Post #55722 by Jungle Trader on Sat, Oct 18, 2003 8:26 PM

I met a man recently who wants me to carve a very large "traditional" tiki from a palm tree. He insists it has to be traditional Polynesian style and that's fine with me. I can do it. The part that gets scary for me is, he wants to hire Polynesian dancers and invoke a spirit into the tiki, some kind of ceremony to make the tiki proper. He's a regular white guy. I'm just your average white guy, I don't have a speck of Polynesian blood in me. Born into the Christian faith, I'm pretty leery about doing this. For me it's just a piece of wood. Art at the most, just a tree for cryin' out loud. I carve as a hobby, it's fun and it's neat to see in a nice landscape. I really enjoy TC and the people I've met and the beauty and sharing of the Aloha spirit, but this my friends is crossing over the line. I guess I could carve it and then get the hell out of there.....but he might want me to stick around. I could see it now, he'll want me to carve a cannibal one...meanwhile out back he'll have a very large cauldron of boiling water, if you get my drift....nay seriously brethren....I swear I lost some sleep last night over this. Not much scares me....but this has my knees shakin'.

Your thoughts? (try to be serious)
As it is I've had people ask me how I respond when someone asks me if I consider all of this idol worship. My response is that it is just wood or stone or polymer clay. Just art.

[ Edited by: jungletrader on 2003-10-18 20:37 ]