Current psychedelic culture

agreed plant head. most of the 'heads' that i meet at shows seem to just be portraying the hip lifestyle. theyre more about being hip at shows and partying and such than peace, love and understanding.

it's been particularly bad around here in the southeast lately, with a massive wave of raves that has blown through (which is now, thankfully, for the most part, over -- but not without a lasting effect on the collective mind.) sigh...

 

I take it youre not a fan of raves desos?

 

well they are fun, but after this year, i'm a little raved out. music has a spirit, and i'm just not so sure that the spirit of some techno these days is really that productive to maintaining a spirit of peace and unity -- more like self-indulgence.

granted, i can't be too overcritical. there are some good things that come about as a result of raves.

also just frustrated because raves & dubstep are taking over my music scene.

 

I think drugs needs to be about having fun not jacking prices up to make money. I love just finding random people and getting them fucked up just for the hell of it and hanging out with someone new I can do this because dxm is like 3$ a dose lol

 

I would so go to raves if I could find some around my area. I got see much live music and enjoy that sense of a good time with my friends, and that's how I've come to my own opinion about the young hippie scene these days. I can't say that everyone is just a shallow asshole, or excessively proud and overly tiedyed hemped out but I have certainly witnessed and have been subjected to rather rude, inconsiderate, and not so peaceful behavior at these gatherings. But hell, this type at gatherings have been around since the 60s I'm sure. There are a few reasons why I chose not to follow the hippie style.

 

Yah I agree dubstep is a very ego driven form of rave music. I find psy trance and house mainly to provide some nights where it seemed everyone was dancing 5 feet off the ground and in tune.

 

this has little to do with the original topic - more to do with the conversation that followed.

plant head, i guess i kinda agree with what you said about the "hippie culture" at least around new york state. i've been to a couple awesome festivals lately, but there ARE a lot of douches there. people that seem to be exclusively there to sell drugs and make money. i've met a couple cool people at them, but for the most part...it's a bunch of weirdos. to be completely judgmental about it. i also feel like there are a lot of people that dress up for concerts or festivals. literally and in the way they act. i see these people and think "they can't possibly be like this everyday, are they?!"
when i go to a festival, i just wear my regular, comfortable, boring clothes.


also spawned from your guys' conversation, i for one, definitely put psychedelics on a pedestal. the ONLY drugs i use are psychedelics and marijuana. well alcohol too, but i very rarely get drunk. i've tried a few opiates and stimulants in the past, but i've never enjoyed them very much. psychedelics....are special.

 

This is much akin to what weed grows to be for many people. At first, I'd smoke to have an experience, but with more use I smoke to enjoy it. The sanctity seems to have lessened, but I still appreciate the values and lessons I have learned from weed/weed culture.

weed + psychs aren't necessarily a SELF-ish drug. I think that's why they are so much better than anything else. They tend to make you think of others rather than yourself

 

I hate the "cult" mentality. I have met alot of people in the psychedelic culture who just want to force beleifs and have everyone think the way they do. It makes me SO uncomfortable, kills the vibes, and it just dont work on me. Like, you cant mind fuck me dude, stop trying so hard please.

 

Some dubstep is more than just dubstep and adds more creative aspect. But god damn is straight dubstep annoying or what?

Agreed Prone, it is also bothersome to me that people take the hippie values to mean everyone thinking the same thing, and being controlled by one main idea. I always thought the understanding meant accepting others beliefs and lifestyles and trying to see through them no matter how taboo and different from your own they might be. Is this not what the Rainbow family is supposed to be about but isn't because everyone is just part of the same very mono culture.

 

Porkstock, I'm glad there is a very active music hippie and festival scene around western NY and all of NY for that matter, but I guess as you've found out, it's filled with those people that dress up specifically for the event, attention whores, highschool/college partiers, drunks. I mean I don't mind it that much, if I did I myself wouldn't be a part of it like I am...but I have found myself bothered a lot by the kids who wear a lot of tie dye and hemp, and seem very cocky.

Since I'm sort of responsible for derailing the thread I'd like to put in, that the hippie/festival culture I speak of is not the psychedelic culture in whole. There is a whole culture much wider than the festival jam culture that uses psychedelics, and that itself has much to offer. And in these current time, society as a whole are faced with new trends, conflicts, social issues and I think the best way to experience the psychedelic culture's integration with such is right here through Hip forums, a place where many different minds can share thoughts and ideas.

 

this is why I stopped raving

that and all there is in the bay area is dubstep and electro house - both of which I have absolutely no interest in. I miss the east coast hardcore/hhc scene :/

 

What happened to the psytrance scene in the bay area? 2 years ago it was banging

Edit: Somehow I'm not surprised you like happy hardcore, I went to a dubstep/ hardcore event like a month ago down in socal.

 

Idk I just moved here a year ago and haven't really tried to look too much. Went to one party that had nrg, went to some dubstep thing a friend was playing at in sac and then went to another dubstep thing in berkeley and got kicked out for being barefoot right after the party had started and my friends and I had already dosed shrooms.

I don't belong inside buildings so I'm not really seeking out any activities that require I go into one

 

Check out the pics in my profile album "intoxicated" lol

 

i agree, i should have clarified that i don't think the two groups have to be mutually exclusive..its entirely possible to go out one weekend and trip at a show just because you want the sounds and the lights enhanced, and then the next weekend trip somewhere quieter, or not, with the intention of going on a deep spiritual journey. And of course, sometimes you can show up with just the intention of joining the party and end up going on a voyage you never even envisioned. The two different approaches to psychedelics can intertwine together to create the modern psychedelic culture.

I realized I was burned out on the whole jam band hippie scene when I went to a bob weir and ratdog show. my friend and i invited a couple of people we had met during the show to come sit in my car and smoke. they ended up stealing my friends purse, her camera, and a couple posters we bought right from under our nose. peace love unity and respect that scene is not. there are a lot of people still in the scene that are genuine about it, but there are also a lot of snotty ass trustafarians, and i dont want anything to do with those people. Plus it seems like a lot of people that go to those shows try so hard to fit in with the scene when it should be about creating an environment where people feel free to come exactly as they are without fear of judgement.

 

Thank you, you expressed my opinion better than I could.

 

so we're being corrupted on the very ground which we call our own, and at the end of the day there isn't any other choice but to return to our mainstream lifestyles.

which is why i am such a massive advocate of communal lifestyles & creating economically efficient alternative lifestyles.

 

Melai: Ive never really been into the jamband scene, In fact the only group I really care to see is string cheese incident. Ive heard a few people mention trustfarians before in a negative light, I was unaware of these people until earlier this year at shpongle I saw some seemingly party oriented dreaded hippie folk.

I dont mind dreads but a few of them exuded an attitude that reminded me I was at a bar.

 

SCI is massive, but come on you can't like SCI and say you don't like jambands.