“For the shaman, art allows one to attain some degree of control over the unknown and mysterious forces that structure our world.” (Halifax, 10)
I experience the art of ecstasy as Mircea Eliade defines it in his book, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy — to stand outside of oneself without ceasing to be oneself. My ritual necessity is exploring the power of storytelling through music and dancing, by bringing people together. “Dance and trance were surely central to early shamanism, as they are to the continuing practice of this art of ecstasy” (Halifax, 6). I aim to re-establish the mythical unity of Paradise through a flow state. My intention is to see the form and destiny of the collective soul, and relay it with compassion and acceptance to the people. I relay the sacred form of universal connectedness through attention to the personal; a co-dependency towards reality beyond the plane — enter the flow state.
I recently re-visited the compositions of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier and found the subtle nuances of modern expression that his pieces were evoking. Although I grew up listening to these pieces and playing them with absolute familiarity, I never truly understood the divine beauty of his works. It’s a modern expression for what is infinite and eternally present: the archaic remnants of the Angel. Bach used mathematical algorithms and inversions to express the abstract concept of ‘God’, or the God archetype that has been embedded into our culture for centuries. It reminded me of the common phrase sung in church, “Let us proclaim the mystery of faith.” It was the role of religion to protect and help us understand the “mystery that symbols present” (Jung, 94), which has been overtaken by a secular shift towards “world-wide disorientation and dissociation” or what we call “rationalism.” Rationalism, emphasizing reason and empirical evidence, tends to dismiss or neglect the importance of symbolic expressions that have historically provided a sense of order and meaning. In this increasingly secular landscape, a modern shaman must find the delicate balance between the realm of chaos (the limen) and the function of order through the power of the World Tree and “communion with the world of spirits and creatures” (Halifax, 4). The concept of the limen, representing the threshold between chaos and order, becomes crucial. The shaman, akin to Bach in a different context, must now grapple with a world that has lost its grounding in traditional symbols and archetypes. The power of the World Tree, a symbol deeply rooted in various mythologies, becomes a tool for the shaman to reconnect with a sense of order and commune with the intangible world of spirits and creatures. However, in Aboriginal Men Of High Degree by Elkin, he derives that there is no such thing as complete chaos, “absolute absence of structure, or pure randomness: if there were, we would be unable to perceive it at all, because it would have no form or color to understand.” (Elkin, 94).
In the realm of electronic music, the DJ stands as a modern-day shaman, navigating the liminal space between chaos and order, acting as a conduit for the collective spirit of the dancefloor. The dance floor becomes a sacred space, a contemporary altar where the DJ, like a shamanic figure, orchestrates a journey of sonic exploration and communal transcendence. Drawing inspiration from the ancient traditions of dance and trance, the DJ channels the energy of the crowd into a transformative experience, creating a collective consciousness that transcends the individual. The dance floor, much like the sacred rituals of old, becomes a space where participants lose themselves in the music, standing outside of their everyday selves without ceasing to be who they are. In this ecstatic state, the DJ becomes a storyteller, weaving a narrative through carefully selected tracks that guide the dancers on a spiritual journey. Moreover, the role of the DJ as an expression of duende is a fascinating exploration into the depths of artistic authenticity, emotional intensity, and the driving force of spontaneous creation. Duende, a concept famously introduced by the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca, refers to an elusive and mysterious force that gives art its raw and authentic emotional power. It is often associated with flamenco, but its essence transcends genres, finding a profound resonance in the world of electronic music and the craft of DJing. Lorca proclaims that, “All the arts are capable of duende, but it naturally achieves its widest play in the fields of music, dance and the spoken poem, since these require a living presence to interpret them” (Lorca, 159). The DJ, as a vessel for duende, becomes a conduit for the emotional and spiritual currents within the music. In the struggle to bring forth this force, there is an inherent tension, a wrestling with the unseen energies that course through the sonic landscape. It is in these moments of struggle that the true artistry of the DJ is revealed, as they grapple with the unpredictable nature of the crowd, the evolving energy of the dancefloor, and the dynamic interplay of the tracks themselves. “Often, the Duende of the musician passes over into the Duende of the interpreter” (Lorca, 159). Through this transference of energy, the pulsating heartbeat propels the DJ into a realm of shared vulnerability and catharsis with the audience.
