September 2023

Ancient Technology

“People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances within our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.”

- Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth (1988)

Dance could be considered one of the most ancient forms of technology. A means of connection, storytelling and ritual. Used to communicate with the gods, mark the passage of time or coordinate group activities.

Today it feels more necessary than ever to find ways of genuine human connection. To me, coming together through dance, music and sound is one of the most profound ways I have found to deepen my existence and understand what it means to be human.

I have never found these experiences more influential than the times we are brought together inside the Ancient Technology Centre. An Iron Age earth house replica constructed with an experimental archeology approach led by Jake Keen in the 80’s. Through Jake’s son Oliver this space currently brings together people for several events a year under the banner of Jaminaround. 

There is one particular event which brought about this recording, the 2023 annual collaboration of Jaminaround and Beauty and the Beat. As a space for music the ATC has acoustics to rival most. A circular room built from trees and earth with a terraced floor and sloping ceiling. Hosting the full BATB system it becomes a pool of pure sound, so rich that once you dive in there is very little to remind you of a world above the surface. 

Each time we come together and dance in the conditions available through the ATC I feel a sense of alleviation, a reset, an antidote to the world in which we live. In many ways it is a journey of death and rebirth from what is past to what is future. There is an overwhelming sense of presence through the course of the evening as I feel suspended in time and space between the before and after. All thought beyond the dance is forgotten. It is one of the most engaging and real experiences I have ever encountered. A true sensation of aliveness. 

The trinity of a present and conscious crowd (set), the space (setting) and the music (a catalyst) come together here more perfectly than anywhere else I have found. Music binds and unifies crowd and space somewhere outside of individual minds but safely contained within the environment. This is always the case to some degree when these three matters are combined, the quality of each dictates the strength of the unity. I see the accessibility of this temporary unseeable dimension to be determined by a fourth key ingredient - sound. When the sound is right there is a shared sensation of the music from within the mind, conveying the emotions of what we are hearing simultaneously to each person from a seemingly internal source. Higher quality sound provides a greater depth of emotion, connecting the crowd on a subconscious level which cannot be seen or derived. Thus enveloping all, lowering the boundaries between time and space so that we might achieve a oneness with all things and dance as one body - off world. Alternatively expressed as a cosmic soup of collective consciousness, sharing love through our roots (music + sound) in the way trees share nutrients.

Whether the mind wonders inwards or outwards we are all a part of this phenomena when engaging with a Party. This intensity of aliveness, often reflected back to me as a spiritual experience, has the potential to lead to immense self discovery and insight which in turn becomes a great healer. Music has long stood as a power to alleviate suffering, hearing it in such a context is to harness as much of this power as it has to give.  

There is a level of guidance required to ensure safe passage from one side of a Dance to the other, a responsibility largely assumed by the Host(s) steering the ship with their experience and musical choices - a whole subject for contemplation another day. 

After processing my latest visit to the ATC with BATB (July 2023) I was inspired to record this session. Following the thread of rebirth it models the three Bardos that Tibetan Buddhism holds within the transitional states of death and rebirth. In Tibetan the word “bardo” means a transition, a gap or an “in-between”. Whilst Tibetan Buddhism considers all states of existence as transitory, “Bardo” has come to signify a specific state of existence or consciousness along this journey. There are six Bardos altogether, three are experienced on earth and three within the death and rebirth process. The Tibetan Book Of The Dead, a guide for Buddhists to help them transcend the three afterlife states, was also used by Timothy Leary as the framework for his guide to a psychedelic experience. As detailed in Tim Lawrence’s book ‘Love Saves The Day’ this relationship between a Party, the Tibetan Bardos and a psychedelic experience is no coincidence. From the beginning of the dance party scene Mancuso was influenced by the work of Leary and adopted it as a basis to structure his journeys through time, space and music. Evidently a practice still clearly visible in the scene today and one that I resonate with strongly. 

The first Bardo, Chikhai, belongs to physical death. Beginning with a dissolution of physical sensation and material awareness. Followed by dissolution of the five elements and one’s psyche. Earth into Water, into Fire, into Air, into Wind, into nothingness. Leaving behind pure awareness free from all Earthly attachments. This pure awareness or “clear light of reality” is thought of as the ultimate state of pure consciousness, often compared to the experience of spiritual enlightenment in life. A Buddhist who has attained a high level of spiritual development and can recognise this Pure Light of Consciousness as oneself and may become enlightened and liberated from the endless cycle of death and rebirth. Otherwise, after a glimpse of bliss the ego begins to re-manifest and subsequently one enters the Chönyi Bardo.

The second, Chönyi, presents auditory and visionary phenomena relating to the karma accumulated in previous lives. A chaotic journey including the appearance of gods and demons, travel across ghostly desolate plains and rugged mountains, and a confrontation with the Lord of Death, who measures out your sins and merits to decree your ultimate fate. 

Finally the Bardo of Rebirth, Sidpa, whereby one’s consciousness will be reborn into one of the six realms, Lakas, of rebirth. These range from a god-like existence of pure pleasure to the burning torments of hell. Of course, one strives to be reborn into the highest possible state of rebirth. Various visions of future places where one may be reborn are shown. Although karmic past largely determines the outcome there are some prescribed strategies for achieving a more favourable result. 

I interpret these musically as; the journey beginning with a drop into pure ecstasy and enlightenment, moving into drama and pandemonium before being guided towards a calm and restorative reintroduction. 

These ~four hours of music are an expression of this process in the context within which I experience it at the ATC. Thank you for giving your time to read and perhaps listen. I hope this stays with you into your next journey through a dance floor. 

Much love to all.

Love saves the day.

JB

Listen online here