• 882 replies
    marye
    Joined:
    In one of the other topics, one of the folks seemed not to be so sure of the reception he'd get for saying he was a youth minister at his church. In my experience, Deadheads span the full spectrum from Agnostic to Zoroastrian. I've met atheist Deadheads, Muslim Deadheads, Buddhist Deadheads, Catholic Deadheads, Jewish Deadheads, and Wiccan Deadheads. My Deadhead friends are all over the map on this stuff, and as far as I'm concerned one of the real richnesses of the scene is the ability to see how things look to other folks and, sometimes, experience it from their world. Believe it if you need it, if you don't, just pass it on. But talk about it here, and please maintain a safe respectful place to do so.

Comments

sort by
Recent
Reset
  • sugarcreek
    Joined:
    when reason ends faith
    when reason ends faith begins! when faith ends, reason ends! it's like a wind dat catches ur breath wen samtings wrong!!! faith arises wen love reigns!!! itz a puzzle hidden behind d buckle bars who simply undefined perceptive power... its a faith called the magnification life brings wen things go wrong...am jaz a woman, idealistic but id rader be on my own rader dan c tings go not my way! if fixing problems is so sucked, i cud definitely go blind... wat f ders destiny, wat f ders hope! id rader be myself beating hardly drawn dan put tings lie on alone....
  • Pohed
    Default Avatar
    Joined:
    Spirituality
    I'm still convinced that "Jerry is God" and "God is Sound". Seriously, I get my meditation time in while listening to Jerry and to the Dead. I always feel that hit from the divine spirit when I tune in. Thanks, guys!
  • marye
    Joined:
    VERY well said!
    "It concerns me when people disregard the teachings of Jesus and other prophets to be true to their own connection to God in order to follow the rules that MEN made up as a means of control hundreds of years ago."
  • stuman
    Default Avatar
    Joined:
    Grateful Dead experience
    wow mtfreak ,, defanatley food for thought..going to shows was like a (religous) experience for me also .. " just a box of rain beleive it if you need it if you don`t just pass it on "
  • mtfreak
    Default Avatar
    Joined:
    The Grateful Dead experience IS spiritual, it is LIVING ritual!!
    Wow! I don't think I expected to see these kinds of posts here! I thought it was obvious that the Grateful Dead experience (at it's best) WAS church!!! I thought most people knew that they were singing folk songs to their "people", describing our reality, validating our experience, giving us hope to go on, providing inspiration and connection, ritual and symbol, JUST LIKE CHURCH - except FULL OF LIFE, NOT EMPTY RITUAL!!! For me, after being exposed to everything from fundemental Christianity (my dad's side) to Budhism, American Indian, TM (I even met the Maharishi!), est., and Wicca (my mom's influence), I started to see how all these beliefs really just emphasize different points of the same truth. I started to see how, once you combined their teachings, threw out the political bias that men wrote in, and focused on the similarities, one truth started to emerge... the path to spiritual awakening, the connection to the higher force that created you and all life, is found by living a fully authentic and passionate life. You can only find your individual path to connecting with the creative force by going within, NOT looking to some middle man for answers. Later, I discovered that Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell described this path as the process of individuation. Campbell even hung out with members of the Dead and confirmed that the shows were spiritual in nature, full of "living ritual". For me, the members of the Grateful Dead, through their support staff, acted as a conduit of energy (at the best points). They seemed to channel something greater through their ability to let go and let the music control them. When we, as the audience, joined that energy through dance or some other form, we amplified it and sent it back. In this way, an energy loop was created that lifted us ALL up (even those that didn't know what was going on). But for many of us... this process was CONSCIOUS!!! When I was able to pariticipate in this experience, this transformation and projection of energy, there was NO DOUBT in my soul that it was a spiritual experience. I think too many people get tied up in the religions of old. They forget that these religions were created not just to provide spiritual connection, but also to reflect and support the social and political motives of the people that controlled them. It concerns me when people disregard the teachings of Jesus and other prophets to be true to their own connection to God in order to follow the rules that MEN made up as a means of control hundreds of years ago. "live a life you love, use a God you trust, and don't take it all too seriously..."
  • GRTUD
    Joined:
    Free Bird!
    How'd a person get a name like Hunter, anyway? No doubt there is a God, is all I can say. Well, besides, "Thank You"... "You know what the trouble about real life is? There's no danger music."
  • marye
    Joined:
    one of my favorite things, from Robert Hunter
    Curvature
  • marye
    Joined:
    I think it's lost...
    because I don't have it in any of the moderation queues.
  • TigerLilly
    Joined:
    lost
    had posted a question here, but seems to have gotten lost. As don't feel like retyping it, will wait and see whether turns up********************************** Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you will still exist, but you have ceased to live. Samuel Clemens
  • c_c
    Joined:
    glad
    glad you liked it Mom, for other Who fans, the name of the album is Endless Wire. more info to follow in a private message. peace.
user picture

