Improvised Exploration Through the Realms of Shamanic Chaos Magick, Insight Meditation and Gender Performance
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Edith Cowan University Research Online Theses: Doctorates and Masters Theses 6-1-2019 Giving voice to the extra-normal self with the extra-normal voice: Improvised exploration through the realms of shamanic chaos magick, insight meditation and gender performance Sage Harlow Edith Cowan University Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses Part of the Performance Studies Commons Recommended Citation Harlow, S. (2019). Giving voice to the extra-normal self with the extra-normal voice: Improvised exploration through the realms of shamanic chaos magick, insight meditation and gender performance. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2210 This Thesis is posted at Research Online. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2210 Giving voice to the extra-normal self with the extra-normal voice: Improvised exploration through the realms of shamanic chaos magick, insight meditation and gender performance. Sage Jane Harlow This exegesis is submitted in partial completion of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy at the Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts, Edith Cowan University Submitted 17th December 2018 an autohagiography Abstract This thesis documents practice-led research exploring the intersections of, and tensions between, improvised invocation ritual within a chaos magick paradigm and Buddhist insight meditation. I explore the extra-normal self—those aspects of consciousness not usually present, or not usually accessible, in day-to-day life—by mean of improvised ritual work with the extra-normal voice and seek to maintain a Buddhist ‘witness’ consciousness throughout these explorations. I also explore the tensions between politics, aesthetics and spiritual practice; in particular, queer and trans politics, a timbre-centred vocal aesthetics and chaos magick, shamanic and Buddhist spiritual practices. This work constitutes part of a larger project of attempting to secularise and democratise spiritual practice greatly influenced by Sam Harris’ book Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion (2014) and to some extent from chaos magick, some iterations of which strive to ‘free’ the western esoteric tradition from its religious trappings. I also take cues from Hakim Bey (1985) as one of the few anarchist writers who sees spiritual practice as profoundly important and not at odds with anarchism. I make use of a ‘radical agnosticism’ (Wilson, 1977) in my practice, privileging subjective experience and critical engagement over the search for an objective truth. I take an autoethnographic approach to this project with a focus on process rather than outcome, with the final project consisting of a description of these approaches and their value (and limitations), accompanied by selected musical examples (recordings). The thesis also explores a practice that functions as a navigation away from the normative, phallogocentric western esoteric tradition taking cues from feminism, trans and queer politics as well as anarchism. My improvised possession rituals seek to give voice to aspects of the extra-normal self and/or spirits or demons. The different Belief Systems used in this work frame these experiences in different language. My practice strives to accept ‘whatever arises’ (a meditation term) with compassion—whatever their ontological status. ® i ¬ The main text of this thesis consists of three sections: Improvising Theory, Workings and Scores. The first section presents some of my thinking through concepts and theoretical paradigms that I have engaged with over the last few years of my research. I explore the illusion of free will, the intersection of gender and timbre theory and the use of the cut-up technique in chaos magick generally and my practice specifically. The second section of the thesis presents in-depth discussion of some of the explicit ritual performances and recordings that I have explored over the course of the research. This section explore more fully concepts central to my practice such as the interweaving of insight meditation and improvised ritual work. I present reflections on my explorations of dada ‘anti-magick’ ritual which critiques the normative, phallogocentric western esoteric tradition, taking cues from feminism, trans and queer politics as well as anarchisms. This culminates in an exploration of the concept of ‘True Shamanic Black Metal’—a tongue-in-cheek gesture towards a serious exploration of rhythm inspired by my understanding of shamanic drumming, particularly from Tuva, Mongolia and Korea, merged with an interest in extreme metal traditions, particularly black metal. I explore what shamanic black metal might sound like, centring the discussion around