Rave Culture and Religion

personal feeling...I really think they’re tapping into something really deep in

the psyche.

(personal interview, 21 May 1998)

As ravers often draw analogies between themselves and what they conceive of as
tribal or primitive societies, rave culture has been referred to as “neo-tribal” (Gore
1997:54) or neo-primitive. This identification with “primal” societies is not limited
to the rave scene, having strong representation in other forms of alternative culture,
such as New Age, Wicca, and various radical ecological reform groups. Graham St
John identifies a “postcolonial primitivist” movement amongst Australian youth, “a
culture variously committed to the defence of the rights of native ecology and
peoples, or natural and cultural heritage,” with a goal of “returning” to the “wild”
themselves (1999:164). In “approximating “nature,” St John proposes, participants
engage in a “quest” for authenticity (ibid.). Similarly, ravers’ casting of all-night
mass dance events as “prehistorical,” along with the implication of an inherited
psychological substrate for such communal performances, points to an association
of certain “primitive” behaviors with “original” human experience. In imitating or
recreating perceived “primal” activities, rave participants experience “pure”
humaness—they are themselves authenticated.

The will of the Technology Goddess

Raving is often referred to as ritualistic by participants and scholars of
performativity alike (e.g. Gore 1997; Reynolds 1998; Silcott 1999). Originally
applied to premodern cultures, the classic ritual theory of Arnold van Gennep
(1981), later “modernized” by Victor Turner, has been useful in the analysis of
alternative cultural performances, although the model has been criticized for
excluding both corporeality and competing interpretations of the ritual event among
participants (see St John 1999). It may be valid to argue that raving is essentially a
continuation of an ancient performative ritual behavior and nothing fundamentally
new. However, core components of the rave event—the means of sensory
bombardment—are produced through electronic/digital technology (e.g. computer-
generated visual projections and highly amplified electronic music). Beyond this,
social relations between participants are mediated by the presence of modern
technology. The sheer volume of the music dictates that communication between
participants is largely non-verbal.
Like other alternative cultural events, rave is a site of multivalent experience
(Gore 1997:65). For some, raving is a spiritual experience through which they feel
deeply connected to other participants. Initial rave experiences often evoke in the
novice a sense of enlightenment. Note the following excerpt of a “testimonial” in
which a participant describes the vibe he experienced at his first rave:

It wasn’t until I was 25 that I discovered the scene. It was like becoming color

for the first time. I love being awake, I love having my eyes open, I love every

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