Member for

16 years 11 months
Forums
In one of the other topics, one of the folks seemed not to be so sure of the reception he'd get for saying he was a youth minister at his church. In my experience, Deadheads span the full spectrum from Agnostic to Zoroastrian. I've met atheist Deadheads, Muslim Deadheads, Buddhist Deadheads, Catholic Deadheads, Jewish Deadheads, and Wiccan Deadheads. My Deadhead friends are all over the map on this stuff, and as far as I'm concerned one of the real richnesses of the scene is the ability to see how things look to other folks and, sometimes, experience it from their world. Believe it if you need it, if you don't, just pass it on. But talk about it here, and please maintain a safe respectful place to do so.
user picture

Member for

13 years 2 months
Permalink

Hey, great name there brother-sister.I hope that one of the enduring legacies of Fare Thee Well is that no one has to treat being a Deadhead as a contradiction to any other aspect of their life. When more non-Heads realize how many Head have been living in their midst all these years, they might start to recognize the common traits in them.
user picture

Member for

13 years 2 months
Permalink

The blue moon this weekend makes me look back.: 5 young adults in my extended family went to FTW there with their Deadhead parents (not exactly dragged there). Each came away ready to confess: There is NOTHING like a Grateful Dead concert. The full sensory immersion, plus the overflowing love, peace and harmony shown by everyone there, did much more than would any amount of listening to recordings. But full credit to the band, to continue to experiment and innovate, to improvise new music in front of a massive crowd which did have its skeptics. Morgan40, I read the article you link below. There is unquestionably a message of hope and redemption running through the Dead music, but it would be too much to say that it is only draws on Biblical influences (which I know you did not). In the same way, I would not want anyone to think that my avatar implies I see a unique link between my faith and Dead-ism. That’s not any more true of my stealie than someone who inserts their favorite team logo on the Face.
user picture

Member for

8 years 11 months
Permalink

what`s your religion. Music takes your spirit and gives you wings so you can soar upt to heaven if you want to.I`m very grateful to the spirits that my baby-grandson , born July 31 - two days ago - is healthy and so beautiful........
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

8 years 9 months
Permalink

amen, amen. Thanks for your note, Graceful Dead. I feel very blessed by the Fare Thee Well event. I was fortunate enough to fly into the states and attend the last night. It was a bit sad to say good-bye, but really i feel like the music means as much to us now, and can lead us to shine our love lights into the future. Know our love will not fade away. Hey, btw... did you happen to see the following article??? http://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionnow/2015/07/once-in-a-while-you-ge… Peace be with you and yours, a sister down under
user picture

Member for

16 years 6 months
Permalink

Turn around and I'll be there like a road leading home.We are everywhere⚡️
user picture

Member for

16 years 6 months
Permalink

Heard Phil yell that after Box of Rain encore 12-18-93 Oakland col. Great show!!
user picture

Member for

15 years 6 months
Permalink

I'm In Adelaide. I was lucky enough to see both Santa Clara shows. It was bittersweet saying goodbye to the guys as a group, but we can't say goodbye to the Music. What they started 50 years ago is still evolving, and will continue to as the legitimate genre it has become. Thanks, Guys! See you at Bluesfest, loveandpeace (Sat Tedesci Trucks, Lucas Nelson and Promise of the Real, and Joe Bonnamassa)
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

8 years 9 months
Permalink

I'm in Melbourne. We're an American family with three children, who came here four years ago. I was blessed to attend the last night in Chicago... my original hometown. It was a beautiful night, spent with folks from tour 20+ years ago. I have to admit that i felt both inspired and sad after the shows. The spirit of the shows lingered for weeks and i was completely blown away by how the music and the vibe of a show was just as relevant and important for me now, as it was back then. In fact, it felt like it had just been too, too long. We need that music, and i think you are right... it's so important, that it will evolve and stay alive. anyways... i'll have the check out bluesfest. Any music suggestions are welcome, as i haven't got a clue down here. Peace be with you and yours, jennifer
user picture

Member for

13 years 2 months
Permalink

Three observations about the infectious lilt that is the pace of Grateful Dead music (and that gives Deadheads their characteristic walk while listening to Jehovah's favorite choir). John Mayer said that the pace of Dead music made him notice how different it was from "everything ..processed and quantized and gridded out – to hear 'Tennessee Jed' played with that lope.." And in Kreutzman's recent interviews he stated that one of the main lessons he learned from Garcia about music was to play "a really full four beats. Don't rush to the end of the bar". Finally, learning that the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds have joined the Giants in planning Grateful Dead nights (thanks for the tip from Holly Hiker), makes me speculate that a steady, measured pace of things might make for more overlap between Dead fans and baseball fans than there is with football fans. I'm runnin', but I take my time.
user picture

