In Second Life, your avatar is the vehicle through which you can explore the virtual world. It’s often necessary to have a vehicle to access an alternate space. Sleep is a means to access a dream world; a rocket ship, the vehicle needed to access outer space.
Many religious traditions use ceremonies or sacred objects to connect with the spiritual world. The Hopi Katsinas are beings who live in the spiritual world for half the year and with the Hopi people for the other half, providing moral guidance. Members of Katsina societies learn how to prepare their bodies to be inhabited by the Katsinas during their yearly visits. Runner Katsinas, like the ones on display here, race men to bring rain, much like water races through arroyos following a summer storm.