From a young age, I have felt this calling towards music as a healing ritual of ecstasy. This would occur when I was performing on stage and giving away completely to the flow of the composition as I express it, carried by many hours of rigorous practice and familiarity. I also felt it when I listen to music — an irresistible force to move and give in to the experience of spirits. Even the early practices of shamanism, as cited by Eliade, are rooted in the “principal means of obtaining [ecstasy] is magico-religious music. This is the purest form of soul loss without the use of intoxication or other tools. Similar to great DJs, “great shamans go into trance and thus undertake the ecstatic journey in search of the patient’s soul.” For the DJ, the ‘patient’ is the collective consciousness of the dancefloor — an art rooted in being able to read the animism of a room and prescribing the right songs to open up visionary realms to the audience and bring masses of people with different backgrounds and beliefs together into one, unified body moving together in synchronicity. The ritual of the contemporary dance floor reminds me of the Samoyed séances described by Eliade, and helps us move closer towards animus mundus (the world soul). I see clubs and dance floors as sacred spaces holding a container for rituals, and free expression of the soul. Eliade describes the ecstatic journey of the shaman to be “indispensable” for both the shaman and the lost souls, which call upon the “possession” of the shaman to “realizing their effective presence, manifested through all perceptible means; and this presence, invoked by the shaman, ends not in trance but in a dialogue between the shaman and his helping spirits” (Eliade, 328).
Just as Bach utilized mathematical algorithms and inversions to express the divine, the modern DJ employs a similar mastery of the sonic realm to connect with the higher planes of consciousness. The DJ’s set becomes a ritualistic performance, a communion with the abstract concepts of spirituality and interconnectedness. The choice of tracks, the sequencing, and the manipulation of sound all contribute to the creation of a sonic tapestry that mirrors the mystical and the divine. The interplay and creative inspiration that occurs when a DJ is choosing tracks is similar to the fauvist practice wherein “some [colors and forms] are chosen while others are excluded arbitrarily” (Chipp, 174) and yet a coherent throughline is felt and expressed, rather than rationally understood. In the delicate balance between chaos and control, the DJ assumes the role of a guardian of the dancefloor’s energy. Through skillful selection and blending of tracks, the DJ establishes order within the sonic chaos, creating a harmonious flow that resonates with the primal heartbeat of the crowd. Elkin’s insight that there is no absolute chaos resonates with the DJ’s role in shaping the musical experience. The apparent randomness and diversity of tracks in a DJ set are, in fact, carefully curated elements that contribute to the overall structure and narrative. The DJ, much like the shaman, must navigate the threshold between the seen and the unseen, the known and the unknown, embracing the inherent structure within the seemingly chaotic. As the dancefloor collectively enters the flow state, the DJ becomes a shaman of sound, leading the congregation on a spiritual journey. In this transcendental space, the DJ’s role transcends mere entertainment; they become the architect of an experience that unites the individual souls into a cohesive, harmonious whole. The dance floor, pulsating with energy, becomes a microcosm of the mythical unity of Paradise, a contemporary expression of the sacred interconnectedness that binds us all. The modern DJ, in their role as a shaman, rekindles the flame of the ancient, marrying the past and the present in a dance of cosmic proportions. As the embodiment of duende, the DJ invites the audience to join in this transformative journey, creating a space where the struggle and spontaneity of art converge in a transcendent celebration of the human spirit.
Through this course, I have re-discovered myself and accepted my role as a shaman in these settings. I have learned to trust my intuition and sit in the discomfort of knowing and sensing individuation — without a need to find a solution or control it. It is my role as an artist to continuously express and create freely, without fear until I achieve mastery over the present moment; “the present is the only truth” (Ruhe). I am a translator for the collective souls between humans and the divine, between the animism of objects and animals. I continue to foster spaces and practices rooted in diversity, belonging and healing, allowing for the absurdity of living to inspire art making processes and joys.
