Fused by Paradox: The Challenge of Being an Israeli Psy-Trancer

Abstract of Masters Thesis

The following thesis focuses on distinctive aspects of Israeli psy-trance neotribes.

The main question I am concerned with is how, despite the minimal use of verbal communication within this cultural context, neotribal members are able to comprehend, internalize and act in accordance with their subculture’s social mores and behavioral codes. In other words, the essay establishes and verifies the behavior of Israeli psy-trance neotribes first by analyzing their conduct and then substantiating it vis-à-vis their idiosyncratic use of language. The essay demonstrates how the limited language encountered at psy-trance events reflects, contributes, and to some extent creates the

the term Israeli psy-trance music ,(טראנסיסטים) behavior and cultural norms of Transistim enthusiasts use to refer to themselves. First, I will delineate several key characteristics of psy-trance music and New Edge culture in general and then point out and discuss a central meme typical to the Israeli sector of this subculture. Next, I will show a behavioral pattern emblematic of Transistim which may be substantiated empirically by applying two systems of language analysis - the sign-orientated view of language and the theory of “Phonology as Human Behavior” - as a way to analyze their language (Tobin

1990, 1994, 1997; Diver, 1975, 1979). My analysis juxtaposes words connected to

Israel’s New Edge culture with conduct I have observed during my participatory fieldwork at psy-trance parties and shows how these words accurately represent “the cognitive and perceptual behavior” of Transistim (Tobin, 1997).

The first section discusses the major social, behavioral and linguistic manifestations of Israel’s New Edge psychedelic neotribal communities. Chapter Two groups Transistims’ behavior into a series of dichotomous pairs and illustrates how their conduct is, in fact, paradoxical. Chapter Three continues with this theme but also explains how some of these paradoxes are actually contradictory and even somewhat hypocritical. Chapter Four will further examine Transistims’ contrastive mannerisms by comparing their behavior with their language, thereby both verifying and providing additional insight into this subcultures’ ironic conduct. In sum, via a focus on

Israeli psy-trance neotribes, my findings have led me to verify and understand better how word systems may be expressed in culture.

2

To be shaken out of the ruts of ordinary perception, to be shown for a few timeless hours the outer and the inner world, not as they appear to an animal obsessed with survival or to a human being obsessed with words and notions, but as they are apprehended, directly and unconditionally, by Mind at Large – this is an experience of inestimable value to everyone and especially to the intellectual...We must learn how to handle words effectively; but at the same time we must preserve and, if necessary, intensify our ability to look at the world directly and not through that half opaque medium of concepts, which distorts every given fact into the all too familiar likeness of some generic label or explanatory abstraction. (Huxley, 1954: 73-74)

What the alien voice in the psychedelic experience wants to reveal is the syntactical nature of reality. That the real secret of magic is that the world is made of words, and that if you know the words that the world is made of you can make of it whatever you wish. (McKenna, 1993)

You’re running and you’re running But you can’t run away from yourself. (Marley, 1978)

5 Chapter I: The Setting

Introducing New Edge Neotribes Psy-neotribes The dance brings the gods of the village among the worshippers. In particular the magician himself is possessed by the gods, as his wild and yet perfectly rhythmical dancing suggest. Tensions mounts with his possession, as he indicates that he has found the source of evil and is about to drive it out. Then the whole dancing community goes wild with excitement. The dance lasts well into the night until all are exhausted. It is a catharsis, a purging – it heals and restores. (Lewis, 1969: 190)

My research relates to aspects of the Israeli psychedelic electronic dance music underground’s core social unit, the neotribe, loosely affiliated heterogeneous ‘connectives’1 and dance to psy-trance electronic 2(שטח ,’whose members gather in the shetax (the ‘outback music. Israeli psy-trance neotribes are part of the wider, global, context of “New Edge culture,” defined by scholars as a “nexus of dance culture, Gaian values3, hi-tech and evolutionary ideas” (Gosney, 1993: electronic document; Davis, 1998)4. New Edge sociality bases itself around a transdisciplinary “integrative” cultural framework which incorporates theories and practices such as “holistic health, deep ecology, new science, desktop publishing and multimedia directives, eco-cities, cyberculture, electronic music and the ‘transmodern tribalism,5 evolving in festival culture, intentional communities and new social and economic networks across the planet” (Gosney, 2004) . “Neotribes,” a term put forward by French social philosopher Michel Maffesoli, are a contemporary subcultural version of the tribal unit and a part of the “new forms of social collectivity...taking root and challenging our established models of politics and tradition” (1996: 76). Describing the same social construct, global theorist, Arjun Appadurai, has termed groups “communities of sentiment,” suggesting that their “post- national” status provides “new resources for identity and energies for creating alternatives to the nation-state” (1996: 7). In his work on contemporary body modification, the British sociologist Paul Sweetman suggests that neotribes are “a move away from rational, contractual social relationships towards an empathetic form of sociality, where what is important is not some abstract, idealized goal, but rather the feeling of togetherness

6 engendered by one’s direct involvement with the social group” (2004: 85, emphasis in the original). “Neotribal groupings” he remarks “are informal, dynamic and frequently temporary alliances centered around...feelings rather than a commitment to particular ideologies or beliefs. Built around tactility and proxemics, these are non-instrumental, apolitical allegiances ‘whose sole raison d’être is a preoccupation with the collective present’” (Sweetman, 2004: 86, emphasis in the original; Maffesoli, 1996: 75). Neotribes also are associated with post-modern hyper-individualization, “that is, a temporal and transient culture defined by, among other features, a blurring of conventional social categories” (Carrington and Wilson, 2004: 65). Similar to other post- modern subcultural allegiances, neotribal affiliation is loose, as members coalesce from various countries and walks of life (Muggleton, 1997; Reynolds, 1998). “Non-ascriptive” neotribes exist without defined consensual goals and “are inherently unstable and not fixed by any of the established parameters of modern society; instead they are maintained through shared beliefs, styles of life, an expressive body-centeredness, new moral beliefs and senses of injustice, and significantly through consumption practices (Hetherington, 2001: 247). In his study of the sociology of youth music cultures, researcher Andy Bennett points out that “tribal identities serve to illustrate the temporal nature of collective identities in modern consumer society as individuals continually move between different sites of collective expression and ‘reconstruct’ themselves accordingly” (2000: 80). Kevin Hetherington, a social geographer whose research centers on space and identity, considers sub-culture gatherings like psy-trance celebrations to be “very tribal or autotelic” in nature (2001: 246). In other words, “as social venues they rapidly become their own goal; styles of dress, political or religious beliefs, adherence to musical styles or modes of living are often deliberately accentuated and defended”(ibid). Psy-trance New Edge gatherings “represent the chaotic, disorganized and transient features of modern life that transgress the routines and familiarities of everyday life” (249). The heterogeneous assemblages characteristic of Israeli New Edge neotribal gatherings occur via an intermingling of gender, age, social, economic and linguistic backgrounds which exist solely within the New Edge setting6. Because of both their physical and cognitive separation from conventional society, these frameworks allow

7 participants to try on different roles or act out alternative identities (Hetherington, 1998: 36). In consequence, many Transistim deliberately separate their New Edge and ‘straight’ .(חיים כפולים) ’edge social arenas by leading ‘dual lives The fact that many Transistim lead dual lives appears symptomatic of contemporary global civilization and various scholars have suggested that in today’s intersecting globalized reality, previous forms of economic, social and cultural distinctiveness now ‘flow’ together so that it is hard for people to claim a single, firm or one dimensional sense of individuality or identity (Urry, 1990; Urry and Lash, 1994; Appadurai, 1996; Bauman, 2000; Wang, 2000). Thus, contemporary sociality has been dubbed “liquid” (Bauman, 2000), “nomadic” (Richards and Wilson, 2004), “mobile” (Urry, 1995), “ruptured” (Appadurai, 1996), and “increasingly pluralistic and polytheistic” (Featherstone, 1995). British sociologist and contemporary culture theorist Mike Featherstone notes that in contrast to older models whereupon “identity was seen as fixed,” it is common for inhabitants of late-modernity to construct a “double consciousness” or “multiple identities”7 (1995: 9). According to Featherstone, ‘identity fragmentation’ is one of several by-products resulting from the penetration of Westernized neo-liberal capitalism into various regional social, cultural and economic frameworks8. In their co-authored study of the complexity of post-modern global society, social scientists Scott Lash and John Urry address this issue and suggest that late-modern civilization is caught in an “ongoing process of de-traditionalization in which social agents are increasingly ‘set free’ from the heteronomous control or monitoring of social structures in order to be self-monitoring or self reflexive” (1994: 4; emphasis in the original). Writing in the first half of the 1990’s, Lash and Urry identified what is now acknowledged: that “global information and communication structures” (i.e., the internet and other forms of digital telecommunication) have significantly displaced formerly traditional “homogenous national cultures” (1994: 6; Featherstone, 1995: 11). These findings, especially the move from fixed sociality to progressive individualism, are characteristic of New Edge culture in general and also appear to correspond with changes taking place within Israeli society (discussed below) in particular.

8 In his analysis of tourism and modernity, Chinese sociologist Ning Wang examines the role of tourism in contemporary sociality. Wang suggests that in the late- modern era tourism epitomizes a love-hate relationship many people have in response to the over-all “existential conditions of modern society” (2000: 15). Wang points to the late-modern tourist/travelers’ desire to be both “home and away at the same time” as causing a “persistent...dialectic” which he feels is reflective of peoples’ ambivalence to late-modern global culture in general (ibid). This ambivalence is discernable via tourism since “one can say that modern tourism is a cultural celebration of modernity (such as the improvement of living standards, and increased discretionary time and disposable income), appearing as tourism-related consumer culture, ...[but] one can also say it is a cultural critique and negation of modernity (such as alienation, homelessness, stress, monotony, and urban environmental deterioration), exhibited as an escape and a desire to ‘get away from it all’ (home and daily responsibilities)” (ibid). A comparable type of ambivalence exists within the behavior of Transistim which, as the essay will demonstrate, is fused by paradox and, in consequence, seems to be what leads them to maintain their ‘dual lives.’ Yet, the nature of their ambivalence differs from that of the late-modern tourist. Why this is so and the manner in which the ambivalent nature of the late-modern tourist (especially the backpacker) is both related to and distinguished from that of the Transist will be discussed further in chapters two and three. Psy-trance culture seems characteristic of late modernity since it utilizes global cultural flows to combine various forms of traditional culture and emerging technologies into a novel construct that has been described as “technomadic” (St. John, 2005, 2006). The “technomadic” ethos typically affiliated with global psy-trance neotribal communities is one which promotes a progressively holistic self-reliant approach to daily life (St. John, 2003, 2005).Suggested by Australian dance music culture researcher, Graham St John, “technomad” is a New Edge term designating transnationals who utilize both “physical and virtual mobility enabled by new technologies” to embody a synchretic use of technology and dynamic alternative lifestyles informed by “aesthetic, erotic, and hedonistic/ist values and practices; cultivation of expressive forms of individualism; reflexive (often mystic) outlooks on reality; ritual centrality of aesthetic and transpersonal experiences (music, drugs, traveling) and, also, valorization of cosmopolitan life in

9 special locations” (St. John, 2004, 2006; D’Andrea, [in St. John, ed.,] 2004: 238). The technomadic stance implies an “eco-spiritual” consciousness, that is, one which blends quasi-religious “neo-pagan and eastern” elements with ecological mindfulness (St John, 2006; personal correspondence). Inspired by their forbearers, the Beats and Hippies of the 1950 and 60’s, psy-trancers most consistent philosophy is condensed into the acronym P.L.U.R. (Peace, Love, Unity and Respect), a perspective which serves as the (un)official guide for approved New Edge neotribal conduct. Israel’s psy communities particular behavioral code is summed up on the website “Isratrance...the ultimate source on Israeli trance,” whose guideline for joining their “Global Trance Community” (GTC) requests “No politics. No violence. No disrespect” (http://www.isratrance.com). New Edge attitudes in general, and behavior at psy-trance parties in specific, entails being culturally open- minded and socially tolerant. Regardless of the hyper idealism present in these outlooks and the understandable potential for their less-than-adequate realization, within the New Edge world, their fairly utopian posture is recognized as common law and, for the most part, obeyed.

A Note on the Terminology of Psycho-Tropic Drugs Throughout this essay, I interchangeably use the terms, “psychedelic,” “entheogenic” and “hallucinogenic.” Although these terms all identify drugs associated with electronic dance music culture, their meanings are slightly different: each term is connected with a different aspect of the mind altering, psycho-active, experience. The term “psychedelic” literally means “mind-manifesting” and is generally “tagged to the psychedelic sixties when recreational use of drugs took over” (Smith, 2000: xvi). “Entheogens” are “virtually nonaddictive drugs that seem to harbor spiritual potentials” (Smith, 2000, xv). “Hallucinogen” is defined both as “the apparent perception of sights, sounds etc., that are not actually present [and which] may occur in certain mental disorders,” and as “the imaginary object apparently seen, heard, etc” (Smith, 2000, xvi). Some researchers shy away from using the term “hallucinogen” with its implication of mental deficiency, since they feel that it does not endow the use of these drugs with their

10 proper reverence. The EDMC world, however, more or less, uses all three terms to, denote the same idea.

Psychedelic Electronic Dance Music Culture (PEDMC) 9 Origins: How PEDMC Came to Israel Many New Edge neotribalists consider Israel, along with Germany and Japan, to be a prolific epicenter for global psychedelic electronic dance music culture. The scene first developed here in the late 1980’s and early 90’s when Israeli backpackers returned from trips abroad – mostly to the Far East – and attempted to re-create locally what they had experienced overseas10 (Leon, 2002). What these travelers had been a part of, and wished to re-enact, were cutting edge parties -- spectacular events that went on all night and much of the next day and featured an array of physical and psychical altering dance music and drugs. The psychedelic dance culture which these Israeli newcomers encountered consisted of groups of long term vacationers, pleasure-seeking wanderers and new-age mendicants who had realized that in Asia they could find an affordable respite from the financial and social rigors of their late modern post-industrial existence. The remedial nature of their ‘escape’ from their “Western/ized” countries led them to “dwell” inexpensively mostly in pleasant countrysides of former colonial holdings (D’Andrea, 2004: 241; Bloch-Tzemach, 2005; Reynolds, 1998). There, living alongside warm beach fronts or nestled in temperate mountain villages, these privileged uninhibited psychonautic trailblazers11 casually spent time exploring their mind, body and spirit by experimenting with a readily available supply of local and imported stimulants (Davis, 1995; Cole and Hannan, 1997). After a while, mainly as a form of entertainment, but also as a form of dynamic transcendentalism12, these singularly adventurous expatriates began to organize parties which integrated psychedelics and electronic dance music. People who would show up for parties would either bring drugs with them or find them there, and then spend the night dancing to DJed music13. In time, these drug enhanced dances grew into a ritual, usually held on full-moon nights, at attractive natural locations, and were typically adjacent to nearby guest houses where many of the participants lived ‘on the cheap’ for

11 extended periods. The music these parties showcased was “rave” style electronic dance music14 which, early on, was called “acid house”15 or, more generally, “techno” 16. Later, in what is now described as the “post-rave period,”17 the specific sound connected with these kinds of parties became known as “Goa” (the sub-tropical Indian backpacker haven where this music genre is thought to have originated) or “psy” (short for “psychedelic”) by (נתפס) ’trance”18. After they had been there long enough to be successfully ‘infected“ the party spectacle, many ‘tranced-up’ Israelis headed home and began creating local versions of these extraordinary events19. The rise of PEDMC in Israel in the early 90’s coincided with a number of other changes taking place at that time within mainstream Israeli society. Perhaps most significant, around that period scholars began to discuss the idea that Israel’s founding Jewish-nationalist ethos, Zionism, has eroded to the point where it seem to have lost much of its “relevance and appropriateness to the contemporary Israeli situation” (Cohen, (1989)1995: 210; Shafir, 1989; Melman, 1992; Ram, 1995, 2000; Shafir and Peled, 2000; Kimmerling, 2001). According to anthropologists Eyal Ben-Ari and Yoram Bilu:

For a variety of (political, social, demographic and economic) reasons, since 1967 Israel has been the site of steady changes in what could be termed the prevailing public attitudes and sentiments...Some of the more important of these changes (and the list could be expanded) include a greater acceptance of the Jewish diaspora and the concomitant openness of Jewish ‘ethnic pluralism’; a certain enhancement of religious sentiments and a related strengthening of nationalistic feelings; a changed attitude toward the Holocaust and a greater willingness to search for continuities with past Jewish identities; the eruption of the Intifada (the Palestinian uprising), the increased militancy of Israeli Arabs, and the unease this has wrought among many Israeli Jews; and, following Israel’s debacle in Lebanon, the decreased legitimacy of such institutions as the army. Closely related to all these...has been the weakening of the centralized state as the agent of social transformation affecting housing, language, health, technology, production, dress, and childrearing (17, emphasis in the original).

Israeli sociologist Uri Ram believes these changes were partly due to Israel’s exposure to the forces of globalization which stressed ideas like social pluralization and

12 hyper commercialization (2000). The combination of external forces (globalization) as well as internal influences (the erosion of the Zionist ideal) altered Israel’s political and economic spheres and brought about a “fundamental transformation” within Israeli society (Ram, 2000:235). Ram feels that these changes led to a reduction of Zionism’s essential emphasis on collectivism/self-sacrifice and allowed for a more individualist/hedonistic based society to emerge in Israel (ibid). The result was that Israel moved from being a “warfare-welfare state” into being a “peacefare-marektfare state” (Ram: 2000: 226). In other words, Israel shifted from being a “nationalist and collectivist society” (inspired by Zionism) to one driven by liberalized secular materialism (inspired by neo-liberal economics) (ibid). For example, an Israeli military committee in the early 1990’s “examined the ‘motivation’ problems of the youth [and] concluded that the ‘traditional values’ of settlement, Jewish immigration and security [all thought to stem from Zionist idealism], have lost their appeal, and the youth are much more interested in personal fulfillment than societal contribution” (Ram, 2000: 227). Ram is not alone in his attitudes and the prevailing opinion among contemporary Israeli scholars is that the combination of these processes has led Israeli society away from being a collectivist (idealistic) society and allowed for the emergence of a more individualistic (market driven) culture to surface (Cohen, 1995; Ben-Ari and Bilu, 1997; Ram, 2000, 1997, 2003; Weiss, 1997; Shafir and Peled, 2000; Kimmerling, 2001; Segev, 2001; Erhlich, 2003; Nimni, 2003; Rosenthal, 2003; Noy and Cohen, 2005). Additionally, other scholars have also made the connection between current global trends and changes taking place within the collective consciousness of Israel’s younger generation. For instance, freelance American/Israeli journalist Rochelle Furstenberg points out that, “in a broader sense, the breakdown of ideology throughout the world has encouraged Israelis, as well, to become skeptical about their basic myths. The political establishment, the army, the founding fathers of the state, the early pioneers, have all been demythologized” (1997:2). This state of affairs has recently been labeled by anthropologists Chaim Noy and Erik Cohen as a “deep crisis: a crisis that is on the surface, provoked by the unresolved dilemmas of the occupation and the Palestinian uprising, but which, on a deeper level, derives from an exhaustion of the hegemonic official Zionist ideology, which is however still clung to, at least rhetorically, by the older generation of Jewish

13 Israelis (2005: 252). Moreover, as Ben-Ari and Bilu note, the “breakdown of the political and cultural hegemony of Labor Zionism and its associated political bodies” has caused an influx of “competing worldviews and assertions of Israeli identity and peoplehood [which] are finding greater public expression” within contemporary “post-Zionist”20 culture(1997: 17). Among others, these transformations are manifested via two specific cultural practices, backpacking trips abroad and PEDMC. The manner in which these shifts of consciousness and emerging social transformations are embodied in these particular activities will be discussed in more depth throughout the essay.

Psy-Trance Music and Culture Components of a ‘Model’ Party ,(מסיבות ,In Israel, psy-trance gatherings, generically known as “mesibot” (parties are arguably the main manifestation of psychedelic electronic dance culture21. The parties thrown in Goa, where the phenomenon originated, remain the archetype. Consequently, psy-party organizers try to recreate what they, or their friends, might have experienced during their original phase of initiation. Aside from the fact that electronic media are now used to promote these events, Israeli psy-neotribes continue to apply this primary model and are judged partly by how accurately they stick to the ‘pure’ Goa format. Yet, while the style of psy-trance parties remains stagnant, trance music producers are perpetually redesigning their sound so that it appears innovative and cutting edge, i.e. in the vanguard leisure culture. It is interesting to note also, that whereas the first parties in Goa were envisioned as transformative, today, psy-trance gatherings are often tinged with nostalgia and are seen as occasions for re-enacting Dionysian days of old (Davis, 1995; Reynolds, 1997). The Israeli parties described in this essay follow the Goa model and remain – socially, materially and spiritually – connected to this particular cultural context. The consummate, meta, psy-trance gathering incorporates various elements. An attractive party, one which motivates people to attend, provides Transistim with the expectation of an agreeable combination of location, drugs and company. The ideal setting is a remote natural spot, one where people have enough space to move around and can feel certain that they won’t meet outsiders. The drugs should be pure and of trusted quality, and preferably there should be enough to go around to all who want to use them.

14 Within the psy-trance party context, individuals are judged not by who they are (in their day to day lives) but by how they behave (in the PEDMC context) and to what degree they invoke the New Edge “live and let live” policy which entails not intervening with your neighbors’ ‘trips’ so long as they doesn’t interfere with yours.

The Role of Trance Music Yet, more important than any of these factors, music stands out as the principal ingredient needed for ensuring a successful New Edge gathering. Trance music controls the party’s mood, creates its atmosphere and, if it is successful, transmits its New Edge is a general term used to denote a myriad of electronic (טראנס) ”message. In Israel “trance dance music styles. At the same time, “trance,” as opposed to “house,” is also a specific style of electronic music, often associated with psychoactive underground parties. The term “psy-trance” is particularly broad, since it is used to indicate a variety of psychedelic electronic music genres and, in tandem, serves both as a collective term for the electronic music associated with these events and as a subgenre in itself. Trance also implies a rhapsodic state of being that is associated with the transcendental consciousness and psychotropic rapture resulting from these parties. Throughout this essay, I interchangeably use the terms “psy-trance” and “trance” to signify both the assortment of psychedelic electronic dance music genres and their inter-related cultural styles.

Varieties of Trance There are numerous varieties of ‘professional’22 as well as amateur quality trance. Because this music is disseminated largely via grassroots avenues such as direct trading or Web based “p2p” (person to person) file sharing portals, new categories are continuously surfacing. Although there is a degree of overlapping, each sub-genre has a definitive sound and its own trademarked nuances. A DJ is generally known for playing one specific genre or sub-genre and will normally not mix between them during the course of a single set. Regardless of the exact variation of trance played at parties, the music always contains a strong kick/bass line and is intended to be played loud. The following prefixes are all sub-genres of “trance” music and can be labeled interchangeably either generally as “(psy) trance,” or by their full names (prefix +

15 ,tekk, break-beat ,(אפל) dark ,(לילה) trance”), or by their prefix alone23: club, Euro, night“ ,(אפי) NRG, epic ,(עליות) full-on, techno, psy, progressive, very progressive, up-lifting ,tribal, guitar, Goa, cyber, space, melodic, ambient ,((נצחונות) ’anthem (known as ‘victory swami, Swedish, British, Italian etc. Each type has its unique sound and level of intensity. The abundance of styles and sub-styles has led Simon Reynolds, senior editor of the British music journal Spin magazine, to catalogue them as “hallucinogenres” since they are all “sampladelic” in nature, that is, “disorientating, perception-warping music created using the sampler and other forms of digital technology” (1998: 41). At Israeli parties, participants may identify the scene they belong to by the specific sounds played on the dance floor, which they distinguish primarily by determining the bpm (beats per minute) of a track’s bass-line, the ‘multi tracking’ of its used for its instrumentation and from the mind-set conveyed (סאונדים) ”loops, the “sounds in its samples24. Parties usually run from around midnight till sometime the next afternoon. Thus, the music played at mesibot will normally follow a progression of genres starting from ones which use casual sounding rhythms and somewhat slower bpms and develop into styles that apply frenzied medleys of arpeggiating melodies sonically encapsulated by unyielding – and at times almost savage - bass-lines. For instance, at night, ‘dark’, faster music is played, while the sunrise is usually a time for more melodic or epic sounding trance and the morning hours are generally reserved for more psychedelic, ‘full-on,’ sounds. Usually, at some point towards the end of the party these aggressive beats taper off into a purposefully relaxing type of electronic music known as “ambient.” Made in much the same way as trance, ambient is also divided into numerous categories and sub- and a ,(רחיפות) categories such as: chill-out, groove, dub, organic, deep, minimal, floating sub-style itself entitled “ambient.” The final DJ set is often a progression in itself, in that it covers a variety of ambient styles until it dissolves into silence.

Some Comments on Psy-Trance Music A number of aspects make psy-trance music unique. First, it is produced digitally, normally up-tempo, typified by primeval thumping rhythms, mostly wordless, and, thus, has a certain cross-cultural appeal. Psy-trance (as well as other electronic music styles)

16 and its attendant culture evolved at a time when innovations in the electronics industry began promoting affordable and portable music making equipment such as drum machines, synthesizers and samplers25, all of which could fairly easily be connected into a home computer and used to create professional sounding dance tracks. Once this electronic equipment came onto the market, DJ’s and electronic music producers were able to produce digitally tempered four measure (4/4) bass-lines which could be amplified, adjusted, ‘tweaked’ and otherwise manipulated so as to be continuously syncopated throughout the night. Another trait of psy-trance music - and one directly related to this music’s adjoining culture - is its connection with various sorts of transcendental religious experiences (Sylvan, 1999, 2005). The repetitive bass drum beat played at parties is analogous to certain cultures’ “musico-religious traditions” where, through the correct application of a “combination of music rhythm and trance dance,” music functions as a way of invoking spirits and eliciting Shamanic healing powers (Sylvan, 1999; Harner, 1973). As a result of the totality of psychedelic drug experience, as well as the all- encompassing sonic rhythm, the music often thrusts attendees into a space of spiritual ‘ascendance.’ Robin Sylvan, a scholar who has researched the religious dimensions of popular music, claims that when trance-dance propels an individual into a state of higher awareness, their:

...ego and rational mind are bypassed, strong emotions and feelings are invoked, and powerful altered states of consciousness are accessed. These states are linked to symbolic meaning implicit in the organizational structure of the music. Certain melodies or rhythms can create associations with the external world – people, places, events, or even whole cultural systems. One obvious example of this is the first time each of us ‘got it’ on the dance floor of a party; from then on, hearing that music triggers an association with that party and the meaning that experience holds for us. More importantly, music can also create associations with the internal world or (worlds), opening into virtual landscapes of the imagination that are intrinsically connected to the realm of the sacred. In other words, music establishes a link between this world and the spiritual world, and provides a vehicle for traveling between them (1999, emphasis in the original).

