There’s a large structure in the image center, set in a desert landscape. It’s completely white and domed. There are symmetrical sections of the dome, like slices of cake, and in each one is a small window. The sky is both bright and night-like. A filter has been layered into the image so that it has a dreamlike quality; it looks as though stars have been superimposed on the full photo.
Photo: Eric Allix Rogers/ The Atlantic

[Original publication: No Proscenium, 7/7/21]

For anyone seeking the sensation of being inside sound, head to a sound bath at the Integratron. Built in 1954 and described as “the fusion of Art, Science and Magic,” the Integratron is a one-of-a-kind structure located in Landers, California, just north of Joshua Tree National Park (and on the National Register of Historic Places). Originally created by aeronautical engineer George Van Tassel for the purpose of time travel (as cellular rejuvenation therapy), construction included “telepathic directions from extraterrestrials.” The full story of Van Tassel is worth exploring, as it includes post-Roswell UFO culture, the rise of the New Age movement, and the onset of the Cold War.

Since 2000, the Integratron has been privately owned and managed by three sisters and their families; sound baths are the core programming. The experience begins with historical details about the structure and then 20 quartz crystal singing bowls are played while attendees lie inside the all-wood, 55-foot diameter dome. Based on the architectural purity of the space, sound travels and moves through the body with almost indescribable intensity, variation, and tactile effects. Participants are also invited to stand in the dome’s center and make a vocal declaration; the resulting acoustical effects are astonishing. The Integratron’s sound bath is a sensory wonder and offers total immersion into the experience of sound.