The Alchemy of Disco

Abstract

In this study, the potential spiritual dimensions of underground disco are hermeneutically examined, compared, and contrasted with the philosophies and spiritual techniques of alchemy, gnosticism, hermetism, and tantra, particularly as they relate to the theories of C. G. Jung with special regard to the phenomenology of the psyche according to which processes of psychospiritual transformation indicate that psychological dualities, such as conscious and unconscious, are bridged through the use of symbols and the cognitive faculties of the imagination. The study finds that theories stemming from the Jungian pantheon correspond with the metaphysical assumptions of the ancient spiritual traditions under consideration. They also appear to cohere with certain modern expressions of soteriological gnosis that conscious engagement with sound and aural magic in an “underground” cultural environment instigated. Thus, through an exploration and expression of his own psyche, David Mancuso, founder of the Loft, inadvertently gave birth to dance music culture and to the disco movement of the 1970s, and my study finds he also gave birth to a secret order of sound-based spiritual practice still alive today.