Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
"This one-of-a-kind 38-foot high, 55-foot diameter, all wood dome was designed to be an electrostatic generator for the purpose of rejuvenation and time travel."
--Actual quote from the Integratron website (emphasis ours)
I'll start by saying this: fuck going to Bonarroo.
If you want to do something that will really bring out your inner freaky counter-culturalist, just hit up Joshua Tree's famed Integratron, a structure built in the 1950s by an aircraft mechanic/UFO enthusiast named George Van Tassell, who came up with the design after being abducted by aliens from Venus. Convinced that the structure would allow for time travel and make anti-gravity a reality (as well as attract more UFOs -- apparently he and those Venusians had a pretty kick-ass time), he spent the next twenty years building the place, without a single nail or metal screw. Oh, and it has perfect acoustics. (Which raises the question: how much did YOU accomplish the last tme you took acid?)
Anyway, here's a great idea: sign up for a Sound Bath -- AKA "kindergarten naptime for grown-ups in a sound sphere".
How it works: you ascend into the Integraton's gleaming wooden interior and lay down on a mat on the floor. You immediately find yourself in a state of hushed reverence, like you've just entered the world's most odd-shaped cathedral. From here, you shut your eyes and listen to the sounds of your guide creating tones on the rims of crystal bowls. The design of the room makes it sound as if the tones are coming from everywhere and nowhere at once -- from without and from within.
Even for someone like me -- who straight-up sucks at meditation (seriously, trying to get my brain to meditate is like trying to get the Minions from Despicable Me to form an oderly line) -- this place makes it so easy to just drift away and explore the backroads of your psyche. When it's over, you slowly amble back out into the daylight, feeling oddly post-coital -- like you've just gotten a happy-ending massage for your brain.
Trust me: this is the one second location you should follow a hippie to.
__________________________________
- WHAT: The Sound Baths at the Intregraton
- WHERE: 2477 Belfield Blvd Landers, CA 92285
- WHEN: Schedule here
- $: $20 (cash only)
- NOTE: Bring your own mat/blanket