17 Of all the art forms, music could be considered the most abstract since it invisibly enters our consciousness through the ear canal. Yet, and especially when hallucinogenic drugs are involved, when Transistim listen to this music continuously it can become an intensely sensual experience (Lull, 1992). Furthermore, sound researchers have located receptors within the brain that receive messages broadcast along certain frequencies (alpha waves) which correspond with the modules of sound created by the unending 4/4 trance bass rhythm (Mizrach, 1997; Klimmer, 2002; Takahashi, 2004)26. For this reason perhaps, many psy-party participants also claim to have “seen” the music they heard playing at parties27. Although drugs may be what ‘fuels’ psy-trance parties, it is the music that is responsible for facilitating the focalized euphoric synergy found at these highly personal – as well as interpersonal– events. As new media critic Douglas Rushkoff notes, when the DJ succeeds, his28 “smooth flow” of music generates a shared sense of communality which momentarily transports participants into a single-minded “equilibrium” (1994:161-2). Thus, not only is psy-trance music fun to dance to, it seems to contain a wider spiritual/corporeal element which adds to its appeal and makes it so central to these transformative gatherings.

Israeli PEDMC General Features Since first coming into contact with these parties almost twenty years ago, Israeli involvement in this scene has grown so steadily that today Israel is known as a “Trance Regev, 2004). Although Israelis are involved with some of the) (מעצמת טראנס) ”Power other styles of electronic dance music, their specific contribution to the psy-trance genre is immense. Israeli psy-trance producers, DJ’s, record labels and even party promoters dominate this international scene and the parties here, both underground and commercial, are thought to be on par - and even on a more advanced level - with their Europe and Northern American counterparts29. Transistim are also highly regarded for their enthusiasm and high levels of energy and intensity at parties. Additionally, Israelis have taken over a sizeable portion of the illegal substances trade surrounding trance culture

18 and are widely considered – both in and out of the PEDMC world - to be reliable and resourceful drug dealers (Haviv, 2005; Levi-Barzilai, 2003; Rosenthal 2003)30.

Mesibot - Israeli PEDMC Gatherings In contemporary Israel parties come in all sizes and social configurations and can happen anywhere, at any time, but especially on Friday nights and holidays where, on average, there are about twenty per weekend31. Although discussing the Israeli dance scene in general, Tamir Leon, a local EDMC researcher and activist has claimed that parties attract between fifty and one hundred thousand participants weekly (2002). If this is so, I would estimate that PEDMC is 10-15% of this figure; roughly five thousand people a week have some organized interaction with the psy-trance scene in Israel32. Not all events take place on weekends and individuals may gather for an impromptu party at someone’s house or at a local pub or hangout. Sometimes parties are held on Thursdays in order to allow for former ‘heads’ - Transistim who have become Orthodox and now observe the Sabbath (and therefore won’t drive to Friday night parties) - to maintain their connection to their neotribes. Many hard-core ravers, but now ,(פולאוניסטים) ’of these people were at one time ‘full-onistim supplement their passion for trance music with strict religious observance (often tinged with Hassidic overtones) as an auxiliary means of spiritual and ecstatic expression. Even non-orthodox Israelis, however, frequently spend the first part of their Shabbat evenings eating dinner with their families. Hence, parties are usually timed to accommodate Transistims’ prior participation at celebratory Sabbath family dinners and other religious rituals associated with Jewish festivals33. People go to these gatherings out of two main motivations: either they attend parties for their hedonistic appeal (as a type of leisure) or they approach these events as vehicles for potential spiritual advancement (as a kind of self therapy/attunement). Often these two goals are merged and bacchanalian revelers will encounter sublimely meditative moments or contemplative Transistim will exchange their serious demeanor with acts of wild intemperance. This blend of “spiritual hedonism” (Davis, 2004) may be located in “the strong revivalist sensibilities” consistent with Goa-style parties which scholars have noted often are steeped in a “mood of cultural and spiritual recovery

19 characteristic of Neo-Paganism” and New Age spirituality (St. John 2004: 29; Heelas, 1996).

Inhabitants of post-rave [events] are not so much heir to unchanged traditions, but are, as are many pagans and practitioners of Earthen spirituality, innovators, syncretists, sampling from existing traditions, cobbling together reinvented traditions and adopting new technologies in their veneration of nature….Some reconstructionists are informed by particular historical periods, cultural icons or regions,...others work with a multiplicity of influences: e.g. Celticism, Druidry, Goddess Spirituality, Hinduism, the Mayan Calendar, and perhaps fusing the ideas of Rupert Sheldrake, Buckminster Fuller and Terrance McKenna (St. John, ibid).

Although some of these elements are present at Israeli psy-trance parties, local manifestations of Neo-Pagan hybridity often take their cues from appropriated Jewish symbolism such as three dimensional cabbalistic pentagrams fashioned from string art, the blowing of a shofar on the dance floor and a host of other seasonal symbols (e.g. a magen david or menorah fashioned from day-glow painted wood) which coincide with the Jewish holidays the parties sometimes celebrate. Yet, in contrast to parties thrown abroad, in Israel there is a noted absence of quasi-devotional altars – ones that feature new age ornamentations such as tarot cards, zodiac charts, healing bells or statuettes of Far-Eastern deities. Perhaps the fact that the erecting of such (neo)paganic altars is taboo in Jewish culture, may explain their nonexistence at Israeli trance parties34.

A Note on PEDMC’s Stimuli Psy-trance parties involve participants’ use of stimulants to invigorate their minds and bodies. Although trance parties are notorious for drug use, most of the people using them do so only after making a conscious decision and, from my observations, do so sensibly35. Common compounds found at Israeli psy-trance parties include LSD-25 ,and to a lesser extent, Salvina Divinorum ,(אקסטה/”and MDMA (“ecstasy (טריפים/trippim) Psilocybin (magic mushrooms), various Coca and Qat extracts and endurance beverages like Red Bull and XTC36.

20 In Israel, psycho-active drugs are used within PEDMC for two distinct purposes: drugs for (אוכלים) ’the first is recreational and the second is sacred. Transistim ‘eat pleasure - as mood enhancers - and for “occasioning” voyages of the intellect and spirit (Huxley, 1954: 31). In addition, partiers use drugs to augment their music listening experience and to help them stay up through the night. I also suggest that the use of drugs at mesibot is an expression of Transistims’ disagreement with the establishment’s attitude which assumes that all narcotics are inherently harmful (Ben Dov, 1998; Horovitz, 1997; Leon, 2002, Meadan, 2001). Psy-trancers feel the establishment’s understanding of their activities is inaccurate and, in fact, many Transistim I interviewed reported that, for them, psy-trance parties are a leisure activity which offers a venue for the constructive use of drugs and provides a restorative “vacation from ordinary life” (Reynolds, 1998:176). As Transistim see it, the establishment authorities - such as law enforcement, the education ministry, social welfare services and especially the mass media – misconstrue the purpose of these parties and especially the role drugs play at New Edge psy-trance gatherings and, therefore, view these events negatively (Ben-Dov, 1998, 2000; Leon, 2002; Meadan, 2001; Regev, 2004; Shem-Shaul, 1999)37. Additionally, Transistim believe the establishment has been led to believe that mesibot are a pretext for carnal drug orgies and fail to see these gatherings beneficial aspects because, since they lack accurate, ‘inside,’ information of what takes place at them, they form their opinions from sensationalist journalism (Horovitz, 1997, Meadan, 2001) 38. Thus, Transistim view their participation at mesibot as an opportunity to protest what they feel to be the establishment’s unwarranted narrow-mindedness. Nevertheless, drugs are illegal and thus the use of them at parties constitutes the breaking of laws. For this reason, the conventional view of what takes place at mesibot is not entirely off the mark. Yet, there seems to be a disparity between what the Transistim know and what establishment believe (Goode and Ben-Yehuda, 1994, Meadan, 2001). As one passionate Transist articulated: “if they [the lawmakers/governmental authorities] were to try them [drugs] they might no be so anti” (Elad, 23, interview with the author, 2004).

21 Tracking Israeli Psy-Neotribes Discovering the Party Involvement in the Israeli PEDMC begins by knowing about an upcoming party. Information about approaching events usually appears in a SMS text message or e-mail roughly half a month prior to the party date. To receive these updates people, via psy- neotribe websites, submit requests to be put on their mailing lists and a process of identification ensues. Applicants are asked a series of questions by the neotribe’s anonymous webmaster(s) and, if they can show that they are indeed psy-trance enthusiasts and not police, they are sent a “welcome” letter acknowledging ‘acceptance.’ New members are expected to verify their identity upon coming to their first party since party producers well understand the illegality inherent in these events and fear of police infiltration is a constant threat. This screening system ensures a closed network of informed individuals who then are ‘in the know’ as to when and where gatherings are happening. Most of the parties I observed were held outside, in secluded areas of the Negev desert which, in many instances, are inactive army training zones. Since Israel’s landmass is both small and heavily populated, there is always a challenge for producers to come up with novel places for throwing parties - venues that haven’t been used before and ones which will appeal to their patrons’ “underground sensibilities” (Bennett, 2000: 85). Friends regularly group together to share expenses – refreshments, gas, drugs, entrance fees - and car-pool one another to events. In addition, well organized production crews may sometimes provide private buses which pick up party-goers at central points on- route to the events. On the night of the party, around nine or ten P.M., the Transistim receive a second message with instructions to call a certain number. Phoning the number activates a recording which states the navigation points needed for reaching the party. The ride to the party zone normally involves locating an isolated junction and then hunting for the correct turn-off onto a network of inactive dirt roads. Transistim will transverse long distances, riding through the dark night across unfamiliar and sometimes challenging off- road courses until, deep in the shetax, they come across their parties. Supposedly, these elaborate measures contribute to the character of the event and a well known New Edge

22 to get to a party, the better it will (עובד) ’adage claims that ‘the harder someone ‘works be.’

The Psy-Circus Not unlike mainstream recreationalists, Transistim go to outings equipped with everything needed to ensure their personal comfort: tents, sleeping bag, blankets, warm clothes, sunglasses, beach chairs, air mattresses, firewood, Tikki Torches, coolers of drinks, bags of energizing refreshments (like fruit or sweets) and, occasionally, their children and their pets. They also bring assortments of psychoactive substances which friends take together or separately, according to the strength of high they wish to achieve. Akin to ‘extreme’ athletes, New Edge drug users are generally primed for their exploit and, if they use stimulants, do so with expertise and an understanding of how they will interact with their minds and bodies. Moreover, like extreme athletes, Transistims’ drug use allows them to encounter acute facets of their personalities and may help them overcome perceived (i.e. socially ordained) physical and character limitations (Stebbins, 2001, 2005). 39 A successful party is judged partly by its degree of merriment; one e-flyer I received recently urged people to come and join the “psy-circus” (Doof mailing list, 30/12/05). At another event, the outdoor party was held inside an actual circus tent which had been filled with ultra violet lighting, geodesic sculptures and other visual stimuli. This festive atmosphere is enhanced by fire twirlers who perform sporadically throughout the night. Transistim often arrive wearing luminescent fabrics or dress in a hodgepodge of styles, put on wigs or funny hats, or maybe have their face painted. After the sun rises, people throw Frisbee discs, juggle, fly kites, play with their dogs, do yoga or tai chi, take walks in the surrounding areas, make chai40 over open fires or ‘zone’ out and watch the dancers. Psy-trance parties may be viewed as a sequence of “puissant” (powerful) moments, an interaction between private and public spheres (Maffesoli, 1996: 48). Shared (macro) consciousness – located in the party’s general mood and inspired chiefly by its music – is shaped from personal (micro) occurrences. As a result, parties become a “communal work” of “radical self expression,” as organizers encourage participants’

23 involvement (Harvey, 1990: electronic document). For instance, Transistim sometimes volunteer to come early and help set up the party. Others construct make-shift encampments from ‘Sinai’ rugs, Bedouin mattresses and tie-dye patterned sheets. People occasionally bring along home-made art installments and place them in and around the party zone. Some may hang mirrored balls, glow sticks or mobiles (‘mystic twisters’) from trees, or place amulets on rocks. Participants will light bonfires, place candles along the pathways or incense sticks near the dance floor. Even while they go about these various activities, Transistim normally keep their verbal discourse to a basic minimum. This, no doubt, is due to the physical exertion required for dancing all night. Two other factors – the somewhat numbing effects certain drugs might have on a person’s motor system and the very loud volume at which the neotribes blast their sound systems – also contribute to this non-verbal environment41. Some scholars have referred to psy-trance parties as a “TAZ,” that is, a “Temporary Autonomous Zones” (Bey, 1985; Tramacchi, 2000; St. John, 2001, 2004; Sylvan, 2005). Since they last for only a limited period, while inside them, Transistim purposefully disengage themselves from their lives outside the psy-trance forum. Hence, “bringing in” talk of politics, money, gossip, scandal, in fact any subject beyond the New Edge (להביא) (להיות כבד) ”context, i.e. issues pertaining to their daily lives, is seen as “weighing down tensions - especially ones (האזור) ”the ‘vibe’. Conversations discussing the “region’s .are particularly avoided - (המצב) ”dealing with the “situation Gatherings are often spartan affairs held in all kinds of weather, ranging to extreme heat to cold and rainy. Many participants, therefore, view them as a sort of all- night endurance ‘picnic.’ The parties can follow a pattern of unpredictable occurrences, interwoven with risk and adventure. For instance, locations are usually hard to locate and Transistim may get lost or run into police road blocks along the way. Additionally, psy- trancers must be wary of the drugs they take, since impurities can induce unpleasant At the same .(סריטות) ’physical responses or lead to long-term psychological ‘scratches time, when things go right, Transistim are activated into what Australian anthropologist Des Tramacchi calls a “psychedelic dance rapture,” wherein their dancing together causes them to “lose or suspend subjective experience of themselves and merge into a kind of collective body...” (2001:165). Although the parties’ formulas seemingly repeat

24 themselves, their implicit promise of chance and reward ensures that they remain exciting and appealing.

Methodology Building a Neotribe in Mitzpe Ramon Though I have been steadily involved with trance culture since the early 90’s, my most recent interest was ignited in Mitzpe Ramon, a small town in the Negev desert where I have lived since 2002. There, along with three other friends, I helped briefly assemble a New Edge connective. Pooling our interests and abilities, we produced a few parties which attracted several hundred enthusiastic Transistim. We fashioned our parties after what we knew of ‘old skool’ Goa gatherings and the non-commodified ethos behind psy-trance culture. We did this by ensuring the entry prices and the cost of refreshments remain low and, in the DiY (do it yourself) 42 spirit, held the overhead costs down by doing all of the production work ourselves. In a further effort to reduce expenses, as well as to maintain the parties’ grassroots non-commercial nature, we decided to skip the expensive and time consuming process involved with obtaining the permits to hold a public event43. Our work together lasted for about three quarters of a year. Ultimately, however, someone told the police, who came out to where we were setting up our next party and warned us that if they we tried to throw another event we would be detained and our equipment confiscated. This effectively was the end of our budding neotribe. Although disappointed with how things turned out, we took the turn of events in stride, sold the equipment we had jointly purchased and, in true psy-trance fashion, have never mentioned the incident again.

Initiating Fieldwork: The Doof and 3rd Empire Psy-Connectives Even while working on our neotribe, I knew of other New Edge groups who, though centered in Tel-Aviv, were throwing parties in and around the Negev in much the same style as the ones we had thrown in Mitzpe44. Two in particular, “Doof” and “The 3rd Empire,” attracted my attention; both are some of the oldest production crews in Israel and have managed to stay afloat by being true to the original underground psy-trance

25 spirit. Initiated roughly ten years ago, the “Doof” connective is maintained by four friends in their mid thirties and has done well enough to expand its enterprise to include a record label by the same name. “The “3rd Empire,” about half as old, is run by three friends and encourages affiliates to stay in touch between parties via their members-only website. None of the individuals running these neotribes subsist solely from party profits and all retain regular jobs. Although the two groups’ events are similar in character, they may be distinguished by the music played at them: Doof parties feature a harder/faster (145 bpm) music called “Psy-trance” while the 3rd Empire gatherings are typified by the somewhat softer/slower (138) trance genre known as “Progressive.” Since the formation of the Mitzpe neotribe concurred with the beginning of my graduate studies at Ben Gurion University, initially I had the idea to relate to it as field research. When our neotribe suspended its activities, I transferred my ethnographic gaze onto the Doof and the 3rd Empire’s groupings, documenting several of their events on film and participating in their online forums. I conducted formal interviews with numerous electronic musicians, DJ’s and VJ’s45, both within the New Edge context and outside of it and befriended and both formally and informally interview, questioned and otherwise probed the party organizers and many of the members of their neotribes. Additionally, to gain a broader perspective on the local New Edge scene, I monitored the prominent Israeli trance websites, “Isratrance.com,” and “Trance.co.il,” and went to a variety of parties thrown by other psy-neotribes. While many of my insights into Israeli trance culture came from attending parties and talking with informants, I developed them further by discussing my opinions with other researchers on ‘Dancecult,’ a list-serve composed from the international EDMC academic community46. Much of the academic EDMC literature I read provided me with a theoretical basis for conceptualizing psy-trance subculture. Yet, due to the fast paced dynamics inherent in late-modern subcultural behavior, some of this literature is either outdated or appeared in need of a more hands-on approach. I supplemented it, therefore, with more informal media; a few of my claims, for instance, are based on Thomas Jankowski’s “The Trancer’s Guide to the Galaxy,” a psy-trance ‘guide’ book published annually in Germany which includes a history of the scene, up-to-date global party news and 30 “in- scene country profiles” (3: 2005). I cross-referenced this data with other PEDMC

26 periodicals such as “Detect” (Japanese), “Revolve” (English), Mushroom (Germany), “Relay” (American), and the now defunct “NewZeek” (Israel). I also gathered data from various international trance websites where I read party/CD reviews, stayed in touch with the latest PEDMC trends and sampled what parties are like overseas by downloading amateur video clips. Furthermore, this past summer I attended “Sonica,” a 5 day/night psychedelic electronic music festival which was held in Italy and attracted close to 5,000 enthusiasts from over 30 countries. This somewhat commercial festival made for an interesting contrast with the much smaller underground events I regularly attend in Israel. In addition, Sonica provided an ample opportunity to interview a range of trance affiliates and thereby substantiate some of the impressions I formulated while observing Israeli New Edge neotribes.

A Note on Language: Translating Israeli PEDMC Communication Despite the fact that Israel is a Hebrew speaking country, English is (for the most part) the language used within the psy-trance community. This communication includes printed language such as posters/flyers/banners, internet forums, album covers and CD/party reviews, as well as name of parties, production groups, tracks, record labels, DJ monikers, participants’ aliases as well as the names of ‘sound systems,’ that is, the neotribes who put on the parties. Since many of my conversations with informants were conducted in Hebrew, I translated their remarks into English but have preserved their slang through transliteration.

The Contradictions Inherent in New Edge Neotribal Behavior Neotribal behavior in general, and New Edge conduct in particular, is often typified by contrasts and oppositions which appear to be indicative of a certain degree of “tension characterizing sociality at the end of the twentieth century” (Maffesoli, 1996: 6). In his sociological examination of modern tourism and sightseeing, Dean MacCannell suggests that this tension arises from the late modern societal imperative to choose between “modern construction of totalities and the simultaneous celebration of differentiations” (1976: 18). It seems, however, that transmodern New Edge neotribes circumvent this inconsistency since they are eclectic by design, fragmentary in nature and

27 therefore not indebted to any particular social scheme. Yet, at the same time, these connectives do not exist in a vacuum and psy-trancers are continuously compelled to relate to the junctures which separate the often utopian reality inside the psy-trance TAZ with the conventional industrial, “Orientalist,” world view existing beyond it (Said, 1978). Thus, according to Maffesoli, a “fundamental paradox: the constant interplay between the growing massification [of contemporary hyper consumer culture] and the development of micro-groups [like psy-trance New Edge connectives]” is present among neotribes (1996:6). These contrasting stances are revealed in the hybrid tenets of New Edge thought which often combine opposing concepts into neologic idioms such as techno-primitivism, spiritual-secularism and modern-tribalism. Scholars discussing globalization, identity, popular music and leisure trends in contemporary Western society, have repeatedly pointed to contradictory behavioral patterns specifically located in EDMC (Bennett, 2001; Davis, 2004; Hesmondhalgh, 2001; Hutson, 1999; Muggleton, 2000; Reynolds, 1997; Takahashi and Olaveson, 2001; Toynbee, 2000). In line with this analysis, Israeli PEDMC contains numerous paradoxes and contrasts located in a range of dichotomous pairs fused through conceptual opposition which are present in Transistim’s attitudes, conduct and language. For example: collective vs. individual, together vs. alone, apparent vs. hidden, exposed vs. obscured, permanent vs. fleeting, therapeutic vs. self-indulgent, confining vs. liberating, other vs. self, proximate vs. remote, mundane vs. mysterious, regular vs. extraordinary, urban vs. rural, atavistic vs. progressive, local vs. global, traditional (family culture) vs. secular (youth culture), fragmented vs. integrative, static vs. innovative, safety vs. risk, security vs. danger, authorized vs. prohibited, material vs. spiritual, mechanical vs. natural, commercial vs. non-profit, commodified vs. underground, sponsored vs. DiY (grassroots), exclusive vs. inclusive, outsider vs. insider, verbal vs. wordless, expressive vs. quiescent. Many of the local New Edge behavioral and linguistic traits associated with these dichotomies are scrambled so that meanings are reversed or redefined. For Transistim, however, these incongruent patterns create a comprehensible norm enabling them to share a fairly permanent, common, underlying structural outlook, while incorporating fragments from various cultural dimensions into “unified experience” (MacCannell,

28 1976:13).47 In the following two chapters I will explore the implications of these contradictions, and attempt to answer some of the questions I have posed, by examining further Transistims’ behavior and the ways in which it may be motivated from, replicated in and manifested by the paradoxes inherent in PEDMC.

29 Chapter II: The Paradoxes in Psy-Trance Behavior

The Paradox of Being a Transist Psy-trance parties are defined by their contradictory nature. Just about every aspect of New Edge culture and psy-trance events is paradoxical on some level and many are, simultaneously, on multiple levels. As mesibot are the prominent component of Israeli psy-trance culture, they provide an obvious unit of PEDMC analysis. Mesibot, and what takes place at them, may be depicted through a multitude of contrasting pairs. In some instances these binary oppositions flow from mainstream culture into the New Edge environment; on other occasions they emanate from inside the psy-TAZ and influence Transistims’ regular lives. What follows is a discussion of how the dichotomous pairs mentioned in chapter one correspond with Transistims’ cultural domains. Since these contrasts are multilayered, interconnected and dynamic, these examples do not constitute an exhaustive list but are meant to suggest some of the central ways that the current paradoxes present themselves in Israeli PEDMC. They may also serve as a model to describe and explain potential future discrepant behavior.

Defined by Paradoxes Š Collective vs. Individual Š Together vs. Alone Trance can bring you consciousness naturally - just melt yourself in the music and forget your body - it comes naturally and then it stays forever. A party can bring back to us a unity we no longer have in our lives. We have ourselves, family, and then it’s city, state. The tribe is missing. When you dance all night and swap energies with the people around you, discover their faces at sunrise and realize you already know them, and leave the party with the shared energy of 50-2000 people, you get the tribe back in your life. (Shahar, 34,48 founder and senior editor of IsraTrance.com)

A fundamental paradox built into the psy-trance experience is the individual- collective contrast. According to David Muggleton, a researcher who investigated “the post-modern meaning of style,” subcultures are “amongst other things a quest for

30 individual freedom in opposition to structures” (2000: 158). Transistim take their drugs, dance their dances and absorb the energy of the psy-trance events on an individual basis. Although Transistim dance together, on the same dance floor at the same time, they have no physical contact with one another. This manner of dancing stands in direct contrast to more traditional forms of communal dance (like the Hora or square dances) wherein participants’ bodies actually touch one another or face each other or dance together as a couple or a group in a ritualized way. Part of these activities entail sharing the occasion with other people; doing these same acts without a community would detract from their power since this intensity comes from the individual interacting autonomously within a larger mass. In other words, Transistim dance as groups/together but, at the same time, also dance autonomously/alone as individuals. This example is a further illustration of how parties display both individual-collective behavior at the same time, since, even as individuals create the group, they also retain their independence within it. It is the shared communal effort which brings the parties to their transcendental heights, but it is their ethos of ‘every man for himself’ which enables participants to make use of this experience on a personal level. Thus, the two entities - individual and community - are interwoven while standing apart. Transistim staunchly reserve their right to remain individualistic since this, they feel, is part of what the parties symbolize: the liberty to do or not do as you like. This point is reinforced by the fact that Transistims’ all hear the same music but interpret it differently. This is partly due to the fact that some Transistim replace chemical induced highs with other methods like Yoga, dynamic meditation or aerobic exercise for connecting with the music. Thus, psy-neotribes are also divided by the various approaches – and the myriad of results- Transistim use for ‘getting high.’ In addition, even though Transistim dance to the same rhythm, they don’t follow any established set of steps and each dancer spontaneously creates their own pattern of movement. Moreover, to take part in a party you don’t have to dance and, instead of dancing, many Transistim prefer to sit on the side of the dance floor or stay close to their encampments. Thus, some Transistim report that dancing is not a prerequisite for feeling a sense of belonging and, even if they engage in separate or private activities, as long as

31 these are done within the psy-TAZ context, they feel a part of the mesiba. As one non- dancing participant told me, “What difference does it make if I come to a party and don’t dance and go and walk my dog instead? If it weren’t for Trance I wouldn’t be out here in the first place” (Yaeli, 27, interview with the author, 2004). Paradoxically, Transistim place themselves in a public setting in order to facilitate their individualism49. As we shall see, this dichotomy, individual versus collective, repeats itself in numerous formats and various extents within many of the other New Edge paradoxes.

