Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the directions of the person (if any) who has induced the trance. Trance states may occur involuntarily and unbidden.
The term trance may be associated with hypnosis, spirit possession, magic, flow, prayer, psychedelic drugs, and altered states of consciousness.
Etymology
Trance in its modern meaning comes from an earlier meaning of "a dazed, half-conscious or insensible condition or state of fear", via the
Old French transe "fear of evil", from the
Latin transīre "to cross", "pass over".
Working models
Wier, in his 1995 book,
Trance: from magic to technology, defines a simple trance (p. 58) as a state of mind being caused by cognitive loops where a cognitive object (a thought, an image, a sound, an intentional action) repeats long enough to result in various sets of disabled cognitive functions. Wier represents all trances (which include sleep and watching television) as taking place on a dissociated trance plane where at least some cognitive functions such as volition are disabled; as is seen in what is typically termed a 'hypnotic trance'.
With this definition, meditation, hypnosis, addictions and charisma are seen as being trance states. In Wier's 2007 book,
The Way of Trance, he elaborates on these forms, adds ecstasy as an additional form and discusses the ethical implications of his model, including magic and government use which he terms "trance abuse".
John Horgan in Rational Mysticism (2003) explores the neurological mechanisms and psychological implications of trances and other mystical manifestations. Horgan incorporates literature and case-studies from a number of disciplines in this work: chemistry, physics, psychology, radiology, and theology.
Trance states
Trance conditions include all the different states of
mind,
, moods, and
that human beings experience. All activities which engage a human involve the filtering of information coming into sense modalities, and this influences brain functioning and consciousness. Therefore, trance may be understood as a way for the mind to change the way it filters information in order to provide more efficient use of the mind's resources.
Trance states may also be accessed or induced by various and are considered by some people to be a way of accessing the unconscious mind for the purposes of relaxation, healing, intuition, and inspiration. There is an extensive documented history of trance as evidenced by the case-studies of anthropologists and ethnologists and associated and derivative disciplines. Principles of trance are being explored and documented as are methods of trance induction. Mind functioning during trance and benefits of trance states are being explored by medical and scientific inquiry.
Castillo (1995) states that: "Trance phenomena result from the behavior of intense focusing of attention, which is the key psychological mechanism of trance induction. Adaptive responses, including institutionalized forms of trance, are 'tuned' into neural networks in the brain and depend to a large extent on the characteristics of culture. Culture-specific organizations exist in the structure of individual neurons and in the organizational formation of neural networks."
Hoffman (1998: p. 9) states that: "Trance is still conventionally defined as a state of reduced consciousness, or a somnolent state. However, the more recent anthropological definition, linking it to 'altered states of consciousness' (Charles Tart), is becoming increasingly accepted."
Hoffman (1998, p. 9) asserts that: "...the trance state should be discussed in the plural, because there is more than one altered state of consciousness significantly different from everyday consciousness."
History
Mystics
As the mystical experience of
mysticism generally entails direct connection, communication and communion with the
divine; trance and cognate experience are endemic. (see
Yoga,
Sufism,
Shaman,
Umbanda,
Crazy Horse, etc.)
As shown by Jonathan Garb and Stesley,[(Shamanic Trance in Modern Kabbalah, 2011)] trance techniques also played a role in Lurianic Kabbalah, the mystical life of the circle of Moshe Hayyim Luzzatto and Hasidism.
Military
Joseph Jordania proposed the term "battle trance" in 2011 for a mental state when
do not feel
fear and
pain, and they lose their individual identity and acquire a collective identity.
[Joseph Jordania, Why do People Sing? Music in Human Evolution. Logos, 2011]
Christian mystics
Many Christian mystics are documented as having experiences that may be considered as cognate with trance, such as: Hildegard of Bingen, John of the Cross,
Meister Eckhart, Saint Theresa (as seen in the Bernini sculpture), and Francis of Assisi.
Mesmer and the origin of hypnotherapy
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Mesmer, an influential but discredited promoter of trance states and their curative powers.
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Milton Erickson, the founder of hypnotherapy who introduced trance and hypnosis to orthodox medicine and psychotherapy—hypnosis here is something different from traditional clinical hypnosis.
