• 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
  • Anonymous (not verified)
    Default Avatar
    Joined:
    Badger, you put you finger on something
    A GD fanatic? Do you build up a whole dogma aroud that? The Holy Trinity of Jerry, Bobby & Phil a la Estimated Prophet? Is the sacrament a dose? And how does Albert Hoffmann fit into all of this? Just runnin' off at the mouth here. My point is, you're right. There are no fanatics posting here. And if you worship demons, that's you business. I was only quoting the Merriam Webster Dictionary after being accused of demonizing. If you feel worshipping demons is misunderstood perhaps you could set the record straight for all of us. I'm most curious, though I don't think I'll be worshipping any demons any time...
  • marye
    Joined:
    badger
    puts it quite well. I have certainly known atheists who fell prey to the same zealotry. The problem is not with the belief, it's with the interference, and that pretty much happens across the political and religious spectrum. peace all...
  • johnman
    Joined:
    's all good, gonz
    we can share the music......and THAT'S pretty spiritual!!
  • Anonymous (not verified)
    Default Avatar
    Joined:
    y'ok Johnman
    I apreciate your honesty J'man, No wonder my folks raised me not to talk about religion, politics or sex... (not that it ever helped) When you talk about this stuff you sure do get called on your rhetoric. And that, more often than not, is a good thing. A nice little reality check from your friends.
  • johnman
    Joined:
    well put
    friend badger
  • cosmicbadger
    Joined:
    fanatic
    I think there is a distinction between those with strongly held and open religious beliefs (=devout believers) and those who try to force their beliefs and codes on others. When such folks seek political power or use mind games, aggressive tactics and violence to pursue their religious agenda then I think it is OK to call them religious extremists and, yes, fanatics. I find such people scary whether they are from the US religious right or the mullahs of Iran. Plenty of devout people post here, but I have not yet encountered anyone in this place who I would call a religious fanatic! signed A Grateful Dead fanatic!
  • cosmicbadger
    Joined:
    demonizing
    us Demonists strongly object to the use of this word in a generic and highly negative sense. We are fed up with our beliefs being characterised in this way. If you would just take the trouble to try to understand us you will find that some of us are sometimes quite nice.
  • johnman
    Joined:
    sorry...........
    i'll stop....didn't mean to start anything....occasionally i'm an ass..
  • johnman
    Joined:
    organized religion and the "fanatics" who fund it
    crunch, crunch..smack........anyway....munch, chew......want a cookie?.chew, crunch, crunch, slobber, drool...........dude ...all are welcome here....you have views as do others..mebbe not from a religious standpoint but all are valid......'nother cookie?
  • Anonymous (not verified)
    Default Avatar
    Joined:
    Clarity, Please!
    Johnman, I never used the word "fanatic" . Where is that coming from? I just reread my original post and now see that it was coming out of left field, right after something you posted. I'm a bit new to blogging and writing in forums so you'll have to pardon me for introducing something out of place. Beyond that, I was responding to Marye and I understand y'all disagree with my content and the gentle, loving fun in which I meant it. No worries. Perhaps this forum should be renamed Religion, Christianity & Deadheads. Then I would certainly have no business here.... Caroline, I'm happy you're happy. I'm happy, peaceful and contented also and certainly feel I've found what needed to be found to put my soul at rest. But thank you for your kind wishes...(-: A short ancedote: There was Deadhead named Mark who had Dead Sickness (Nothing but GD in his life, at all). We always said to him "But what will you do when the band breaks up?" Mark grew some blue mycellium mold on ergot and one day saw a tiny Jesus Christ who talked to him. This conversation continued for some time (without ingesting anything else) and we all got very worried. Our worry increased because a Jehovah's witness knocked on his door and he started Bible study. They introduced him to a woman he eventually married, Now, last I heard, he is still knocking on people's doors with Watchtower magazines. This group of Christians has predicted the end of the world several times already. I make no judgement, Mark is happy. He renounced the Dead around 1991. The thing about music is that it can be transcendental and totally blow away the isms. I think I'll stay out of this forum from now on, nothing personal.
user picture

Member for

17 years 5 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 8 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 8 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

9 years 5 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

9 years 3 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

17 years
Permalink

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

Member for

17 years
Permalink

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

Member for

16 years
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

9 years 3 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 8 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 8 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 8 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

17 years 4 months
Permalink

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

Member for

17 years 4 months
Permalink

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

Member for

17 years 4 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

17 years 4 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

17 years 4 months
Permalink

English!LOL
user picture

Member for

13 years 8 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

17 years 4 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 8 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 8 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

9 years 4 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

17 years 4 months
Permalink

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

Member for

17 years 4 months
Permalink

Prayers With You ...
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

17 years 4 months
Permalink

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

Member for

17 years 4 months
Permalink

Thank You !!!
user picture

Member for

13 years 8 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 8 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...