Š Apparent vs. Hidden Š Exposed vs. Obscured no-one at my work knows about my ‘trance’ side, and :(חיים כפולים) ’I lead a ‘double life most people at the parties have no idea what I do when I am not involved with this scene. It’s a bit strange sometimes, but what choice do I have?... It’s part of the deal... (UV: 35, DJ/party organizer, interview with author, 2006)

Psy-trance is virtually anonymous in the sense that most of the people making this music use aliases and its distribution is often through non-official channels. Moreover, at psy-trance gatherings the DJ ‘booth’ characteristically is shrouded in decorative cloths and, unlike, for instance, a rock concert, generally is not considered to be the focal point of the party (Tagg, 1994). This detail is also one of the basic differences between psy- trance and other types of electronic dance music culture. In many clubs where House (a more urban oriented form of dance music) is played, the DJ is clearly staged above the patrons and spends a lot of his/her performance waving dancers on. Although DJ’s are prominently featured on psy-trance flyers and website bulletins, it is their music - rather than their presence - which is deemed central to the party’s success. What's more, DJ’s do not (verbally) speak with the dancers, but rather, let their music do their talking for them. Moreover, the different DJ acts are never announced, and, as they intermittently move about on stage, their music sets dissolve into each other in such a way that audiences have a hard time deciphering when the first DJ ended and the second one began. For those concerned, there is always a mystery surrounding whether or not the DJ will actually make it to the party and, if the one on stage is actually the same DJ who was scheduled to perform50. In fact, when asked, Transistim can often answer that they have

32 no idea which DJ is currently behind the ‘decks’51; moreover, in an air of unanimity, Transistim might also add that ‘it doesn’t matter.’ The mystique surrounding the DJ’s not only empowers their performance but appears to be akin to the secrecy enshrouding the mesiba in particular and also links up with the overall contrasts associated with the illicit elements of PEDMC in general. Note that, this idea seems, also, to accentuate the dichotomy of the individual versus the mass, since DJ’s (acting as individuals) present their music (as a collective work) in such a manner that tracks cannot be distinguished one from the other. Thus, the pieces of their set form into one entity but may also be appreciated as single units. Furthermore, although it is a group that hears it, each member interprets what is being played independently.

Š Fleeting vs. Permanent Š Therapeutic vs. Self-indulgent Indeed, among the motivations for the trip [abroad]52, most travelers mentioned that the main goal was to distance themselves from the pressure of living in an Israeli society where war is always imminent, violence is a daily issue and the security problems threaten everyday life. (Anteby-Yemini et al, 2005: 106)

Why do I come to parties? I am not really sure, ...maybe because I feel the drugs more than when I do them at home. For the energy, the mood... for the place. (Avinoam, 22, interview with the author, 2004)

...Drugs are the means for most party goers (often confused with being the goal), but are unnecessary if you can open your mind and body to the music and the energies of the people around you. (Shahar, 34, Isratrance.com)

From my observations at parties, I have discerned that a central function of these events is the creation of a distinctive unity stemming from the combination of dance and psychedelics. Following Victor Turner’s delineation of public performance, I have termed this rite “hallucinatory communitas,” alluding to the magical sense of temporary communion experienced at psy-trance gatherings (Turner, 1969, 1978; Schmidt, 2005). I term it “hallucinatory” since the unity achieved at these events usually occurs while

33 participants are under the influence of entheogens and in states of higher consciousness wherein transpersonal growth commonly occurs (Solomon, 1964; Walsh and Grob, 2005). This almost mystical, extraordinary, intoxication appears to be a distinctive form of dance therapy, providing Transistim a unique remedy for coping with “‘the pressure cooker’ of Israeli society and politics” (Aviv, 2004, 56; Levy, 1992; Shem-Shaul, 1999; Ben-Dov, 2000; Rosenthal, 2003). The therapeutic function of hallucinatory communitas has been suggested to me by Diane Thram, an ethnomusicologist based in South Africa, and appears to be yet another example of how the group versus the individual contrast is interwoven into PEDMC (personal comment, 2005). This takes place because individuals access the therapeutic components of hallucinatory communitas via the group dynamic while, at the same time, the group attains its transcendence via individual participation. Similar to the manner in which dancing or listening to the DJs’ music gathers individuals into an distinctive whole, the over-all transpersonal force produced by hallucinatory communitas is also a result of the interplay between collective and autonomous entities. It should be noted that Turner’s term “multivocality of symbols” seems to address this issue as it suggests that the meaning of certain symbols used in rituals are not necessarily determined by the mass but, rather, are open to individual interpretations and are played out according to one’s specific experience (1967: 51). Hallucinatory communitas, therefore, as an emblematic New Edge dynamic, embodies some of PEDMC’s various incongruent elements. For instance, similar to what anthropologist Alan Morinis claims about pilgrimage, the activities connected with PEDMC in general, and the hallucinatory communitas experience in particular occur over a relatively short period of time. “Pilgrims tend to be people who for whom the sacred journey is a limited break from the routines and the familiar context of an ordinary, settled, social life” (1992: 19).53 Since it is fleeting, the union experienced at parties is not necessarily significant in Transistims’ daily lives. For instance, unlike in pilgrimages, which may involve a permanent change of status for participants, individuals who participate at mesibot may not even recognize or acknowledge one another outside the PEDMC realm. Thus, academic debates have focused on the degree to which the

34 beneficial effects of this psychedelic New Edge practice - what I call ‘hallucinatory communitas’ - remain. Some theorists claim that this sense of euphoria allows for a form of “re- enchantment” with society and parties are a space for Transistim to be inspired by their communal, consensual, non-commodified, non-regimented behavior (Bey, 1985, 1995: electronic document; Tramacchi, 2000). In other words, mesibot lend Transistim an arena for expressive freedom (for example, through art, dance or style of dress) and many participants report that these events allow them to tap into sides of their personalities which are otherwise subdued by their adherence to quotidian modes of ‘correct’ social behavior. At the same time, and especially because of the impermanent nature of these gatherings, other theorists feel that “subcultural involvement is only a temporary form of empowerment and escape that does not (necessarily) substantially challenge the dominance/hegemony of the ruling classes” (Carrington and Wilson, 2002: electronic document). When combined, these notions appear as two sides of the same coin, since by detaching themselves from society, albeit temporarily, Transistim gain an ability to cope with the value systems which confront them on a regular basis. Yet, this coping mechanism is skewed by the fact that many Transistim keep their two lives- regular and PEDMC - separated and even hidden from one another. Although maintaining separate existences is a common feature of late-modern sociality (for e.g., work vs. leisure), the fact that the psy-trance TAZ is extraordinary causes the dichotomy between these two realms to be acute. This dichotomy surfaces in the comment of Kobi, an older Transist, who told me about how he saw mesibot in relation to his life: “I go out to mesibot to return to reality” (age 42, interview with the author, 2004). What Kobi appears to be referring to is the idea that parties are the essence of his existence and what happens in-between them is secondary. Alternatively, he could be speaking of the invigorating qualities he gains from attending mesibot which help him deal with his daily existence. To understand Kobi’s comment further we may draw a parallel between PEDMC and other forms of liminal communion such as pilgrimages or backpacking trips abroad. In all three instances, the communality occurring outside the main social structure actually serves to confirm this structure (Turner, 1969; Wang, 2000; Noy and Cohen,

35 2005). In other words, even though these rituals may seemingly come across as examples of peripheral behavior outside the conventional norm, in fact, they serve as a reflection of mainstream society.54 As Morinis notes, “the authorities and structures, and thus the conflicts of civil society, are often carried over into the pilgrimage experience” (1992: 17). Even though this dialectic commonly appears in various rituals, Transistims’ interplay between these two specific realities – everyday and hallucinatory – is unique since PEDMC is inherently dangerous55 and illegal. Thus, even as Transistims’ participation in mesibot may be seen as a functional and re-affirming ‘pressure valve,’ the extreme nature of PEDMC gatherings combined with the risk of intense drug use turns their endeavor into an atypical, radically oppositional, and therefore a paradoxical method for maintaining the balance between their diverse lifestyles. Hallucinatory communitas is multi-faceted and not only may it be seen as a tonic for socio-cultural strain, it may also be understood as a self-gratifying counter-measure for the monotony of prescribed late-industrial existence. In his study of the subcultural dynamics of rave culture, sociologist Arun Saldanha points out that “hedonism and spirituality have always existed..., not side by side, but implicated in each other, thereby together propelling the scene forward” (2004:278). Perhaps, as Saldanha suggests, the mutual involvement of these seemingly divergent components – self- indulgent and therapeutic– are what grant hallucinatory communitas its regenerative force.56 Ultimately, various factors – such as the type and amount of entheogen ingested, the DJ’s musicianship, the weather and location, the degree of camaraderie established with other participants and ones’ personal mood/attitude – determine the intensity of the hallucinatory communitas experience and the degree with which its contrasts harmonizes or conflicts with a Transist’s regular sphere of existence. Because its impact varies from Transist to Transist, it is difficult to generalize about hallucinatory communitas’s lasting effects and the degree which it motivates interpersonal exchanges. Nonetheless, regardless of whether or not its power fades when the Transist leaves the party zone, if properly experienced, it is possible to contend that the puissance attained from hallucinatory communitas serves to ‘make’ the party an emotionally moving and pleasurable activity and offers the Transist the “shared hallucination of being in-the- place-to-be”57 (Reynolds, 1997:86).

36 Š Liberating vs. Confining Š Self vs. Other If the party is really good, I am confused when I get back home. (Natali, 26, interview with author, 2005)

In her essay, “Young Israeli Backpackers in India,” Darya Maoz determined that “upon their return, the travelers may also affect their own society by bringing new attitudes and lifestyles back from their journeys” (2004:121). Although Maoz refers to “global nomads” who, through extended backpacking trips abroad are able to explore their identities unimpeded by societal constraints, an analogy to Transistim is clear (Noy and Cohen: 2005: 29-30). Both groups of ‘travelers’ seek to distance themselves from their familiar surroundings in order to gain respite from the pressure filled mentality of their regular environments (Anteby-Yemini et al, 2005; Schmidt, 2005). Moreover, on both kinds of journeys, travelers are exposed to stimulating and novel ideas which later may (or may not) be implemented in their regular communities. A third aspect of this analogy is the voyager’s encounter with the “Other” (Noy and Cohen, 2005: 30). According to Chaim Noy and Erik Cohen, two Israeli researchers who studied the anthropology of tourism, the “strangeness” exposed in the Other establishes a “contrast” with what the traveler is accustomed to (ibid.). It is this contrast which assists travelers “to shape their own identity and their attitude toward Israel” (ibid.). As the parties provide a zone of bizarre unfamiliarity, they too become arenas in which Transistim may encounter a transformative Other. A key difference between these experiences, however, is that travelers abroad confront external dissimilarities with their known environments while, in the case of PEDMC the Other, at least in part, comes from within the Transist’s inner self; the synergy at parties places them beyond the “usual limits of their egos and personalities” (Walsh and Grob, 2005: 16). In other words, manner in which Transistim perceive reality at mesibot is furnished by the almost surrealistic, illusory, worlds they experience while under the effects of hallucinogens. These states of psychonautic “liberty” can be as meaningful to Transistim as the trips many backpackers take abroad (Anteby-Yemini et al., 2005, 106). Paradoxically, when Transistim return to their daily realities, their regular identities appear strange to them and many speak of confusion between which world is

37 real and which is temporary 58. Thus, as psychedelic researcher Roger Walsh points out in regard to drug induced altered states of consciousness, “some of the most powerful, as well as the most profound and transformative [effects] are transpersonal experiences in which the self-sense expands beyond (trans) the personal or personality to encompass wider aspects of human kind, life, the world and the universe” (1998: 62). Similar to the emphasis Noy and Cohen place on the role the Other plays for backpacking Israelis, mesibot, like journeys abroad, provide spaces wherein Transistim can uncover unknown aspects of themselves “spontaneously from the unconstrained opportunity for contemplation in a strange and unimposing environment” (ibid)59. Even though they never physically leave Israel, the exotic or 'out-landishness' of psy-trance parties is intense enough to facilitate Transistims’ analogous ‘trips’ of exploration and discovery60. Moreover, the fact that the ‘trips’/journeys are taken together in public but experienced separately in private, is a reaffirmation of the ‘individual versus the group’ paradox; although the trips are done individually, it is the group dynamic that facilitates them and gives them their shape and meaning.

Š Remote vs. Proximate Š Mysterious vs. Mundane Š Extraordinary vs. Regular ŠRural vs. Urban If someone takes the drugs, music and the special atmosphere at our mesibot and adds them all together it’s like they went on a trip. When they get back home they probably wonder to themselves ‘Walla, where the hell was I this Shabbat?’ Think about it: they get a trip abroad without ever having to step on a plane. (Yoni, 31, party organizer, interview with the author, 2003)

The journey [abroad] represents...total liberty, a break from the routine, a time of complete independence...with no commitments.... (Anteby-Yemini et al., 2005: 106)

Organizers state, and Transistim expect, that the parties have the power to detach attendees from their daily lives to the point at which they feel comfortable enough to imaginatively ‘act out,’ through art and dance. Although Transistim spend their nights ‘camping’ in nature, the sites they choose are purposefully filled with a sense of psycho- tropic otherworldliness, which party producers have assembled into temporary alternative

38 realities. Additionally, participants add to this atmosphere by sometimes assuming surrogate party personas, adorning bright colored costumes or brandishing outlandish accessories. This otherworldly environment is further enhanced by programming the phases of the parties organically, around the moonset and sunrise, rather than mechanically, according to fixed hours. Parties are often celebrated on full moon nights and organizers take into account the sunrise as the time for staging specific DJ acts. Additionally, Transistim plan their drug-taking to correspond with special moments like first light or sunrise. Furthermore, the spectacular, often unspoiled, rural landscapes that surround the party sites strongly contrast to Transistims’ normal, usually urban, milieu. Thus, although short lived, the mesibot’s extraordinary settings permit Transistim to detach themselves from whatever is going on in their day to day lives. Though, in actuality the distance traveled to get to the parties is not significantly large (on average, around 200 kilometers), the parties become a make-believe, somewhat idealized, ‘sojourn’ wherein the proximity of conventional society is all but forgotten. An explanation for this is that even if a drive from the Tel-Aviv metropolitan area (where the majority of Transistim live) to the Negev desert (where most of the parties are held) is objectively not excessively long, however in a small country like Israel, traveling for two and a half hours is an exceptionally long journey. Furthermore, the dramatic change of scenery - from cityscape to wilderness - enhances the notion of otherworldliness. Likewise, the fact that these drives are done in the night also increases Transistims’ sense of disorientation. Beyond the logistical motivation for staging mesibot in the sparsely populated Negev, the desert holds an additional attraction for Transistim which may be understood by drawing a parallel between PEDMC and pilgrimage theory. According to Morinis the “extraordinary places” used as pilgrimage settings are “usually a location with a privileged relationship to the divine, as well as a place of condensed cultural ideals (1992: 4, 17). Thus, similar to traditional pilgrimage sites, Transistim are drawn to throw mesibot in the desert since, according to Jewish belief, the desert is where the Jews received the Torah and the nation of Israel formed its identity. Regardless of whether or not a Transist upholds Jewish traditions, the fact that they are Israeli means that they have some kind of established connection with this desert heritage (Johnson, 1987, Rosenthal,

39 2003). As Noam, a 35 year old technomad and fifth generation Tzabar told me: “the desert’s the place where we were born, it’s where we come from, man” (interview with the author, 2003). Perhaps, Transistim are drawn to the desert because they instinctively feel that it is the right place for them to reconnect both with themselves and with their origins.

ŠProgressive vs. Atavistic Š Global vs. Local I wouldn’t expect to find my grandfather at a party, but then, isn’t Raja Ram, [a renowned DJ] in his 60’s? (Hadar, 27, interview with the author, 2005)

Sure you can hear trance [played] on the radio, like in lead-ins to news programs or beer commercials, but that isn’t what we are dancing to at mesibot. Even though they call it ‘trance,’ anyone who’s been to a mesiba knows that that isn’t the real thing. (Sagi, 26, interview with the author, 2005)

From further research on Israeli “backpacking journeys,” Maoz also concluded that Israeli society “which is generally known as a mobilized, patriotic, and collective one,” enforces “a rigid timetable on the individual” (2005: 159). This rigidity results in a “tension...between the collectivism, which characterized the Zionist Israeli society in its beginnings, and individualism, a growing trend in contemporary post-Zionist society” (ibid.: 183). Relating the various ways that the viewpoints of these two generations’ intersect via backpackers’ behavior, Maoz indicates that their relationship is “complex, since each incorporates the other” (ibid.). In an associated essay on the interplay between “Israeli backpackers and “the formation of a new Israeli identity” anthropologist Ayana Shira Haviv notes a similar development and writes: “in its symbolization of both individuality and a new youth-based collectivity, its association both with the ‘spirituality’ and with a culture of leisure and consumption, psychedelic trance music shares many ideological associations with Israeli backpacker culture as a whole” (Haviv, 2005:75). What these scholars seem to be alluding to is that Israel is traditionally known for being a collective society that is, one in which the collective's needs prescribed, directed, and defined the individual’s course. Yet contemporary Israeli society has shifted to

40 become a culture wherein the individual’s requirements indirectly prescribe and define the mass (Melman, 1992; Ben Ari and Bilu, 1997). It seems that whereas once individuals served the needs of the collective, today individuality and the push for self advancement have become indicative of the joint Israeli cultural imperative (Ram 2000).61 It appears that Transistim and backpackers alike are a good example of how this phenomenon is actualized, since both communities alternate between progressive outlooks (for instance, the high regard for global culture) and more narrow-minded traditional conventions (such as, the collectivism of the earlier Zionist society) and thus embody the oppositionality inherent in the above mentioned generational tensions (Aviv, 2005). No matter whether on actual, or chemically induced proverbial, ‘trips,’ members of these groups mix and match both real and imagined identities and social roles to such an extent that what emerges is a modified replica of their source culture - the Israeli mainstream. As one of my informants told me: “originally, parties were brought here from the East, but that’s not the story anymore. Today, they’re something else; not exactly xul [abroad] but also not Israel...it’s something in-between -- if such a place even exists....(Sigal, 35, interview with the author, 2003). Furthermore, not only do these subculturalists construct their identities by duplicating and reinventing various traditional and established cultural modes and beliefs, but they also include unknown philosophies and practices encountered while on their ‘travels’ (Aviv, 2005; Maoz, 2005). These cultural flows, however, are bi-directional and as Transistim merge conventional cultural norms with their unconventional subculture behavior, they also manage to influence regular Israeli society. In other words, the unique way in which Transistim implement existing cultural patterns impacts upon society by stretching its norms to include innovative approaches for re-addressing its structural dissonance. As an illustration, in his study of popular music and national culture in Israel, sociologist Moti Regev comments that today PEDMC is so common that “trance tracks also became part of all kinds of dance parties, including [traditional] weddings” (2004: 183). It appears, however, that even as trance has become so endemic within mainstream Israeli society, the majority of the people attracted to it are not entirely aware of this music’s transgressive underpinnings. What makes this even more ironic is that perhaps trance’s conspicuous presence in mainstream Israeli culture is partly responsible for Israel’s

41 ‘powerful’ reputation within the PEDMC realm. In other words, oddly enough, it may be that Israel has achieved its distinguished status not only because the reputation of its underground PEDMC scene, but also because Trance music is so ubiquitous within local mainstream culture. Thus, ironically, these two spheres – mainstream culture and underground ‘anti’ culture – have symbiotically produced Israeli PEDMC’s renowned standing.

Š Traditional (family culture) vs. Secular (youth culture) Tsunami Presents: Hanuka vs. New Year Friday 30.12.05 - 00:00 (Party Flyer)

There’s nothing you can do [about it]; but that’s OK. Every year comes the Seder...but every year comes the mesiba after it. By the time we finally reach Dayenu [a song near the end of the first part of the Passover Seder] I’m ready to ‘cut out.’ (Yogev, 25)

Psy-trance parties are generally held on festivals and official holidays and thus are in sync with the rest of the country’s scheduling. Long holiday weekends are especially favored as well as week-long celebrations like Pesax and Succoth. Yet, since mesibot normally occur on either Sabbath eve, secular or religious holidays, they clash with formal Israeli and traditional Jewish ceremonies and rites. Often family celebrations happen earlier in the evening - before Transistim go out to their mesibot - and these prior, traditional, events often are overshadowed by what will take place afterward. For instance, Transistim may be preoccupied with making arrangements with their friends and interrupt family reunions for repeated phone calls to sort out party logistics. Moreover, Transistim may excuse themselves from dinner early in order to rest before heading out to ‘party’ all night. Occasionally, when gatherings are staged over a number of days or in a particularly distant location (which requires extra driving time), Transistim must choose between attending conventional holiday or family celebrations and the unorthodox merriment inherent in psy-trance mesibot. Thus, although parties are linked with Israelis socially sanctioned days of rest and ritual, their

42 alternative nonconformist nature causes them to conflict with customary cultural practices. Š Integrative vs. Fragmented Š Innovative vs. Static Of course, the flip side of such choice and freedom is fragmentation and inauthenticity. In the Supermarket of Style everything and nothing is The Genuine Article. (Polhemus, 1997:132)

Most of what I wear at mesibot, I bought in India. The [costume] jewelry is from the flea market in Jaffa and the wig I found at a second hand shop. I think it comes from somewhere in Bnei Brak. (Oshrat, 23, interview with author, 2005).

Subcultural taste involves variation and, as one musicologist points out, “the nature of musical taste, as with music itself, is both a multifaceted and distinctly fluid form of expression. Music generates a range of moods and experiences which individuals are able to move freely between” (Bennett, 2000: 83). Anthropologist and fashion critic Ted Polhemus sees this multi dimensionality as a signifying mark of post-modern subculturalists who use their “exploratory dalliance” to band and re-band around “a cornucopia of tribal identities” (1997: 131). Since these “styletribes” are non-committal, members generally affiliate with more than one at a time and use each association for realizing alternative aspects of their personalities. Yet, at the same time, Transistim appear faithful to their particular neotribes, attending only specific organizer’s outings and many report that trance/ambient is the primary music they listen to. Moreover, despite organizers attempts to infuse their parties with novelty, mesibot tend to follow a certain formula wherein the music and décor adhere to a fixed routine of style and leitmotiv. For instance, DJ sets are always constructed in a certain manner so as to form a logical sequence and Transistim plan when they will dance or take drugs based on the music’s progression., decorations are also are generally three dimensional, luminescent and, if they are not abstract (e.g., geodesic sting-art), are, mostly themed around representations of psycho-tropic drugs, Eastern deities or science fiction characters62. Thus, paradoxically, even as psy- subculturalists appropriate from miscellaneous sources, their borrowing ultimately repeats itself and becomes a recognized, albeit atypical, pattern.

43 ŠRisk vs. Safety Š Danger vs. Security Before [in his army unit], I was taking risks for my government, now I am taking them for myself. I can’t compare, they are two different kinds. That [service as an officer] was for money, ego...and maybe also for the country [laughs] and the other [attending parties] I do not only because I like them, but also because I know they’re out there taking place... interview with ,סיירת צנחנים Oded, 25, former officer in the IDF’s elite Sayeret Sanxanim) the author, 2004)

In contrast to the predictability of nation-wide bureaucracies and governmental administrations, neotribes have an uncertain nature. Until the last moment, Transistim are never sure that a party will take place as announced. Many things can go wrong; locations can be changed without prior warning, SMS’s with directions might come late or not come at all. Even when neotribes function effectively, Transistim may miss their rides to the shetax or make it to a party only to have it shut down midway and feel that their efforts have been wasted63. Beyond these logistical uncertainties, psy-trance parties are intrinsically dangerous: combining dark “feral” locations with raging music and powerful hallucinogens can potentially cause treacherous and “unanticipated ‘special effects’” (St John, 2001: 3, 109; Thompson, 2000). When Transistim take drugs they are aware that what they ingest may poison them or that too large a dose can result in permanent psychosis64. Additionally, mesibot, and the drug use taking place at them, stand in contrast to other outdoor leisure activities such as cross-country skiing, mountain biking or backpacking since the risk inherent in these more conventional activities is physical rather than emotional/psychological whereas drug use not only involves potential physical harm but can also involve long term psychological damage (Reynolds, 1998; Smith, 2000; Stebbins, 2001). Although occasionally neotribes may have a medic on site, participants come to parties understanding that it is their responsibility to take care of themselves and their friends. Even so, this doesn’t always happen since despite their best efforts to remain unified and supportive, the chemicals Transistim ingest react differently with their various moods and body chemistries. As a result, if Transistim use drugs, they often become self-centered and distracted by their own ‘trips’ and may pay little regard to their

44 surrounding environment or fellow psychonauts. Thus, not only can drugs lend a group a higher state of transpersonal consciousness, but they may also cause it to become dysfunctional.65. Ironically, the chance implicit in these haphazardness is part of the mesibots’ charm, and many Transistim find the dangers inherent in PEDMC appealing.

ŠProhibited vs. Authorized “Why should I worry about what it is we are doing [illegally] out here? Every day I read in the papers of a new scandal or corruption taking place in the government. If they can break the law, why can’t we?” (Omri, 24, interview with the author, 2005)

I’ve been to parties at clubs and ones at Nitzanim [beach raves]. Just because they are ‘official’ doesn’t make them bad; but they are anyway (ibid.).

