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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




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


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
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