Anyone who knows me well will tell you that I love subcultures, and the freakier the better. For me, they are exercises in cultural anthropology. I am a big fan of all things National Geographic, for the access it gives me to minute and possibly threatened societies, some of which may teeter on the brink of extinction. How could one not be intrigued by obscure myths and their accompanying rituals? It's the main reason I haunt PBS—for this exposure to the rare and unique.
So, one could imagine my delight as I stumbled upon the odd practice of sun-gazing while channel surfing. "Eat the Sun" is a film made by a man who becomes obsessed with it. Practitioners gradually build up a tolerance to looking at the sun, believing their daily adherence gives them enormous health benefits. The most controversial aspect is a decrease in appetite, then loss of hunger. A particularly shocking account came from an 11-year old girl on a sun-gazer message board, who felt her hunger decline to the point where she stopped eating. Even the least judgmental among us would question that.
It is a fascinating glimpse into a rediscovered subculture. And it seemed fitting to mediate on the sun, with the waning of summer, as we head into our hemispheres' fall and winter orbit through darkness and cold. Also, I skew further away on the scale of sun worshipping, towards the fairness of my naturally born skin tone. Plus, food is far more than simple nourishment to me. It's about family and culture, people gathering in communion, and the art of cooking. But, I loved to gaze at this world of willful disenfranchisement, anyway.
After all, who among us doesn't love a freak show?
Enjoy the fireworks this Monday ;)