Trance in American Christianity
Ann Taves (1999) charts the synonymic language of trance in the American Christian traditions:
power or
presence or
indwelling of God, or Christ, or the Spirit, or spirits. Typical expressions include "the indwelling of the Spirit" (Jonathan Edwards), "the witness of the Spirit" (
John Wesley), "the power of God" (early American
Methodists), being "filled with the Spirit of the Lord" (early
Adventists; see charismatic Adventism), "communing with spirits" (Spiritualists), "the Christ within" (
New Thought), "streams of holy fire and power" (Methodist holiness), "a religion of the Spirit and Power" (the Emmanuel Movement), and "the baptism of the Holy Spirit" (early
). (Taves, 1999: 3)
Trance and Anglo-American Protestants
Taves (1999) well-referenced book on trance charts the experience of Anglo-American Protestants and those who left the Protestant movement beginning with the transatlantic awakening in the early 18th century and ending with the rise of the psychology of religion and the birth of
Pentecostalism in the early 20th century. This book focuses on a class of seemingly involuntary acts alternately explained in
religious and
secular terminology. These involuntary experiences include uncontrolled bodily movements (
Seizure, bodily exercises, falling as dead,
catalepsy,
convulsions,
Shakers); spontaneous vocalizations (crying out, shouting, speaking in tongues); unusual sensory experiences (trances,
hallucination, voices,
clairvoyance, out-of-body experiences); and alterations of
consciousness and/or
memory (
, ,
somnambulism, mesmeric trance, mediumistic trance,
hypnosis, possession, alternating personality) (Taves, 1999: 3).
Trance induction and sensory modality
Trance-like states are often interpreted as religious ecstasy or visions and can be deliberately induced using a variety of techniques, including
prayer,
,
meditation,
pranayama (breathwork or breathing exercises), physical exercise, sexual intercourse,
music,
dancing,
sweating (e.g.
sweat lodge),
fasting,
, and the consumption of
psychotropic drugs such as cannabis.
Sensory modality is the
Mediumship or conduit for the induction of the trance. Sometimes an ecstatic experience takes place in occasion of contact with something or somebody perceived as extremely
beauty or
holy. It may also happen without any known reason. The particular technique that an individual uses to induce ecstasy is usually one that is associated with that individual's particular
religious and
cultural traditions. As a result, an ecstatic experience is usually interpreted within the context of a particular individual's religious and cultural traditions. These interpretations often include statements about contact with
supernatural or spiritual beings, about receiving new information as a
revelation, also religion-related explanations of subsequent change of
values, attitudes, and
behavior (e.g. in case of religious conversion).
Benevolent, neutral and malevolent trances may be induced (intentionally, spontaneously and/or accidentally) by different methods:
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Auditory: driving through the sense of hearing by chanting, auditory story telling, mantra, overtone singing, , music, etc.;
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Disciplines: Yoga, Sufism, Surat Shabd Yoga; meditation;
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Gustatory: driving through the sense of taste and indigestion; including: starvation, herbs, hallucinogens, and drugs. As the intake of food and beverage entails intra-bodily chemical reactions through digestion, some infer that all food may be considered medicine or drugs and therefore contribute to the induction of discernible psycho-physical states (see Ancient Medicine). Trance states can be attained through the ingestion of psychoactive drugs, particularly psychedelic drug, such as cannabis, ketamine, LSD, peyote, psilocybin mushrooms, DMT, and MDMA;
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Kinesthetic: driving through the sense of feeling and movement through the kinesphere by ecstatic dance, story telling by movement, mudra, embodying , yoga, breathwork, oxygen deprivation, sexual stimulation etc.;
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Miscellaneously: traumatic accident, sleep deprivation, nitrogen narcosis (deep diving), fever, by the use of a sensory deprivation tank or mind-control techniques, hypnosis, meditation, prayer;
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Naturally occurring: dreams, lucid dreaming, euphoria, ecstasy, psychosis as well as purported premonitions, out-of-body experiences, and Mediumship;
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Olfactory: driving via scent through the sense of olfaction by perfume, pheromones, incense, flowers, pollen, indeed any scent for which we have an association or memory, etc.;
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Photic or Visual: driving through the sense of sight by yantra, visual story telling, mandala, film, theater, art, architecture, beauty, strobe lights, form constants, symmetry.
Auditory driving and auditory art
Charles Tart provides a useful working definition of auditory driving. It is the induction of trance through the sense of hearing. Auditory driving works through a process known as entrainment.
The usage of repetitive rhythms to induce trance states is an ancient phenomenon. Throughout the world, Shamanism have been employing this method for millennia. Anthropologists and other researchers have documented the similarity of shamanistic auditory driving rituals among different cultures.
Said simply, entrainment is the synchronization of different rhythmic cycles. Breathing and heart rate have been shown to be affected by auditory stimulus, along with brainwave activity. The ability of rhythmic sound to affect human brainwave activity, especially theta rhythm, is the essence of auditory driving, and is the cause of the altered states of consciousness that it can induce.
