trance

Mystical experiences can be categorized not only according to their contents but also according to the alternate states of consciousness during which they occur. For example, St. Teresa of Ávila distinguished four stages of mystical prayer. In “the prayer of simplicity,” a prayer that…

Possession trance is the most dramatic and intimate contact that occurs between devotee and divinity. In most cases possession is actively sought, induced through the ritual preparation of the participant. Techniques that facilitate this altered state of consciousness range from inhaling vapours of medicinal preparations to…

As a mantic art, trance is associated with oracular utterance and spirit possession. An impressive performance will be taken to represent the actual voice of a god or spirit addressing the client directly; and divination in this mode is known from diverse religious traditions, including Christianity. The idea that…

Dreamlike experiences induced by trances, delirium, or drug hallucination seem to stem from impairments to the central nervous system that lower the efficiency of processing sensory stimuli from the external environment. In such cases, apparently, one’s physiological activities begin to escape environmental constraint to the point that internalized, uncritical…

The mystic achieves hallucinations by gaining control of his own dissociative mechanisms; perhaps this is a form of self-hypnosis. Such individuals can accomplish an astonishing withdrawal from the environment by prolonged intense concentration (e.g., by gazing at some object). The hallucinations may be…

…shaman to induce the ecstatic trance during which he symbolically journeys to the heavens or to the netherworld when playing the role of a psychopomp, or conductor of souls. Performances of the Buddhist monastic dance, known as ’cham, and the Buddhist morality plays, called a-che-lha-mo (“older sister goddess”), were accompanied…