OUT! DEMONS OUT!
Photo credit: @outlier
Flyer design by KENDRAPLEX
It worked! We may not have levitated the Pentagon or rid the White House of its demonic possession, but things are looking brighter here in New York City!
It was Anne Waldman's clear white light that guided our way through the bardo last Sunday evening (November 2nd, Día de Muertos) for DEMONS OUT! An Evening of Alchemical Music & Poetry at Sparrow Funeral Home in Brooklyn.
The occasion was to revive the energy of the original attempt to levitate and exorcise the Pentagon in 1967, which was led by Allen Ginsberg, Abbie Hoffman, Gary Snyder, Ed Sanders (not to mention Kenneth Anger).
At 6 pm, the music began with new sounds created by Jesse Jarnow and Jonah Sollins Devlin. Jarnow, our “minister of chance operations,” continued his symphony of drones and John Cagean music until the very end of the evening, weaving a sonic thread from start to finish.
Music carried some early arrivals into Daphne Mac’s “death salon” in the adjacent room.
At some point, Sonic Shaman Chris Dingman gathered the sangha into the main room with a single strike of his mallet, and along with KENDRAPLEX on keyboard, the exorcism began.
Doc Kelley led everyone into a state of disembodiment with a meditation on the dissolution of the elements (the stages of bodily death), preparing them for their journey into the bardo! Then, music guided everyone through the vortex and into the spacious bardo of Dharmata!
Like a dream, images flooded three walls, projections created by light artist Claudia Pérez. Without rehearsal or pre-planning, Anne Waldman approached the poet’s pulpit, and at the same time, ecstatic dancer Fanny Pérez also stepped in. The synchronicity between the dance and poetry proved to be one of the most meaningful serendipities that evening.
Joining Anne at the poet’s pulpit was Zoe Brezsny, and together they performed poetic incantations that included Waldman’s Jaguar Harmonics, “Ekajati,” “Avalokiteshvara,” Ginsberg’s “Pentagon Exorcism,” Snyder’s “A Curse on the Men in Washington, Pentagon,” and “Spel Against Demons.” Additionally, there were two new ones from Anne: a Huautla curandera piece and a new bardo poem invoking the Queen of Vara Space. As well as original works by Zoe.
The evening ended with audience participation and a call-and-response version of Ed Sanders’ “Out, demons, out!”
We sincerely thank Erica Hill at Sparrow for letting us hold this gathering at Sparrow Funeral Home. Her forward-thinking views on death are evidenced by her understanding of the spiritual (and historical) importance of holding Buddhist events amidst the ceremony of death.
VIDEO COMING SOON
