communication. It is a dance in which gender and personality are transcended and
the usual mode of negotiation and seduction yields to an orgiastic, confusional,
indistinct openness, a state in which interconnectedness distils freedom. Added to
the whole of rave’s consumption, this becomes a means of opening subjectivity and
prompting encounter in the festive interstice:
The meaning of this profound freedom is given in destruction, whose essence
is to consume profitlessly whatever might remain in the progression of useful
works. Sacrifice destroys that which it consecrates.... This useless
consumption is what suits me, once my concern for the morrow is removed. And
if I thus consume immoderately, I reveal to my fellow beings that which I am
intimately. Consumption is the way in which separate beings communicate.
Everything shows through, everything is open and infinite between those who
consume intensely.
(Bataille 1988:58–9; italics in original)AbandonmentThrough a confusional environment and a musical landscape which continually
eludes a defined narrative, rave discourages any attempt at resisting its sensorial
assault. The ruptures and excesses uncovered to date can incidentally be understood
as prompting abandon. To achieve this effectively, though, raves must also provide
for a minimum of security. This is ensured by rave’s ritual structure and group
solidarity. Ravers have abundantly reported mutual aid and cooperation within the
parties: an anthropological constant arising when a group transgresses into the
margin. Raves are known to function widely on the basis of small ‘tribes’ (Maffesoli
1988), each individual taking some responsibility for the others.
Correlatively to this safety net, many observers have resorted to psychedelic guru
Timothy Leary’s use of the terms ‘set and setting’ to illustrate how the ecstasy trip,
for instance, will be influenced and secured (Collin 1998; Reynolds 1999; Push and
Silcott 2000). Although simplistic, this expression refers to two polarities which
interrelate in sculpting the subject’s experience of an altered consciousness. These
are:
1 The subject’s disposition, motivations, desires, expectations, anguishes, past
experiences, etc.
2 The environment and social narrative (meaning its web of symbolic references)
in which the subject is directly involved with others.In the cases discussed here, these different ritual fragments combine and complete
each other to provide a frame in which to consume and let go.
Most ecstasy users know that the worst way to deal with this drug is to try to
control it. This usually results in fear or insecurity and can lead to unpleasant
experiences. ‘E’ (ecstasy), rave’s most popular and prominent conscience-bender,
THE ‘INSTITUANT’ RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE OF RAVE 73