Raves pride themselves on their friendly atmosphere and welcoming attitude, by both the employees of the event and the guests. With a specific code of conduct, and a developing spiritual philosophy, rave culture can be viewed as part of new religious movement, as well as a re-invention of shamanistic or pagan spiritual practices.
~St. John
Ravers and raving have appeared as a youth subculture th
at associate electronic music, and personalized dance, with a disengagement and disassociation with mainstream society. Despite this neo-conservative perspective, the act of raving holds a more spiritual element where in it serves as a space where participants can use the combination of sensory stimuli and the removal of physical and interpretive surfaces as a platform for self-improvement and spiritual healing. Dance ritual has been employed by various indigenous cultures, such as the Numic peoples of the Great Basin, as a temporal and spatial escape. Here an individual would attempt through rhythmic dancing and chanting to disconnect from their plane of existence and create a connection with the metaphysical entities that govern their belief system. In order to achieve these instances of supernatural experience, the rituals were organized on the basis of 4 basic principals: location, music, lighting (in regards to time of day and the use of a fire), and finally dance.
~wiki
