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Introduction to this Section: The Ritual Spiral Model of Ritual Systems and Cultural Generation
This video is my introduction to the Ritual Spiral Model and what I hope to accomplish (and stimulate among other academics), with this section. Below the introductory video (in the making), is Chapter 13 of my Dissertation "El Rocio: A Case Study of Music and Ritual in Andalusia, Spain". This Chapter summarizes the theoretical model I developed for how ritual systems come into being to generate culture and form the basis of all human cultures. I have been making changes and
W. Gerard Poole
Oct 31, 202354 min read


Emotional Cultivation and the Chaotic Emotion: Towards a Theory of Ritual, Musical, and Emotional Parallel Morphology, as Encountered in Andalusian Ritual Practices
This paper is the published version of my multi-media presentation at the "Ritual Dynamics Conference", held in Heidelberg, Germany, 2008. Body, Performance, Agency and Experience (Ritual Dynamics and the Science of Ritual) Hardcover – December 1, 2010 by Angelos Chaniotis (Editor), Silke Leopold (Editor), Hendrik Schulze (Editor) The Chaotic Emotion: Towards a Theory of Ritual, Musical, and Emotional Parallel Morphology, as Encountered in Andalusian Ritual Practices W.
W. Gerard Poole
Feb 2832 min read


Music and the Ecstatic Experience in the First Great Awakening, and the American Revolution
An informative and insightful look at the First Great Awakening by an eccentric old scholar. Although this particular video is more...
W. Gerard Poole
May 22, 20241 min read


A Photo Book of My Experiences with the Rocio Costa Este, by W. Gerard Poole, Ph.D.
The Virgen del Rocio comes to America
W. Gerard Poole
May 7, 20240 min read


W. Gerard Poole
Nov 1, 20230 min read


W. Gerard Poole
Nov 1, 20230 min read




W. Gerard Poole
May 1, 20220 min read


Commentaries on "The Music Instinct" Part I
This is Part II of my commentary on the video "The Music Instinct" , a PBS Documentary: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/musicinstinct . This...
W. Gerard Poole
May 1, 20221 min read


Semana Santa en Granada:The Catholic Penitential Mode
[As opposed to the "De Gloria" mode as exemplified by the processional pilgrimage of El Rocio] This is the Cristo del Consuelo moving along the river Daro below the Moorish castle of the Alhambra. The Virgen of this cofradia is called "La Virgen de las Estrellas" ( Virgin of the Stars), also known as the Virgin of the Gypsies because as she winds up from the Rio Daro into the barrio of the Sacromonte, the Gypsy barrio dating back to at least 1492, she is their favorite.
W. Gerard Poole
Apr 17, 20221 min read


Towards a Model of Cultural and Social Differentiation in Relation to Creativity
Social Differentiation, Creativity and the Ecstatic Experience. Alchemy 2013 Emergent themes that I am exploring through my participation in "Transformational" festival culture. NOTE: This not at all an academic article. It's just the seed thinking for a number of possible articles not to mention some semi-metaphysical musings and rambling thrown in. Theme #1: Creativity in relation to organization and labor. Creativity is , inherently within its unfolding processes, self
W. Gerard Poole
Dec 2, 202115 min read


More on BloomTv and their Approach to the Transformational Festival
https://thebloom.tv/ This is the organizational approach to Festival Culture that I referred to in the "Electronic Awakening" post. Below...
W. Gerard Poole
Mar 2, 20211 min read


Is There Possibly a Deep Cultural Potential in Festival Culture?
For me, there is a lot to think about here. These transformational festivals are, I think, creating something important within American...
W. Gerard Poole
Feb 24, 20213 min read


Introduction to Music, the Brain, and Evolution, from my "Music and Humanity" Course.
This video presents the basic terms and and concepts that I will be using specifically related to the relationships between Music,...
W. Gerard Poole
Feb 22, 20211 min read


From Mass to Salida: A Semiotic Descent to The Chaotic Emotion at El Rocio
The accompanying video sequences were recorded in my role as a participant observer at the Processional Pilgrimage of El Rocio (Roh-see-oh). The video itself traces what I am calling a "Semiotic Path" that starts within a ritual that displays a higher "Symbolic/Experience Ratio" within the spectrum of experience to representation in reference to the Ecstatic Experience. In this example the trace begins with the highly symbolic Catholic Mass, and "descends" into ritual layer
W. Gerard Poole
Dec 22, 20201 min read


The Joyous Procession
This one chapter, Chapter 5, is specifically on the procession as a phenomenon in and of itself within the general processional pilgrimage that is El Rocio. [The entire dissertation, El Rocio: A Case Study of Music and Ritual in Andalucía , can be obtained by clicking on the image to the lower right. Chapter 5 can be downloaded by clicking on the icon below the following introduction.] THE MUSIC OF THE PROCESSIONAL CHORUS: A CASE STUDY OF MUSICAL MODALITY AND TRANSFORMATION
W. Gerard Poole
Dec 21, 20202 min read


In the tradition of the American Great Awakenings, "Electronic Awakening"
This is an excellent introduction to Electronic Dance Music [EDM} and it's also a good introduction into the history of Festival Culture in general. I also highly recommend the entire Bloom Series (below) and what they call "Transformational Culture". The Bloom festival producers differ markedly from the Burning Man cultural ethos in that they explicitly encourage commercial entrepreneurship so that people can integrate their lives, their livelihood, into their cultural par
W. Gerard Poole
Jun 27, 20201 min read


Daito Manabe; An Alchemical Wedding of Music and Digital Art
Taken December 1, 2019, at the ArtecHouse in Washington D.C.
W. Gerard Poole
Jun 26, 20201 min read


Burning Man Temple Phenomenon
Here are some preliminary thoughts on Burning Man, the temple, and what drew me to Burning Man in the first place- taken from my old...
W. Gerard Poole
Jun 26, 20201 min read


El Rocio with Granada
The magical pilgrimage of El Rocio
W. Gerard Poole
Jun 26, 20200 min read
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