PAGE TWO; FEATURE

By far the largest and most intensive new area of the Coffeehouse Culture site is the Inner Sanctum. Described on its opening screen as ‘Coffeehouse Culture’s Rest, Relaxation and Re-Creation Zone’, the Inner Sanctum is a multimedia experience like none other. Designed to be a spiritually uplifting experience that combines beautiful moving images of Hindu deities, living saints, mystical figures, real and mystical landscapes and abstract molecular and kaleidoscopic patterns with sounds, musical and otherwise, the Inner Sanctum is the peaceful vibe generator at the centre of our site. And we put just about every bit of our technical expertise (such as it is) into making it a special kind of experience.
...There really is nothing quite like the Inner Sanctum on the web. Although the technology used within the Inner Sanctum is not new, it has rarely if ever been applied within such a context. The Inner Sanctum constitutes what must be one of the few virtual temples on the web. That it is dedicated to expanded consciousness is totally in line with new age rationalisations of what the web is about.
...To create its vibrant, constantly moving images, the Inner Sanctum uses java applets. The web equivalent of self-contained programs, applets are used on the web to control many of the functions we take for granted. Indeed, they are one of the factors that makes the web interactive. Although self-contained, applets are written in the similar language to the javascript that controls so many web operations.
...As well as carrying out utilitarian functions on the web, applets make a constant contribution to the visual aspects of the web. Mouse trails, for example, are often applets (though they can also be produced as part of Flash movies.) It is the impressive graphics capabilities of applets that the Inner Sanctum takes advantage of. Although they are often the least useful, applets that have morphing code written into them can produce some stunning visual effects. It is from these applets that those used in the Inner Sanctum have been selected.
...Although only, maybe, six different applets have been used, they have been configured in a number of ways to produce variations on the experience. Predominating are the famous lake applets. These produce a very realistic illusion of waves on a lake that reflect the image placed above. Depending on the image, they can create a beautiful, quiet vibe that is, indeed, calming and recreative. The images within the Inner Sanctum have been specially selected to carry the viewer away -- up to the Gods, back to nature or into their cellular selves. Other applets used in the Inner Sanctum include Tunnel, Wormhole and Wobbler.
...From the beautiful opening screen, with its somewhat hackneyed rendering of Also Sprach Zarathusa, the much used theme from the movie ‘2001,’ through the foyer with its cloud-borne doors leading to the three interior rooms and beyond, the Inner Sanctum is full of new and exciting graphics and web innovations. The intention is clear. ‘Ease the stresses from your system, ’Put your pieces back together’ and ‘Recharge your spiritual batteries,’ says the scrolling text on the entry page.
...Inside the foyer, against a background of a blue sky, are the three doors offering variations on theexperience. The Celestial Vision Room is, as the floating box that appears when you mouse over the door says, full of ‘Gods and Goddesses, Angels and Devas, Saints and Seers’ -- celestial visions, indeed. For the less vedically-orientated, there are other options. ‘The Living Earth Room’ offers access to this ‘Miraculous Planet’ and to ‘Earth Energies’ within this “Glorious Creation.’ And, just to prove that we are not shipwrecked on Cloud Nine but still hoping to get there, the third door, the Waking Dreams Room, offers access to a ‘Fantasy land’ of ‘Shamanic Visions’ and ‘Hallucinations.’
...Each room opens onto a main menu page offering access to all the pages within with short descriptions of each. Within the Celestial Visions and the Living Earth rooms, access is to the first image in one of six themed groups but the Waking Dreams Rooms offers access to all the fifteen pages within. Each of the fifteen pages each room contains features a different illustration or applet. Each illustration has a designated music track, designed to enhance the visual experience, that plays while it is showing. There is an option to turn off all sounds on every page.
...Options in the Celestial Visions Room include: Vedic Visions, Angels and Devas, Living Saints and Visionary Landscapes. Among the vedic visions offered are the Hindu Trinity of Vishnu, Indra and Shiva standing in lotus flowers, Saraswati riding a white swan, Lord Krishna and, of course, Lord Shiva. Sounds attached to these pages include Pundits chanting the first stanzas of the Rig Veda, a bhajan to Lord Ram, the traditional Shankara Shiva mantra and two evening ragas for flute and sitar. Not all the pages within this room have such an Indian-orientation. For those with more western tastes there are the angels and devas, accompanied by some celestial requiem singing and a gregorian chant, and the beautiful Visionary Landscapes section.
...For those seeking a more ‘back to nature’ experience, the Living Earth Room offers just that. Within this room are a selection of land, sky and sea scapes that ripple with the gifts of Mother Nature. Select from categories such as Dreaming Skies, Island Shores and the Nature of Art or take the ultimate look at this Blue Pearl reflected in a planetary sea and you will be transported into a more restful virtual world. The mainly classical sounds within the Living Earth Room, plus the natural sounds of forest life and the world, create exactly the right ambiance for a quick doze. But not yet. ‘Cause it is time to party.
...The third room is the one we are proudest of. It is certainly the one that gets the plugs in the promos for the Inner Sanctum -- ‘where the angels like to party,’ they say. As we say in the floating box that appears when you mouse over the foyer door, ‘Dream the Dreams’ adding ‘Space Cadets this is for you.’ While this section of the Inner Sanctum might not be ‘The closest you can come to being stoned without smoking this web site,’ the experiences within are certainly the most mind expanding of those available in our virtual temple. From the menu page of animated eyes, you know you are in for something unusual. And the titles of the pages available merely consolidate that impression. How about Liquid Frogs? Or Bloodstream of the Psychedelic Giant? Or the Making of Agate?
...With its morphing organic shapes and spiralling tunnels and plains, this is the room where we leave the lakes behind us. It is, if we say it ourselves, our finest creation. It is in the Waking Dreams Room that we introduce the concept of interactivity with several applets that are user responsive. But, more, it is here that we have the most expansive and obvious representation of the Other World experiences that have been so influential in creating the Coffeehouse Culture concept and site. And, indeed, we still spend time looking at the constantly changing shapes and listening to the new age and other sounds that go with them. Among our particular favourites are several from the cycle called the Mystic Elven Ring. In particular we recommend Hot Lips (watch for the kissing lips,) Liquid Frogs and Undelivered Letters.
...Although Coffeehouse Culture, the newsapaper, may be the core around which the site is built, the Inner Sanctum is there, for what it is worth, as our gift to the internet, the culture and to time-wasters everywhere. Enjoy.

VISIT THE INNER SANCTUM