For their blatant misappropriation of public lands, mesibot are intrinsically illegal. This unlawfulness is amplified by the ubiquitous drug use occurring at these events. Illicit drug use, however, as a common facet of recreational conduct is not exclusive to psy- trance parties. Dr. Yoav Ben-Dov, a researcher at Tel-Aviv University’s Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas claims that “today there is drug use in almost any musical production involving youth – festivals, rock concerts, reggae shows, various electronic music concerts and more... For a variety of reasons youth are using drugs today in no smaller quantities than at trance parties; and usually under more dangerous circumstances” (1998: 31; my translation). The fact that parties are clandestinely staged, beyond the authorized control of the establishment, contributes to the public’s misperception of them as hives of illegitimate conduct. As a “defense tactic” against the negative publicity Israeli PEDMC was receiving, a group of organizers came ‘above ground’ in the summer of 1998 and staged a rally-cum-rave in Rabin square in the heart of Tel-Aviv using as their slogan “Give Trance a Chance” (Regev, 2004:183). The idea of the party was to demonstrate that trance music and trance parties are not an inherently negative activity and that people can participate without having to rely on drugs for their ‘good’ time. Although it attracted some 20,000 people, the demonstration had little impact on public opinion and mesibot continued to receive unfavorable press reports and excessive police attention. “Perhaps,

45 paradoxically, the moral panic [among the establishment vis-à-vis psy-trance culture] had the effects of bringing trance to the attention of a wider audience and of increasing its popularity” (ibid). In an ironic twist to this, as more non-PEDMC affiliated66 Israelis began listening to this music, seeking out parties and taking drugs, the New Edge neo- tribalists feared this would impact upon their ability to stage their events in the manner they were accustomed to and, in response, burrowed further underground. In other words, as mesibot became more accepted within mainstream culture and began to be produced with explicit commercial intent, PEDMC organizers feared that they would be pressured into competing with these events and that their mesibot would lose their non-commercial character and PLUR emphasis. As a result, the scene grew more insular, more clandestine and highly selective about where to stage parties and whom to invite67.

Summing up, PEDMC behavior appears to contain a number of implicit contrasts. The tension between group dynamics and individual sensibilities as well as between mainstream culture and alternative modes of sociality, seem to play a dominant role in the formation of Transistims’ key paradoxes. Moreover, Transistims’ drug use contributes to these contrasts since it enables them to achieve transpersonal unity but also may pose a threat to their personal safety and group solidarity. The following chapter discusses additional aspects of Transistims’ behavior and examines a further dimension of the paradoxes in Israeli PEDMC.

46 Chapter III: When Paradoxes Turn Hypocritical

In several of the examples below, where Transistims’ behavior contradicts various New Edge/technomadic/PLUR tenets, the paradoxes I have identified may be considered inconsistent, perhaps to the point of being hypocritical. Moreover, unlike the previous chapter’s contradictions, which are dichotomous, these inconsistent paradoxes conflict with PEDMC behavior and coalesce into a single entity, one which is not contrastive but contradictory. In the following chapter, therefore, I will delineate these other kinds of paradoxes and discuss how they effect Transistims’ behavior and interrelate with Israeli PEDMC.

Paradoxes as Contradictions or Hypocrisy Š Spiritual vs. Material Š Natural vs. Mechanical “In addition to finding spirituality in rave, ravers also tend to be spiritual experimenters, and are often associated with such interests as UFO’s, science fiction, paganism, satanism, mysticism, and the New Age” (Olaveson and Takahashi, 2001: 20).

“It is only after you drive to the middle of no-place, take what you take [drugs] and start dancing to this crazy electronic music, that you remember that a higher presence still exists” (Noa, 24, interview with the author, 2004).

Two central aspects of New Edge culture, the use of drugs and music, are particularly characterized by their contrasts. Drugs supply instant highs and then subsequent lows, and psy- trance interplays between thundering crescendos and lulling ambient sounds. Thus, not surprisingly, akin to the psycho-active element inherent in New Edge gatherings68, PEDMC paradoxes may also be understood as being particularly influenced by Transistims’ entheogenic use. Anthropologist and cyberculture critic Erik Davis merges these two entities – New Edge contrasts and drug use – by claiming:

… as with psychoactive substances, our spiritual relation to technologies often takes on the character of a pact, an uncertain alliance....psy-trance suggests that the west's colossal pact with electronic and digital technology is driving us towards a radically posthuman

47 future. The fundamental paradox of this music is that, in its path towards the ancient trance and a life beyond Babylon, it must march straight through the pixelating doorways of the datapocalypse (261; 2004, emphasis in original).

Ravers’ “paradoxical and simultaneous embrace of the material and the spiritual” is paralleled by their various reasons for attending raves in the first place (Hutson, 1999: electronic document). Ironically, those that come for a spiritual uplift achieve their objective through converting a normally pristine natural setting into an electronic wonderland, symbolizing the very material world they are trying to escape. Many of these spiritually inclined Transistim associate the city with the commercial and the commodified, and contrast it with the natural and spiritual rural outdoors. They view attending parties, therefore, as an opportunity for reinvigorating their ‘essential’ energies. But though they appear to idealize nature, surprisingly they readily litter and often show disregard for the sanctity of the impressive flora and fauna at these untainted locations. Thus, with a measure of hypocrisy, even as many Transistim are environmentally conscious, they leave a lot of garbage in their wake and party promoters may have to return the following day in order to clean up after them69. Moreover, these ‘spiritualists,’ who seek to remove themselves from their automated daily lives, dance to music which is digitally crafted and transmitted mechanically via elaborate sound-systems. Additionally, many of the drugs they take are chemical-based and manufactured in laboratories. On the other hand, Transistim who come to parties out of hedonistic motives are not entirely devoid of sacred intentions; even though the parties are held on their days off, in Israel they also coincide with traditional festivals and religious holidays. This inconsistency is connected not only to PEDMC. Aphek and Tobin, for example, note in their study of fortune telling in Israel that many clients of fortune tellers seek them out in addition to, or as a replacement for, traditional spiritual and religious organizations (1990). Additionally, British music and culture critic Simon Reynolds claims that youth are turning “to rave culture for the meaning and sense of belonging they once derived from religion” (1999:288). In Israel, however, this traditional-secular and spiritual- material disparity is intensified and distorted even further, since even though mesibot provide a platform for religious practices, they do so via non-conventional modes of Neo-

48 Pagan New Age spirituality. Thus, even as PEDMC provides a roundabout outlet for Transistim to effectuate their spirituality, the fact that it done outside conventional society means that Transistims’ actions are seen as a challenge to the establishment rather than a creative alternative to its traditional and, what are often perceived as, outmoded practices (Meadan, 2001; Ben-Ari and Bilu, 1997). This challenge assumes a complex nature for several reasons. The first, Transistim practice their form of ‘counter’ culture outside the watchful eye of the establishment and hence do not necessarily follow prescribed formulas of socially sanctioned spirituality. Second, although Transistim activate the PEDMC side of their personalities beyond the confines of their daily lives, they inevitably return to their day-to-day realities whereupon they may attempt to implement alternative or provocative mores ascertained at mesibot with more formal or conventional practices used in mainstream society70. As an example, the ‘spiritual vs. material’ paradox blends with the ‘traditional (family culture) vs. secular (youth culture)’ dichotomy since in Israel, both for secular and traditionally observant families, Friday night (Shabbat) dinners are an important ritual and the fact that mesibot often take place on the heals of these meals leads them to invariantly conflict with what is sometimes seen as the last bastion of traditional Jewish mainstream sociality (Feldman, 2006, personal communication). Furthermore, this paradox takes on an additional dimension of intricacy since one of the by-products of the move from collectivity to individuality in post-Zionist Israeli is a growing lack of attachment to traditional religious values (Melman, 1992; Rosenthal, 2003). In addition, many secular Israelis have an ambiguous relationship with the establishment’s control of religion because, in Israel, religious practice is defined by and related to as part of Israeli culture since Jewish tradition and Jewish religious customs are intertwined with state politics and policy (Rosenthal, 2003). The complexity of this dichotomy corresponds with Israel’s current period of cultural transition and, as noted earlier, “Israel today is the site of an ongoing and at times violent71 competition over ‘tradition,’ that is, a set of meaningful and worthwhile guidelines for people’s lives” (Paine, quoted in Ben-Ari and Bilu, 1997: 17). Although mesibot provide Transistim with an alternate, non-conventionally sanctioned, form of spirituality, PEDMC is not entirely void of other, more mainstream, modes of religious

49 practice. Hence, even as Transistim attempt to replace what they feel to be outmoded forms of spiritual observance, they paradoxically utilize - and to an extent advance - some of the practices they are striving to reform.

Š Non-Profit vs. Commercial Š Underground vs. Commodified Š DiY (Grassroots) vs. Sponsored But at the end of even the most tearing night out, there can be a disenchanting sense of futility: all that energy and idealism mobilized to no end (except to line the pockets of the promoter and Mr Evian). (Reynolds, 1997: 88)

In this way [making parties with a grassroots ethos], we are also our own bosses and even if we fail at least we tried to accomplish something we believe in. Why should I put myself on a different level [than the members of the neotribe]? They are just like me: playing by the rules and getting nothing in return. (Moti, 46, party organizer and veteran Transist, interview with the author, 2004)

We do these parties for fun and because we believe in their [PLUR] idea, but we don’t make any money from them. (Alexi, 31, DJ and party organizer)

I’d be willing to pay quite a lot for a good party. (Yoni 25, interview with the author, 2006)

In his essay, “Dance Music” which deals with music and communication, Canadian popular cultural scholar Will Straw comments that as social performance, the term “subculture has been used to describe a particular way of consuming cultural goods” (2001:68). At the same time, Straw notes that as ideology, subcultures which involve a degree of adventure (like PEDMC) are both “spaces of experimentation and innovation [and also]...involve an insistence...on the creative labour inherent in any act of consumption” (ibid.). For this reason, in response to perceived social inequities of structural hegemony, subcultural producers may attempt to soften hierarchal configurations within the microcosmic context of their given subculture (Hall and Jefferson, 1976; Fine and Kleinman, 1979). Frequently “subcultures mix and match

50 elements from the larger culture in ways that result in new clusters of meaning - signposts to new possibilities which both challenge the market and inject it with new ideas” (Straw, 2001:68). In the case of Israeli PEDMC, the pretext provided by the neotribal framework affords the 3rd Empire and Doof organizers the opportunity to re-align the hegemonic structures characteristic of capitalistic economy in accordance with their PLUR principles. Utilizing DiY, psy-neotribes purposefully seek to position the producer/organizer on equal terms with the consumer/participant so they may promote what they deem to be the ‘authentic’ model for staging psy-trance gatherings. They are not doing this as an intended marketing ploy, but rather follow this path because it adheres to their New Edge sensibilities. As sociologists Carrington and Wilson mention in their study of youth leisure cultures, contemporary models of recreation often imply “creating ‘alternative’ media that both reflects youths’ understandings of global culture, while contributing to this same culture” (2002: electronic document). Nevertheless, as time goes by, market forces as well as motivations such as personal gain and financial profit, have led many party organizers to forgo these techniques in favor of more established capitalist procedures. For example, where once the custom was to pass a ‘collection hat’ around, today producers sell tickets in advance, and raise their prices as the date of the party draws near. Refreshments/stimulants are not sold at cost, but are clearly marketed for profit. Moreover, since party organizers are often knowledgeable of Transistim involved with drug trafficking, they can pick who gets to sell drugs at their parties. Although the party producers don’t normally get a percentage of these dealers’ profits, they generally do receive free samples and may also be involved with coordinating deals for their friends. The contrast emerging from the ‘underground vs. commercial’ dichotomy is simply that, regardless of how ‘underground’ or ‘grassroots’ party producers intend their events to be, the business practices they are implementing originate from and mimic mainstream, capitalist, culture. Moreover, even if they wished to ignore these practices and apply alternative methods (such as DiY), the parties have high overhead costs. Thus, for a neotribe to maintain itself, it needs to meet its fiscal requirements with straightforward, capitalist, business tactics. Furthermore, even if on an ideological level

51 psy-trance party organizers would like to see themselves on par with their patrons, the reality is that parties (as well some of the more successful neotribes) are becoming increasingly less underground, more commodified and hence have fallen into the consumer-producer formula they initially tried to avoid. Therefore, organizers who were once former idealistic participants have now transformed into capitalistic entrepreneurs72.

As an example, sometimes neotribes decorate DJ booths with commercial banners and industry slogans or use their parties to market artists’ CD’s or New Edge fashion apparel. Moreover, neotribes may be approached by other party producers such as urban club owners, corporations and various organizations to co-produce a rave which, in this instance, is a highly publicized large scale party featuring DJ superstars, charging high entrance and refreshment fees and attracting as many as ten thousand or more participants. As they focus primarily on earning money rather than on the celebration of New Edge values, these raves are contrary to PEDMC mesibot and Transistim consider them to be something of a ‘sellout.’73 When questioned, party organizers vehemently deny they are earning a profit from their parties. However, if one takes into account that a party’s over-all costs are lower than the amount of money amassed from ticket sales this often seems not to be the case 74. At the same time, parties don’t always earn money and, if for example, bad weather or law enforcement agents interfere, organizers can also lose money. Nonetheless, this inconsistency does not seem to have slowed the steady number of parties occurring each weekend and, as they have been going on for over fifteen years, there are grounds to assume that mesibot persist in part because psy-producers are effectively implementing mainstream market procedures which are the very antithesis of the New Edge PLUR philosophy. Part of the reason that psy-neotribes employ capitalist practices may have to do with the faltering of the early PEDMC romanticism. In other words, the initial emergence of PEDMC in the early 90’s coincided with a wider-scaled sense of millenarianism and led organizers and Transistim to imagine that their movement might lead to a shift in human consciousness (Mizrach, 1997, Reynolds, 1997, 1998). This hope, however, has been replaced with an understanding that even as parties can have significant impact upon

52 the lives of participants, the transformative power of psy-trance is not enough to impel a fundamental change in over-all society. As Reynolds writes about the current post-rave era, “there’s a sense in which rave music is only ‘about’ its own sensations. Instead of the rock notion of ‘resonance’ (with its psychological/sociological connotations), rave is about frequencies; it’s music that’s oriented toward impact rather than affect” (1997:91). A number of causes may have led to these sobering realizations. Locally, for instance, the El-Aksa intifada and the dashed hopes for peace with the Palestinians, and globally, the burst of the dot-com bubble, 9/11 and its hyper-tense aftermath have helped spoil the illusory idealism invoked by late millennium PEDMC.75 As a form of backlash, a mix of nostalgia and cynicism has surfaced and now personifies certain memes within Israeli psy-trance culture. While perhaps mesibot were initially (and theoretically) underlined by romantic notions of egalitarian union, as the emphasis within Israeli society shifted from communal to personal, so too mesibot moved to being less idealistic and (in fact) ambivalently commodified social events. As party organizers blend capitalism and spirituality into a less than PLUR deportment, a critical researcher can detect a certain hypocritical paradox76.

Š Exclusive vs. Inclusive I went to Goa and all I got was this superiority complex. (Bumper Sticker)

Dear friends, in order to remove any fear from those who may be asking themselves ‘what about the problematic selection process typical to parties happening in the city?’ the unconditional answer to this is that this party is for invitees only... in other words, you! And only you!! (3rd Empire, “Urban Rave Culture 2006,” Electronic Party Flyer)

The use of drugs and drug related “subcultural capital” 77 is a key piece of the psy-trance mise-en scene (Thornton, 1995:11). Although on some levels there is a lot of the PLUR inspired ‘unity’ at mesibot, as in the unity of experiencing a fantastic state of shared consciousness or “the equalizing effect of the collective practice of the forbidden,” there are also ‘cliques’ that forms around issues of style and ‘cool’ (Maffesoli, 1996:93; Saldanha, 2004: 273). For instance, there are chillum78cliques in which people specifically group around someone’s chillum and the smoking of charas79. Chillum crews

53 are highly visible and generally smoke at the centre of the dance floor. Although, technically anyone who wanted to, could come up and join one of these chillum groups, this ‘in’ group’s behavior is somewhat alienating since charas – mostly self-imported (illegally) from India – is hard to come by and therefore precious, much desired, and so not so readily shared with outsiders80. Transistims’ approach to psy-trance music is also very class oriented. Psy-trance has an especially limited shelf life and many top-notch DJ’s only play ‘unreleased’ tracks, that is, music that was made but never published. Artists who are composing their own material may put the tracks onto a single album and then spend the following months touring the global psy-trance circuit. Sometimes these artists form groups, or crews which work, publish, travel and party together. By the time their tracks become available to the general public, most of the ‘connected’ collectors have already heard them and moved on. Thus, the newest and most desirable tracks stay principally within an inner circle of artists, producers and their friends until they have been played sufficiently so as to be considered ‘old’ enough for release. Because of the manner in which trance music is traded, a large number of Transistim are associated with these music cliques, with those possessing more unreleased tracks assuming something of a higher status81. As with any stratified structure, these cliques tend to be insular, and music is shared only among immediate members. Sometime ‘taste-cliques’ band together in support of certain neotribes whose genre of music they prefer. Through their subcultural capital cachet they gain control over which DJ’s will perform at which events and hence commandeer these parties’ general ambiance and tone. Thus, for all their aspirations for collective union, Transistim fall victim to their own subcultural mechanisms which both unify and divide them82. Additionally, beyond the sectarianism found within the ranks of Israeli PEDMC, Transistim also share a belief that the hallucinatory transcendence experienced at parties bestows upon them a certain hierarchical ‘cosmic’ knowledge. Thus, the insider-outsider dichotomy occurs both within PEDMC as well as between Transistim and the rest of the ‘straight’ world. Not only is this dichotomy a contrastive paradox, but, as it is tinged in divisionary categorizing, it is contrary to New Edge values and hence may also be perceived as hypocritical.

54 Š Insider vs. Outsider ...got to the party at 5 am while people were still flowing in... the party kept filling with a great crowd every sec. the party area looked very inviting and a very good special vibe was in the air. i guess when u recognize so many ppl u know even in the dark, it means something good. (Huga-Generation, IsraTrance Junior Member. 3rd Empire Purim Carnival review, Isratrance.com)

I saw a lot of familiar faces with the familiar smiles which create a friendly vibe. (Guy, IsraTrance Senior Member. 3rd Empire Purim Carnival review, Isratrance.com)

The dichotomy of ‘exclusive versus inclusive’ carries over into another paradox, that of 'outside versus insider.' Not only does this behavior manifest within certain neotribes, but it also exists throughout Israeli PEDMC as a whole. For instance, because attendance is by invitation only and parties are hard to locate, neotribal activities are kept secret. Thus, exclusivity exists between those who are clued into where and when parties will be happening and those who don’t, or can’t, know. Moreover, in their promotional emails, many neotribes instruct members to keep knowledge of the party to themselves as Although it is never .( " אלמנטים לא רצויים") ’a precaution against attracting ‘Undesirables clearly stated who these Undesirables are, and even though Transistim generally don’t discuss the issue, there seems to be a shared acknowledgment of who they are and why their presence is unwanted. My observations suggest that Undesirables are generally people who are not connected to the PEDMC scene on an idealistic or spiritual level and, rather than coming to parties to participate in the events’ shared energy, attend mesibot to ‘hunt’ for sexual partners83. Sometimes Undesirables are referred to as Arsim or Shimonim which makes them distinguishable from Anashim Yafim or Transnikim84. Moreover, Undesirables may also include people who make Transistim feel uncomfortable, for instance, by abusing the drugs they take and consequently ‘freaking’ out on the dance floor, screaming or otherwise annoying participants. Within the PEDMC context, Shimonim/Arsim also designates people whose conduct does not conform to New Edge modes of behavior, who appear unaware of PEDMC sensibilities and mannerisms and, while inebriated, may make a spectacle of themselves by fighting, damaging property or talking rudely to

55 women. Though not all those who misbehave at mesibot are from the Eidot Ha’mizrax, nonetheless Shimonim by definition are, and thus even if someone causing trouble at a mesiba is Ashkenazi, they will be labeled as a Shimon/Arse, i.e., a Mizraxi pest. Ironically, instead of using the term Yoramim, the equivalent of Shimonim for middle-class Ashkenazim, Transnikim prefer the euphemism Anashim Yafim (‘beautiful/nice people’), or Anashim Exuti’im (‘quality people’), when referring to themselves. This would seem to imply that the group responsible for ranking Israeli PEDMC’s sub-categories are Ashkenazim and that the pejorative classifications, cultural prejudices and social elitism which exists within mainstream Israel are actually re- constructed within the PEDMC context (Almog, 2000; Rosenthal 2003). It is not surprising, therefore, that the Ish Yafe (Yoram/Ashkenazi) Transist paradigm stands counter to the Arse (Shimon/Eidot Hamizrax) prototype.85 Further, the fact that Israeli psy-trance codes are dictated by the Anashim Yafim elite serves also to underline the hypocrisy of PEDMC ‘exclusive-inclusiveness.’ Will Straw has detected a similar form of elitism in the behavior of the EDM subculturalists he studied and points out that

...subcultural styles from elsewhere almost always enter these [host] countries through the mediating influence of cosmopolitan, well-informed middle class consumers. Subcultural activity, in such circumstances, bears an uneasy and uncertain relationship to the “truth” of experience which it is presumed to express (2001:71).

Clearly the two groups are oppositional and irregardless of whether or not Shimonim are interested in attending psy-neotribal activities, their presence is deemed by Transnikim to be a threat to a mesiba’s social fabric and thus is discouraged. In fact, participants of the neotribes I researched have claimed that part of the reason for the parties’ success is the preponderance of Anashim Exuti’im and the noted absence of Shimonim. In Israel it seems that not only do mesibot facilitate a ritualized “evasion” from tense reality, they may also provide many Transnikim relief from their dis-similar ‘brethren’ (Maffesoli, 1996: 98).

56 ŠWordless vs. Verbal Š Expressive vs. Quiescent The feelings I get at parties are beyond words. There is a space where words no longer have meaning. When I am dancing all I need is to think that someone was looking at me in a certain way and I can already understand what they might have wanted to say. Why do you think it is that everyone gets those smiles at the same time; because what? Something happens [between people] when they hear the music. I can’t say what that something is, but I can definitely tell you, it’s not the words. (Ayala, 29, interview with the author, 2004)

Although I am researching Israeli psy-trance neotribes, the majority of whose members’ native language is Hebrew, most of their verbal communication and much of their slang is in English. Transistims’ use of a foreign language to communicate increases participants’ belief that mesibot are a mechanism for transporting them to a magical place outside ordinary Israel, and contributes to a sense of distancing by reinforcing the mesiba’s apparent disengagement from conventional society. Moreover, English enables this form of escapism by helping Transistim legitimize their multiple identities. In addition, the use of English, which is also the language of advertisement-driven capitalism, indicates that those who attend mesibot are “globalized Israelis,” that is, Israelis who construct their identities “as a local extension of contemporary world culture” (Regev, 2004:19).86 Yet, since English represents capitalist culture, Transistim use of this language is contrary to their not-for-profit, non-commodified, anti-commercial sensibilities. Additionally, the use of a foreign language, especially English, is one way for Transnikim to distinguish themselves from non-Transistim or Shimonim and hence is in opposition, as well as contradictory, to the tenet of unity aspired for at mesibot. These ideas correspond with Bennett’s comment that the non-verbal behavior common in (British) EDMC conveys a “rhetoric of ‘otherness’ around which the scene has come to be organized” (2000: 94). Not only is their choice of language non-conventional, but Transistims’ use of words is typified by sparseness. An explanation for this might be that psy-neotribalists are using other avenues of communication. For instance, in her essay on “Identity and Desire in Popular Music and Social Dance” anthropologist Judith Lynne Hanna notes that:

57 Dancing is a unique way to convey messages of identity: generational difference, gender, ethnicity, and social class...The non verbal mode, according to many researchers, is more powerful than the verbal for expressing such fundamental feelings and contingencies in social relationships as liking, disliking, superiority, timidity, fear and so on...Dance, more like poetry or flash signals than prose, conveys messages whose understanding depends on shared, often unverbalized assumptions held by friendship or peer groups. Popular music rhythms and lyrics drive, enhance, envelop, and support the multiple and variable bodily messages in motion. Communicative messages get across through the repetitiveness of music and movement that are generally accessible to most participants at a specific dance event (1992: 192).

This interpretation of the power of body movement to communicate amply describes Transistims’ dancing which suggestively combines, among others, darting expressions, oscillating hand and leg movements, kicks, stabs and rhythmic gyrations into a seemingly choreographed message. Perhaps, also, Transistims’ taciturnity comes from the fact that while they are in motion they cannot dance and breathe and dance and talk at the same time and thus physical dancing replaces physical speech. Thus, in an effort to be part of the transpersonal group activity, Transistim choose to dance rather than talk. Furthermore, Transistims’ minimal language use may also be linked to the limited vocals found in psy-trance music. In other words, Transistim choose to dance rather than talk and the rhythm which they dance to replaces the lyrics common in other forms of popular music. Trance thus appears antithetical to some traditional varieties of popular music, since it conveys its mood and feeling and, perhaps, cognitive message through beat, tempo and instrumentation rather than with words, language and ‘traditional’ meaning. As suggested above, the paradox of ‘wordlessness versus verbalism’ includes contradictory elements (for example, the sparse use of English as the language of Israeli PEDMC) which conflict with New Edge culture’s PLUR principles. Yet, at the same time, the general lack of language at mesibot contrasts with the wordiness often found in the various media of conventional society, such as broadcast news, instant messaging, SMS’s, internet, classrooms, public protests, film and popular music. Moreover, as Hanna has suggested, dancing can replace speech as a means of communication at mesibot. Thus, the fact that Transistim sometimes ‘converse’ via dance for 6-9 hours straight is consistent with the scant quantity of verbal discourse characteristic of PEDMC. Yet,

58 regardless of its sparsity, Transistim report that despite their minimal discourse, the few words that are used in tracks and in dialogue are sufficient for them to ‘hook’ in to a party’s energy and vibe. What remains to be understood then, is the function of, and significance behind, the scant language that is present within PEDMC. But, before looking at the paradoxes, contradictions and hypocrisies that appear to be an integral part of Israeli PEDMC, it may be useful to examine how Transistims’ conduct connects with broader cultural contexts. In other words, I will attempt to link the contradictions and paradoxes identified in PEDMC with a similar condition identified in mainstream society.