Visual driving and visual art
Nowack and Feltman published an article entitled "Eliciting the Photic Driving Response" which states that the EEG photic driving response is a sensitive neurophysiological measure which has been employed to assess chemical and drug effects, forms of epilepsy, neurological status of Alzheimer's patients, and physiological arousal. Photic driving also impacts upon the psychological climate of a person by producing increased visual imagery and decreased physiological and subjective arousal. In this research by Nowack and Feltman, all participants reported increased visual imagery during photic driving, as measured by their responses to an imagery questionnaire.
Dennis Wier
Research by Thomas Budzynski, Oestrander et al., in the use of brain machines suggest that photic driving via the suprachiasmatic nucleus and direct electrical stimulation and driving via other mechanisms and modalities, may entrain processes of the brain facilitating rapid and enhanced learning, produce deep relaxation, euphoria, an increase in creativity, and problem solving propensity may be associated with enhanced concentration and accelerated learning. The theta rhythm range and the border area between alpha wave and theta rhythm has generated considerable research interest.
Kinesthetic driving and somatic art
Charles Tart provides a useful working definition of
kinesthetic driving. It is the induction of trance through the
sense of
touch,
feeling, or
emotions. Kinesthetic driving works through a process known as entrainment.
The rituals practiced by some sportsperson in preparing for contests are dismissed as superstition, but this is a tool of sport psychologists to help them to attain an ecstasy-like state. Joseph Campbell had a peak experience whilst running. Roger Bannister on breaking the four-minute mile (Cameron, 1993: 185): "No longer conscious of my movement, I discovered a new unity with nature. I had found a new source of power and beauty, a source I never dreamt existed." Roger Bannister later became a distinguished neurologist.
Mechanisms and that include kinesthetic driving may include: dancing, walking meditation, yoga and asana, mudra, juggling, poi (juggling), etc.
Sufism (the mystical branch of Islam) has theoretical and metaphoric writing regarding ecstasy as a state of connection with Allah. Sufi practice rituals ( dhikr, sema) use body movement and music to achieve the state.
Types and varieties
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Agape or "Divine Love": the term agape appears in the Odyssey twice, where the word describes something that creates contentedness within the speaker.
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Bhakti: (Devanāgarī: भक्ति) is a word of Sanskrit origin meaning "devotion" and also "the path of devotion" itself, as in Bhakti yoga. Within Hinduism the word is used exclusively to denote devotion to a particular deity or form of God. Within Vaishnavism bhakti is only used in conjunction with Vishnu or one of his associated , it is likewise used towards Shiva by followers of Shaivism. Saints in these traditions exhibit different trance states or ecstasy.
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Communion: In the monotheistic tradition, religious ecstasy is usually associated with communion and henosis with God. Indeed, ecstasy is the primary vehicle for the type of prophetic hallucination and found in the Bible. However, such experiences can also be personal mystical experiences with no significance to anyone but the person experiencing them.
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In Christianity, the ecstatic experiences of the Twelve Apostles Saint Peter and Paul are recorded in Acts 10:10, 11:5 and 22:17.
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In hagiography (writings on the subject of Christian ) many instances are recorded in which saints are granted ecstasies. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia,
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Maenads and Bacchae: in Greek mythology, Maenads were female of Dionysus, the Greek mythology god of mystery, wine and intoxication, and the Ancient Rome god Dionysus. The word literally translates as "raving ones". They were known as wild, insane women who could not be reasoned with. The mysteries of Dionysus inspired the women to ecstatic frenzy; they indulged in copious amounts of violence, bloodletting, sexual activity, self-intoxication, and mutilation. They were usually pictured as crowned with vine leaves, clothed in deer and carrying the thyrsus, and dancing with wild abandon. They were also characterized as entranced women, wandering through the forests and hills.
[Wiles, David (2000). Greek Theatre Performance: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press. Source: [1]] The Maenads were also known as Bassarids (or Bacchae or Bacchantes) in Roman mythology, after the penchant of the equivalent Roman god, Bacchus, to wear a fox-skin, a bassaris.
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berserker were said to have often entered battle entrenched in a state of primal rage, biting their shields, and howling like wolves. This fanaticism was so powerful that they were known to continue fighting even after having lost limbs or being otherwise deeply wounded.
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Peak experiences: is a term developed by Abraham Maslow and used to describe certain extra-personal and ecstatic states, particularly ones tinged with themes of unification, harmonization, and interconnectedness. Participants characterize these experiences, and the revelations imparted therein, as possessing an ineffably mystical (or overtly religious) quality or essence.
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Rapture or religious ecstasy: is an altered state of consciousness characterized by greatly reduced external awareness and expanded interior mental and spiritual awareness which is frequently accompanied by hallucination and emotional/intuitive (and sometimes physical) euphoria. Although the experience is usually brief in physical time, there are records of such experiences lasting several days or even more, and of recurring experiences of ecstasy during one's lifetime. Subjectivity perception of time, space, and/or self may strongly change or disappear during ecstasy.
