Scalaradii you have misunderstood me. So have you Falvion. I will grant you both that your misunderstanding is... well... understandable. Let's call it an "undermistanding" shall we?
See the nexus dictionary : "Undermistanding = an understandable misunderstanding."
When i wrote " [black] artist and audience are one in group hysteria, not in spirit", i was NOT referring to race.
I apologise for my apparent ambiguity and i appreciate how the confusion arose. Here is my rationale for using the words i chose. Whether or not you agree with my rationale may be another topic altogether but i don't think so. That's why i used it in the context of my metaphysical description of modern music and it's metaphysical effects on ourselves... notwithstanding how much it is enjoyed.
It's obvious that both parts of my statement are at issue in your replies... ie. The meaning of "black" and, even more importantly once we've dealt with your 'undermistanding' of my use of the word "black", also my assertion that artist and audience are "one in group hysteria, not spirit."
But firstly, i was broadly referring to the "black arts" ... as in... anyone [of any race] who manipulates energy [consciously or unconsciously] to do harm. As you know i believe that most modern music is harmfull and i have explained why. I referred to the musician as an "artist" because that is what they are called today. I thought my use of the adjective "black" was usefull as a means of describing what kind of artist i am talking about at a metaphysical level.... NOT racial.
A "black magician" is a black artist because s/he practices the "black" arts not because they have black or white skin. The black arts refer to the use and manipulation of energy not to any particular race. The classic black magician manipulates others consciously through manipulating the flow and 'quality' [always negative] of energy. But i don't believe the designation :"black magician": belongs only to those who are conscious of the harm they do. The rock/pop/rap artist is no less a black artist [whether black or white skinned] than a self proclaimed "black magician" albeit [in most cases] the rock/pop/rap musician is an unwitting/unconscious one... at least while engaged in the deed.
Black magic does not often appear with horns on it's head and with red candles on a black altar. A sorcerer does not wear a tee shirt with the word "sorcerer" printed on it so that s/he can be neatly identified and put into our mental box. For example, what the Federal Reserve bankers and most of Wall Street are doing is flat out sorcery on a global scale... [that is if you fully understand the cause and effect of their activities.] But you won't identify them by a stamp ["sorcerer"] on their tie pins. It may not be very helpfull either to call them sorcerers for the purposes of an economic debate. But joeman raised the subject of music in the "spirituality and metaphysics" section so i believe a reference to the "black arts" in relation to modern music is not out of place. Particularly when i explained how and why such music is a harmful, forcefull manipulation of our vital energies. It is that explanation which, without trying to be off- handed about it, i suggested people could take or leave... Knowing as i do how much folks love their favourite artists.
The fact that voodoo and the associated voodoo rhythms arose out of a culture of black skinned people is irrelavent. The fact that close derivatives of voodoo rhythms appear in contemporary pop/rock forms [by black and white skinned groups] is no indictment of the african people. But it is a simple fact that the rock beat has it's genesis in voodoo rhythms. There is nothing wrong with that only if there is nothing wrong with the rock beat. I explained that i think there is. [ A couple of days ago i did a bit of editing of my posts to make myself clearer about the rock beat and it's effects.... not to mention what is layered on top of it.] Anyway, the fact that pop/ rock music has made it's way into christian and other religious worship is also no indictment of religious people either. My assertion is that none of it does them any good. Rather, it is doing harm and they do harm by playing with it. Culural practices are not virtuous by virtue of their antiquity, or by virtue of the color of people's skin, or, in the case of modern derivatives of voodoo rhythms, by virtue of the human sentiments expressed by particular classes of people either in the unfortunate role of victim/ downtrodden... or in the role of worshipped pop/ rock star. I am not making judgements about those things on their own level. Those things can be argued about forever.
I am describing the more important interaction between different kinds of music/rhythms and our psycho- spiritual nature insofar as it relates to the flow of energy at a metaphysical level. I am more interested in that deeper cause and effect relationship. Thatknowlege is power... or it can be. I suppose i could have anticipated that the term "black" could be misconstrued and that my post could be argued with at psycho- social, political, racial, anthropological levels. People can always raise defenses and justifications for one thing or another in support of historical social, racial, and political movemernts. Thats all valid but i wasn't going there with this except to state a basic fact regarding the origin of the modern rock beat.
But just generally, without fear or favour some things are clear to me... They are things which i think should cause us to question ALL our own sacred cultural cows... including modern music.
For example, i think it went without saying in my last posts, given what i did say, that what passes for 'spiritual' in all the arts, including music and all the various cultural practices worldwide is not necessarilly so spiritual. Just because people use certain music/ rhythmic styles in particular rituals and dress in ritualistic fashion and perform certain cultural religious ceremonies does not mean the ritual or the dress or the music or even the experience they evoke is spiritual. This is the case whether we are observing/participating in an ayahuasca ceremony, a catholic mass with all it's regalia, a tribal chest slashing ceremony, a christian rock worship ceremony, a foreskin removal at a bar mitzfah, or a rock concert where everyone has a candle.
If it really was an unfailing indication of true spiritual in- joy- ment we would just need to take the right drugs and perform the right rituals, wear the right headress and be exposed to the right artists and sounds to realise our spiritual nature. Just because people are sincere in their beliefs, no matter how long standing and culturally ingrained, that doesn't make them truly spiritual. The exotic cultural/religious forms of different cultures are quite irrelavent in determining their essential spirituality or rather, their usefullness in realising spiritual consciousness. I would say they are quite often a hinderance to self- realisation. The person over your back fence may be more spiritual than the rest of them put together and he may even work at Walmart. He also may not be.
I am not saying that any one cultural practice defines a person but i am pointing out one [modern pop/ rap/ rock] that has it's negative effects. If the socio- cultural considerations and personal attraction to modern music are more important to some people than the metaphysical then go right ahead.