The History and Mystery of Planet Gong

The myth of Planet Gong began as both a band and a vision — a cosmic fable dreamed into music by Daevid Allen, the visionary founder of Gong. Emerging from the late-1960s psychedelic underground of Paris and England, Gong became more than a group: it was a living mythology, a playful spiritual transmission disguised as rock. Through swirling guitars, space whispers, and otherworldly humor, Allen and his fellow travelers revealed a universe where art and enlightenment merged — the Planet Gong, home to pothead pixies, octave doctors, and zero the hero, all symbols of the soul’s awakening journey. Behind the laughter and surreal imagery lay a genuine mystery: that music itself could be a vehicle for transcendence, dissolving ego through ecstatic sound. Today, the Church of Mother Gong carries forward that mythos — honoring Gong not just as a band, but as a sacred current of consciousness still singing through time.

The Church of Mother Gong is a living experiment in sacred art, community, and psychedelic spirituality. Rooted in the countercultural awakening of the 20th century, our church carries the lineage of visionaries who opened portals of perception — voices such as Alan Watts, Daevid Allen, Sufi Sam, Allen Ginsberg, and Timothy Leary. They taught that laughter, music, and imagination are holy instruments — that enlightenment is not found in solemnity but in the freedom to play, create, and truly see.

We gather in that same spirit: to explore consciousness through ceremony, creativity, and communion with the natural world. Our sacrament, the sacred mushroom, is approached not as an escape, but as a teacher — a mirror revealing the divine intelligence woven through all things. Each ritual, each song, each act of creation becomes a prayer to the mystery that births and sustains life.

The Church of Mother Gong sits at the intersection of artistic creation/experience, mental health, and spiritual pursuits. We seek to empower our congregation to move along all these paths simultaneously. We honor the ecstatic lineage of seekers who came before us and extend their vision into a new age — one where the sacred and the absurd dance together, and every moment is an invitation to awaken.