In electronic music, meditation sessions and musical production merge into the same ritual. Having its origin in meditation, mantras, shamanism, healing frequencies… the idea is to launch a social and spiritual awareness through music.
The artists create their songs from mantras and percussion, often with industrial sounds, combined with unusual vocal developments of a varied spectrum whose repetitions/combinations are ultimately as enveloping as they are suggestive. Even more accompanied by attractive visual samples, be it in their videos or their concerts.
And it is that, after all, between meditation and the most hedonistic, danceable electronic music, perhaps there are not so many differences. Both lead to perhaps comparable territories, one from silence and calm, the other from sound and movement. nonverbal connections. Collective releases. Trance. Awakening of consciousness Transcendental and profound moments.
Each of these experiences—essential and tangible for some, fantasies in themselves for others—that we access at a rave form a tangled web capable of uplifting, purifying, and transforming the human body.
A place of worship
Over the years, and unlike other musical genres, electronic music has managed to become a place of worship for anyone who wants to delve into their own being: hidden demons are repressed there, catharsis is reached in its most sublime and disorder is maneuvered to provoke a new rebirth, a new awakening.
Seen through this prism, music becomes the sacred mantle that covers this space of communion with the raver, the dancer, the listener and the one who contemplates absorbed in his own universe, delving into those records that strengthen the connection of the spirit, the soul and contemplative life with the dance floor.
Electronic music festivals and experimentation with psychoactive substances
Electronic music festivals and experimentation with psychoactive substances share a close, ancient and even obvious relationship. Thanks to their ability to induce altered states of consciousness, both practices have deep roots in human spiritual quests. Which makes us wonder how dance, music, psychedelics and the spiritual are related?
It is no coincidence that virtually all of the world’s ancient civilizations developed some form of indigenous music. Not only that, but it was part of some ritual, which gave it a sacred character.
If we consider the evolutionary evidence between humans and plants, we can understand that music plays a fundamental role in this relationship, since it is a synchronizing agent. This means that, through the frequency of sound vibrations, it is possible to “synchronize” several individuals. In musical terms, getting everyone to dance to the same beat.
And the relationship with plants is similar, since understanding the life cycles of plants as well as the seasons of the year was a fundamental factor around which ancient societies built their practices. Thus, a “dance” with nature was established, since following in its footsteps avoided, for example, planting out of season.
According to anthropology, music has been a recurring tool for shamans. Together dance and shamanism are rooted in an ancient practice whose purpose was not only to have a good weekend but to achieve a connection with the sacred. The concept of entheogenic consciousness refers to this connection.
Similarities: DJ and Shaman
For current times, it is proposed parallels between two figures: the DJ and the shaman. This from the relationship between music and psychoactive substances as consciousness-modifying agents.
A practical way to look at it is to notice how the DJ assumes the role of a priest and how the dancers appear to be worshiping a god. And indeed, many cultures resort to dancing to establish a relationship with their deities. An example of this is the moon dances, in which groups of women gather in Tepoztlán, Morelos, to dance non-stop for four nights in a row. Sound rave to you?
During the worship process (dancing) and with the use of psychoactive substances, people can reach ecstatic states where they come into contact with other forms of consciousness. On the other hand, electronic music festivals are one of the places where people prefer to consume psychoactive substances.
That is not to say that this has the same character as the rites of ancient communities. It is just another way to “reconnect” with the sacred. The rites of passage at these parties and these substances are a practical way to reconnect with a knowledge that has been forgotten.
Otherwise, we begin to see reality in a very simplistic, reductionist way and we eliminate the holistic potential of these experiences. Hence the invitation to live social experiences from myths or worldviews that involve the sacred aspect of reality and are not restricted to reinforcing practices that our paradigm allows.