PEDMC Paradoxes in Broader Context PEDMC, Youthscapes and Global Gesellschaften ‘Subculture’ captured the ways in which music, and its role in people’s lives, had been transformed. ‘Subculture’ was a useful shorthand for the worlds of style in which young people lived, the coherent clusters of dress, drugs, meeting-places and linguistic idioms which had come together around distinct kinds of music. (Straw, 2001: 67)

In their recent study of media trends and youth discourse, sociologists Sunaina Maira and Elisabeth Soep discuss the concept of “youthscapes” (2005). They use ‘scape’ to designate various dimensions of globalization: transnational “cultural flows that are fluid and irregular, rather than fixed and finite” (ibid. xv)87. ‘Scapes’ are configured from both abstract and material social resources and, in the broader sense, are like global gesellschaften, organized as “non-bounded communities” around innovative technological, fiscal and social arrangements (Wellman, 1999:10). As cultural “sites,” youthscapes are not “just geographic or temporal, but social and political as well, a ‘place’ that is bound up with questions of power and materiality” (Maira and Soep, 2005: xv). As in the case of psy-neotribes, youthscapes are created from contrasts. One reason for this is that, like many subcultural configurations, youthscapes are composed of non-aligned “shifting groups of people” and function as momentary recreational activities (ibid., xvi). Yet, at the same time, many of their members consider these cultural units to be “a deep ideological category” since they can function as a “catalyst for significant

59 personal growth...the development of community and more intimate interpersonal relations” (ibid., xvi; Olaveson, 2001: electronic document). Additionally, looking at music communities in particular, media scholar Jason Toynbee explains that individuals often form into groups centered on shared music tastes as a means of “symbolic resistance to dominant social forces” (2000:112). As British cultural studies critic Simon During explains, “subcultures [such as music centered neotribes] cobble together (or hybridize) styles out of the images and material culture available to them in the effort to construct identities which will confer on them ‘relative autonomy’ within a social order” (1999: 441; see also Hebdige, 1979; 1987). Yet, Toynbee also points out that, in a contrastive manner, the process involved with formation of these communities is bi- directional since their rebellion mutually identifies with and dissents from mainstream culture. During suggests that the reason for this is that, ironically, our contemporary commercial culture has the power to “appropriate, and indeed, to produce, [marketable] counter-hegemonic styles” (ibid). The above views seem to suggest that youthscapes configurations like psy- neotribes are consistently inconsistent. In other words, since youthscapes form from the same cultural artifacts which they attempt to defy, they thus become intrinsically contrastive. Moreover, since PEDMC involves such a good deal of mainstream mimicry, in the case of Israeli psy-subculturalists it seems that the over-all contrasts implicit in youthscape cultures may explain the disparity between what Transistim aspire for and what they actually achieve. A look at an even wider cultural context may serve to clarify the basis of Transistims’ inconsistencies.

Structural Inconsistency Inconsistencies in society are not limited to youth culture but are indicative of modern civilization in general. In his treatise, The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism, the sociologist Daniel Bell outlines the “three realms” of “modern society...the economy, the polity and the culture,” which are “ruled by contrary axial principles: “for the economy, efficiency; for the polity, equality; and for the culture, self-realization (or self- gratification)” (1976: xxx-xxxi). Bell explains that in contemporary capitalist culture, "the social structure...is ruled by an economic principle of rationality, defined in terms of

60 efficiency in the allocation of resources; the culture, in contrast, is prodigal, promiscuous, dominated by an antirational, anti-intellectual temper” (ibid.). One of the byproducts of the structure/culture contradiction is the formation of alternative subcultural constructs and their attending “subcultural consciousness” (Bell: 1976: 238). Bell interprets this as a response to the innate incongruities found in “the ethos of capitalist production - which still requires obedience, hard work, and self- sacrifice through delayed gratification - and the ethos of capitalist consumption, with its idealizing of hedonism, rebellion against authority, and impulsive behavior” (ibid.).

Responding to Structural Inconsistency The sociologist Paul Heelas connects Bell’s ideas to his discussion on the reasons for the rise in popularity of the New Age movement88. Heelas determined that in capitalist culture “uncertainty and tension is generated by the virtue of the fact that these ‘realms’ - all more or less equally authoritative in the lives of many people- spell out different messages” (1996:145). This confusion, Heelas contends, has led numerous disenchanted members of post-industrial societies to look for answers beyond their conventional realities. The New Age – which Heelas defines as “a free-flowing spiritual movement; a network of believers and practitioners who share eclectic approaches to spiritual exploration” – bases itself around a “new consciousness” emanating from conviction in the “dynamic interdependence of all life” (224). Similar to Maira and Soeps’ youthscapes, the New Age movement’s vast array of cultural bodies – PEDMC among them – combine both established and “detraditionalized wisdom” in the hope of enacting “a new planetary culture” (ibid: 224). Heelas suggests that New Age movements focus on fields such as “personal transformation” (through mystical experience) and “ecological responsibility” (through collective celebration) as responses to “problems caused by conflicting value systems, misdirected cultural assumptions and other 'iron cage’ aspects of modernity” (224). According to Heelas and other scholars from varying disciplines, the New Age movement came about because many individuals living in conventional society are “profoundly dissatisfied with mainstream values and identities. Work is seen as alienating; politicians are taken to be corrupt; consumer culture is taken to be undermining the future of the

61 planet" (ibid: 138; Needleman, 1970; Barker, 1989; Fiske, 1989; Wilson and Cresswell, 1999). Yet, ironically, as New Age sociality is forged from the divergent cultural elements of an already disjunctive culture, the solutions these alternative - ‘new’ - philosophies offer, in fact, serve to renew the paradoxes inherent in mainstream society. Thus, despite their claim to the contrary, what Transistim are doing is transferring the structural inconsistencies from their daily lives into their unconventional, yet analogous, PEDMC environments. Even though Transistim desire to ‘rise’ above mainstream socio- cultural patterns, their behavior actually duplicates these skewed norms and, as a result, emerges as somewhat hypocritical. This model – of a directed group of people, setting out to alter, yet ultimately reproducing, mainstream social norms – appears to be a common feature of late-modern subcultures. For instance, Ning Wang has located a similar pattern in the behavior of the contemporary tourist/traveler. According to Wang

[T]ourism involves a temporary change in status quo. However, it ends up as protection and reproduction of the status quo.... Yet, one could argue that tourism is also a willingness to change, to alter the present order, to destroy current prohibitions and norms at least temporarily; it thus shares with revolution a common feature – it changes the present order. However, the difference between the two is still obvious; revolution wants to alter things permanently...whereas tourism changes the present order only temporarily, fantastically and illusively. Tourism modifies reality by means of escape into qualitatively different spaces. Thus it is a way of avoiding the present order....[T]ourism moderates the disappointing aspects of modernity...Thus, tourism, like religion, functions to opiate the masses and helps reproduce the status quo...It is...a responsive action to the ambivalence of the existential conditions of modernity, but it ends up helping to reproduce these existential conditions (2000: 19-20; emphasis in the original).

Wang’s description points to apparent parallels between tourism/backpacking and PEDMC. For example, Wang suggests that tourism provides a form of temporary escape which, as has been illustrated in the case of PEDMC, ironically serves to reproduce dominant elements of mainstream culture. Additionally, like tourism, it may be claimed

62 that PEDMC functions as an opiate for the masses – both literally and figuratively – and thereby provides participants the illusion that they are meaningfully altering the “present order” (ibid). Moreover, like tourism, PEDMC emerges as an ambivalent response to the contradictions inherent in mainstream society’s existential condition. It seems, therefore, that contemporary society – united under the rubric of globalized neo-capitalism while, at the same time, fragmented by a cycle of disjointing contradictions – has led individuals to seek out diverse approaches for resolving this confused state. Yet, here the analogy diverges, since, as has been shown with regard to the similarities between PEDMC and extreme sports, PEDMC may be distinguished by the intense nature and wide variety of its contrasts, contradictions, paradoxes and hypocrisies. These, no doubt, are largely due to the extremities (the scene’s furtive nature, the mesibot’s loud music, hard to reach locations, long hours and acute physical/mental demands) which typify psy-trance neotribal activity. Moreover, these extremities are all the more heightened since in Israel mesibot happen for such a brief period of time (during the 24 hour Israeli ‘weekend’) and in such close geographical proximity to quotidian society. PEDMC is also unique since it is both an inherently illegal activity and thus, unlike tourism, overtly counter hegemonic. For this reason, unlike tourists, who upon their return from their adventures, normally share stories and pictures with their friends and family, Transistim generally keep their experiences to themselves or other immediately affiliated individuals. Moreover, PEDMC differs from tourism since the drugs used at mesibot leave unchecked (and often undesired) residuals in the bodies of those who use them. However, in contrast, tourists characteristically cherish the warm memories they amassed while on tour. Additionally, the drugs used at mesibot saturate the PEDMC environment in a psychedelic atmosphere and thus render this subculture with a distinctive, multi-dimensional, erratic and often bizarre or counter-intuitive ‘mind- scape.’ Finally, although in some ways PEDMC is similar to tourism it is also akin to revolution since, ideally, Transistim would like to see their mesibot have long range impact upon conventional society. As Zim expressed to me while we were on a hilltop overlooking a party and waiting for the sun to rise: “These parties are really excellent.

63 Maybe we [the Jews] got the whole thing wrong; isn’t it written somewhere ‘and you shall party for six days [a week] and sit89 for one’?” (interview with the author, 2003).

Mediating the Symbiotic Dissonance of Daily Life The fact that these two realities – normal and irregular – parallel each other does not seem to impede upon Transistims’ enthusiasm for attending mesibot or lessen the significance PEDMC has in their lives. One way psy-neotribalists mediate between the contradictory facets of their lifestyles is by conceptualizing them as part of their ‘now reality.’ ‘Now reality’ describes being both emotionally and physically in accord - although only temporarily- with a certain ‘scene’ or assemblage (Bell, 1976:9; Schmidt, 2005). Characteristic of the neotribal mindset, this transitory approach to viewing the moment is not intended to amend societal woes or alleviate the discord located in Transistims’ subcultural realms. Rather, even though Transistim remain bound to the “organizational harness” associated with the contrasts, paradoxes and hypocrisies of late- modernity, their casual, ‘now,’ attitude towards these potential restrictions help them maintain a balance between what they inherit (from mainstream post-industrial culture) and what they create (within New Edge/Age sociality) (Bell, 1976: 188). In other words, Transistim appear unconcerned with the paradoxes embodied in their norms and mannerisms and continue - it seems with little choice - to behave in accordance with this incongruent pattern. They simply see their actions as “the way it is” (Mia, 23, interview with the author). As Reynolds points out: “rave culture has never really been about altering reality, merely exempting yourself from it for a while” (1997:90). It looks as though, irregardless of whether mainstream culturalists, psy-trancers, or other subculturalists intentionally or by chance engage or avoid the contradictions in their lives, the embedded dissonance implicit in today’s overarching social structure will continue to play a symbiotic role among youthscapes and their source cultures alike. As Bell aptly noted:

The effort to find excitement and meaning in literature and art as a substitute for religion led to modernism as a cultural mode. Yet modernism is exhausted and the various kinds

64 of post-modernism (in the psychedelic effort to expand consciousness without boundaries) are simply the decomposition of the self in an effort to erase individual ego (1976: 29).

Nonetheless, since psy-trance gatherings separate Transistim from their conventional social realities, they are able to provide participants with the illusion that what takes place inside these ‘other-worlds,’ is qualitatively different from what they are used to in their regular domains. Paradoxically, as Transistim enter into their altered states of consciousness, their attitudes and conduct reproduce what they are trying so hard to leave behind. Since this occurs both purposefully and by circumstance, Transistims’ behavior can be understood as an extraordinarily discordant series of contradictory acts and re-enactments. Moreover, the idiosyncratic style of celebration at mesibot, actually allows Transistim to confront society’s paradoxes in both a detached manner both physically (in remote settings) and mentally (with the aid of psychedelics) and provides them with an effective solution for contending with their conflicted, post-industrial, society. This coalescence of realms invokes a useful, and therefore, alluring coping mechanism which, since it is only momentary, allows Transistim to readily benefit without substantially challenging the system or fundamentally altering their lifestyles.

Encoded Paradoxes The above discussion demonstrates how the paradoxes found within the PEDMC realm are actually a reproduction of a similar pattern found within Transistims’ work-a- day lives. Moreover, the essay has shown how mesibot provide the setting for Transistims’ reenactment of these mainstream paradoxes. What remains to be understood is what is the significance of non-verbal communication at these events and how it replicates the behavior demonstrated at mesibot. Thus far, the essay illustrates that the main means of communication at mesibot is through music/dance and drugs; the rhythm overcomes the lyrics and drugs enhance the senses and allow Transistim to feel rather than speak. The limited verbal communication among Transistim is an indication of its secondary role in psy-culture; Transistim don’t need to talk in order to communicate. Yet, despite its peripheral role, PEDMC’s verbal language appears to reflect Transistims’

65 contrastive behavior and encompass the essential matter of this subculture. The following chapter therefore, focuses on PEDMC nomenclature and uses two systems of language analysis as a way of further assessing Transistims’ culture of paradox.

66 Chapter IV: The Language of Paradox

Applying Language Theory to Culture Analysis Understanding Behavior through Communication

The Sign-Oriented Approach Human experiences are grounded in cultural activities which are understood and given meaning through particular languages and symbol systems (Negus, 1996:3).

Our language is in our context and our context is in our language (Geertz, 2000: 91).

Let the language tell you how to analyze it – C. H. van Schooneveld (In Tobin, 1997: xvii).

According to the sign-oriented linguist Yishai Tobin, language may be defined as “a system of systems composed of various sub-systems...which are organized internally and systematically related to each other and used by human beings to communicate” (1995: 7). Communication, which is executed through language, i.e. words, is based on oppositions (ibid.: 11). Tobin feels that this definition’s systematic model functions to help individuals identify the embedded message of a text as well as its straightforward meaning since, by comprehending a text’s various word systems and how they are grouped together in subsystems, one can discover a text’s central message. These messages can either clearly be the conscious intention of the author/speaker or transmitted on a more subconscious level (Aphek and Tobin, 1988: 3). Additionally, though these subsystems may appear independent of each other, they actually are interconnected, so that together or apart they support the text’s main message. Tobin labels his method “the sign-oriented approach,” postulating that through the identification of a text’s semiotic synergy one can “explain how invariant sign meanings are exploited by human beings to communicate specific discourse messages” (1994: 8). Since language is based on perceivable systems, Tobin’s theory claims that linguistic based messages are non-randomly distributed throughout systems in a text and, when understood, can lead to the comprehension of extralinguistic messages and accompanying modes of behavior associated with a certain group’s language. As Simon During, a British cultural studies scholar notes, ascertaining the message of a culture’s language

67 directly leads to a fuller understanding of that culture’s conduct since language is what “intervenes between the individual and the socio-cultural fields that construct his or her positions” (1993: 10). Part of the method the sign-oriented approach uses for deriving a text’s message is through the discovery of its various word systems. In their book, Word Systems in Modern Hebrew: Implications and Application, Aphek and Tobin, (1988) define a word system as

...a matrix of words within a spoken or written text with a common denominator which may be semantic, phonological, etymological, folk-etymological, conceptual or associative. Words systems are a junction where the thematic extralinguistic plane converges with the linguistic plane....A number of words are connected to each other to the point at which they create a 'tight word system' which contains the essence of the text. These systems can be regarded as the nucleus of a text...which nurtures the theme and message of the text with a greater intensity than the sum total of the language employed throughout the discourse (2).

These systems work in a way that, taken together or standing alone, they reinforce each other and ultimately support the text’s over-all message. Moreover, the multi- dimensionality of a text’s message is also due to the fact that different word systems may overlap by using many of the same words. As an example, a word system may be composed of up words that are repeated or interpenetrate each other. The repetitions may take on various forms, such as precise repetition, or recurring word-root usage, or groups of words with similar or oppositional meanings (synonyms/antonyms), or similar words with dissimilar meanings (homonyms), or the use of words categories which delineate symbolic/metaphorical meanings (metonyms). It is the non-randomness of the language which allows these strategies to begin in separate - or even extralinguistic - dimensions but ultimately to converge in communicating the same omni-message. Furthermore, a text can also have several accompanying word systems supporting various other, not- immediately connected, messages. A complementary method for assessing a text’s message is through the identification of its strategies of communication. In their book, The Semiotics of Fortune

68 Telling, Aphek and Tobin (1988) define strategies of communication as “the omniscopus or non-specific, non-precise use of language which allows the encoder to introduce holistic and multi-dimensional thematic continua which form the general content of an external dialogue which is contextually perceived in the individual internal dialogue of the decoder”(46). These strategies support - often on an unconscious level - a text’s message “on both the micro and macro levels of language, i.e. on the level of words, phrases, sentences, utterances, or discourse” (ibid.). In other words, although these strategies are sometime not even clear to the author/speaker of a text, they are nonetheless present and surface when the text is analyzed. By identifying the various strategies of communications found both internally and in extralinguistic planes, the researcher can establish the degree which they motivate and bolster its underlying message or messages.

Phonology as Human Behavior One of the goals of twentieth-century linguistics has been to provide a theory that makes sense out of the chaos of human linguistic behavior (Tobin, 1997: 304).

But, whatever its sound and meaning, music originates and resides in the social and cultural worlds of people (Lull, 1992: 2).

Phonology as Human Behavior, or PHB, an additional part of the sign-oriented approach to the study of language, widens the scope of interplay between human language and behavior. PHB is used to analyze the phonetics of speech, that is, the sounds made in spoken utterances. “The major contribution of the theory of PHB is that it provides a ‘motivation’ for the distribution within the speech signal; i.e. it tells us why the distribution of phonemes within a language is non-random” (Tobin, 1997: 8). The theory of PHB suggests that the structure of language can be understood only by taking into account both its communicative (cultural) function and the physical and psychological characteristics of its users. “The fundamental axiom underlying Phonology as Human Behavior is that language represents a struggle between the desire for maximum communication (the communication factor) with minimal effort (the human factor) (Tobin:1997: 21). PHB recognizes that certain cultural and physiological laws govern our phonetic distributions and therefore take into account a number of human

69 centered limitations (intelligence, economy of effort, limited memory capacity) when examining language and speech systems (ibid.: 20). PHB also uses the “functional semiotic definition of language as a sign system” as its linguistic parameter, and therefore can be described as a method of language analysis used systematically for analyzing other extralinguistic systems (Tobin, 1997: 76). In other words, the PHB theory postulates that languages are organized according to an over-arching, non random, arrangement of signs and thus by establishing a given language’s organization one can also comprehend both its linguistic and extralinguistic messages.

Discovering the Synergetic Circle Phonology is not random but motivated (Tobin: 1997:19).

Examining Israeli psy-trance culture through the lenses of these theories confirms the way that language and behavior are locked in a synergetic circle of action, reaction and interaction. Since these theories view communication as forged from conflicting elements (cognitive desire and physical ability) they seemed particularly suitable as a method for interpreting the assortment of systematic contrasts and paradoxes I’ve encountered in the psy-trance New Edge cultural context. Reviewing my linguistic data – a sampling of Israeli New Edge words compiled from a number of sources (t-shirts, flyers, album and track titles, track samples, DJ monikers and the names of record labels, party organizers and psy-neotribes) – I realized that it contained numerous examples of dichotomous pairs formed around phonological, semantic, and associative word systems and included other strategies of communication which, when analyzed, markedly substantiate the notion that PEDMC begets paradox.90 The application of the sign-oriented and PHB linguistic theories enables me to reveal intricacies within PEDMC language and, in turn, in Transistims’ behavior. By doing this I was able to gain a deeper insight into PEDMC mores and, consequently, to extend my understanding of Israeli psy-neotribe culture and party-goers’ attitudes. This chapter, therefore, will substantiate the paradoxes found in Transistims’ behavior (introduced in the previous chapters) by explaining the symbiotic relationship between sign-oriented linguistics and PEDMC practice.

70 Matching Transistims’ Verbal and Non-Verbal Paradoxes A Look at PEDMC’s Linguistic Dichotomies, Contrast and Contradictions

Transistims’ Linguistic Economy At the foot of the DJ booth a string of lights are making incredible patterns, weaving and flashing in a madness that reminds me of an amusement park. The noise is unbearable and there’s no chance to exchange a word. ...[He] shouts for over an hour entire sentences into my ear, but I can’t hear a what he’s saying. From time to time I nod my head and pretend that I am listening. How many times can you ask ‘what?!’. I think he said he liked my work....but in all the noise I can’t be sure that he didn’t say the opposite. (Gideon Levi, “The Twilight Zone,” Haaretz, 22/04/05, my translation)91

Over-all, the general lack of language at gatherings might be explained by the main axiom underlying PHB: maximum communication with minimal effort. Thus, PEDMC communication assumes a certain “linguistic economy” (Tobin, 2001: XVI) since Transistim find that when they are in altered states of consciousness, or tired from dancing or staying up all night, or shouting against a loud sound-system, they prefer not to talk. Since, however, they are in a familiar environment, Transistim make use of common New Edge codes and signals to maximize their minimal speech. This distinctive use of language, therefore, enables verbal communication at mesibot to be so sparse. The economic use of language at mesibot spills over into the general PEDMC world and album titles or names of tracks, DJ acts, flyers, party announcements and psy-internet forums are characterized by their use of innovative acronyms, playful neologisms and humorous word combinations. Moreover, and in sync with the contrastive nature of psy-culture, these word groupings frequently are arranged as dichotomous pairs and thus maintain the contrastive pattern observed in PEDMC behavior. Moreover, since they are systematic, these incongruent patterns create a comprehensible norm which enables Transistim to share a fairly permanent underlying structural outlook. As sociologist Eileen Barker notes in her study of another type of New Age group, the New Religious Movements, “[their] language is used to define - and to redefine – reality. It may deny normal meanings in order to stimulate new thoughts in those who meditate upon what is said” (1989: 76).

71 The following words taken from my data are, therefore, part of an economically driven, PHB motivated, strategy of communication which uses inventive word combinations to convey a number of PEDMC concepts and sensibilities. Although these word arrangements correspond with the majority of Israeli PEDMC paradoxes, their use specifically exemplifies the apparent vs. hidden, mysterious vs. mundane, insider vs. outsider, extraordinary vs. regular, expressive vs. quiescent, progressive vs. atavistic, innovative vs. static, natural vs. mechanical, and wordless vs. verbal dichotomies.

™ “RegiMental,” “IndepenDance,” “Soulectro,” “Nu-Clear Visions of Israel,” “Deep Molecular Zion,” “Back 2 Back,” “Com.Pact,” “MDMA”(Modern Dynamic Music Association)92 “UV,”93 “Phonokol,” “Oforia,” “LSDream,” “X-noiZe,” “40%,94” “Flying Sorcerer,” “Tranceporter,” “Droid save da queen,” “Ultrabizzy,” “Selebretise” “Freud it Out,” “Eye to Eye,” “Illuminaughty” “Psytisfaction” “Hell-ium,” “FCK (All That’s Missing is U),” “Beatwins UFO,” “Pro Aggressive,” “2Much,” “Feel.S.D.,” “Dynamix,” “Atmos Fire,” “Israliens,” “Bomb Voyage,” “Xtatic” “Psy-Tropic,” “Cereal Killerz,” “Realt.V.”

PEDMC language may also be grouped into an associative word system which centers on contrasting themes such as speech versus wordlessness, sound versus silence, exterior versus interior. There is a correlation between these concepts and PEDMC since much of Transistims’ communication and understandings are conveyed through feeling (psychedelics, music and dance) rather than through straightforward (physical) verbal discourse. In other words, this ‘feeling’ allows Transistim to comprehend through shared awareness rather than through pronounced articulation. Accordingly, these dichotomies make be linked with the wordless vs. verbal, expressive vs. quiescent, spiritual vs. material, and natural vs. mechanical paradoxes.

™ “Silent scream,” “Cry of Freedom,” “Listen carefully,” “I want a word with you,” “Secrets of a Mermaid,” “Deep Thoughts,” “Deep Night Dream,” “Insert Silence,” “Silent Revolution,” “Spiritual Beings,” “Flow,” “Translucent Productions,” “Soulectro,” “Vision,” “Trust in Trance,” “Cosmic Tone,” “Violet Vision,” “X-Wave,” “LSDream,” “Pure Imagination,” “Tales from the Unknown,” “Psychedelic Tuning,” “Become One,”

72 “Another Dimension,” “Beyond Words,” “Waves from Goa,” “Feel.S.D.,” “When you See the Light,” “Hypnotic,” “Imagination,” “Frequencies,” “Keep the Vibe Alive,” “Join us to feel the Spirit of the Desert,” “Let me dive deep in you soul,” “create a new self on a higher plane, on a higher vibration,” “I believe this night holds for each of us the very meaning of our lives,” “Deeper Level.”

The Language of Exclusivity: How PEDMC Language Maintains Its Outsider The world is made from language. The implication for the digi-age is that reality can therefore be passed. If reality is made from language then that is saying that it’s code. And if it’s code, then it is far more deeply open to manipulation than we ever dreamed about (McKenna, 1993: online document).

The common yet distinctive language used by Transistim contributes to the ‘exclusive-inclusiveness’ of their neotribes. British sociologist Eileen Barker writes about the language used by New Religious Movements (a component of New Age culture) and claims that “sometimes the use of special concepts and terminology...can contribute, consciously or unconsciously, to cutting members off from non-members and providing the means whereby the members are reinforced in their distinctiveness and, perhaps, separateness from non-members” (1989:75). As I’ve demonstrated in chapter three, this pattern occurs both within cliques of Transistim and between Transistim and general society. Thus, PEDMC language also contains a number of word systems which utilize oppositional categories. These word systems may be identified with the outsider vs. insider, exclusive vs. inclusive, collective vs. individual, self vs. other, together vs. alone, and wordless vs. communicative paradoxes.

One grouping is a synonym based semantic word system and relates to groups and collectivity.

