ChaLICE TO ELEUSIS
Burning Man 2023 | Art Installation
Chalice to Eleusis is a monumental art installation created by House of Fabl for Burning Man 2023. As the grounded counterpart to the Unlocking the Mysteries drone show, the Chalice offered an immersive experience that connected sky and earth through sacred storytelling, ritual symbolism, and architectural form.
Inspired by the Eleusinian Mysteries — a 2,000-year-old, women-led psychedelic mystery cult that once formed the spiritual core of ancient Greece and Rome — the Chalice reawakens sacred stories long buried in the sands of history. These mysteries, locked away in underground chambers and forgotten texts, are now re-emerging to illuminate the balance between chaos and cosmos.
The project draws from the groundbreaking research of Brian Muraresku, author of the New York Times bestseller The Immortality Key, which uncovers the lost use of visionary sacraments in early Western spirituality. In creative collaboration with Muraresku and cultural strategist Christiana Musk, House of Fabl translated these ancient traditions into contemporary visual form — imagining the symbolic rebirth of a collective ritual culture nearly 2,000 years after its collapse.
As the Kykeon spills out its truth to the Playa:
“If you die before you die, you won’t die when you die.”
TEAM
Artists - Hunter Leggitt, Jonathan Berry, & House of Fabl
Fabrication - Featherbuilt & Hunter Leggitt Studio
Lighting - PhotonicBliss / Brian Pinkham
Engineer - Craft Engineering Studio / Carl Fosholt
Build Team - Hunter Leggitt, Jonathan Berry, Hans Valor, Christian Butler, Carl Fosholt
Photos - Nathan McBride, Noah Ray, Brad Bingham, Robert Champion
Video - Brad Bingham, Nathan McBride, Matt Emmi
Timelapse Video - Danny Brown
Special Thanks - Brian Muraresku, Christiana Musk
This year at Burning Man 2023, House of Fabl unveiled its multimedia, immersive storytelling project, consisting of two interconnected artistic experiences. Taking inspiration from the book ‘The Immortality Key’ by Brian Muraresku, and paying homage to an ancient mystery cult, the House’s artists, Hunter Leggitt, Keenan Hock, and Jonathan Berry, in collaboration with Christiana Musk, premiered the large-scale art installation 'Chalice to Eleusis' and showcased its choreographed 1000-drone, 270 M wide Sky Story - “Unlocking the Mysteries,” which took to the skies on Wednesday and Thursday nights. The book’s author was slated to speak at the Chalice during the event along with a curated series of ceremonial experiences, but most were cancelled due to the unforeseen mud storm.
