Trance Formation : The Spiritual and Religious Dimensions of Global Rave Culture

This text presents a comprehensive exploration of the spiritual and religious dimensions of global rave culture. It provides a study of the rich spiritual subcultures which continue to flourish across the world, from Nevada to London and Berlin. Robin Sylvan combines colorful firsthand accounts, extensive interviews with ravers, and cutting edge scholarly analysis to paint a compelling portrait of global rave culture as an important new religious and spiritual phenomenon that also serves as a template for mapping the future evolution of new forms of religion and spirituality in the twenty-first century. Robin Sylvan combines colorful firsthand accounts, extensive interviews with ravers, and cutting edge scholarly analysis to paint a compelling portrait of global rave culture as an important new religious and spiritual phenomenon that also serves as a template for mapping the future evolution of new forms of religion and spirituality in the twenty-first century Trance Formation is an ethnographically rich look into the spiritual dimensions of rave culture from a theoretically informed religious studies perspective. Robin Sylvan takes the reader on a colorful journey from San Francisco to London, from Burning Man to the Love Parade, and reveals a synaesthetic spiritual world of sound, sight, motion, and deep trance. As religious studies converges on a new understanding of emerging forms of spirituality, Trance Formation will be welcomed by scholars and students, music-lovers and trance-dancers, spiritual seekers and fans of cutting edge culture, as well as the ravers about whom this book is written. The World Pf Raves -- A Brief History Of The Rave Scene -- The Full Spectrum Of Events : From Warehouse Parties And Clubs To Burning Man And The Love Parade -- The Spiritual And Religious Dimensions Of Global Rave Culture -- Trance Formation : The Religious Experience Of Rave -- Techno Tribal Church : The Ritual And Ceremonial Forms Of Rave -- Transformation : Rave Worldview, Rave Spirituality, And Global Rave Culture -- Living Laboratories : Rave Communities And Networks -- Conclusion : Rave New World. Robin Sylvan. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 203-206) And Index.