Over the years, after many parties, dances, underground and commercial, it seems that the original inspiration of the local scene has been corroded by fear, law enforcement, and interpersonal conflict. I suspect that this may be the case in other regions as well. Have we become disenchanted in the "land of enchantment?" Is it fear of the Rave Act? Ego clashing and conflict of interest? Or is it lack of interest as we think, "that was just a phase, that rave thing is for the kids." Perhaps it was a phase or two. And now it may be time for a new phase, one which opens to the whole world as an act of healing planet Earth while easing the current human crisis through awakening. Those of the older generation that are dancing with us in Taos, as well as the fresh international dance culture that I experienced in Thailand and India, reassures me that this is not just for the kids. The tools are new but the dance is timeless.

Something is breaking out from beneath the surface of mainstream culture. Then, out of mainstream dance culture emerges a new evolution. This evolution both incorporates an ancient rite of passage as well as a movement that is meant for right now, in this time.

What is so crucial about this time that we are in? There are subcultures that are on the edge of the great sleep, opening their eyes to the dawn, a new phase of conscious evolution. The dance scene is an emerging subculture that contains this seed, this great possibility. In continuance of the suppression of consciousness, the Rave Act was created to thwart the potential for growth in movements and gatherings. Through fear based propaganda, their own form of psycho-terrorism, the powers intend to maintain control over the masses. However, if the masses begin to gather, dance, and delve into forbidden realms of consciousness, this is a threat to the establishment. Our unity that extends beyond race and creed is a danger to their order. For we have been divided and conquered and force fed a fragmented reality of fear and separation.

In the dance, we may experience a sense of unified consciousness with one another. The challenge that is here for us is to experience being a part of the collective, while remaining empowered as an individual. The dance is an individual expression that interacts with other individual expressions of movement. It is its own dynamic and spontaneous language. Each one of us has our own unique design, our own special energy or beauty. Each one of us can be gifts for each other if we chose to accept and not to judge. The acceptance is born out of the acknowledgement that we are all at different stages on our path. Awakening may increase by presence, just as the sleeping masses remain complacent, unaware. We cannot remain complacent with the current state of human affairs. We must also urge each other to wake up and to not support certain delusions.

As we open up as gifts for one another, some will feel intimidated by this type of intimacy. For this reason it will be more comfortable if more of us can operate closer to a pure intention, not an ill intention, manipulative, or vampiric. And thus it is crucial for each one of us to be engaged in self-healing, working to clear the convoluted mind. Pure awareness is in the moment. And in the dance, pure awareness can reach out between individuals. Our unification is experienced as we are also empowered by our own divine seed within the individual body-mind-soul complex. The collective becomes the organism wherein each person is a different organ, or function. A connection is established that mirrors the interconnection of the cosmos. The true nature of life is one of connectedness, rather than separation.

To enter into the whole, expansive and radiant, we must be able to move beyond the fragmented mind and the contracted subtle body, into, at least for a moment, a pure awareness, naked, like the wonder of an infant.

In a talk, Ram Dass once said, "The psychedelic trip is an astral analog of the thing itself, once you know where high is then you have to work." This statement is quite pertinent. The chemical dependency of dance culture may shift and evolve to where being high is a more natural state of being. If this shift does not occur, then this current dance culture may prove to be a phase or a fad. So instead of entering into another social zombie trance, we enter into the trance dance with awareness, in the body, on Earth and under the stars. Ecstasy is a natural experience of the unified Being. The dance becomes a meditative technique where needless worries dissolve and the body is opened to the subtle etheric energies. In pure awareness, there is bliss, not simply a state of mind, but a tingling vibration that runs down the spine and explodes into every cell of the body. The awareness, bliss, or ecstasy of each individual opens to and empowers the whole. As the contrived auric shields and subconscious blockages dissolve, the need for self defense is relieved. The need for acceptance based on appearance, or other superficial qualifications, becomes inconsequential.

Is it then conceivable to embrace the Being that we all are and the beauty of the individual, while helping each other to grow beyond unnecessary and detrimental behavioral patterns?

The key is that each individual is also engaged in their own conscious evolution so that the spiral will move with an upward tendency. Empathy and compassion are the necessary tools for peace in our interpersonal relations.

As we learn from and utilize the true power of an ancient rite, we simultaneously create a new expression of ceremonial dance and redefine the "tribe." Instead of being a territorial clan that even manifests itself now in the global domination of the super-powers, the new tribe becomes an open organism that is non-discriminatory, non-dogmatic, and essentially universal. Its power lies in its intentional design as its understanding attains to the universal; a boundless love arises whose waves ripple throughout the Earth and cosmos.

Steve Harkless Last modified: June 5, 2004

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