It is an energy that can propel one into previously unknown geographies

Sun Ra speaks of this experience in terms akin to space exploration, and given the date he ascribes to this revelation, he would certainly have been decades ahead of all documented human accomplishments where space travel is concerned. Zooming out, the meaning of Sun Ra’s account points to the paradoxical power of music. Beyond something to just enjoy, a unidirectional reception of entertainment from musician to listener, it is an energy that can propel one into previously unknown geographies, other worlds (space), a new consciousness, and a liberated state of being. It is as Sun Ra states in Space is the Place,

“I’m not real, I’m just like you. You don’t exist in this society. If you did, your people wouldn’t be seeking equal rights. You’re not real, if you were you’d have some status among the nations of the world. So we are both myths. I do not come to you as a reality, I come to you as the myth because that is what black people are: myths. I came from a dream that the black man dreamed long ago. I’m actually a presence sent to you by your ancestors.”