Taranga, the Human Sacrifice

Taranga, the Human Sacrifice

The oral history of the South Pacific Island of Haulaku has been passed down for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years. The story of Taranga is perhaps the most haunting, as its startling effects have endured to this day.
It is said that several hundred years ago, the island suffered a wave of natural disasters. One distant spring, several giant waves destroyed the reef sweeping several men fishing out to sea. Days later, a devastating earthquake hit the island, causing their great temple to crumble, killing many inside. The holy men concluded that these disasters would continue until a human sacrifice was made. In a vision, they saw the chosen one.
Taranga was a young man with extraordinary abilities. He was said to be a swimmer as strong a shark and a warrior as fierce as a scorpion. Taranga accepted this honorable fate with quiet dignity. After a grand celebration, he was led up to the volcano Vanshini by the tribe elders, who witnessed him step off the ledge into the white hot lava. Within one month of the sacrifice, 14 other villagers mysteriously disappeared from the island, following Taranga into the volcano. They left quietly in the night, without warning. In the morning, charred remnants of their personal articles were found on the hot ash rocks near the volcano’s opening.
To this day, one or two villagers disappear each year in a similar manner. It is believed that Taranga visits chosen people in their dreams and invites them into paradise. Because it is considered a great honour to be selected, mothers remove the bells from their children’s shoes at night. The ever growing list of names and personal effects of the self-sacrificed are now kept as sacred artifacts in Halaku’s Grand Temple.

Media: Human ulna and radius, acrylic on wood, flicker light in ceramic candle holder, feathers

Lalazar, the Apprentice (1336-1352)

As a child, Lalazar was witness to his entire family succumbing one by one to the Black Plague. He was raised from the age of 13 by a Priest named Nicodemus. Early on Lalazar came to assist Nicodemus perform the last rites of the countryside’s dwindling population, as the plague raged on into 1349. Nicodemus, glad to have the company of a protégé, would instruct Lalazar in the essentials of righteous living. Lalazar would listen in earnest as his guardian would tell him about the devil’s temptations and the ways in which one could resist them. He described the angels who guided and defended the righteous against these demons so clearly, that the young Lalazar was sure that Nicodemus had seen them himself. Thus, when Lalazar entered the rooms of the dying, he would look into the corners for mist or unusual shadows, indicating the presence of seraphs and demons.
On January 15th, 1350, Lalazar saw very clearly a demon in the form of a decaying corpse holding the hand of a dying 16 year old girl. He did not, however, see the protective angels Nicodemus had described. Lalazar assumed that she had given in to the sinful temptations, and because of this, this demon was waiting for her soul. From that day on, Lalazar saw similar demons waiting in all of the rooms of the dying, of young brides and prostitutes, of simple farmers and wealthy aristocrats. None had the protection of angels, regardless of the Christ-like sacrifices they had made during their lives. Lalazar could not tell Nicodemus what he had seen, for he knew that his observations directly contradicted his most cherished beliefs.
In the fall of 1352, Lalazar saw a demon standing in his own simple room, and he knew would soon know the truth of death entirely. Overwhelmed with sadness, he watched as the last rites were read by Nicodemus. The demon stood beside his bed, his cold hand placed lightly on his shoulder. That night, lost in the feverish ague of the plague, Lalazar told Nicodemus of the demon standing over him. Nicodemus told him quietly that he could also see him, and that he had seen demons many times throughout his life. On the night of November 8th, 1352, Nicodemus watched as Lalazar was lead away by the hand into the darkness. It was at this time, Nicodemus began his revision of the sanctioned steps one must take to prepare for death, a decision that would later cost him his life.

The Human Series Part 1

Horishi Kiku, the Tattoo Artist (1804-1826)

Horishi Kiku knew from the time she was a small girl, that she would practice the art of Japanese body engraving. Her father did not approve of this choice as her life would be closely tied to criminals and prostitutes; however she was determined to follow this path. He reluctantly agreed to set up an apprenticeship with a respected tattoo master, Horimata. The first morning Kiku tattooed her own flesh with designs taken from her master’s book, she knew something was extraordinary about them. She tattooed several swirling clouds, and within moments of the pain easing, the evening sun was blotted out by grey clouds that swirled in a supernatural way. She tattooed several white chrysanthemums onto her ankles and there, within hours white chrysanthemums appeared overflowing her master’s garden. She tattooed koi onto her legs and again, koi appeared in what was a dried up pond outside her window.
Exactly one year after her apprenticeship began, Horimata felt that Kiku was ready and would tattoo his next client. He instructed her to shave her head and wear a bulky robe to hide her female form. She was forbidden to speak to the client, as he would hear her voice. The client came in, took off his shirt, and sat silently as Kiku slowly, with her hands shaking, tattooed the outline a dragon onto his back. The client never returned. Rumours of his mysterious and violent death soon followed. Highly distraught, Kiku could not return to work. Her master beat her, demanding she repay her debt to him and his family for her training. On the night before her 22nd birthday, Kiku tattooed a poisonous snake onto her chest. She died quietly in her sleep that night.

