GOD IS A DJ

Tune into a Harvard Divinity School conference on psychedelic spirituality

Hello heathens!

Just dropping a quick note to let ya’ll know that I will be giving an exciting presentation tomorrow (Saturday, February 16) on my post-cringe theory of psychedelic spirituality in the rave underground.

Using this classic rave meme as the jump-off, I’d like to dive into the spiritual tropes that have emerged out of rave culture over the last few decades and become pretty embarrassing cliches at this point (think: the Jesus pose), then attempt to offer pathways out of the cringe via an analysis of the new language and paradigms shaping the current era of post-pandemic nightlife.

Doing the research for this presentation has given me the opportunity to unearth some pretty incredible gems — like how the lead singer of the UK group Faithless, Maxi Jazz, was a devout follower of Nichiren Buddhism, which springs from the teachings of a controversial 12th-century Japanese monk, who said that the Buddha is present in everybody, and the true nature of man and the universe are ultimately one. These spiritual beliefs inspired the lyrics Jazz wrote for “God is a DJ”— a title that he actually thought was cringe (it came from a T-shirt their guitarist once wore to rehearsal), but decided to keep anyway because he could augment it with ideas about healing, church, and natural grace.

My talk will be presented as part of a broader panel on psychedelics and the underground, and will take place at Harvard Divinity School’s annual conference “Psychedelics Intersections: Cross-Cultural Manifestations of the Sacred (it’s all free, and stars an interesting cast of psychedelic academics, writers and underground luminaries)

Please note: I will be attending VIRTUALLY, so do not show up to Harvard’s campus like WHERE IS SHEEEE 😫

Register to stream the whole one-day conference here, or just for my talk through this Zoom link (the panel will be from 1-2:20pm PST).

See you in the chat!