O:TVORENO

From the previously horizontal plane of movement, hurriedly the wind raised me vertically this time, which caused a mild disturbance of uncertainty in my chest. While I was rising to the top in light-speed, the dense forests of the conifers seemed to endlessly fall down into the abyss. By the first appearance of the bare pastures that followed, I was again stopped to levitate over the dense darkness of the unnumbered treetops for a moment. It was enough that, accompanied by a mild sense of unclear grief, I noticed a column of people who, as pilgrims with large camping ranks, followed a winding path that lost track somewhere under livid clouds in altitudes.

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Looking at the gloomy whirlpool above me, and the abyss below me, for the first time I felt that I could control the wind, or the direction of my movement. I flew up, into the nest of electrical discharges. I found myself in the void of cloudy space, and I was emptied, not knowing if I was moving at all. Then the clouds began to change colors and shapes: from blue to gray, from gray to white, from white to gold, from gold to sunlight. I stretched out my hands to the light and glittering whiteness blinded me for a moment. I opened my eyes sitting in the air under the clear sky and the rays of the sun, over the golden clouds from which the snow-white peak of the mountain - the tetrahedron was visible.

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Filled with peace, understanding and a strong sense of love in my chest, I woke up with the sun's rays on my own smile in the summer of 2015. From dream within a dream, I was back here, in reality, on the beach. It was the last day of the third stay on the delta of Ada and the day for returning to "civilization". The experience of the island and dwelling has turned into a call of mountain and pilgrimage. The two of us were not even aware that at that moment we were getting into a great idea that we would follow...

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An ancient man, today's Homo Sapiens, declared the mountain a home of gods. Homo Spiritus (Movens) conquered its peak and sky above it.

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"We subtracted ourselves around the Bridge, summed up ourselves in front of the Bridge, divided ourselves under the Bridge, in order to multiply ourselves on the Bridge", echoing the undertakings that Stefan and Luka achieved with their friends and fellow citizens at the O:PEN PLAYGROUND after the festival. While the AΔA counted new members, the powerful call of delta subtly directed the group to Rtanj (Artan), a mountain of perfect pyramidal geometry, which Ser Arthur Clarke called "the navel of the world" and which was attributed to mythical traditions, healing energy and transcendental experiences.

 

The design outcome of the force of nature, or the work of inconceivable mathematical intelligence, makes Rtanj (Artan) proto-architecture, meta-pyramid and the forerunner of the energy generators of ancient Egypt. The experience of dwelling on the delta of Ada is identified with the experience of moving and using the space of the Rtanj pyramid. Creating a campsite, as well as the ancient conquering of the cave, is equated with the path from the camp at the foot of the mountain to the point at the top of the mountain, ie the event of quest and pilgrimage.

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A few days after the workshop, Stefan Radošević, Luka Višnjić, Ana Obradović, Vladica Civrić, Jelena Radošević, Vuk Bradić and Martina Milošević set their camp nearby the „Svetilište (Sanctuary)“ site, at the foot of the mountain, which becomes the home of this group of seven "pilgrims" and the path to the „Šiljak“ peak.

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ROUTE

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1  THE CAMP

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We encamped on a meadow in the middle of a forest, on a small plateau near the old earthen aquifer beside a stream, about 2 to 3 kilometers north-east of the settlement of Rtanj, on the way to Boljevac. This ideal place, one year earlier, was found by Vuk, when we came to Rtanj for the festival, but we were not able to conquer the top of the mountain that had already accepted us. This time we came to revisit it.

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The first day we explored the landscape of the immediate environment, in which wild nature slowly eroded what was left of the "industrial-classicism" buildings of the mining complex that was built by the Minh family, during the thirties of the twentieth century. The first encounter with the "post-apocalyptic" scenery, complemented by the internal energy of the mountain, was a good foundation and an inspiring preparation for tomorrow's ascent.

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​2  THE MINER'S FOUNTAIN

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We got up early and while having breakfast on the grass, we were getting ready to leave. We put the rest of the previous night's camp fire out and gathered at the miner's fountain, on the other (upper) side of the road. Martina had already poured the water for the road. Washed and refreshed, we went down to the settlement, to the beginning of the hiking trail.

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The road to the village, which led through the woods, was occasionally interrupted by these "ancient" stone wellheads, with which once coal miners had tamed the springs of mountain depths. Today, Rtanj is mostly inhabited by old people and the silent echo of a bright, more advanced past. The testimonies were swallowed by ferns, mysteries and distant great truths which are occasionally arosed by Dragoslav Milenkovic Šou (Show), while taking care of the injured Jackal which, in ancient Egypt, was considered to be a guardian of the door between the physical and spiritual world.