Media: human scapula, acrylic on wood, velvet

Piranha-Hanna, Sideshow Performer (1877-1945)

Piranha-Hanna was born in the darkest jungles of the Amazon basin. She was found around the age of 7 by an American adventurer, swimming alone in piranha infested waters. Finding no native adults to place her with, the American took her home to his wife in New York to raise her as their own. Hanna, later known as Piranha-Hanna, did not adjust well to modern living. She preferred to sleep on the floor covered in leaves she plucked from potted plants, and refused to eat anything other than raw meat. The breaking point came when the American’s wife woke one morning to find Piranha-Hanna had eaten their poodle. As it happened, the Del Ray Traveling Sideshow was on tour through town. The American’s wife packed Piranha-Hanna up and left her under the care of the tattooed woman and the lizard man. At the age of 12, Piranha-Hanna was placed in the sideshow, showed off her marvelous triangular teeth while standing in a small pool filled with live piranhas. To enhance her sideshow act, she became adept at juggling fire and handling the large cats that had grown too old and sleepy to perform. By age 20, Piranha-Hanna had become a major attraction for the circus, not only for her skills as a circus performer, but also for the fact that she had grown to become stunningly beautiful. Dressed in scandalously small outfits, men and women would line up for hours to see her wide green eyes, and sharp animal teeth. Piranha-Hanna retired from the sideshow in 1939.

Media: mandible, shark teeth, piranha mount, acrylic on wood, velvet

Jose Del Fuego, The Sailor (1755-1801)

Born in Portugal, Jose Andres Del Fuego worked aboard the ship d'Allmeida as it traveled from Lisbon to Cape Verde to exchange goods with various Portuguese colonial settlements in the waters off of West Africa. During the night of July 22, 1781, off the coast of Morocco, Jose disappeared from the ship. His crewmates searched the ship for him and soon concluded that he either jumped or had fallen overboard in the night. Three days later, on the morning of July 26, 1781, Jose was discovered soaking wet on the deck, unable to speak. His captain and crewmates surrounded him and attempted to decipher Jose’s story; where he had been and how he had returned. Jose, illiterate, used the water that had formed beneath him, and drew a woman with a fish tail on the deck.
No longer able to work, Jose was taken to live with his mother when the ship returned to Portugal. He remained mute until his death in 1801. He died during the Spanish invasion of his hometown of Olivenza, in what would later be known as the Penisular War.

Media: tibia, acrylic on wood

Nicodemus, The Priest (1302-1358)

Nicodemus, a priest of the Angemont Monastery, ministered to those dying during the Black Plague. In the early days of 1350, while Nicodemus was giving last rights to an older woman, he saw a strange shadow move across her body. From that day forward, dark apparitions became more and more perceptible to him, often seen touching or watching the dying. Being a deeply spiritual man, Nicodemus struggled profoundly with these visions. The demons appeared in all rooms of all fading people, regardless of their outward righteousness. Most disturbing was the demons did not yield to any form of deathbed repentance. It was in this way, Nicodemus came to believe that this was not the way to salvation.

At this time in history there began a cultural interest in the Art of Dying Well. Religious leaders quickly moved to authorize the necessary steps to ensure a ‘good death’. Nicodemus also composed a series of teachings, entitled The Hour Approaches, which set out specific revisions to these sanctioned steps. His guide lightly touched on temptations specific to facing one’s own death. Instead it focused more on prescribed prayers and meditations to resist the 5 temptations one would face during daily life. In this work, Nicodemus spoke with authority on the presence of demons in the death chamber, but did not mention the attendance of angelic guardians. Disturbed by the popularity of Nicodemus’ irreverent ideology, the Arch-bishop called upon him to explain his departure from the traditional Church view. He asked that Nicodemus change his teachings to restore the importance of deathbed repentance, and reestablish the existence of angelic guardians. Nicodemus refused and was sentenced to death for heresy. It was at this time, awaiting death, Nicodemus wrote some of his most famous work, depicting Death as the great equalizer. He, along with several other authors and poets, sparked a poetic movement of a melancholic cult, known as the Danse Macabre.
It is said that on the day of his execution, Nicodemus was seen speaking to some invisible being standing next to him on the gallows. The executioner said that he asked the being if judgment would await him. He then appeared to welcome death with no despair or resistance. He was executed on January 1st, 1358.

Media: human verebrea, acrylic on wood, velvet