Clubbing-ism
Standin in the aisle of the Border's in Manassas, VA, I listened to a French DJ mix displayed in the 'trance music' section, holding the busted headphones onto my ears. Hey-its European-I can't escape the appeal of anything and everything from Europe! Instead of a steady tribal-esque rhythm pulsating into my ears, I suddenly hear a rush of light-infused sounds over which floats the calming and ethereal voice of a British woman : "Welcome to the world of nightlife. Parisian night-life is not just a weekend activity. It is a philosophy: it is a communion, it is a celebration... in unity with every club-goer around the world, from New York, to San Francisco to Paris." I was a little weirded out. This was creepy. This wasen't just about music. This was a religion even. The phrasing scarily reminded me of Catholic liturgical language: communion, celebration, union: all words professed by Catholics in describing the Mass. The mystic Meister Eckhart rushed to my mind: "Every time I run from God, I run into his bosom." No-one on this planet can escape their desire for God. Its obvious in every song, in every sad and weary face; in every soul containing an empty space. No-one can escape their own "sacramental nature." This nature is designed for that one moment, consummatum est, for consummation and completion. No matter where we go, we seek liturgy, communion, Him.
posted by Velvet at 3:44 PM
1 Comments:
I enjoyed your post about clubbing. I think you are right-on about it being an ersatz liturgy. People instinctively seek to escape the corrosive, atomizing effects of modernity, and relationships of purely pragmatic interest, and to join with each other through participation in something greater than themselves. Too often, the Dionysian forces in society exploit this ultimately good instinct (via sports, clubbing, sex), offering a cheap and easy substitute that never satisfies the restless heart and sometimes causes a lot of harm in the process. But in clubbing, AFAIK, it seems there's an escapism at work too -- into something primal rather than transcendent. I suggest reading Pieper's _Divine Madness: Plato's Case Against Secular Humanism_ for a fun short book on the ecstatic in Platonic philosophy.
Best,
Eric
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