I n a cavernous dark space lit by many small fires, a young woman, probably 
not much more than a girl, stands on a pedestal naked except for an elaborate 
paint job, or maybe it is a total-body mediatronic tattoo. A crown of leafy 
branches is twined around her head, and she has thick voluminous hair spreading 
to her knees. She is clutching a bouquet of roses to her breast, the thorns 
indenting her flesh. Many people, perhaps thousands, surround her, drumming 
madly, sometimes chanting and singing.