If you’ve been to a rave, you know.
There is just something about the dance floor that immediately feels like home.
It’s in the way the crowd immediately opens up and makes room for you. The way you immediately feel you are part of something real, something so much bigger than yourself. It’s in these moments we lose ourselves. We let go of ego and we transcend the higher plane the music delivers us to, together.
Sometimes when I’m at the gym, or on a long walk, and the right song hits I can close my eyes and transport myself back. Suddenly, I’m on the dance floor surrounded by love and light. The breeze is whispering against my skin as I dance and I hug my rave pashmina just a little tighter around me. My smile almost splits my face at the seams.
These moments have set me free.
I always think of this classic track by Jamie Antonelli. You know the one. It’s what Pete Tong plays at the start of every Essential Mix.
Last night I had a vision of a disco in the sky
I saw angels and saints dancing together, like a mystical dream inside of my mind, but I remembered to move, I remembered that groove
I remember the thump of the bass and the pump of the kick
Because my heart was almost out my body and I felt free, I felt joy, I felt things I never thought I’d feel before
It was deep, it was soulful, it was techno, it was disco
A kaleidoscope of sounds, it was truly underground
It was an essential mix in the clouds, where we could dance and sing out loud, and everybody loved everybody else
There was no hurt, there was no sorrow, there was no pain
And like children we danced and we laughed, and we played without a care in the world
Without a flicker of despair, it was all about house music
It was that thing that we shared
A tribal feast of rhythm, a ceremony of sound in my mind
I must of went to house heaven… because nothing is that divine
If you haven’t been to a rave before maybe you don’t understand. But I swear just a few minutes and the beat will ensnare your senses. You’ll find yourself dancing with abandon. A deep sense of acceptance will wash over you. Even if you didn’t expect it, suddenly you’ll feel like you belong.
What is this phenomenon?
As humans we are all very attached to the identity we have crafted for ourselves. This is our ego. It comes from the conscious part of the psyche. It is what drives us to go to work. Our ego protects us. It helps us make decisions. It also can isolate us and make us feel alone.
Our unconscious psyche is what we access in our dreams. Our hopes and fears are all intrinsically tied up between our ego and our unconscious psyche. The unconscious psyche holds all the lessons you’ve learned, the mistakes you’ve made. This is the part of you that may suppress whomever you hope to become.
When we go beyond our unconscious psyche we are able to tap into something greater: the collective unconscious psyche. This is the part of our brains, or our souls if you want to get really deep, which controls our instincts. These instincts aren’t unique or personal. They are true for all mankind regardless of race, gender, sexuality, where we live, or what we do.
It is this instinct from our collective unconscious which allows us to fall into the trance state.
When our body begins to move in time with the beat, and the second and third rhythms come in, we begin to drift away. As we dance and move to the beat we fall into a trance state. Here we lose our sense of self. We reach a state of egolessness through the music, through the movement, through those around us, as we collectively transcend.
This is not a phenomenon only associated with those of us who consciously choose to attend raves. The desire to lose ourselves in the trance state has roots in the collective unconscious of every single human being on earth.
Peace. Love. Unity. Respect.
When we move into this trance state we connect on a deep, human level. It’s so different from the place we connect in our day to day life. At the rave we can be whoever we want. We can dress however we want. We can transcend the person we have to be and become the person we want to be. We are part of something so big and so beautiful we can’t help but to spread that love wherever we go.
That’s why you’ll see us sharing kandi with our secret handshake. If it’s your first rave someone will inevitably find you and teach you; because you have transcended now. You are a part of something bigger than yourself.
Welcome home.