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Samādhi: yoga provides techniques to attain a state of ecstasy called samādhi. According to practitioners, there are various stages of ecstasy, the highest of which is called Nirvikalpa. Different traditions have different understanding of Samādhi.
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Some charismatic Christians practice ecstatic states (called, e.g., "being slain in the Spirit") and interpret these as given by the Holy Spirit.
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Trance states have also long been used by shamans, mysticism, and fakirs in healing rituals, being particularly cultivated in some religions, such as Tibetan Buddhism. Australian shamanism has been observed.
[Lawlor (1991: p. 374) states that:
]
"The supernormal, super sensory powers of Aboriginal wise woman and men of high degree, by their own accounts, comes directly from initiations administered by the ancestral sky heroes themselves and by the totemic spirits. Those who have gone through these initiations alone, in a deep trance that makes them lose their personal identities and confront manifestations of the ancestral powers, are held in the highest regard."
[Lawlor (1991: p. 303) states that: "One such animal dance ceremony was observed and photographed by Gillen and Spencer. More than 30 naked men gathered in a large circle. One by one, each man performed the dance of the animal to be hunted while the others sang and slapped their buttocks to create a percussive beat for the dancer. The slapping sound was so loud that it could be heard for miles across the surrounding desert. The dance continued for hours, with each man dancing frenetically until he dropped from exhaustion. The eyes of the onlookers soon became glazed with entrancement; their penises were erect in a state of ecstatic arousal. Finally, after the last man had performed the animal dance and collapsed in exhaustion, the entire group leaped on him, emitting a loud abandoned cry. The next day the hunt began."]
Divination
Divination is a cultural universal which
anthropologists have observed as being present in many
religions and
cultures in all ages up to the present day (see
sibyl).
Divination may be defined as a mechanism for
fortune-telling by ascertaining information by interpretation of
omens or an alleged supernatural agency. Divination often entails
ritual, and is often facilitated by trance.
Nechung Oracle
In
Tibet,
have played, and continue to play, an important part in
religion and
government. The word
oracle is used by Tibetans to refer to the spirit,
deity or entity that enters those men and women who act as
mediumship between the natural and the spiritual realms. The media are, therefore, known as
kuten, which literally means, "the physical basis".
The Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in northern India, still consults an oracle known as the Nechung Oracle, which is considered the official state oracle of the government of Tibet. He gives a complete description of the process of trance and possession in his book Freedom in Exile.
Scientific disciplines
Convergent disciplines of neuroanthropology,
ethnomusicology, electroencephalography (EEG),
neurotheology, and cognitive neuroscience, amongst others, are conducting research into the trance induction of altered states of consciousness resulting from neuron entrainment with the driving of sensory modalities, for example
polyharmonics,
multiphonics, and
percussive polyrhythms through the channel of the auditory and
kinesthetic modality.
Neuroanthropology and cognitive neuroscience are conducting research into the trance induction of altered states of consciousness (possibly engendering higher consciousness) resulting from neuron firing entrainment with these polyharmonics and multiphonics. Related research has been conducted into neural entraining with percussive polyrhythms. The timbre of traditional singing bowls and their polyrhythms and multiphonics are considered meditative and calming, and the harmony inducing effects of this tool to potentially alter consciousness are being explored by scientists, medical professionals and therapists.
Brainwaves and brain rhythms
Scientific advancement and new technologies such as computerized
EEG, positron emission tomography, regional cerebral blood flow, and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, are providing measurable tools to assist in understanding trance phenomena.
There are four principal brainwave states that range from high-amplitude, low-frequency delta to low-amplitude, high-frequency beta. These states range from deep dreamless sleep to a state of high arousal. These four brainwave states are common throughout humans. All levels of brainwaves exist in everyone at all times, even though one is foregrounded depending on the activity level. When a person is in an aroused state and exhibiting a beta brainwave pattern, their brain also exhibits a component of alpha, theta, and delta, even though only a trace may be present.
The University of Philadelphia study on some Christians at the Freedom Valley Worship Center in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, revealed that glossolalia-speaking (vocalizing or praying in unrecognizable form of language which is seen in members of certain Christian sects) activates areas of the brain out of voluntary control. In addition, the frontal lobe of the brain, which monitors speech, significantly diminished in activity as the study participants spoke glossolalia.
Studies have been conducted in France and Belgium on a French woman who has received extensive training in the Mongolian shamanic tradition and becomes therefore capable of self-inducing a trance state.
See also
Notes
Further reading
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Brian Inglis (1990). Trance: A Natural History of Altered States of Mind. London, Paladin.
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William James The varieties of religious experience (1902)
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* Wier, Dennis R. Trance: from magic to technology (1995)
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External links