the album I recorded in 2017 invocations of unknown entities. The third section of this thesis presents thoughts on playing scores and on writing scores. I explore scores as open invitations to explore either extra-normal states of consciousness or particular aesthetic or ethical interests. ® ii ¬ Declaration I certify that this thesis does not, to the best of my knowledge and belief: i. incorporate without acknowledgment any material previously submitted for a degree or diploma in any institution of higher education; ii. contain any material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text of this thesis; or iii. contain any defamatory material; Sage J Harlow ® iii ¬ Acknowledgements I recognise the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants of the land now known as Australia. I pay my respects to the traditional custodians of the lands on which I conducted this research, the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation and the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin alliance and to their elders—past, present and emerging. Thanks to Jonathan W Marshall and Frances Barbe for excellent supervision on this project. Thanks also to Professor Cat Hope who supervised the first year and for her enthusiasm for the project. I received an Australian Postgraduate Award that funded this project; thanks to the Australian Government for paying me to make funny noises, get possessed by spirits and write about it. Fnord. I would also like to thank Josten Myburgh and Dan O’Connor for conversations, collaborations and inspirations and their work on my album; to all of Tone List for their support. Thanks to Shoshana Rosenberg for constructive criticism, solidarity and comradery in exploring the Temporary Autonomous Zions. Thanks also to the following folks: Mike Caratti, Jameson Feakes, B Gosper, Djuna Lee, Annika Moses, Ben Stacy, Vanessa Stasiw and the Perth Drone Orchestra for their explorations of scores included in this thesis; Nat Grant for suggesting I replace a drum kit I did not like the sound of (and therefore did not play); Filth Goddess, Laura Strøbech and Hi. Okay, Sorry., for helping launch my album and saying yes to no clapping. I would like to thank Bethan White for sharing her home with me; Annalee Koernig and Sean Baxter for welcoming me into their home and the Melbourne music scene. Huge thanks to everyone in the Perth exploratory music community for inspiration, friendship, skill-sharing and music(k). Thanks also to my family for their support. ® iv ¬ Respect and profound gratitude also to: Baphomet, “Bob”, Choronzon, Eris, Gautama, Kali, Kuan Yin, Oz, the Spirit of Plastic, the Great Serpent, Tara, Unknown Entity, Washing Machine and all the Black Gods of the White Goods. ® v ¬ Contents Abstract i Declaration iii Acknowledgments iv Contents vi Introduction 1 IMPROVISING THEORY: Ingressive singing, antinomianism and the left-hand path 20 The illusion of free will and its implications for improvisation and invocation 27 Gender and timbre 40 Dolorous Interlude: Gender as timbre 59 Cutting up the selves / cutting through the self 60 Dolorous Interlude: Quantum probability identity 73 WORKINGS: ‘The Residence Workings’ 75 ‘invocation of unknown entity’ (a foreshadowing) 100 ‘invocations of unknown entities’: True Shamanic Black Metal 106 Inverse circular breathing: Some technical geekery 134 Dolorous Interlude: i don’t know who this is but welcome 139 SCORES: Playing other people’s scores 142 Dolorous Interlude: The handedness of musicks 160 Some scores and some notes on those scores 161 MISCELLANY: POETRIFICATIONS ‘drones ongs’ and other weird titles 235 Dolorous Interludes 238 Dolorous Interlude: Being verbs 239 Conclusion 243 ® vi ¬ APPENDICES inFrequently Asked Questions (iFAQ) from website SagePbbbt.com 248 Photographs of box-set version of ‘invocations of unknown entities’ 251 Two-pages of text included with the box-set of ‘invocations of unknown 252 Bibliography 254 ® vii ¬ Introduction This thesis presents aspects of my autoethnographic research from 2016-2018. It constitutes part of a larger, ongoing and open-ended exploration of voice, meditation and ritual practice. The research presented here explores the intersections of, and the tension between, Buddhist insight meditation and shamanic chaos magick ritual work within the medium of free improvisation with extra-normal vocal technique. I use improvisation in ritual work as a means of exploring extra-normal aspects of myself, and ‘giving voice’ to them. I approach ritual work with a mindset influenced by the practice of insight meditation, with the intent of accepting, without judgment, whatever might arise, as the subjective truth of the moment. This work attempts to secularise and democratise spiritual practice influenced greatly by Sam Harris’ book Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion