As Above So Below is a piece of an outdoor interactive performance art commissioned to the Young Stovies for Nithraid 2015. The show created by the Mad Jackals, a group of young Dumfries artists, is loosely based on the ideas of Enlightment. It explores the esoteric correspondences of the ‘as above so below’ adage put forward by Hermes Trismegistus and re-worded by Isaac Newton:

[su_quote]Tis true without lying, certain and most true. That which is below is like that which is above and that which is above is like that which is below to do the miracles of one only thing. And as all things have been and arose from one by the meditation of one: so all things have their birth from this one thing by adaptation.[/su_quote]

After an intense collaborative effort and mighty non-linear thinking the jackals came up with a visually stunning piece that featured a platform with two metallic pyramids, a unicorn, rainbow smoke bombs, themselves clad in white as magi or officiants wearing sunglasses, a time capsule and a balloon release.

It is easy to assume that the result might be somewhat eclectic.

But as the figures moved in the wisps of coloured smoke, the transparent fabric of their capes swirled with them creating an illusion of a grand esoteric ceremony unfolding on the banks of the river Nith – the future meeting the past, the cosmic forces joining human spirit and the material echoing the ephemeral.

As Above So Below at Nithraid - the pyramid is delivered and the officiants begin the play
As Above So Below Nithraid 2015 – the pyramid is delivered and the officiants begin the play
Coloured smoke bombs used to create an atmosphere
Coloured smoke bombs used to create an atmosphere
Gossamer wings
Gossamer wings emphasising movement
The platform with the pyramid is carried to the time capsule burial
The platform with the pyramid is carried to the time capsule burial
A symbolic burial of the time capsule
A symbolic burial of the time capsule
Establishing correspondences - "as above so below"
Establishing correspondences – “as above so below”
During the day Doonhamers had a chance to write down some messages on the cards anonymously. These were attached to the white balloons
During the day Doonhamers had a chance to write down some messages on the cards anonymously. These were attached to the white balloons
Young Stovies
Young Stovies
Young performers of As Above So Below
Young performers of As Above So Below
Carrying a balloon with an attached wish card
Carrying a balloon with an attached wish card
Balloons with peoples' wishes releases into the sky
Balloons with wishes released into the sky
Ivor Gott, one of the creators of the show
Ivor Gott, one of creative minds behind the show concepts
Emerging in the smoke to complete the ceremony
Emerging in the smoke to complete the ceremony

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