 inches long, 12g, and had rounded off tip as opposed to sharpening the skewer and using it to pierce. They were exactly what I was hoping for.
As he went through the normal prepping we chatted some more. Nothing too special, but now it was time to get down to business.
With everything set out and ready to go he clamped the right cheek. A quick check for any interfering anatomical issues, deep breath in... and out... as the needle passed through I instantly felt the endorphin flow. That was a little unusual as it usually takes a minute for me to notice its effects. Next one, same as always, deep breath in... and out... more endorphin but not as interesting as the first. It definitely felt good though. He ran the skewer through and it was time for pics.
'Click', "Ok open up for this one", and 'click'. With pictures done it was time to take a look for myself...
As I looked in the mirror everything stopped, it was like nothing I have every felt. In that instant all of time stood still while at the same time rushing past me at unimaginable speeds. The feeling was one of completeness, oneness... like I'd never experienced before. I'm not sure how to explain it but in the following hours I felt as if I had completed some divine event determined to happen by pre-ordained fate. It was if I had to do this even though I didn't realize until after words. Deja vu overwhelmed me several times as if this had already happened and I was just reliving a past experience.
This was more than I had even expected. It was no 'white light' experience as Fakir describes about his O-kee-pa, but it was way more than I even thought was possible from some thing so minor as a cheek skewer. I showed up expecting a 'fix' (if you will, me being some what masochistic) and left touched in a way I hadn't expected.
After around 30 minutes of talking, 'relaxing', and just enjoying the state of being it was time to take the skewer out. Jason washed and prepped again and took it out. He handed me the mouthwash and as I went to rinse... right out the holes it came. A quick laugh about it and then clean up. Pressure, gauze, saline, pressure, gauze, and some med-tape to cover the holes. Everything went as well as could have been hoped.
I hung around the shop for a while and chatted. I didn't let on to anybody but the heightened state continued for hours after the procedure and has given me a new flame in my journey on this path through life.
This experience has truly effected me in a way that I was totally unprepared for and hadn't even set out to reach as of yet. I urge anyone who is even considering doing any ritualistic form of modification to do as much research as they can stand to do. If I had I think that I could have directed the event to an even more enlightening state.