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From the village to the top, the first section of the trip was led by two paths, from which we chose the second ( II ), the path of a mild climb.

 

3  RTANJ TEA (Satureja Montana)

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We climbed a narrow path through the forest, rocks and downcast clouds. At the first rest area, under the trunk of the phantasmagorical shape, we met a group of walkers who came back, giving up on climbing. Sensing the rain and storm, they advised us to go back and proceed down to the foothill. The synthesis of the mountain's energy and determination in us spoke the opposite. We continued on, towards another resting place on the flattened meadows above the forest.

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The pyramid of Šiljak (Peak), ripping of the clouds, showed up at another break at which we explored the flora of the mountain planes. Going out to the glade, the view of the sunny distance confirmed that there is no giving up, because the top is waiting for us. While we were resting in front of the serpentine of final slope, Ana collected Rtanj tea (satureja montana), an endemic species of medicinal herbs that grow in places where the energy radiation of Rtanj is diffracted.

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4  THE TOP - "Ladybug Spa"

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We succeeded, we climbed. Above Šiljak - the Peak of Rtanj, the summer sun was shining and the stone remains of the mined chapel, raised by the Minhs long ago, were lying on it. In between, thousands of ladybugs who seemed to have sprung out of the very top, were flying around, gently landing on our bodies.

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We enjoyed this scene and feeling for a long time, which Stefan called "Ladybug Spa", recalling the dream he had on Ada and linking it to events and experiences during the ascent. Barefoot and satisfied, sitting and resting meditatively and contemplatively, between the peak and the large vertical tunnel leading into the womb of the mountain, we were having our own thoughts and mutual conversations between dream and reality, present moment and myth, in the abundance of orgone energy that came from the mystical depths of Artan.

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The feeling of timelessness was interrupted by the wind, indicating a return to the foothill. Each of us, with full heart and in own rhythm, went down, leaving behind the pyramid and legends of its hidden treasure.

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5  THE FIRE  THE SWING

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We warmed up by the fire that Luka set on at our first get-together, after descending from the Pyramid of Rtanj. Gathered around the flame, above the hill for which we later learned that it was called "The Swing", some of us made an alliance and joined the group, taking part in some future venture. At this place and in this symbolic and semantic connection, it is (not) by chance that a new chapter was o:pen which would be shown in a few days.

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After we dried out the clothes and warmed up our bones on the stone tepidarium that we formed over the fire, we left a bit of a glow to breathe under the stone (under the Peak) and went down to high plants.

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Descending through the forest, the group spontaneously split, so some took the same path, while others, following the trail of the walkers they met, chose the first ( I ) path.

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​6  ROSARIUM

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We entered the village and took the opportunity to explore the sights before going to dinner. Special attention was drawn by Rosarium of Greta Minh, as a central place in the former forest park, which was discovered by Jelena during the last year's visit to Rtanj. This building, as the testimony of some ancient civilization, was set about eighty years ago in a place where the peak of the Šiljak's shadow falls during the summer solstice.

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Neglected and unused, Rosarium inspired the intervention in space, by which this place, in one of the following visits, should be O:TVORENO (O:PEN) again.

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Realizing why the descent from the mountain brought us right here, with a vision of the sacral swingville, we continued to the courtyard of the Pioneer House, where the festival program was about to begin soon.

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7  MOUNT OF ARTAN

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We were served with sesame beans from the open-air festival cuisine, where Vladica brought us. A meal, intended for all pilgrims and visitors of that day, strengthened our hungry bodies and gave an energy to our spirit for the upcoming musical content.

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Mount of Artan Festival is an event that supports specific alternative music and "DIY" culture, preaching the cult and mythology of the Rtanj pilgrimage. As such, it represents the final act that encompass and completes our visit and the call of our quest.

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The sounds from the stage at the foot of the mountain were shifting between ambient harmony and controlled disharmony like the onomatopoeia of this space, making us, this place and the ritual we attended complete in terms of content. In the darkness of the night, above the pine trees and under the starry sky, there was a glimpse of Šiljak - the top of Rtanj and its mystical communication with us and the mountains.

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By building pyramids, the ancient people made a connection with the world and the universe, the energy and the divine, whereas for those before them it was the mountain itself and / or the intervention in it. RTANJ (ARTAN) was the receiver of our aspirations and the transmitter of our ideas, O:TVORENO OSMATRALIŠTE (O:PEN WATCHTOWER) to some new peak or deed...

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