™ “Chemical Crew,” “Posse,” “Mafia,” “Vibe Tribe,” “Cyber Cartel,” “Dual Head,” “Join us,” “the good people,” “Gathering,” “Outsiders,” “Fanatical Clubbers,” “All Chemical Crew, ” “Cosmic Navigators,” “Participate in the Experiment,” “Become One” “Unite,” “Join us to Feel the Spirit,” “Tribal,” “Israliens,” “Isratrance,” “The Next

73 Generation ,” “My gang will get you,” “The Next Generation,” “Children of the Earth,” “Friend’s Party,” “Eye to Eye,” “People and UFO’s,” “Spiritual Beings,” “Cereal Killerz,” “The Third Empire,” “Tribal Dance Experience,” “People can Dance,” “mankind,” “We’re Dangerous,” “We must evacuate,” “our lives,” “We should not allow ourselves.”

Contrastively, there is another synonym based semantic word system which relates to individuals.

™ “Stranger,” “Nameless,” “Totally Alone,” “Dot,” “Pixel,” “Micro,” “In My Brain,” “Perfect Stranger,” “I want Freedom, that’s what I want,” “Life in Mono,” “I want Freedom, that’s what I want,” “I believe” “I’m concerned,” “ I feel,” “I’m gonna send him,” “ I want a word,” “Freeman,” “The mad midget,” “DJ at work,” “Space Cadet,” “There is only one,” “Off Beat,” “Where the fuck ru?,” “Release Yourself,” “Frame by Frame,” “The people vs. Hujaboy,” “Alone,” “Cool Me Down.”

There is also a phonological word system featuring the word “out.”

™ “Outrage,” “Shoot It Out,” “Running out of Time,” “Freak Out,” “Take a walk Outside,” “Freud it Out,” “ Inside Outside,” “In and Out,” “Find Out,” “Outsiders,” “Out of Space,” “Seek out the good people,” “I’m gonna send him to outer space...,” “Outside now!,” “Out of Sequence,” “Get out of the mainstream.”

Conversely, there is a phonological word system featuring the word “in.”

™ “Trust in Trance,” “In Panic,” “In My Brain,” “Participate in the Experiment,” “Plug In,” “Inside,” “Brain in a Box,” “Life in Mono,” “Insert Silence,” “Independence,” “Ghost in the Machine,” “IndepenDance,” “Injustice,” “In the Sun,” “Let me dive deep in your soul,” “crammed into this rat maze,” “reassembles them into visions,” “capillaries in a single neuron,” “Injection,” “preferably in a residential neighborhood,” “in this period,” “Everything is inside,” “We trespass into a million places,” “instincts,” “Instant,” “Pay in your world, Party in ours.”

74 A different strategy of communication is antonym based and uses conflicting terms to emphasize contrast. This strategy of communication may be connected with the collective vs. individual, together vs. alone, other vs. self, exclusive vs. inclusive, outsider vs. insider, prohibited vs. authorized, progressive vs. atavistic, and traditional vs. secular paradoxes.

™ “Black and White,” “People and UFO’s,” “Silent Scream,” “When Injustice Is The Law, Resistance Is a – Duty,” “The people vs. Hujaboy,” “The Martians are coming this way, we must evacuate,” “Can I tell you something,” “Why Aliens Visit Earth,” “In and Out,” “My gang will get you,” “Pay in your world, Party in ours, ” “Kiss N Distroy,” “Instant Grits? No Regular,” “Inside Outside,” “In and Out,” “Gentle Anarchy,” “More or Less,” “Hanuka vs. New Years.”

Additionally, another strategy of communication employs a word system for denoting duality and imitation and is linked to many of the same paradoxes.

™ “Split,” “Xerox,” “Dual Head,” “Become One,” “Another Dimension,” “Another Paradigm,” “Beatwins UFO,” “Triac,”95 “Crack,” “Echotek” “2lives” “Ironic,” “Astral Projection,” “Born Again,” “Love Simulator,” “There is Another,” “Double R.E.L.,” “Double Impact,” “RealtV,” “Visual Paradox.”

Clashing Cultures: Transistims’ Verbal Reactions to Mainstream Norms

Attempting Gentle Anarchy The battle is not between individualism and collectivism, but between a newer expressive culture of freedom...and an older puritan culture of control (Muggleton, 2000:178).

No politics. No violence. No disrespect. (Isratrance: Global Trance Community (GTC) ordinance)

One of PEDMC’s primary conflicts – the clash between elements of the “dominator culture” typical to the post-industrial society and a more utopian idealism present in New Edge pluralistic cultural aspirations – also exists in its language (Eisler,

75 1987; McKenna, 1991). Psy-trance culture seems to be in a constant struggle to liberate itself from the former in order to exist in the later. Ultimately, as we have seen in the previous chapters, PEDMC appears to be a blend of both cultural realms. This conflict shows up in a number of word systems and is analogous to the liberating vs. confining, progressive vs. atavistic, innovative vs. static, prohibited vs. authorized, rural vs. urban, non-profit vs. commercial, underground vs. commodified, DiY (grassroots) vs. sponsored, spiritual vs. material, and natural vs. mechanical paradoxes. An associative word system connected with societal malaise, cultural tension, and widespread dissatisfaction consists of the following words/phrases:

™ “Depths of Despair,” “Perplex,” “Delirious,” “Emotion Chaos,” “Paranoia,” “Deeply Disturbed,” “No Good” “Total Confusion,” “Break Point,” “Silent Scream,” “System Error,” “Fuck the System,” “Israliens,” “S.O.S.,” “Malfunction,” “Infected,” “Under Pressure,” “Panick,” “Chaos,” “Psycho Evolution,” “Ghost in the Machine,” “System Error,” “Hit the Machine,” “Zombi,” “Pissed Off,” “Game Over,” “Out of Space” “Break Point,” “Hunted,” “Over Loaded,” “Confused,” “Outrage,” “Flip the Script,” “What the Fuck...?!,” “Outrage,” “Totally Alone,” “Boiling Point,” “Azax Syndrom,” “Get out of the mainstream culture and pursue your own creative instincts, your own creative urges,” “Separate yourself from all the things that created you previously.”

Another closely related strategy of communication utilizes an associative word system for critiquing mainstream norms and the way ‘the powers that be’ are ruling society.

™ “regiMental,” “Brain in a box,” “Brain Wash,” “Filtered Reality,” “The mad midget,” “There appears to be a system corruption” “Old School,” “Un:Balanced,” “Out of Sequence,” “Soul Control,” ”hidden from public view,” “False Sense of Security,” “I’m concerned with the structure; I’m concerned with the systems of control, those that control my life,” “Entropy,” “Things Controversial,” “The Violent Years,” “Gog U Magog,” “Apocalypse,” “Armageddon,” “World Destruction,” “Drop the Mask,” “Can I tell you something; We’re dangerous,” “We should not allow ourselves to be crammed in this rat maze,” “Pay in your world,” “Why Work,” “Why be normal,” “Knowledge is King,” “Give up all your possessions,” “Human Cube Factory.”

76

Continuing with the above conceptual categories of ‘us vs. them,’ Israeli psy- trance language contains a strategy of communication associated with words and ideas suggesting rule defiance. These ideas can be connected to the inherent illegality of mesibot and the illicit drug use taking place there. Moreover, the defiant stance also appears to suggest a rebellion against mainstream norms, one implicitly conveyed via mesibots’ overtly transgressive nature. These notions are located in the prohibited vs. authorized, obscured vs. exposed, risk vs. safety, danger vs. security, liberating vs. confining, other vs. self, therapeutic vs. self-indulgent, and expressive vs. quiescent paradoxes.

™ “Gentle Anarchy,” “System Error,” “Fuck the System,” “Hit the Machine,” “Flip the Script,” “The revolution is everywhere,” “We should not allow ourselves to be crammed in this rat maze,” “I want Freedom, that’s what I want,” “When Injustice Is The Law, Resistance Is a – Duty,” “This should be played at high volume. Preferably in a residential neighborhood,” “When you dream, there are no rules,” “hidden from public view,” “Stolen,” “Trespass,” “Get out of the mainstream culture and pursue your own creative instincts, your own creative urges,” “Silent Revolution,” “Separate yourself from all the things that created you previously to create a new self on a higher plane on a higher vibration,” “HELLRAISERS,” “Cry of Freedom,” “Mafia,” “illegal overdose,” “psychedelic pollution,” “My gang will get you,” “Psycho Killer,” “Stoned again,” “Cannabis Fan Club,” “Foxy Methoxy,96” “Spliff Music”97 “Life Begins at 200 Miles an Hour,” “Why be normal,” “Pay in your world, Party in Ours,” “Shoot It Out.”

Analogous with this theme, the language also contains an associative word system suggesting violence and aggression. This concept might be related to the reality of conflict ridden Israel and to the fact that many Transistim were in combat units during their military service and enter psy-trance culture as a way of countering, or blocking out, the violence in their day-to-day existence (Rosenthal, 2003). This also may explain Transistims’ notorious reputation for excessive drug use at mesibot and Israel’s stature within the PEDMC world as being something of a ‘full-on’ nation. As one EDMC researcher recently wrote in connection with Skazi, a popular Israeli DJ, “[He’s] all that's

77 worst about psy-trance. An aggressive, dense, throbbing wall of Israeli metal (mental) noise masquerading as a nu-psy trance, 'neo-full on' beat” (2006, Charles de Ledesma, Dancecult mailing list)98.

™ “Tsunami,” “Agitato,” “Psychotic Micro,” “Beat Hackers,” “Winter Demon,” “Goblin,” “Double Impact,” “All Chemical Mafia,” “Cereal Killerz,” “Spear Hunt,” “The Tribal Warrior,” “Paranormal Attack,” “Shoot It Out,” “Break Point,” “Hit the Machine,” “Pissed Off,” “Outrage,” “Bomb Voyage,” “My gang will get you,” “Apocalypse,” “Acid Killer,” “Dakini,”99 “Kiss N Distroy,” “Fanatical Clubbers,” “Bust a move,” “Gog U Magog,” “The Revolution is Everywhere,” “Armageddon,” “Bite the Moon,” “Boiling Point,” “Pro Aggressive,” “Flip the Script,” “Smash,” “The Violent Years, “World Destruction,” “Psycho Killer,” “Hit and Run,” “You are Terminated,” “Where the fuck ru?,” “Bitch,” “I want a word with you; Outside Now!,” “Fuck the System,” “Danger!,” “HELLRAISERS.”

Alternatively, there is also an associative word system which denotes a kinder, softer and more relaxed demeanor. This word grouping may signify the therapeutic or spiritual benefits which Transistim derive from the hallucinatory communitas experience. Moreover, it seems to be antithetical to the violent attitudes they bring with them to the parties. Perhaps what the language is hinting at is that, although Transistim come to mesibot revved up, the combination of drug use and ecstatic dance leads them to a kind of physical exertion which effectively calms them down. Paradoxically, rather than depleting their energies, the mesibot, in fact, serve to invigorate them and many Transistim have reported that if a party is good, they coast on its energy throughout the following week. As David, an older psy-affiliate told me, “mesibot are my medicine” (interview with the author, 2003).

™ “More than a Chilling,” “Natural Born Chillers,” “Chill60” “Reborn,” “Become One,” “Morning Glory,” “Dr. Feelgood,” “People Can Fly,” “Golden Slumbers,” “Sweet Dreams,” “Love Simulator,” “Butterflyer,” “Low Pressure,” “Good Purpose,” “Peekaboo,” “Wonderland,” “Fantasy,” “Fluffy Clouds,” “Deep Night Dream,” “Resurrection,” “Absolute Simplicity,” “Friend’s Party,” “Seek out the good people,”

78 “Hovek Olam,”100 “Cosmopolite,” “Join us to Feel the Spirit of the Desert,” “Unite,” “Stars are Shining,” “Beautiful Dreams.”

The fact that these two mannerisms are oppositional suggests an intermediate space which seems to be the position Transistim might occupy since, as the paradoxes, contradictions and hypocrisies in chapters two and three indicate, they are caught between two cultural realms or two societal outlooks even if, ultimately, one realm permeates the other. Yet, the drugs they take and music they dance to at mesibot seem to enhance these polarities rather than moderate between them, and do little to provide Transistim a measure of stability or an effective solution for contending with their conflicted, post-industrial, society. Ultimately, then, rather than formulating a viable and perhaps permanent alternative to the conflicts they experience outside their PEDMC communities, Transistim make do with the temporary shelter of the ‘here and now’ moment. Thus, though the data contain a synonym based word system related to achieving a central point or ‘middle ground,’ by comparison with some of the other word systems, this category is relatively small.

™ “Between Black and Grey,” “Bipolar Mood Swings,” “Medium,” “Un:Balanced,” “More or Less,” “Acrobat.”

Another sector in which Transistim attempt, but appear to only partially succeed, to monitor and moderate their conduct is in their endeavor to create non-commodified parties. The data contain an associative word system which connotes a skeptical view of capitalism and commercialism and corresponds with the spiritual vs. material, non-profit vs. commercial, underground vs. commodified and DiY (grassroots) vs. sponsored paradoxes.

™ “Why Work,” “Pay in your World,” “Fuck the System,” “BioFish,” “Entropy,” “Cyber Cartel,” “All Chemical Mafia,” “System Error,” “Ghost in the Machine,” “Un:Balanced,” “Aggressive,” “Politically Correct,” “Brain Wash,” “Hypnotic,” “Hyperdrive,” “World Destruction,” “Thats too much,” “Always on the Move,” “We should not allow ourselves to be crammed into this rat maze,” “System Corruption.”

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At the same time there is a word system which suggests an embrace of alternative, less material and more homespun, modes of conducting business.

™ “Translucent Productions,” “Soulectro,” “New Kind of World,” “Freeman,” “AKD (After Kick Development)”101, “Eye to Eye,” “Participate in the Experiment,” “DJ at Work,” “Party in ours,” “Off Beat,” “Hit the Machine,” “Personality,” “Underground Sound,” “Gain Control,” “Open Society,” “Life Style,” “Social Utopia,” “One of the Tribe,” “Flip the Script,” “Independence,” “IndepenDance,” “Nameless,” “Children of the Earth,” “Drop the Mask,” “Become One,” “Seek out the good people,” “Give up all your possessions,” “a qualitatively different human,” “Get out of the mainstream and pursue your own creative instincts, your own creative urges,” “Separate yourself from all the things that created you previously to create a new self on a higher plane on a higher vibration.”

Nonetheless, as we have seen in the earlier discussion of Transistims’ contradictory behavior as well as in the language’s failure to reveal a clear middle ground, there appears to be a gap between New Edge rhetoric and Transistims’ actions.

Nu-Clear Visions of Israel These new, vibrant, hot sounds are pounding the dancefloor and raising the dust, hope and expectations to a new level (2003, CD promotional blurb, Psyshop.com).

Parties in Israel are regularly held on the Sabbath and religious festivals – something that no doubt lends them an additional spiritual/holy element but also implies discounting certain religious/holy rules in order to attend these parties. This causes conflict in the lives of many Transistim by creating tension between their allegiances to two different realities: their traditional systems of institutionalized observance and their unconventional mode of hedonistic celebration. The comparable value and allure of each practice repeatedly confronts many Transistim. As Simone told me one Friday night on- route to a party, “It’s always strange to change from Shabbat clothes to party clothes. It’s even more weird to come back home [‘tripping’] and eat Shabbat lunch with my family

80 (interview with the author, 2003). Moreover, in Israel, this conflict is further compounded, since these seemingly contrastive behavioral schemes are actually directed towards apparently similar goals; both psy-trance parties and Shabbat/holidays attempt to offer their practitioners systemized realms of relaxation, rejuvenation and communion. The data therefore contain word systems which suggest traditional modes of sociality versus more New Edge transdisciplinary notions and beliefs. One example is a word system relating to institutionalized culture which may be linked to Transistims’ ambivalent views of conventional religion and traditional society.

™ “Brain in a Box,” “Life in Mono,” “Control,” “We should not allow ourselves to be crammed into this rat maze!,” “Human Cube Factory,” “Nameless,” “Black and White,” “Gog U Magog,” “Israeliens,” “Another Life,” “Slow Move,” “2Much,” “Control,” “There is only one,” “Zero Level Energy,” “Things Controversial ,” “No Good,” “Soul Control,” “I want Freedom, that’s what I want.”

On the other hand, the data also has an associative word system containing words and phrases denoting innovation and novelty and change. These words seem to reaffirm the positive aspects of New Edge culture and to represent PEDMC’s appeal. Moreover, these words also appear to signify the approach Transistim take when trying to maintain their concurrent, yet conflicting, lifestyles. Thus, this word system corresponds with the progressive vs. atavistic, innovative vs. static, integrative vs. fragmented, secular vs. traditional, extraordinary vs. regular, expressive vs. quiescent, fleeting vs. permanent, DiY (grassroots) vs. sponsored and therapeutic vs. self-indulgent paradoxes.

™ “Very Progressive,” “Brand New Entertainment,” “Dynamic,” “New Religion,” “Nu- Clear Visions of Israel,” “Born Again,” “Reborn,” “Another Dimension,” “New Kind of World,” “Learning =Change,” “Acrobat,” “Dynamix,” “Avatar,” “Translucent Productions,” “Illumination,” “Find Out,” “Dynamic Universe,” “After Kick Development,” “Pure Imagination,” “Sixsense,” “The Next Generation,” “New Paradigm,” “New Moves,” “Midnight Bloom,” “Discovering,” “Think Hard,” “Knowledge is King,” “I’m gonna send him to outer space to find another race,” “Good Purpose,” “Special Reverse,” “Trust in Trance,” “Art of Trance,” “Aleph Zero,”102 “your

81 own creative instincts,” “create a new self,” “construct the makeup of a qualitatively different human,” “Modern Dynamic Music Association,” “Transformation,” “New Generation,” “Psycho Evolution.”

Moreover, the names of several local neotribes suggest parallel or improved social constructs: ™ “The Third Empire,” “Badulina Kingdom,” “Spiritual Beings,” “Evolution,” “Moksha,”103 “Familia.”

In addition, the data also contain a word system which addresses PEDMC behavior in a positive manner and may be identified with the liberating vs. confining, extraordinary vs. regular, progressive vs. atavistic, innovative vs. static, therapeutic vs. self-indulgent, spiritual vs. material, and natural vs. mechanical paradoxes.

™ “Release Yourself,” “New Kind of World,” “Another Paradigm,” “Open Society,” “Good Purpose,” “Go Party,” “Party in ours,” “Separate yourself from all the things that created you previously to create a new self on a higher plane on a higher vibration,” “Nu- Clear Vision of Israel,” “Plug In,” “Freeman,” “End of the Tunnel,” “Illumination,” “Justice and Freedom,” “Another Dimension,” “Dynamic Universe,” “Where It’s At,” “Drug Enthusiasm,” “Effective Signal,” “New Frontiers,” “New Kind of World,” “Gain Control,” “Participate in the Experiment,” “Transformation,” “Absolute Simplicity,” “Special Reverse,” “New Start,” “IndepenDance Party,” “Join us to Feel the Spirit of the Desert,” “Sweet Dreams,” “It is our destiny.”

Part of the curative function facilitated by gatherings is their ability to transfer participants, if only momentarily, to warm and pleasant otherworld-like surroundings. To counter Transistims’ disenchantment with society, PEDMC advises participants to ‘trust in trance’ as a means for attaining deliverance. This approach offsets the notion of societal discontentment delineated above by alluding to the power psy-trance parties/music have for alleviating participants’ dissatisfaction with mainstream society. Yet, even if, as suggested earlier, the parties don’t entirely alleviate societal discord, they do at least supply the hope or the chance that an improvement might occur. This is so

82 since, not only do PEDMC gatherings physically detach Transistim from their regular existence, but mesibot in general, and the intense energy stemming from hallucinatory communitas in particular, act as a kind transformative vehicle supplying participants access to ‘distant,’ and supposedly more harmonious, realities. These notions are also found in the remote vs. proximate, rural vs. urban, global vs. local, permanent vs. fleeting, therapeutic vs. self-indulgent, progressive vs. atavistic, innovative vs. static and liberating vs. confining paradoxes. A central word system connected to these ideas is associated with freedom and transcendence.

™ “Cry of Freedom,” “Moksha,” “Nu-clear Visions of Israel,” “New Kind of World,” “Another Life,” “Yotopia,” “Oforia,” “Wonderland,” “Golden Slumbers,” “Freedom,” “Resurrection,” “Independence,” “Illumination,” “Orgasma,” ”Release Yourself,” “Another Dimension,” “Transformation,” “Deep Night Dream,” “Social Utopia,” “Create a New Self,” “Freeman,” “Dream On,” “When you See the Light,” “Millions of Miles Away,” “Reborn,” “Explorer,” “Night Train,” “Many Years from Now,” “Open Society,” “Create a new self on a higher plane on a higher vibration,” “ I believe this night holds for each of us the very meaning of our lives,” “Astral Projection,” “New Frontiers.”

There is also an associative based semantic word system pertaining to movement, flow and travel:

™ “200 hundred miles an hour,” “Short Cut,” “Smart Move,” “Bust a move,” “Flow,” “Agitato,” “hit and run,” “run away,” “evacuate,” “Hovek Olam,” “Worldwide,” “Millions of Miles Away,” “Explorer,” “Buckle Up,” “Trespass,” “Butterflyer,” “Cosmopolite,” “Desert Trip,” “Tight Flight” “New Moves,” “Chemical Drive,” “Release Yourself,” “Twistn’Turns,” “Twister,” “Go Play,” “Dance N Dust”104 “Fast Moves,” “Seek out,” “Get out of the mainstream culture and pursue your own creative instincts,” “Night Drive,” “Separate yourself,” “Travelocity,” “Waves from Goa,” “Your Destination,” “Tranceporter,” “Psy-Craft,” “Fly,” “Cosmic Navigator,” “Orbital Flame,” “Take a walk outside,” “Astral Projection,” “create a new self,” “Alien Craft,” “Hyperdrive,” “Always on the move,” “Why Aliens Visit Earth,” “I will take you on a long long trip.”

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Additionally, the data contain a phonological word system connected with outer space which seems to imply distance and discovery.

™ “Aerospace,” Space Monkey,” “Space Cat,” “Space Camel,” “Space Fantasy,” “Space Cadet,” “Out of Space,” “Outer Space,” “No single space program,” “Exploration of space” “I’m gonna send him to outer space,” “Space Cadet,” “Space Boogie,” “Space Cake,” “Space Spin.”

Similarly, there is associative word system which refers to distance and expanse. This word system is complimentary to the “space” word system, since both are associated with the ideas of otherworldliness and thereby also correspond with the mysterious vs. mundane, remote vs. proximate, rural vs. urban, extraordinary vs. regular, global vs. local, risk vs. safety, danger vs. security, liberating vs. confining, therapeutic vs. self- indulgent, spiritual vs. material and natural vs. mechanical paradoxes.

™ “Luna Music,” “Yosi B.I.G.,” “Cosmic Tone,” “Aerospace,” “UV,” “Bizarre Contact,” “Cyber Cartel,” “X-Wave,” “Desert Trip,” “Millions of Miles Away,” “Staring at the Abyss,” “Dynamic Universe,” “Airgate,” “Meteor,” “Tales from the Unknown,” “A Magnificent Void,” “New Kind of World,” “First Since of Communication,” “Life is...,” “New Frontiers,” “Tranceporter,” “Cosmic Navigators,” “Travelocity,” “Another Dimension,” “Beyond Words,” “Night Drive,” “Waves from Goa,” “Open Society,” “People can Fly,” “Many Years from Now,” “Run Away” “Wider,” “Imagination,” “Waverider,” “The Cosmic Story,” “There is another,” “Wonderland,” “Final Fantasy,” “Deep Thoughts,” “Fluffy Clouds,” “Deep Night Dream,” “People and UFO’s,” “World Destruction,” “Ghost in the Machine,” “India Gathering,” “Deep Molecular Structure,” “Meteor,” “Under Sea Level,” “Time Tunnel,” “Join us to Fell the Spirit of the Desert,” “When you dream, there are no rules,” “Let me dive deep in your soul and I will take you on a long long trip,” “Stars are Shining,” “I feel like I am being watched...By Angels,” “long range exploration,” “Area 51,”105 “ Beautiful Dreams,” “Streets of Venus,” “Hovek Olam.”

84 Linked to this otherworldliness, is another associative word system related to secrets and mystery. ™ “End of the Tunnel,” “Secrets of a Mermaid,” “hidden from public view behind the blue mountain range,” “Area 51,” “Dark Doors,” “Tales from the Unknown,” “Fata Morgana,” ”Drop the Mask,” “Magnificent Void,” “Deep Thoughts,” “Deep Night Dream,” “Ghost in the Machine,” “Under Sea,” “Why Aliens Visit Earth.”

Yet, contrary to the ideas of otherworldliness and the unknown, is an associative word system connected to conventional reality which relates to terms like established, firm, jammed, crowded, choked and confining. These words/phrases also appear oppositional to the expressions of innovation mentioned above and should therefore be connected to Transistims’ view of traditional or conventional society. This grouping may be associated with the secular vs. traditional, progressive vs. atavistic, innovative vs. static, rural vs. urban, underground vs. commodified, non-profit vs. commercial, DiY (grassroots) vs. sponsored, risk vs. safety and wordless vs. verbal paradoxes.

™ “Com.Pact,” “In Panic,” “Running out of Time,” “Freak Out,” “Hunted,” “Brain in a Box,” “Grabber,” “Panick,” “Overloaded,” “2 Much,” “Human Cube Factory,” “Control,” “Under Pressure,” “Game Over,” “Thats Too Much,” “Listen carefully; the Martians are coming. We must evacuate,” “I want a word with you; Outside now!,” “We should not allow ourselves to be crammed into this rat maze!,” “On the ground,” “Domestic,” “Entropy,” “I’m concerned with the structure; I’m concerned with the systems of control, those that control my life...,” “Imagination cant create anything new. It only recycles bits and piece of from the world and reassembles them into visions,” “There appears to be a system corruption,” “Pay in your world,” “Cool me down,” “No excuses,” “Out of Space.”