Member for

13 years 2 months
Permalink

You know who I mean. For their unrivaled track record of creativity and innovation, continuing even today, in light and sound. For the highest level of musicianship, sustained over many decades. For the breadth and durability of their own songbook. For their lively and invigorating interpretation of the traditional American songbook. And of course the testimony of the fan base, who the word "loyal" does not begin to describe. No other band has ever had anything like that following, neither in their heyday nor continuing so long, long after.
user picture

Member for

13 years 2 months
Permalink

A mighty giant had laid down to join his ancestors. But he fell across the trail in the Pacific rain forest that we were hiking on. The forest service cut the tree to re-open the path, and left the fresh face of the trunk at about eye level, leaning up the hill side where it fell. The outer edge of the bark was a deep rust color, and the color had been seeping down in the month or so since it fell. In successive rings, though, the inner core had brighter and brighter tones, until the central core was virtually white. And centered there was a pattern that resembled a tree in outline, with a great canopy spread above the center point, and a vast root system below. At the well spring of life for that large creature was the very idea of Tree, the Form of what each tree of its kind should be. Though this particular embodiment of that concept was now to begin its very prolonged decay, it is succeeded by many, many others which sprang from the same source. Or maybe I am projecting my feelings about my father in his decline.
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

16 years 10 months
Permalink

Sounds like compassion ,pouring out of the pores. Very Beautiful, THANK YOU ,GOD BLESS .
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

16 years 10 months
Permalink

PEACE ,TOO AWL,KEEP ON TRUCKIN. YEAH, LOV LIFE !
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

16 years 10 months
Permalink

GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WAIT,THEY REALLY DO ,EASIER SAID THEN DONE I KNOW ,BEING AS ONE WITH IN IS A GOAL,YOU CAN ALWAYS UP,WERE EVER YOU GET YOUR ENERGY FROM ,BE GRATEFUL!
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

16 years 10 months
Permalink

Going thought some hard times ,same as everybody else ,just looking around,man its a different world,been sleepin,lol lol ,wake up tomarrow ,[spellings bad]lol.PEACE.
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

16 years 10 months
Permalink

English!LOL
user picture

Member for

13 years 2 months
Permalink

I do hope that what sounded like a very good night for you did not turn in to a bad day come morning.
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

16 years 10 months
Permalink

All is Good,All is Well,opened up a couple more doors, Thanks for Asking, Hows things on your end?
user picture

Member for

13 years 2 months
Permalink

Thanks for asking, 1973. My Dad died two weeks ago; myself and my siblings were at his side, trying to comfort his passage. We can always wish that the inevitable will be put off a little longer, but his very long, very fruitful life had finally run its course. All of his 15 young adult grandchildren participated in his funeral (and two great-grandchildren delighted the very large crowd that gathered). One grandson did him proud, and moved everyone in attendance, by reading a passage from Saul of Tarsus: "Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you." What more could you want?
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

13 years 2 months
Permalink

Very sorry for your loss.....it is never easy.....it sounds like your dads memory was honored and will continue to be.
user picture

Member for

8 years 11 months
Permalink

I'm sorry. May God's peace be with you and your family. What God did in Saul's life, renaming him Paul, is amazing. HE can change us all one person at a time.
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

16 years 10 months
Permalink

Im truly sorry for your loss,Saul to Paul,WoW, Strenth,Love,God Bless...
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

16 years 10 months
Permalink

Prayers With You ...
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

16 years 10 months
Permalink

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to All!!!
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

16 years 10 months
Permalink

Thank You !!!
user picture

Member for

13 years 2 months
Permalink

It is my impression that a high percentage of Dead Heads are 5-for-5 on the beliefs that William James lists in his 1902 book "The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature" as the "characteristics of religious life": 1. That the visible world is part of a more spiritual universe from which it draws its chief significance; 2. That union or harmonious relation with that higher universe is our true end; 3. That prayer or inner communion with the spirit thereof—be that spirit 'God' or 'law'—is a process wherein work is really done, and spiritual energy flows in and produces effects, psychological or material, within the phenomenal world. 4. A new zest which adds itself like a gift to life, and takes the form either of lyrical enchantment or of appeal to earnestness and heroism. 5. An assurance of safety and a temper of peace, and, in relation to others, a preponderance of loving affections.
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

13 years 2 months
Permalink

Tom you hit the nail on the head, those words ring true here. glad that you are enjoying your new musical stash.... please pay it forward...