Purification is a concept that has troubled me since I started doing Shibari.
From the beginning I never connected with the idea of rope as punishment. So at first I thought my practice was not about purification, since the person I tie has not done anything that needs cleansing. But still, I felt there was more to it.
Then I wondered if purification was about myself. This felt meaningful, because often I see Shibari done in ways that feel wrong to me, as if the people receiving the ropes were reduced to a tool, an object for a purpose and not a purpose themselves. Maybe the person being tied was not the criminal, maybe the criminal was me. Or maybe purification was about preventing a crime altogether. But over time I realized this was not true. Nothing dark was happening. And still, this idea of purification kept asking for my attention.
Only recently have I begun to understand what purification means to me. It has been one of the most rewarding contemplations in my journey, and I hope to share it when I can give it the clarity it deserves. For now, I keep reflecting on it while I tie, whether in performances or in private sessions. The other night I felt it strongly and I wrote a poem. Perhaps the poem can say better than myself what I am trying to express.
Have you been purified?
a drilling echo
with no source.
Have you been purified?
an image
dissolves in a mirror.
Have you been purified?
a hand
with no touch.
Have you been purified?
Note that in Japanese this discussion because a bit deeper because of the concept of 祓う. This is what I try to leave for later.
Thank you for giving me your attention,
Pablo