Psychedelic Tuning Danger! Man Digging a Hole for Himself 106 (T-shirt imprint)

Since drugs and drug related topics are an integral component of PEDMC, Transistims’ language contains many words denoting both a celebration of, and

85 ambivalence towards, hallucinatory states of being. Thus, the data reflects two parallel associative word systems - one that finds enchantment in the psychedelic experience and another that warns of its pitfalls and the possibility of pushing one’s psyche too far. These ideas match up with the risk vs. safety, danger vs. security, prohibited vs. authorized, therapeutic vs. self-indulgent, mysterious vs. mundane and extraordinary vs. regular paradoxes.

An associative word system with words referring to the potential rapture and benefit connected with entheogenic states contains the following words:

™ “Yotopia,” “Oforia,” “Utopia,” “Psy-Tropic,” “LSDream,” “Illumination,” “Nu-Clear Visions of Israel,” “Wonderland,” “Freedom,” “Drug Enthusiasm,” “Final Fantasy,” “Deep Night Dream,” “Absolute Simplicity,” “Knowledge is King,” “Reborn,” “Psytisfaction,” “Clear Vision,” “New Frontiers,” “Life Begins at 200 Miles and Hour,” “Beyond Words,” “People Can Fly,” “When you See the Light,” “Freedom,” “Optimus,” “Mushroom Therapy,” “Trust in Trance,” “Psychedelic Tuning,” “Morning Glory,” “Release Yourself,” “Suck this and See,” “Gravy for the Brain,” “Acupuncture,” “Brain Wash,” “Freedom,” “Feel.S.D.,” “When you dream, there are no rules,” “IndepenDance Party” “I feel like I am being watched... by Angels,” “Beautiful Dreams,” “I believe that this night holds for each of use the very meaning of our lives,” “create a new self on a higher plane on a higher vibration.”

At the same time, the data has many words cautioning users of the potential negative effects from using psychedelic drugs and employs language/phrases like:

™ “Psychotic Micro,” “Dark Doors,” “Confused,” “Bizarre Contact,” “Brain Bubbles,” “Zombi,” “In Panic,” “Visual Perplex,” “Warning You,” “Delirious,” “Acid Killer,” “Infected Mushroom,” “Weird,” “False Sense of Security,” “Fata Morgana,” “Illusion,” “Temporary Insanity,” “Emotion Chaos,” “Paranormal Attack,” “Brain Damage,” “Malfunction,” “Confused,” “Overloaded,” “Un:Balanced,” “Twister,” “Total Confusion,“ “Deeply Disturbed,” “Paranoia,” “Freak Out,” “Bipolar Mood Swings,” “Thats too much,” “Some mental symptoms,” “Side Effect,” “In Panic,” “illegal overdose,” “Danger! Man Digging a Hole for Himself,” “Psychedelic Pollution,”

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Another strategy of communication is formed into an associative word system connoting irregularity (the psychedelic state for good and ill) and seems to suggest the inevitable gap formed between these two polarities. ™ “Visual Paradox,” “Bizarre Contact,” “Realit.V,” “This should be played at high volume. Preferably in a residential neighborhood,” “Unnatural Recordings,” “Brain Bubbles,” “Sixsense,” “Blue Leprechaun,” “Bipolar Mood Swings” “Alien Connection,” “Bite the Moon,” “Bizarre Contact vs. Nameless,” “Area 51,” “24 hours and still awake,” “Human Cube Factory,” “Dance of the Freaky Circle,” “People Can Fly,” “Weird,” “Visual Perplex,” “Give up all your possessions,” “Out of Sequence,” “Danger! Man digging a hole for himself,” “Beatwins UFO” “Life begins at 200 miles an hour,” “Off Beat,” “Why Be Normal,” “Special Reverse” “Gravy for the Brain.”

Thus, one can observe that the dichotomies and paradoxes underlying PEDMC are directly reflected in this subculture’s language. Moreover, since the language is intertwined within Transistims’ behavior it is difficult to determine which generated which -- the language the behavior or the behavior the language. Most likely, their relationship is one of mutuality and, just as PEDMC behavior is expressed in Transistims’ language, so too their language reproduces and, in doing so, engenders Transistims’ conduct. For example, the substantial quantity of references to bizarre, outlandish or radical scenarios appearing in Transistims' language no doubt creates a certain mood at mesibot which thereupon gets transferred into attitudes and demeanor beyond the PEDMC realm. As E.H. Sturtevant, an historian of ancient linguistics, wrote in his book An Introduction to Linguistic Science, language is a system of “symbols by which members of a social group co-operate and interact...and by means of which the learning process is effected and a given way of life assimilated” (1947: 17). This observation may be linked to the theories of the noted linguist and anthropologist Edward Sapir whose observations on the mutuality between language and culture claim:

Language and our thought-grooves are inextricably interwoven, are, in a sense, one and the same...Culture may be defined as what a society does and thinks. It goes without saying that the mere content of language is intimately related to culture. In the sense that

87 the vocabulary of a language more or less faithfully reflects the culture whose purposes it serves it is perfectly true that the history of language and the history of culture move along parallel lines (1921: 46).

Although these linguists’ writing pertained to another culture period, their ideas are still germane and, in the case of Israeli PEDMC’s use of language, appear to be on target.

Summary and Conclusions Trapped by convention? The primary theoretical task of the semiotic or sign-oriented linguist is the postulation of the invariant meanings of linguistic signs (usually in a systematic opposition to other signs) and to explain how these invariant sign meanings are exploited by human beings to communicate specific discourse messages (Tobin: 1994: 8).

I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being really good all the time. That would be hypocrisy (Oscar Wilde, 1894).

Despite its minimal use, the restricted verbal language contained in the PEDMC context appears to reflect Transistims’ mores and conduct. This notion is re-confirmed also via the principles of PHB. Accordingly, the contrasting word systems located in the data verify, compliment and further contribute to an understanding of PEDMC paradoxes. As the analysis shows, thematically, as well as conceptually and literally, the language, like the paradoxes, may be grouped and regrouped into various over-lapping categories. Moreover, the oppositions and conflicts appearing in psy-trance language are both influenced by, and created from, PEDMC outlooks and may be understood as indicative of the duality inherent in this subculture’s consciousness. From the various categories and grouping of the language’s word systems, it appears that the extralinguistic message is: underground euphoric communion serves as an attempted alternative to mainstream dissatisfying alienation. Perhaps, one might also conclude that regardless of the re-enactment of mainstream patterns of exclusiveness and commodification within the PEDMC environment, the parties nonetheless do contain a remedial quality even if it is conflicted by paradox. In part, and despite some Transistims’

88 intentions, this favorable outcome may be because mesibot are fleeting and thus don’t substantially challenge the ‘system’ but merely provide momentary relief from it. The multileveled interaction occurring between PEDMC and mainstream Israeli culture might also imply that the former could not exist were it not for the later. In other words, as the verbal data suggest, PEDMC behavior not only mimics conventional society but its radical behavior is a reaction to it. Perhaps Israeli Transistim instinctively recognize that they cannot solely live in the world of trance, but that in order for mesibot to be effective, they require a concurrent mainstream reality from which to draw their contrasts. Seemingly, the Israeli psy-trancer is caught in an endless cycle of breaking away from his accepted role in society in order to examine, align and possibly even come to terms with himself and the culture in which he lives. As James Lull, a San-Francisco based professor of media and cultural studies, notes in his book Popular Music and Communication, this pattern particularly appears to suit electronic dance music and the neotribes affiliated with it. As he points out, the various forms of trance music

… embody and reproduce perfect postmodern themes – songs that don’t begin or end, stories that are never told. The hook is the riff, sampled and recycled. Lyrics are sounds. Segues match grooves and beats, not words....Popular music today may be the perfect soundtrack for life at the end of the twentieth century – a choreography of musical and cultural impermanence that matches the quickening pace and uncertainty of the times (1992: 11).

Even though Lull wrote this almost a decade and a half ago, these notions only appear to have intensified. Thus, a question arises: to what degree does Transistims’ behavior within the PEDMC context influence their lives outside of it? If in fact their subcultural mannerisms mimic and re-generate their conventional conduct (and vice versa), are Transistim destined to remain confined to this paradoxical circle? Since entheogens leave both positive and negative residuals, the long range impact they have on the Transistim who use them remains undetermined. Moreover, additional research needs to be undertaken in order to establish the over-all extent which Israeli Transistims’ participation in PEDMC influences both their personal realms and their broader cultural settings. Comparing the effects mesibot have on both cultural contexts may also help to

89 clarify questions concerning Israel’s conflicts, contradictions, paradoxes and hypocrisies. In other words, since PEDMC is such a popular phenomenon in Israel107, it stands to reason that a closer look at how, where and why it integrates with mainstream culture will reveal a deeper understanding of the basis for its popularity as well as how PEDMC impacts upon those who are not directly involved. Moreover, appreciating the interplay between these two cultural realms may lead to discovering facets of Israeli culture previously overlooked by researchers.

Escaping Our Giant Traveling is a fool's paradise. Our first journeys discover to us the indifference of places. At home I dream that at Naples, at Rome, I can be intoxicated with beauty, and lose my sadness. I pack my trunk, embrace my friends, embark on the sea, and at last wake up in Naples, and there beside me is the stern fact, the sad self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from. I seek the Vatican, and the palaces. I affect to be intoxicated with sights and suggestions, but I am not intoxicated. My giant goes with me wherever I go (Emerson, 1841).

Summing up, the preceding essay attempted to gain a greater understanding of Israeli psy-trance culture by juxtaposing Transistims’ behavior with their language. The first chapter introduced PEDMC as an overtly post-modern, post-Zionist phenomenon and detailed how Transistims’ integrative, transdisciplinary, outlook incorporates knowledge and practices from a number of cultural realms. By combining subcultural critique with various forms of leisure, music, social and linguistic theory, I interpreted the behavior encountered at psy-trance mesibot as underlined by contrasts and contradictions. Thus, chapters Two and Three delineated how Transistims’ incongruent conduct plays out within the PEDMC context. Chapter Four served to verify this pattern by analyzing Transistims’ language, categorizing it into non-randomly distributed word systems and arriving at an extra-linguistic message which supports and expands my comprehension of Israeli psy-trance culture. Surprisingly, one of Israeli PEDMC’s foremost paradoxes is that a major influence on Transistims’ behavior stems from their own source culture, i.e., late-modern post-Zionist, mainstream Israel, whose norms and values Transistim integrate into their

90 own conduct. This is unexpected because both the establishment and Transistim view PEDMC as counter-cultural and the idea that Transistim are actually replicating models of contemporary sociality seems counter-intuitive. At the same time, since Transistim duplicate what they profess to refute, it is understandable that they appear ambivalent towards their actions. This dialectic turns the PEDMC paradox in on itself and Transistims’ behavior may be viewed as a Möbius108, that is, inter-knotted: Transistim are alienated from their day-to-day society and participate in an illicit subcultural activity as a way of protesting their dissatisfaction. Even so, Transistim are ambivalent about their radical actions both because they are implicitly dangerous and illegal and also because somewhere within their psyche they realize that, despite pretense, their ‘escape’ has led them back to where they started. As Shani, an older and somewhat cynical Transist told me when I asked him about the impact of PEDMC on his life and Israeli culture:

What do I know? Maybe Trance [culture] has changed something in my ‘bigger picture,’...but, then again, maybe not. Can I say exactly what it has changed in my own life? Perhaps, but not exactly. I mean it’s hard to measure what influences what, and if things that happened to me happened because of what goes on in my day to day life or if they came from the mesibot. [Pauses] Actually, it’s probably a combination of the two; I mean, after all these years of mesibot and drugs, the ups and the downs, along with all the other shit that life throws at you, it’s hard to say anything for sure (age 38, interview with the author, 2005).

Nonetheless, it is still unclear whether the overlapping of these two cultural realms occurs on a conscious (purposeful) or unconscious (intuitive) level. In other words, are Transistim aware that they are mimicking what they claim to be transgressing? Looking at this idea in a larger context, one might be tempted to put a similar question to many late-modern mainstreamers: how are they effected by the paradoxes they encounter in their lives? Wang has attempted to answer this question by suggesting that in contemporary Western consumer society the desire for “pleasure, leisure, narcissism [and] hedonism” (what he refers to as “Eros-modernity”) has been co-opted by “industrial, capitalist, commercial and bureaucratic institutions” (the “representatives” of what he terms

91 “Logos-modernity”) and hence “channeled into approved or tolerated zones” where it can be satisfied (2000, 39). Wang claims that in late-modern society there is a structured overlapping of these two realms, and as Eros and Logos permeate one other, they “enhance each other through mutual support” (ibid.: 40). Wang points out that “modern tourism, as institutionalized leisure travel, is one example of Eros-modernity that allows people to gratify their Eros impulses and desires without being punished by the agents of Logos” (ibid.: 41). Thus, according to Wang “the temporary touristic ‘deviance’ or ‘escape’ helps to restore the ‘normality of society at home” (ibid.: 41). In other words, although tourism is a retreat from conventional society, the fact that it is done in a sanctioned (i.e. commercialized and bureaucratized) manner means that it is tolerated and even promoted as a positive contribution to daily life. Although this seems accurate for so-called sanctioned (and semi-‘deviant’) Eros undertakings like tourism or organized gambling, this does not appear to be the case with PEDMC since it both involves the transgression of laws and since it is ideologically opposed to commodification. Moreover, the fact that nowadays PEDMC events can be staged with commercial intent does not imply that they fit Wang’s model since, in fact, Transistim hotly debate whether or not these types of parties can be deemed part of their ‘scene.’ As Yosi, a party organizer and psy-trance music producer, explained to me: “Once you make a party where more than a thousand people attend, or produce a CD which sells more than 4000 copies, I don’t know if you could continue to call what you are doing ‘Trance.’ Look what happened to “Infected.”109 The moment they started playing at big festivals in front of 20,000 people they moved into another scene. I congratulate them on their success, but what they are doing has nothing to do with ‘Trance.’ It’s commercial all the way.” (interview with the author, 2005). This comment may imply that even though in certain ways PEDMC paradoxes duplicate mainstream patterns, this mimicry is not entirely wholesale and, perhaps intuitively or perhaps purposefully (or, perhaps in a combination of the two), Transistim know where and how to draw the line. Moreover, Yosi’s viewpoint seems to reflect the current predicament plaguing contemporary Israeli sociality: the face-off between being part of the group (i.e., adhering to the tenets of traditional, homogenous, Zionist collectivism or, in this case, ‘classic,’ group-oriented, underground PEDMC) and self-

92 expressive, heterogeneous, individualism (which today many Israelis interpret as success according to late modern neo-capitalist standards). Furthermore, as this conflict appears to epitomize the dichotomies and paradoxes of both cultural realms, it may also be what is specifically ‘Israeli’ about Israeli PEDMC. Even so, although scrutinizing a phenomenon may result in partial or even entire answers, this type of microscopic discourse analysis can also blur as well as sharpen our understanding of an ethnographic context. In a recent article in the Atlantic Monthly entitled Two Cheers for Hypocrisy, satirist P.J. O’Rourke explores “what is on the mind of American youth” and concludes by questioning the value in over-questioning:

As to what values youth in fact has, time will tell. But time will not tell us much, because we’ll be senile or dead. Meanwhile, the path to greater wisdom is not chartered by the interrogation of teenagers – or, probably, by the interrogation of anyone, whether in a Gallup poll, at Guantánamo Bay, or in anonymously sourced deep-think interviews for important periodicals. We’d be better off heeding the Dian Fossey lesson: We know as much as we do about gorillas because they cannot speak (2006: 156).

Perhaps the same attitude should be taken when approaching the question of why Israeli psy-trancers don’t feel a need for verbal discourse. The simple answer might be that on some level, perhaps a psychedelic one, they are aware of their conflicted mannerisms but choose to acknowledge them (like many of us) tacitly in order to be left alone to dance.

93

Appendix

The following lists are composed from words found in conjunction with Israeli PEDMC.

Names of Psy-Trance Neo Tribes and Party Producers

• Cry of Freedom • The Third Empire • Tsunami • Psy-Tropic • Liquid Sunrise Productions • Spiritual Beings • Bionics • Moksha • Dakini • Behind the Logic • Chill60 • Ronen Rasta • Yosi B.I.G. • Badulina Kingdom • Oren Coma (The Tribal Warrior) • Doof • Cosmo Production • Vision • Evolution • Foxy Methoxy • Familia

Record Labels

• Aleph Zero • Spiritual Beings • Avatar • HOMmega • MDMA (Modern Dynamic Music Association) • Trust in Trance • Chemical Crew • Very Progressive • Dooflex • BNE [Brand New Entertainment]

94 • Com.Pact • Unnatural Recordings • Optimus • Flow • Agitato • Dance N Dust • Spliff Music • Translucent Productions • Utopia • Soulectro • Phonokol • Luna Music

Names of DJ’s

• Cosmic Tone • Paranormal Attack • Perfect Stranger • Aerospace • Dr. Borris • Dot • Brain Damage • Ultravoice • Domestic • Pixel • Oforia • Black and White • Space Monkey • BioFish • Zombi • Depths of Despair • 40% • Psychotic Micro • BLT • Azax Syndrom • Split • Entropy • UV • Dark Doors • Bizarre Contact • Beat Hackers • Dynamic • Yotopia

95 • Brain Bubbles • Cyber Cartel • Onyx • Perplex • Xerox • Psy Craft • X-noiZe • Sub6 • Atomic Pulse • Delirious • Vibe Tribe • PTX • Violet Vision • Winter Demon • Goblin • Blanka • X-Wave • Visual Paradox • Space Camel • Double R.E.L. • LSDream • Triac • Atmos Fire • Illumination • Infected Mushroom • Exaile • Tube • Echotek • Hujaboy • Freeman • AKD [After Kick Development] • Desert Trip • Double Impact • Bizarre Contact vs. Nameless • All Chemical Mafia

Albums Names

• Millions of Miles Away • Spear Hunt • Learning=Change • Eye to Eye • In Panic

96 • Cereal Killerz • Dynamic Universe • Psytisfaction • Outrage • New Religion • Acupuncture • Airgate • Pure Imagination • Blue Leprechaun • Emotion Chaos • Natural Born Chillers • False Sense of Security • System Error • Nu-Clear Visions of Israel • Shoot It Out • The Next Generation [I &II] • More Than a Chilling • Dynamix • Israliens • In My Brain • Frame by Frame • Tales from the Unknown • Break Point • The Prophecy • New Kind of World • Art Making Machine • Participate in the Experiment • Dual Head • First Sign of Communication • Life is... • Another Life • Fata Morgana • Off Beat • Buckle Up • Posse • Reflex • Audiotec • Born Again • Chemical Drive • Circles of Life • Cosmopolite • Hit the Machine • Mafia • Personality

97 • Digital Drops • Silent Scream • Running out of Time • Alchemic Anecdote • Underground Sound of Tel-Aviv • New Frontiers • Reborn • Plug In • Tranceporter • Cosmic Navigators • Travelocity • Tribal Dance Experience • Drop the Mask • Psychedelic Tuning • Panick

Track Names

• Become One • A Magnificent Void • Midnight Bloom • Mushroom Therapy • Another Paradigm • Staring at the Abyss • Dr. Feelgood • Hyperdrive • Wider • Tight Flight • Weird • Pissed Off • Ironic • Freak Out • New Paradigm • Night Train • Bomb Voyage • Take a Walk Outside • Hunted • My gang will get you • People can dance • Freud it Out • New Start • Inside Outside • Apocalypse

98 • No Good (Start to Dance) • Release Yourself • Brain in a box • Acid Killer • Freedom • Morning Glory • Droid save da queen, • Fly • S.O.S. • Another Dimension • 24 hours and still awake • Beyond Words • Malfunction • Kiss N Distroy • Confused • In and Out • Fanatical Clubbers • Life in Mono • Visual Perplex • Night Drive • Selebretise • Some mental symptoms • Insert Silence • Gain Control • illegal overdose • Fast Moves • Bust a move • Side Effect • Feel.S.D. • Find out • Waves from Goa • Dream On • Orgasma • Space Cake • Gog U Magog • When you See the Light • Illuminaughty • Hell-ium • Over Loaded • Un:Balanced • Armageddon • Filtered Reality • Alone • Smart Move

99 • Slow Move • Dance of the Freaky Circle • Discovering • Where the fuck ru? • Open Society • Ultrabizzy • Bite the Moon • People Can Fly • Chaos • The people vs. Hujaboy • Flying sorcerer • Space Spin • Beatwins UFO • Xtatic • Outsiders • More or Less • New Generation • What the Fuck...?! • Psycho Evolution • Boiling Point • Gravy for the Brain • Space Boogie • Clear Vision • Golden Slumbers • Sweet Dreams • Many Years from Now • Zero Level Energy • Flip the Script • regiMental • Streets of Venus • Back to Mind • Brain Wash • Independence • Drop It • Twister • Twist’n’Turns • Run Away • Imagination • Nameless • Hypnotic • Waverider • Grabber • Children of the Earth • The Cosmic Story

100 • Love Simulator • Dynamic • Things Controversial • Crack • Effective Signal • Sixsense • Butterflyer • Orbital Flame • Space Fantasy • There is another • Old School • Your Destination • Acrobat • Between Black and Grey • Bipolar Mood Swings • Alien Connection • End of the Tunnel • Low Pressure • Game Over • Pro Aggressive • 2 Much • Smash • Frequencies • New Moves • Good Purpose • Peekaboo • Stolen • Human Cube Factory • Total Confusion • Beat Conductor • On the Ground • Politically Correct • Wonderland • Final Fantasy • Deep Thoughts • Secrets of a Mermaid • Drug Enthusiasm • Gentle Anarchy • Deeply Disturbed • Vision • Fluffy Clouds • Life Style • Control • Deep Night Dream

101 • Warning You • Transformation • Space Cadet • Paranoia • Absolute Simplicity • Social Utopia • People and UFO’s • 2 lives • Realt.v • Tribal Times • Special Reverse • There is only one • One of the tribe • The mad midget • Totally Alone • Out of Space • Space Cadet • The Violent Years • World Destruction • Alien Craft • Temporary Insanity • Under Pressure • Soul Control • Ghost in the Machine • Thats too much

Found on Party Flyers

• Psychedelic Pollution • Hanuka vs. New Years • Isratrance- Keep the Vibe Alive • India Gathering • Medium • Resurrection • Deep Molecular Zion • Art of Trance • Friend’s Party • Go Play • Seek out the good people • Back 2 Back • Meteor • Concept • Shortcut • Under Sea Level

102 • IndepenDance Party • Hovek Olam • Time Tunnel • When Injustice Becomes The Law, Resistance Is a – Duty • The Tribe is Gathering Again • Plastic Crafter • Join us to Feel the Spirit of the Desert • In the Sun • Unite • Deeper Level

Samples from Tracks

• “Listen carefully; the Martians are coming this way. We must evacuate.” (Tube) • “Psycho Killer” (Mafia) • “The Revolution is everywhere” (Skazi) • “Hit and Run” (Skazi) • “Always on the Move” (B.N.E.) • I’m gonna send him to outer space to find another race” (Skazi) • “When you dream there are no rules” (Astral Projection) • “The time has come” (Cosma) • “Let me dive deep in your soul and I will take you on a long long trip” (Cosmic Tone) • “Stars are shining” (Hujaboy) • “I feel like I’m being watched...by Angels” (Hujaboy) • “I want a word with you; Outside Now!” (X-noize) • “Surrounded on three sides by military testing grounds and hidden from public view behind the blue mountain range” (Dynamic) • “Area 51” (Dynamic) • “Beautiful Dreams” (Alien Project) • “Give up all your possessions” (Black and White) • “And you have to come home to this...” (Black and White) • “We should not allow ourselves to be crammed into this rat maze” (Pixel) • “I’m concerned with the structure; I’m concerned with the systems of control, those that control my life...” (Pixel) • I want Freedom, that’s what I want (Pixel) • “Imagination can’t create anything new, can it? It only recycles bits and pieces from the world and reassembles them into visions (visions visions visions) (X-Noize) • “I believe that mapping the impulse capillaries in a single neuron can enable us to construct the makeup of a qualitatively different human” (Delirious) • “Silent Revolution” (Injection) • “Justice and Freedom” (Injection) • ““This should be played at high volume. Preferably in a residential neighborhood” (Skazi)

103 • “No single space program in this period was more important to mankind or for the long range exploration of space” (Xerox and Illumination) • “Out of Sequence” (Ultravoice) • “Can I tell you something; We’re dangerous” (Psychotic Micro vs Shift) • “Everything is inside; We trespass into a million places” (Silent Hill) • “Get out of the mainstream culture and pursue your own creative instincts, your own creative urges. (Ultravoice) • “Separate yourself from all the things that created you previously to create a new self on a higher plane on a higher vibration” (Gataka,) • “Instant grits? No regular” (Zodiac) • “There appears to be a system corruption” (Echotek) • “I believe that this night holds for each of us the very meaning of our lives” (Astral Projection) • “It is our destiny” (Astral Projection)

Found on T-Shirts

• DJ at Work • No Drugs • Bitch [inside a bull’s eye] • Fuck the System • Cool Me Down • Why Work • Stoned Again • Believe • Knowledge is King • Think Hard • Explorer • HELLRAISERS • Pay in your world, Party in ours • Suck This And See • Worldwide • FCK (All That’s Missing is U) • Why Aliens Visit Earth • Cannabis Fan Club • Danger! Man Digging a Hole for Himself • No Excuses • Life Begins at 200 Miles an Hour • Where Its At • Why Be Normal

104

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119 Walsh, Roger N. 1998 “New Views of Timeless Experiences: Contemporary Research on the Nature and Significance of Transpersonal Experiences.” The Heffter Review of Psychedelic Research, Vol.1: 62-64. _____. and Charles S. Grob, (eds.). 2005. Higher Wisdom: Eminent Elders Explore the Continuing Impact of Psychedelics. New York: State University of New York Press. Wang, Ning 1999 “Rethinking Authenticity in Tourism Experience.” Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 26 (2) 349-370. _____. 2000. Tourism and Modernity: A Sociological Analysis. Oxford: Elsevier Science Ltd. Weiss, Meira 1997 “War Bodies, Hedonist Bodies: Dialectics of the Collective and the Individual in Israeli Society.” American Ethnologist. 24 (4): 813-832. Wellman, Barry, ed. 1999 The Network Community, An Introduction. In Networks in the Global Village: Life in Contemporary Communities. Barry Wellman, ed. pp. 1-49. Boulder: Westview Press. Wilde, Oscar. 1961 (1894) The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People. San Francisco: Chandler Press. Williamson, Kathleen 2001 Propagating Abominable Knowledge: Zines on the Tekno Fringe. In Free NRG: Notes from the Edge of the Dance Floor. Graham St John, ed. pp. 37-56. Altona Victoria: Common Ground Publishing. Wilson, Bryan and Jamie Cresswell, eds. 1999 New Religious Movements: Challenge and Response. London: Routledge.

