What ensues is the surreal reincarnation of the sinners.

The sinners go through the funerary rights that mark the end of their past lives. Unlike in the Christian tradition, which promotes the immortality of the soul, “The Alchemist” has each member of the group burn their money and effigies of themselves as a representation of the Buddhist understanding of rebirth. Once finished effacing themselves, the sinners are born anew.

Jodorowsky’s work centers on the existential question of whether man can change. “The Thief” refuses to abide by this self-effacing activity, which Jodorowsky then uses to demonstrate the internal corruption of Christianity — particularly that of the Church and the common adherent. At his journey’s end, he is the only character who gives up the search for the “Holy Mountain,” instead opting to return to Earth.

The other characters suffer a fate that is far more sinister. The Holy Mountain was never a source of enlightenment, nor was it a way to wipe the slate clean. Seated at a roundtable with Jodorowsky’s character, they are forced to consider their past deeds.