very well… i shall indulge us both and post it here too!
Rites of passage and rites of intensification are an important part of many religious traditions, but these same rituals also exist in secular (non-religious) traditions. What are some examples of these rituals in our US culture or in your own community? How do these rituals bring people together?
In one of my first posts I mentioned being part of the raver subculture, so I wanted to talk about a ritual in the rave community. One of the most well-known kinds of ravers are candy kids (or kandi kids), known for our multicolored outfits and layers of bright beaded jewelry called kandi. Its overall significance is a combination of a friendship bracelet and party souvenir. Kandi is made to be given to others, not bought or sold, so kandi trading is integral to the identity. A sense of seniority or prestige is earned by those who have a lot of kandi—much like the Trobriand men and their yam houses—as it means this person has been well-liked or experienced enough to have retained a large amount of kandi. Reflexively, it implies that the wearer has also created and traded away an equivalent amount of kandi, adding to their status and experience.
While I won’t belabor the details of crafting kandi, one can ascertain that such personalized, storied objects can be sacred, and I personally do feel my kandi is of strong spiritual significance. I have known people to be buried with their kandi or had it dispersed to their loved ones upon their death as heirlooms. Some of my pieces are from ravers I knew who have since passed away, and it helps me remember them by having a physical object with me that their hands have touched and imbued with love. In a way, when I wear their kandi it is a mini “ma'nene, in a different way” (BBC 8:25-8:28), as I feel they are dancing with me.
Over time, kandi trading has been accompanied by a specific ritual evoking the raver mantra of “PLUR”: Peace, Love, Unity, Respect. The ritual is conducted as follows:
Both participants hold up two fingers in a peace sign, then touch fingers.
They then fold their fingers to form either side of a heart, then press hands together to complete the heart, representing love.
They clasp their hands together, interlocking their fingers for unity.
With hands still joined together, the piece of kandi is brought across the bridged arms to the recipient as a sign of respect, and the trade is complete. The exchange may end with a hug, but this is not mandatory.
[I inserted the diagram of a kandi trade by @akrnwkql here]
PLUR is very important to the rave community, as much of the beginning of the rave scene around the world was marked by strife and violence. Raving has its origins in several different cultures and music scenes of marginalized people, particularly the black, gay, and low-income communities. When many people from different social strata got together in an unstructured environment like a rave, it was up to the community to manage itself. Originally “Peace Love Ecstasy”, PLUR was a way of ensuring that people got to express and be themselves without encroaching on the ways others wished to. People from different walks of life had to confront their biases and build understanding for the parties to continue. It is believed that “real” ravers live by PLUR, and by attending raves they participate in the collective effervescence of different kinds of people all coming together for the same reason: a love of the music.
Those who come as cultural voyeurs will not experience the “magnified emotional impact” and “sense of awe and wonder” (Brown et al., 290) as those who have a genuine love for the scene and music. Therefore, kandi is a symbol of that connection, and represents a memory of a moment that you shared with someone who loves what you love, “celebrating that we are alive, together, here and now” (Buzzmasta, 2:19-2:26). Although it is non-religious, raving can be a very spiritual experience for many people, and as an underground scene its community relies on and thrives in these cherished connections.
Brown, Nina, Thomas Forsyth McIlwraith, et al. Perspectives. American Anthropological Association, 2020.
“Living with the Dead in Indonesia - BBC News.” YouTube, uploaded by BBC News, 20 Apr. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=knBnQUsj2xo. [death tw. video shows dead bodies used in religious ceremony]
magujabi/akrnwkql. Diagram of a kandi trade. Tumblr, 20 June 2017, https://akrnwkql.tumblr.com/post/162044971270.
Buzzmasta. “Shoreline (Orbit1 remix).” Full Circle Recordings Vol. 2, Big Kisses & Darkness. Electronica Exposed [EECD033], 2008. CD.
[part of this i borrowed from my previous posts about kandi and the rave scene on tumblr, particularly the shoreline sample because it’s just perfect]
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