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Endnotes for Chapter I

1 A ‘connective’ is a term used to describe contemporary subcultural consortiums, late modern communities who maintain relationships both through physical and electronic means (Turkle, 1995). 2 Shetax implies an area free from settlement. 3“The Gaia hypothesis is a class of scientific models of the geo-biosphere in which life as a whole fosters and maintains suitable conditions for itself by helping to create an environment on Earth suitable for its continuity” (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language). A major proponent of the Gaian theory is James Lovelock whose book The Ages of Gaia: A Biography of our Living Earth (1988), takes as its premise that the earth is a living organism and draws from chemistry, biology, geology, paleontology, physics, and meteorology to illustrate how life has evolved not only from adapting to its surroundings but by remaking them into an immense self-sustaining organism. 4 For the sake of brevity, when citing online academic essays, I include the author’s name(s), year of writing and cite the source as an “electronic document.” The specific URL’s are in the bibliography. 5Transmodern denotes a progressive social paradigm associated with an emerging body of “cultural creatives,” who are attempting to forge “a new type of blending between ethics, politics, economics, meaning, feminine values, intuition, production and reproduction values” (Luyckx, 1997: online document). 6 Although Israeli New Edge psy-trance neotribes are notably heterogeneous, for the most part, they are comprised only from Jews and do not include Israeli Arabs. This is not to say that New Edge culture does not exist among Israeli Arabs (and given the proximity in which the Israeli Jews and Arabs live, it probably does) but rather the two societies generally do not intermix on a leisure level. A separate study of possible psychedelic neotribes among the Israeli Arab populations might yield informative, and possibly different, results. 7 It should be noted that the premise that pre-globalized societies were mostly traditional and homogenized is subject to ongoing debates; cf. Anderson, 1991; Bhabba, 1994; Gupta and Ferguson, 1997. Moreover, the extent of late-modern cultural diversity has also been questioned; cf. Jameson, 1991; Kellner, 1995. 8 For a broader discussion of the emergence and influence of global culture and the dissemination of neo-liberal capitalism upon the nation state see Featherstone’s 1990 edited volume “Global Culture: Nationalism, Globalization and Modernity.” 9 PEDMC is an acronym for the specific culture I am writing about. Throughout the essay I also use EDMC to denote electronic dance music culture in general. 10 Although some have connected with PEDMC in Israel, the majority of Transistim encounter this culture on trips abroad. 11 Psychonaut is a term used by New Edge culturalists for a psychedelic “voyager.” Akin to cosmonaut, psychonaut combines the “psycho” of psychedelic with the “naut” of astronaut. The concept refers to the people who use psychoactive drugs, such as LSD and Ecstasy, to initiate ‘journeys,’ known as ‘trips,’ of the mind and spirit (http://www.lycaeum.org/misc/ entheogen.shtml). 12 The pioneering DJ and ‘technoshaman’ Goa Gil, often refers to parties as “active meditation” (Davis, 2004; Klimmer, 2002). 13 DJed music implies prerecorded music ‘mixed’ together by one (or more) disc jockeys. 14 Rave music is music associated with “rave” parties which, in the late 1980’s/early 90’s, was the term given to both club and outdoor events playing electronic dance music. 15 “Acid” refers not to LSD-25, but to “acid loops,” a digital music making technique used for creating seamless loops of sound (Mizrach, 1997).The ‘house’ in “house music” takes its name from the “Warehouse” a Chicago night club that popularized this type of electronic dance music in the mid- eighties (Rietveld, 1998). 16 “Techno” parties evolved from earlier events which were held under the same circumstances but with different music. “At first, the music at the jungle parties and beach raves wasn’t acid house but Euro-beat, electro-pop and gay Hi-NRG...” (Reynolds, 1998: 175). Techno is a catch-all term which denotes electronic dance music in general and often implies an urban setting. In Israel, this term is

121 often interchanged with the “trance” and tends to indicate electronic dance music played in a rural environment. 17 “Post rave” EDMC is generally considered after 1995 and coincides with when the subculture I describe became more widely known and drew mainstream media attention, mutated into various popular forms of electronic dance music culture, some of which are overtly commodified (St. John, 2001). Also, post rave denotes a transformation in raver consciousness as detected in the shift from pre to post millenarian tendencies among Technomads (cf. St. John, 2004; Carrington and Wilson, 2004). See also, my discussion in chapter three of the ‘non-profit vs. commercial’ paradox and especially footnote number 8. 18 Erik Davis’ “Sampling Paradise: The Technofreak Legacy of Golden Goa” (1995), details how, in the former Portuguese colony of Goa, India, this dance music style developed. Ibiza, the holiday island off the coast of Spain, is considered the European counterpart of Goa and also played a role in igniting psychedelic EDMC across Europe. Simon Reynold’s Generation Ecstasy (1998) a detailed history from “inside the world of techno and rave culture,” relates how Europe’s electronic dance music culture was partly hatched on the now legendary vacation island. 19 Although these type of events were also taking place in Europe, the prototype of an outdoor trance party was and remains rooted in Goa. 20 Put straightforwardly, “post-Zionism simply describes the current period in Israel’s history” and, also in general terms, refers to the era following the initial fulfillment of the Zionist aspiration for Jewish statehood (Furstenberg, 1997: 1-2). For a wider discussion of the term see Cohen, 1995; Silberstein, 1999; Segev, 2001; Nimni, 2003. 21 This fact is debated since Israel also produces large amounts of highly respected psy-trance music. 22 I define “professional” as an activity which upholds certain standards and in so doing receives monetary compensation. 23 In Israel, English terms are used to denote most of the genres. I have placed a Hebrew translation in parentheses where the word is not directly translated from English to Hebrew. 24 Rather than ‘song,’ psy-trancers use the more technical term ‘track’ to refer to a single multilayered unit of music. Multi tracking refers to an electronic music making technique which involves a software application that allows for the inter-layering of different “sounds” such as loops, samples, riffs, melodies, recordings etc. into a finished single track. In many instances, these ‘sounds’ are digital imitations of organic instruments. 25A sampler is a computer (or computer program) that “converts sounds into numbers” (Reynolds, 1998: 41). Its “antinaturalistic” abilities allow artist’s to chop, treat, loop, recombine or otherwise reconfigure original sound sources into “samples” which are then grafted into existing music (ibid). Samplers are often used by ‘live’ DJ acts to play their hallmarked sounds over their mixes. Typically, artists ‘lift’ sample source material from popular media such as science fiction movies, old news reels, political speeches or television advertisements. 26 This idea developed from the theory of “biofeedback,” which, in broad terms, is the study of the relationship between various brain rhythms and states of mind. “The alpha frequency is in the band of seven to twelve cycles per second, which corresponds to the sixteenth note of most dance music tempo” (‘System 7,’ in Klimmer, 2002). 27A similar phenomenon is described in the bible where, relating the highest moment of God’s revelation at Mount Sinai, it is written “and all the people saw the sounds” (Exodus, 20:15; Thanks to Udi Lazar for pointing out this connection). 28 Since female psy-trance DJ’s are rare, I use the male voice to designate both genders. 29 Israeli presence is so strong in Goa that there is a beach there called “Tel-Aviv.” Another example of the high regard for Israelis within this subculture is the recent case of European financial backers who employed Israeli organizers to help them stage a four day festival in Turkey. 30 Several factors may have contributed to the successful rise of Transistims’ role as eminent drug dealers within the world of EDMC. First, and perhaps primary among them, a straightforward and good business opportunity. Moreover, many of the Israeli back-packers are recently discharged soldiers who still maintain the swashbuckling no-fear attitude so valued in their former military

122 environment (Maoz, 2004; Rosenthal, 2003). I’ve noted also, Jews in the Diaspora often form into tight-knit clusters. Such intimate relationships area ideal, if not necessary, for undertaking this kind of risky and sensitive commerce. At a recent party I attended in Italy, one such dealer, a young Yemenite/Israeli, was brazenly weighing out his product right on the dance floor! 31 The Israeli weekend lasts one day, Friday night – Saturday night; Sunday is a regular working day. This average is a yearly average and although more parties take place on warm summer nights than cold winter ones, psy-trance events take place throughout the year. 32 Due to the underground nature of these groups’ activities, no accurate figures exist. 33 These meals are such a deep seated cultural phenomenon that friends may even bring left-overs out to the shetax to pass along to the hard working production crews who, due to their efforts to set up the parties, missed out on these special family meals. 34 Even as Neo Pagan symbolism is somewhat absent from Israeli parties, Jewish Cabbalistic iconography, such as representations of the Sephirothic tree of life and ‘potent’ letters taken from the Hebrew alphabet, are often used to decorate parties outside of Israel. 35 Sensible drug use entails having prior knowledge of the effects of a certain stimulant before ingesting it, taking it in the company of others in case of problems, swallowing the substance on an empty stomach and supplementing the narcotic with plenty of fluids so as to minimize the possibility of dehydration. Additionally, prior frame of mind is key to a successful drug trip and thus, participants who are sensible about their substance use, don’t take drugs if they are feeling emotionally imbalanced. 36 Alcohol, although present, is not thought of as a New Edge party stimulant and public displays of unrestrained inebriation are frowned upon. 37 For a more in-depth discussion of the ‘moral panic’ surrounding Israeli psy-trance culture see Meadan, 2001. 38 As an example, mesibot are frequently referred to in the popular press as ‘mesibot acid,’ ‘acid parties.’ 39 For an illustration of how drug use at mesibot can be personally beneficial, see footnote 41. 40 Originally from Indian, chai is a sweet milk-based spice tea. 41 A distinction should be made between shorter parties and longer gatherings, that is, ones which take place for two nights or longer. At these type of events, participants have the time to wander into the wilderness surrounding the immediate party zone. There, away from other distractions, Transistim often enter into extensive, entheogenic induced, existential conversations which many report have meaningfully contributed to their lives by helping them confront personal ‘issues’ in a relatively stress-free innocuous environment. See also chapter two, footnote, 12. 42 DiY draws on “mutual aid and co-operation” along with a “commitment to the non-commodification of art” (St. John, 2001: 111; Williamson,2001:39). 43 This procedure includes acquiring permits from medical, fire, police and the parks authorities. 44 The Negev makes for an ideal place to throw trance parties: it comprises 66% of Israel’s land mass yet has a population of less than 12% of the country's total inhabitants (The Negev Foundation, 2006). 45 VJ’s are visual jockeys, graphic artists who accompany the music played at parties by projecting a multitude of synchronized shapes and images onto screens surrounding the dance floor. 46 A list-serve is an internet based discussion forum in which members communicate via email. Dancecult describes itself as “an interdisciplinary mailing list for graduate students, scholars, and other parties interested in the study and documentation of EDMC” (http://www.history- journals.de/lists/hjg-dis01481.html, 2005). 47 To arrive at an understanding of why Transistim share a ‘common structural outlook’ and how mesibot create a ‘unified experience,’ the essay employs inferences derived from fieldwork, scholarly perceptions regarding both PEDMC and contemporary cultural constructs as well as numerous explanations and insights gleaned from interviews with Transistim. Although I interviewed a wide cross section of Transistim, their answers and opinions generally overlapped and hence illustrated a fairly consistent image of PEDMC and its significance in their lives.

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Endnotes for Chapter II 48 I use pseudonyms for all interviewees except those who have requested or permitted use of their real names. 49 The phenomenon of ‘collective-individuality’ is not an exclusive PEDMC dichotomy and this interplay occurs in numerous rituals as well as in a variety of other contexts such as during prayers at a Hassidic Shtieble, or when one plays team sports or works for a software development firm. However, the following illustrations of this dichotomy (both below and in the following chapters), show why PEDMC’s rendering of this formula is unique. 50 Since psy-trance DJ’s can have trouble entering Israel, organizers may switch line-ups at the last minute. 51 As in a “tape deck” or “stereo cassette deck,” the players – CD or record - used to deejay psy-trance music are also referred to as ‘the decks.’ 52 Later, in the sections entitled “Liberating vs. Confining, Self vs. Other,” and “Progressive vs. Atavistic and Global vs. Local,” I draw a parallel between the trips Israeli backpackers take abroad and the ‘journeys’ – both mental and physical - Transistim undertake at home. 53 For a more in-depth comparison of Israeli psy-trance parties to pilgrimages see Leon, 2002. 54 In chapter three in the section entitled “PEDMC Paradoxes in Broader Context,” I illustrate how PEDMC may be understood as an ambivalent replica of mainstream society. Also, see below in the section entitled “Progressive vs. Atavistic, Global vs. Local.” 55 Even though many Transistim use drugs in a responsible manner, the results are far from predictable and even under the most trustworthy conditions things can go wrong. 56 It should be noted that the therapeutic qualities Transistim gain from their affiliation with psy-trance culture occur as a result of their regular, long term, association with PEDMC. Although a single mesiba may contain beneficial elements, PEDMC’s more permanent remedial attributes mainly emerge during the course of a long standing relationship. 57 The idea of being in the ‘right’ place with the ‘right’ people is also present in Transistims’ language may allude to their sense of sub-cultural style. In Chapter 3, in the sections “Inclusive vs. Exclusive” and “Insider vs. Outsider,” I address this matter and connect it to Transistims’ hierarchical conduct and elitist tendencies. 58 The fact that the majority of Transistim have been on backpacking trips abroad only serves to underline this dissonance and there seems to be a link between those trips and the journeys Transistim relive at mesibot. 59 I refer the reader back to footnote 41 in chapter one in which I speak of the constructive contributions long and deep conversations have made on Transistims’ regular lives. Many report that the nonchalant atmosphere at the mesibot relaxed them into a state wherein they were able to open up to fellow Transistim and have conversations so powerful that they experienced a kind of ‘re-birthing’ or ‘re-awakening’ vis-à-vis their understanding of themselves and their role in society. חוץ ,Interestingly, the word ‘abroad’ in Hebrew literally means ‘outside the land’ (xutz la-aretz 60 .(לארץ 61 I relate to this shift again in chapter three in the section entitled “Non-Profit vs. Commercial, Underground vs. Commodified, DiY (Grassroots) vs. Sponsored,” and suggest how it impacts upon Transistims’ general outlook. 62 I refer the reader back to chapter one to the section entitled “Mesiboat - Israeli PEDMC Gatherings,” for a discussion of how Neo-Pagan symbolism and New Age spirituality influences PEDMC sensibilities. 63 A party may be stopped early if the sound system has a technical failure, or if the police find out about it or if Bedouins, who live near the parties zones, show up demanding ‘protection’ money for the use of ‘their’ lands. 64 Since psychedelics are illegal they are not subject to a systematic form of quality control. Hence, it is often up to the user to determine, often through direct experimentation, the quality and effects of the drug they will consume.

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65 These polarities are also a further illustration of how PEDMC conduct is contrasted by individually- collective and collectively-individual behavior. 66‘Non-PEDMC affiliates’ imply people who might find themselves in a situation where psy-trance is played (for example at a wedding or other public celebrations) but do not necessarily consider themselves culturally/socially or idealistically connected to this subculture. 67 For a broader discussion on how this turn of events impacted upon Israeli PEDMC, see chapter Three, “Insider vs. Outsider.”

Endnotes for Chapter III

68 Psycho-active elements are items used at parties to enhance the psychedelic experience. 69 If they are responsible, the rubber gloved organizers’ cleanup includes filling plastic garbage bags with pieces of soiled toilet paper and other assorted refuse. 70 Transistims’ alternative modes of behavior and non-conventional social practices may stem both from knowledge ascertained from psychedelic experiences and/or from exchanges at parties with roving Technomads. 71 For a further discussion of the role violence plays in Israeli PEDMC, see chapter four and the analysis of the “associative word system suggesting violence and aggression,” pp.79. 72 A similar process of an idealistic underground music community fragmentizing into commercialism happened in the 1970’s with the demise of the punk movement. 73 Due to the large sums of cash and the high volume of narcotics generated at party settings, segments of the Israeli underworld, allegedly in collusion with the police and various party organizers have purportedly been involved with staging raves. 74 Entrance fees generally run from 50 (for less-known neotribes) to 70-80 NIS for the parties of more established crews. A multi-day trance festival pass can be as much as 350 NIS. 75 I do not suggest that mesibot are a direct response to local or global political turmoil, but that the post-9/11 geo-political radicalization influenced Transistim by puncturing their millenarian tendencies. 76 This pattern seems a repeat of the hippie generation’s conversion into yuppies and the privatization of the formerly socialistic communal kibbutz movement. 77 A take-off on Pierre Bourdieu’s “culture capital” (1973), subcultural capital denotes a certain “hipness” gained through age, experience and/or social advantages which lend a person a higher status within their subcultural community (Thornton, 1995:11). 78 A chillum is a tube like pipe, traditionally made from terracotta, used for smoking charas. 79 Charas is Indian finger hash and is the preferred substance to smoke in a chillum. 80 Although not as visible as chillum crews (whose action - smoking a chillum- involves a public (טיפות ,’display) this sort of formula is repeated with acid (LSD) crews who share their tipoat (‘drops of liquid LSD among them and, in doing so, assume a privileged position of having taken the purest drugs at the party. 81 It should be noted that this nearly obsessive collecting is done predominantly by males, a fact that serves to cause additional subgroups to surface (Mizrach, 1997; Pini, 2001; Reynolds, 1997). 82 The sheer volume of psy-trance sub-genres, for example Progressive, Techno, Dark and Full-On, further attests to Transistims’ fragmented or disunified mentality. (See also Chapter I, page 10). 83 This doesn’t suggest that all participants at mesibot are either idealistically or spiritually in tune with PEDMC’s PLUR principles. In fact, when questioned, many Transistim are often unaware of the exact meaning of the PLUR acronym. Yet, when questioned further, most appreciate and support the idea that parties aim to create a pluralistic atmosphere. Thus, the act of using a party for ‘partner hunting’ stands in contrast to this ideal and is therefore generally disfavored. The word .טראנסניקים– Transnikim ,אנשים יפים- AnashimYafim ,שמעונים - Shimonim ;ערסים- Arsim 84 Arse is an Arabic word which literally means ‘pimp’ and in Israeli slang to imply ‘a jerk.’ Shimon is a name stereotypically applied to identify lower-class Eidot Ha’mizrax, that is, Jews of North African or Middle Eastern descent. Anashim Yafim/Transnikim refers to a typical middle-class Transist.

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85 Actually, regardless of one’s ethnic background, a Transist can become an Ish Yafe simply by abiding to PEDMC social mores; in fact, my observations suggest that roughly 50% of Transistim are Ashkenazim and the other half are from the Eidot Hamizrax. 86 In a similar manner, Uri Ram points out how “in many cases, if not all, [in large retail shopping malls in Israel] store names appear in English” (2000: 225-6). Ram’s conclusion is parallel to mine with regard to mesibot as he suggests that these shopping malls “offer sterile zones, isolated from the humid and belligerent Middle Eastern environment. They create an illusion of being ‘here’ and feeling ‘there’ – as any proper globalist simulation should” (ibid). 87 “The suffix ‘-scape’ signifies transnational distributions of correlated elements whose display can be represented as landscapes. For example, transnational arrangements of technological, financial, media and political resources can be seen, respectively, as technoscapes, financescapes, mediascapes, and ideoscapes” (D’Andrea, 2004.) This idea was set forth by Appadurai in his study of the anthropology of globalization, Modernity at Large (1996). 88 The New Age movement refers not only to this social construct in its entirety, but also to the many sub-movements (e.g. Scientology, Kabala, Aquarianism, as well as Psy-Trance) which operate both independently and as part of this larger structure. .(לשבת ,שבת) In Hebrew, the word ‘to sit’ and the term ‘Sabbath’ are derived from the root 89

Endnotes for Chapter IV 90 For a list of these words, see Appendix 2. 91 From an article on EDM clubs in Tel-Aviv that appeared as part of a Passover holiday supplement on Israeli night-time activities. 92 A word play on the popular rave drug Ecstasy who main pharmacological ingredient is methylenedioxymethamphetamine or MDMA. 93 UV, as in ‘ultra-violet,’ is the name of an Israeli DJ, but might also be, if he is named Yuval, this person’s nickname. 94 DJ moniker chosen to honor “his favorite alcoholic beverage, Vodka” (Isratrance.com) 95 A TRIAC is an electronic component of a bi-directional electronic switch which is joined in inverse-parallel (paralleled but with the polarity reversed). 96 A mild hallucinogen. 97 A spliff is a Jamaican term for a (large) marijuana cigarette. 98 For more information on Dancecult, see Chapter 1, footnote 46. 99 In Tibetan Buddhist mythology, the Dakini embodies the spirit of female wrath. 100 Hebrew for ‘world-wide.’ 101 ‘Kick’ refers to the bass-kick beat found in electronic dance music which is generally the first part to be written in a new trance track. 102 Citing innovation as their raison d’être, the Aleph-Zero website claims “we're here to behold the colours of sound, we're here to trek in the strange topography of harmonies, to palpate the texture of beats” (http://www.aleph-zero.info/). 103 The Hindu term for liberation or release from the cycle of death and rebirth. 104 A reference to the dust that is kicked up on the dance floor by Transistims’ incessant dancing. 105 A remote tract of land in southern Nevada, owned by the federal government of the United States, and the supposed site of an alien crash landing on Earth. and implies the consequence of dancing over (לחפור ,Digging’ is a translation from Hebrew (laxfor‘ 106 a long period of time; the Transist digs a sort of hole in the space he is occupying on the (earthen) dance floor. 107 I refer the reader back to chapter one and the section entitled “Mesibot – Israeli PEDMC Gatherings,” where I point out that, although generally considered a subculture, somewhere between fifty to one hundred thousand Israelis are involved with EDMC on a weekly basis! 108 Named after the German mathematician and astronomer Möbius Augustus Ferdinand (1790–1868), the Möbius strip is a flat, rectangular strip with a half-twist and ends connected to form a continuous-

126 sided, single-edged loop. In his book, Models and Mirrors (1998), Israeli anthropologist Don Handelman analysis ritual and public events and relates this same metaphor to a larger context. 109 “Infected,” refers to Israel’s most commercially successful psy-trance DJ band, “Infected Mushroom.” As a result of their ‘success,’ Infected emigrated to Los Angeles and are now represented by Coast Entertainment, an international entertainment services company that maintains “relationships with elite artists, managers, talent buyers, venues, corporations, publicists, record labels, media, and other industry figures worldwide” (Coast Entertainment website). Their move has been widely discussed among Transistim who question whether, despite their fame and fortune, the duo can still be considered part of the PEDMC scene.

127 מחובר בפרודוקס: האתגר בלהיות טראנסיסט בישראל

תקציר

בעבודה זו אני מתמקד בהבטים המובהקים של "הניאו-שבטיות" בתרבות "הפסי-טראנס"

(Psy-trance) בישראל. משימתי העיקרית היא לבדוק איך, למרות שימוש מינימאלי של תקשורת

מילולית בתוך הקונטקסט התרבות המתואר, חברי הניאו-שבט מסוגלים להבין, להפנים ולהתנהג

לפי המוסכמות החברתיות והתנהגותיות של תת-תרבותם. במילים אחרות, העבודה קובעת

ומאמתת את התנהגותם של חברי הניאו-שבט הפסיכודלי הישראלי קודם על ידי ניתוח

ארח-חייהם ולאחר מכן על ידי ביסוס התנהגות זו באמצעות ניתוח השימוש הייחודי של שפתם.

העבודה מדגימה כיצד השפה המינימלית ששומשה באירועי פסי-טרנס מקרינה, תורמת ל-,

ובמידה מסוימת יוצרת את ההתנהגויות והמוסכמות התרבותיות של "טראנסיסטים"

(Transistim), הכינוי הנפוץ בקרב מעריצי הפסי-טראנס הישראלים.

ראשית, אני אתאר מספר מאפיינים עיקריים של מוסיקת פסי-טראנס וכן את תרבות ה"קצה

החדש" (New Edge) באופן כללי. אמשיך בדיון על הקו המרכזי הטיפוסי של הסקטור הישראלי

בתת-התרבות המתואר. לאחר מכן אדגים דפוס התנהגותי אשר מסמל את הטראנסיסטים שניתן

להראות אמפירית על ידי שימוש בשתי שיטות של ניתוח שפות: התפיסה סוסורינית ששפה הינה

מערכת של סמלים, והתיאוריה של "פונולוגיה כהתנהגות האדם" כשיטה לנתח את שפתם של

הטראנסיסטים (Tobin, 1990,1994,1997; Diver, 1975). הניתוח שלי מעמיד את המונחים

הקשורים לתרבות "הקצה החדש" הישראלית מול התנהגות שהבחנתי במשך עבודתי בשדה

כמשתתף\משקיף במסיבות פסי-טראנס ומראה איך אותן המילים מדגימות בדייקנות את

"ההתנהגות הקוגניטיבית ותפיסתית" של טראסיסטים (Tobin, 1997).

הפרק הראשון של העבודה דן בהתגלמויות החברתיות, התנהגותיות, והלשוניות של הניאו-

שבטים הפסיכודלים הישראליים. בפרק השני ההתנהגות של הטראנסיסטים מחולקת לשתי

קבוצות של צמדים דיכוטומיים וממחיש איך התנהגויות הקשורות לשניהם בעצם פרדוכסליות.

בנוסף, הפרק השלישי מסביר איך הסתירות נוגדות זו את זו ואפילו מראות רמה מסוימת של

צביעות. הפרק הרביעי בוחן את הסטירות הנ''ל על ידי הניתוח הכפול של התנהגותם ושפתם של הטראנסיסטים ומוסיף נדבח נוסף בחקר תופעה זו. לסיכום, השילוב בין הניתוח הבלשני והסקירה

ההתנהגותית מהווה תרומה למחקר התרבות.