“The Emperor: Songs for the Arch-Preposterous”
Joshua Tree, CA
February 28th – March 6th, 2016
Maja D’Aoust, Diva, Asher Hartman, Grace Kredell, Matthewdavid’s Mindflight, Saewon Oh, Eliza Swann
“Divine sound is the cause of all manifestation. The knower of the mystery of sound knows the mystery of the whole universe.” ― Hazrat Inayat Khan
For our fifth artist-in-residence session we will be working with the Emperor archetype where we are introduced to concepts of authority, rulership, and power. In our current capitalistic, patriarchal, plutocratic, militarized, and corporatist society our relationship to power has become wounded and dysfunctional. Starhawk, in her book Truth or Dare, distinguishes three types of power: “power-over,” referring to domination and control; “power-from-within,” meaning personal ability and spiritual integrity; and “power-with,” pertaining to social power or influence among equals. Through the combined practices of meditation, alchemy, and art we will learn to offer ourselves power and transcendence in a society that does not readily give its visionaries agency or place.
We will be living communally in a house in the desert for a one week session that consists of a series of sound centered art exercises, alchemical breath work, tarot instruction, plant communication, psychometry exercises, and lectures offered by visiting artists. All Golden Dome gatherings seek to provide our community with expansive methodologies for reconciling our selves and our work to each other and our world. The chanting performed over the course of “The Emperor” session will be recorded, remixed, and distributed on tape and digitally through the Golden Dome publishing imprint in late Spring. Please see the syllabus for detailed information on faculty and course offerings, and please review our archive and blog for a sense of what the Golden Dome experience embodies.
