"I am changed!" – How Boom is a transformational experience

As the August full moon casts its silver light over the quiet, black waters of the lake there is yet another shift in the atmosphere of Boom. The great spotlight has been switched on for the final stage of this psychedelic gathering – the last 24 hours of the festival have begun. There’s a sense of ecstatic urgency in the air, the lights seem to be even brighter, the music from the stages even more crisp and hypnotic, the smiles even bigger. The mind-boggling video mappings on the facades of the Dance Temple erupt into an orgasm of floating colours and shapes, a visionary experience of utter magnificence. The rich bass lines that emit from the different stages have finally vibrated the Boomers into the sacred state of collective trance. A thunderstorm of laser rays can be seen on top of the fluorescent Wish Tower, giving expression to the positive energy that is send to the universe. Wormholes and teleportation gates have popped up all over the vast festival area, and wondrous beings from strange dimensions mingle with the frolicking crowds.
 
When the sun sends its golden grace over Boom Land, there’s one sentence to be heard again and again and again: I am changed. Thousands of tribe members experienced the last days as a transformation, as a rite of passage. If so many Boomers had a life-changing experience, there’s one very interesting question: Exactly what is that change, and what is left after the festival?
 

 
The perception of a festival as a multinational gathering has changed. If you love psychedelic music, in the broadest possible sense of this term, then Boom 2014 has been an amazing experience that delivered loads of vibrant musical input, from Psytrance to Dark Progressive, from Forest and HiTech to Techno and Glitch Hop, from Dub to Ambient and Organic Trance. In this respect Boom has been a source of inspiration that is truly mind-changing. However, the gathering is so much more than a music festival, and that has probably never been more evident as during this edition: The spiritual and therapeutic program of the Healing Area with its multitude of workshops has been just as deep and powerful as the party program on the dance floors, and some Boomers enjoyed it as the major part of the festival. There have been some highly inspiring speeches in the Liminal Village, and the active reaction of the audience proves that the seed of change has been planted in the mind of many Boomers. It has been a visionary and psychedelic gathering rather than a music festival.
 
What role did The Feminine play in this process of transformation? Female symbols and sources of energy had a major influence on the vibe of the festival. It became clear that female should not be understood as a polarity, merely as a counterpart to male, but rather as a trait – just like gentleness or wisdom. Women have obviously more feminine energy, but also men have feminine powers. Just think about the two hemispheres of the brain, that might be another model that connects with the idea of femininity and masculinity as a dynamic mixture. The vibe at Boom Festival has been a great inspiration how female energy can be an essential part of transformation.
 

 
Another interesting question is: Will the mind-changing experience of Boom really cause an ongoing change, in the everyday lives of thousands of Boomers everywhere on this planet? During the last days we have reflected on various takeaway messages: Patience and empathy, the sense of wonder, and how to arrive in the Here & Now have been some of them.
 
Let’s use all those blissful memories we have of Boom 2014 as a source of power, as a source of change even after the festival!
 
Thanks to everyone who was part of this experience – We Are Love!