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METAGEUM '07
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Trance-dance: 3rd floor of the Caraffa Stores
Shamanic workshops: on board the Fernandes II schooner
Book now for whole or part of the Metageum event. |
At Metageum '07: Engaging with the Spirit
The purpose of this part of the Metageum is to provide an opportunity to engage with the experiential, rather than the purely analytical, side of understanding the Neolithic people who built and used the megalithic temples. Our starting premise is that altered states of consciousness played a central, and functional, role in the life of the Neolithic community. Coupled with this is the methodological premise that the altered states of consciousness cannot be understood without first-hand experience. An analogy may be made with music. A physicist could tell you everything about the sound waves through which music is borne on the air. But unless you listen to music you cannot make an informed judgement of the value of music and its significance to a community. Likewise, the painstaking work of archaeologists provides the foundations for our knowledge of Neolithic people and their use of the temples. But, to make full use of that information, we need a first-hand knowledge of trance states that would almost certainly have been a core feature of the use of the temples.
Although it will certainly be enjoyable, the trance-dance at Metageum is not part of the entertainment programme. It is, rather, a key part of our project to probe the megalithic mind. Body Temple is a highly skilled and experienced group in New York City, who hold monthly trance dances for several hundred people, along with other holistic and shamanic practices. The personnel of Body Temple possess a range of skills and qualifications that they bring to the business of providing a safe, fulfilling engagement with a form of shamanic journeying. Three members of the group are travelling to Malta to bring the New York Body Temple happening to Metageum.
Neolithic people probably did not conceive of a separation of spirituality from performance art. Likewise Body Temple believe in a conscious fusion of the outer show, and the inward engagement with spirit.
One of the key concepts in trance-dance -- as in other disciplines such as meditation, contemplation, and hypnotherapy -- is that of clearing the mind of the 'chatter' that continually distracts the attention. In trance-dance this is achieved by a combination of the blindfold, which shuts out the visual stimuli that dominates our awareness of our immediate surroundings, and the rhythmic drumming, which entrains the mind. ("Repetitive beats are universal in trance ritual. It allows the dancer to transcend 'listening' to the music to actually being compelled by the sound, thereby making it possible for the 'soul' of the person to separate from their physical body and travel externally." -- Wilbert Alix.) Coupled with a specific breathing technique, these factors make a space for another form of awareness to arise. Whether you conceive of this as heightened access to the subconscious, or to intuition, or to the spirit, depends on your model of the world.
There is no reason to think that the Neolithic people would have blindfolded themselves, but if they had been dancing inside the temples, they might well have been doing so in darkness. When the temples had their original roof structures, the apses would have been very dark. In modern times, this use of the blindfold or bandana originates with Rajneesh's moving meditation. Modern Western man finds it very hard to sit down and empty his mind for extended periods. The blindfold accelerates that process.
Although the trance-dance and shamanic workshops are being presented here as routess into the megalithic mind, we hope that you will find them interesting valuable in their own right. Many people now use trance-dance as a regular tool for improving mental clarity and creativity.
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Mark Sklawer |
Parashakti |
Sonya Sophia |
About Body Temple
"From shaman to showman, from ancestral drums to electronic beats, from telling stories around the fire to the performing arts."
There was a time when our ancestors viewed life as a complete circle. No separation between humans and nature existed. They knew that the magical and living worlds were one. They gave thanks by dancing and singing through the night to the creator and the mystery of life. They would listen to shamans speak wondrous tales of communicating with the primal forces of existence. They would become intoxicated with the entrancement of the drum, dance, song and fire. Thus the formation of Body Temple, a group of men and women whose goal is to break down the separation between creativity, nightlife and connection to the divine and nature.
Body Temple began in July 2002. Body Temple is a 21st century hybrid performance troupe where the DJ is part of the cast. We unite past,present and future. Body Temple has produced events in such venues as the Lunatarium, the Foundry, Brooklyn Lyceum, Estate, Atmananda Center, Spirit New York, Grand Space, Space 515 and Burning Man DeCom in NYC. Our roots are inspired by the Ancient Mystery plays, The Living Theatre and Happenings of the 1960's, the DIY mindset of Punk, Esalen Institute and festivals like Burning Man. Body Temple is a spiritual opera, a tantric circus, a performing mystery school, and a shamanic journey. The entire event is to be experienced as a journey with beginning, middle and end. We guide participants through a celebration of the wisdom of ancestors and the creative spirit of today. Throughout the event we incorporate a wide array of live and electronic global trance music, as well as presenting teachings such as shamanic trance-dance.
For more information on Body Temple, and photographs, please visit their web site, www.bodytemple.info.
"Dance is the path to the Divine. Music opens the path to the Dance. From around the circle of the original fire, to the dance floors of the urban jungle, we have always been about exultation of the expanding tribe, the widening rings of inclusivity, held in the rippling arms of love."
Roots of Trance-Dance
Two of the key figures in developing the idea of trance-dance have been Wilbert Alix and the late Frank Natale. Wilbert has put together a useful collection of introductory articles and interviews on his web site, trancedance.com. You can also visit Frank Natale's web site www.franknatale.com or, for more in-depth accopunt, read Frank's book, "Trance Dance: The Dance of Life" (116 pages, published by Element Books, August 1995, ISBN 978-1852307028, buy it at 
Ritual is a structure that makes you aware of something greater than yourself
-- Wilbert Alix
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