THE MUSIC OF ATLANTIS

VORTEX

It seems clear that the musical and spiritual practices of the Atlanteans are deeply intertwined, as shown in the Vortex. This large-scale ecstatic dance ritual serves both to bond the society together and as a catalyst for deep, personal transformation. Long excerpts from the music for the Vortex are available here.

S.C.U.B.A.

Another central Atlantean mode of transcendence is the "Sacred Collective Utterance for the Birthing of Atlantis," or ~S.C.U.B.A.~ In this ritual of group linquistic alchemy, sacred phrases are chanted repeatedly until they lose their meaning and dissolve into a soup of babbling known as ~Sacred Nonsense~. When performed for a significant amount of time, the boundaries between the individual imaginations of S.C.U.B.A. "divers" becomes permeable. This crucible of collective creativity enables direct contact with Atlantean voices and intelligences.

We have been able to reconstruct an example of the music used in this ritual. If your browser has the Flash 4 plug-in, you should be hearing a short looping sample of the music right now.

Instructions for the S.C.U.B.A. ritual are provided here.

RECONSTRUCTION

We will not truly know what Atlantean music sounds like until we actually meet some of Them. We have, however, been able to recover its lost essences through a kind of distillation process. It is possible that ALL forms of music alive today contain the essence of Atlantis within.

Research suggests Atlanteans seeds have taken root in various traditions around the world. We have found hints of the original essence within the musics of:
    --the ancient Mediterranean (most notably Minoan)
    --Indonesia (primarily Balinese gamelan and monkey chant)
    --Africa and the African diaspora
    --the Middle East
    --Northern Europe
    --the Indian Subcontinent, and
    --the Southeast Asian peninsula.
    --various electronic and dance music genres.

In the millenia since the disappearance of the Atlanteans, these roots have evolved in many ways, yet the strength of the initial ideas has preserved their essence. The trick is to separate out that essence.

By various methods, we attempt to break down the boundaries of any particular genre. Anything that permits a listener to identify or pigeonhole the style of music is somehow tweaked or juxtaposed with a divergent or contradictory element. From the sea of possibility emerges the hidden Atlantean truth.

MUSIC IN DAILY LIFE

In addition to the sacred usages of ritual music, the Atlanteans also had a rich folk tradition. Bands of minstrels walked the streets singing bawdy and satirical songs, making sure no person or group of people got too settled, rigid, or otherwise cocksure. In a secular version of the sacred S.C.U.B.A. practice, at random moments individuals would diverge from the world of traditional meaning with bursts of gibberish and nonsensical utterance. This was done dozens of times a day by practically every member of their society.