Photograph by @JohnStanmeyer Baryo, 50, from Ranupani Village near Bormo, praying to the main deity, Hyang Widi Wasa and the God of the Mountain during the Kasada Ceremonies on Mount Bromo, East Java. Going Back in the Archive — I took this portrait while on the National Geographic assignment, a story I proposed to the magazine called, Volcano Gods. Living in Indonesia at the time, I began working on the mystical elements of how the Indonesian society spiritually interacts with volcanoes or what many consider are the navels, the bellybuttons of the earth. My first time to Mount Bromo was in 1999, ironically also at a sacred Kasada ceremony. On this return years later, I was here for the spirituality that swirls around this gobsmacking volcano once every year under a full moon. Baryo, a Hindu priest and shaman, was deep in trance while incense veiled him on a very cold evening at 7,650 ft (2,329 meters) above sea level, creating an aura that naturally befit an utterly unique religious ceremony. This photograph ran in the January 2008 issue of the magazine, pleased it made it to the final edit as a poetic means to illustrate what is truly one of the more fascinating and beautiful cultures on earth — Indonesia. All my best, John #onassignment @NatGeo @NatGeoCreative #smoke #culture #Bromo #Kasada #MountBormo #volcanospirituality #volcano #Java #EastJava #man #priest #Hindu #Hinduism #Indonesia #amazingculture #volcanogods
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