Rave Culture and Religion (Routledge Advances in Sociology)

The collection provides insights on developments in post-traditional religiosity (especially 'New Age' and 'Neo-Paganism') through studies of rave's Gnostic narratives of ascensionism and re-enchantment, explorations of the embodied spirituality and millennialist predispositions of dance culture, and investigations of transnational digital-art countercultures manifesting at geographic locations as diverse as Goa, India, and Nevada's Burning Man festival. Contributors examine raving as a new religious or revitalization movement; a powerful locus of sacrifice and transgression; a lived bodily experience; a practice comparable with world entheogenic rituals; and as evidencing a new Orientalism. __Rave Culture and Religion__ will be essential reading for advanced students and academics in the fields of sociology, cultural studies and religious studies. Book Cover Half-Title Title Copyright Contents Illustrations Contributors Foreword Acknowledgements Introduction Book outline Notes Bibliography Part I Techno culture spirituality 1 The difference engine The spiritual ‘rave-o-lution’ Rave ascension Return to the source Techno-communitas and the body electric Hyper-millennialism Techno salvation Conclusion Notes Bibliography 2 Ephemeral spirit Post-industrial spirit Techno trance Sacrificial cyborg Man-machine Communal soul Conclusion Bibliography Discography Part II Dance, rapture and communion 3 Rapturous ruptures Defining evanescence Religion: from disappearance to shifting The ‘accursed share’: Georges Bataille and the necessity of excess Rave as festive ritual Ruptures and transgressions: hastening otherness Cultural ruptures Going elsewhere: intimate ruptures in the festive sphere Consumption Abandonment Conclusion Notes Bibliography 4 ‘Connectedness’ and the rave experience Raves as contemporary techniques of syncretic ritualizing The experience of connectedness at raves Connectedness and the rave experience as collective effervescence/communitas Electricity, exaltation, enthusiasm Embodied, non-rational, emotional Communal and collective Transgressive, levelling and humanizing The rave experience as temporary and utopian Connectedness, sociocultural revitalization and new religious movements Rave as NRM? Conclusion Notes Bibliography 5 The flesh of raving The ‘experience’ of ecstasy: subjectivity and the flight from language The Body-without-Organs: ecstasy and its pleasures The disappearing ego: ecstasy and psychoanalysis Merleau-Ponty and the corporeal schema Perception: the hidden depth of flesh Difference-within-identity: the gnosis of ecstatic flesh Conclusion Notes Bibliography 6 Entheogenic dance ecstasis: cross-cultural contexts Entheogenic rituals Peyote and Huichol community Yaje and Barasana community Eboka and Bwiti community Ceremonial constants Preparation Ritual space and time Music and dance Pharmacological aspects Social relations Conclusion Notes Bibliography Discography 7 The ‘natural high’ ‘Dance drugs’ and raves Attitudes toward drugs: a ‘moral’ code of conduct? Centrality of the music, dance and people Motivations for taking drugs: transformation as an intended outcome A hierarchy of drugs: ‘good’ versus ‘bad’ drugs Ritual, flashbacks and neural tuning MDMA and neural tuning at raves Flashbacks at raves: neural tuning Conclusion Notes Bibliography Part III Music 8 Selecting ritual Writing ritual-ness The spatialization of music Techniques of liminality Dancing passages Conclusion Notes Bibliography 9 Sounds of the London Underground Scene fragmentation It’s a London thing It’s a spiritual thing South London’s Sunday scene Rewind and come again Locked in, locked on Conclusion Bibliography Discography 10 Gamelan, techno-primitivism, and the San Francisco rave scene A return to innocence The will of the Technology Goddess ‘I reached a nirvana/euphoric state sitting right in front of the gamelan...’ Towards the ‘electronic re-tribalization of society’ Conclusion Notes Bibliography Part IV Global tribes 11 Techno millennium Timewave Zero and the Alien Dreamtime CyberTribe Rising: anarcho-spiritual techno-tribalism The Book of RavElations: zippy Eschaton Global trance-formations: children of the sun and moon Casting the Dreamspell Earthdreaming: from the Isle of Albion to the Red Desert Conclusion Notes Bibliography 12 Global Nomads The globalization of digital art-religion Freak ethnoscape: aesthetics, nomadism and spirituality Displaced souls in India: the alternative triangle of Techno and New Age Silicon cage and post-sexualities “Limit-experiences” of digital shamanism and nomadic spirituality Counter-conclusions: flexible economies and subjectivities Notes Bibliography 13 Hedonic tantra Profane illumination Freak transmission Spy in the chai shop Holy Hampi Notes Bibliography 14 Goa trance and trance in Goa Rave studies, poststructuralism and spirituality Goa trance Faces and bodies Smooth striations Chillum ritual and clique formation Sunrise politics Noise pollution Conclusion Notes Bibliography 15 Dancing on common ground Spirit healing Neo-Pagan connections Invasion of the techno-pagans Common ground: post-raves, Burning Man, and Neo-Pagan festivals Conclusions Notes Bibliography Index Part I. Techno Culture Spirituality -- 1. The Difference Engine : Liberation And The Rave Imaginary / Graham St. John -- 2. Ephemeral Spirit : Sacrificial Cyborg And Communal Soul / Hillegonda C. Rietveld -- Part Ii. Dance, Rapture And Communion -- 3. Rapturous Ruptures : The 'instituant' Religious Experience Of Rave / Francois Gauthier -- 4. 'connectedness' And The Rave Experience : Rave As New Religious Movement? / Tim Olaveson -- 5. The Flesh Of Raving : Merleau-ponty And The 'experience' Of Ecstasy / James Landau -- 6. Entheogenic Dance Ecstasis : Cross-cultural Contexts / Des Tramacchi -- 7. The 'natural High' : Altered States, Flashbacks And Neural Tuning At Raves / Melanie Takahashi -- Part Iii. Music : The Techniques Of Sound And Ecstasy -- 8. Selecting Ritual : Djs, Dancers And Liminality In Underground Dance Music / Morgan Gerard -- 9. Sounds Of The London Underground : Gospel Music And Baptist Worship In The Uk Garage Scene / Ciaran O'hagan -- 10. Gamelan, Techno-primitivism, And The San Francisco Rave Scene / Gina Andrea Fatone -- Part Iv. Global Tribes : The Technomadic Counterculture -- 11. Techno Millennium : Dance, Ecology And Future Primitives / Graham St. John -- 12. Global Nomads : Techno And New Age As Transnational Countercultures In Ibiza And Goa / Anthony D'andrea -- 13. Hedonic Tantra : Golden Goa's Trance Transmission / Erik Davis -- 14. Goa Trance And Trance In Goa : Smooth Striations / Arun Saldanha -- 15. Dancing On Common Ground : Exploring The Sacred At Burning Man / Robert V. Kozinets And John F. Sherry, Jr. Edited By Graham St. John. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Rave Culture and Religion explores the role of the technocultural rave in the spiritual life of contemporary youth. Documenting the socio-cultural and religious parameters of rave and post-rave phenomena at various locations around the globe, scholars of contemporary religion, dance ethnologists, sociologists and other cultural observers unravel this significant youth cultural practice. The collection provides insights on developments in post-traditional religiosity (especially 'New Age' and 'Neo-Paganism') through studies of rave's Gnostic narratives of ascensionism and re-enchantment, explorations of the embodied spirituality and millennialist predispositions of dance culture, and investigations of transnational digital-art countercultures manifesting at geographic locations as diverse as Goa, India, and Nevada's Burning Man festival. Contributors examine raving as a new religious or revitalization movement; a powerful locus of sacrifice and transgression; a lived bodily experience; a practice comparable with world entheogenic rituals; and as evidencing a new Orientalism. A range of techno-spiritual developments are explored, including: *'techno-shamanic' DJ technique *techno-primitivism and the sampling of the exotic 'Other' *the influence of gospel music and the Baptist church on garage music *psychedelic trance, ecology and millennialism *psychoactive substance use and neural tuning. Rave Culture and Religion will be essential reading for advanced students and academics in the fields of sociology, cultural studies and religious studies Vast numbers of western youth have attached primary significance to raving and post-rave experiences. This collection of essays explores the socio-cultural and religious dimensions of the rave, 'raving' and rave-derived phenomena.