Trance

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Trance (disambiguation).

Dissociative trance
The Oracle at Delphi was famous for her divinatory trances throughout the ancient Mediterranean world. Oil painting, John Collier, 1891
SpecialtyPsychiatry

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

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".[1]

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'.[2] 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".

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, emotions, moods, and daydreams 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

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.[3][4]
Many traditions and rituals employ trance. Trance also has a function in religion and mystical experience.

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."[5]

Hoffman (1998: p. 9) states that: "Trance is still conventionally defined as a state of reduced

altered states of consciousness' (Charles Tart), is becoming increasingly accepted."[6]

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."[6]

History

Mystics

As the mystical experience of

Shaman, Umbanda, Crazy Horse
, etc.)

As shown by

Hasidism
.

Military

Joseph Jordania proposed the term "battle trance" in 2011 for a mental state when combatants do not feel fear and pain, and they lose their individual identity and acquire a collective identity.[8]

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

  • Mesmer
    , an influential but discredited promoter of trance states and their curative powers.
  • clinical hypnosis
    .

Trance in American Christianity

Pentecostals
). (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

somnambulism, mesmeric trance, mediumistic trance, hypnosis, possession
, alternating personality) (Taves, 1999: 3).

Trance induction and sensory modality

Trance-like states are often interpreted as

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:

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.[9][10]

The usage of repetitive

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 brainwaves, is the essence of auditory driving, and is the cause of the altered states of consciousness that it can induce.[11]

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[12] states that over two millennia ago Ptolemy and Apuleius found that differing rates of flickering lights affected states of awareness and sometimes induced epilepsy. Wier also asserts that it was discovered in the late 1920s that when light was shined on closed eyelids it resulted in an echoing production of brainwave frequencies. Wier also opined that in 1965 Grey employed a stroboscope to project rhythmic light flashes into the eyes at a rate of 10–25 Hz (cycles per second). Grey discovered that this stimulated similar brainwave activity.

Research by

theta
has generated considerable research interest.

Kinesthetic driving and somatic art

emotions. Kinesthetic driving works through a process known as entrainment
.

The

neurologist
.

Mechanisms and

poi (juggling)
, etc.

sema
) use body movement and music to achieve the state.

Types and varieties

  • Agape or "Divine Love": the term agape appears in the Odyssey twice, where the word describes something that creates contentedness within the speaker.
  • 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 incarnations, it is likewise used towards Shiva by followers of Shaivism
    . Saints in these traditions exhibit different trance states or ecstasy.
  • Communion: In the
    mystical
    experiences with no significance to anyone but the person experiencing them.
  • In
    Paul are recorded in Acts
    10:10, 11:5 and 22:17.
  • In hagiography (writings on the subject of Christian saints) many instances are recorded in which saints are granted ecstasies. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia,[13] religious ecstasy (called supernatural ecstasy) includes two elements: one, interior and invisible, in which the mind rivets its attention on a religious subject, and another, corporeal and visible, in which the activity of the senses is suspended, reducing the effect of external sensations upon the subject and rendering him or her resistant to awakening.
  • worshippers of Dionysus, the Greek god of mystery, wine and intoxication, and the Roman god Bacchus. 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 fawnskins and carrying the thyrsus, and dancing with wild abandon. They were also characterized as entranced women, wandering through the forests and hills.[14] 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.
  • Norse berserkers 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.
  • religious
    ) quality or essence.
  • self
    may strongly change or disappear during ecstasy.
  • Nirvikalpa samādhi. Different traditions have different understanding of Samādhi.[15]
  • Some charismatic Christians practice ecstatic states (called, e.g., "being slain in the Spirit") and interpret these as given by the Holy Spirit.
  • Trance states have also long been used by
    religions, such as Tibetan Buddhism. Australian shamanism has been observed.[16][17]

Divination

omens or an alleged supernatural agency. Divination often entails ritual
, and is often facilitated by trance.

Nechung Oracle

In Tibet, oracles 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 media 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.[20]

Scientific disciplines

Convergent disciplines of

kinesthetic modality.[21]

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. [citation needed
]

Brainwaves and brain rhythms

See also: Neural oscillation

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.[22]

The University of Philadelphia study on some Christians at the Freedom Valley Worship Center in

xenoglossia
).

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.[26][3] Quantitative EEG mapping and  low resolution electromagnetic tomography show that shamanic trance involves a shift from the normally dominant left analytical to the right experiential mode of self-experience, and from the normally dominant anterior prefrontal to the posterior somatosensory mode.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Online Etymology Dictionary". Etymonline.com. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  2. ^ "A Gentle Introduction to Trance Theory | the Trance Institute". Archived from the original on 8 December 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
  3. ^
    S2CID 7912635
    .
  4. PMID 35222195
    .
  5. doi:10.1525/ac.1995.6.1.17
    .
  6. ^
    ISBN 0-8069-1765-2
    .
  7. ^ (Shamanic Trance in Modern Kabbalah, 2011)
  8. Why do People Sing? Music in Human Evolution
    . Logos, 2011
  9. PMID 27559306
    .
  10. PMID 25452734
    .
  11. doi:10.1525/res.2022.3.1.28
    .
  12. ^ Wier DR (15 September 2006). "A Suggested Model for Trance". The Trance Institute. Archived from the original on 15 September 2006. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  13. ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Ecstasy". newadvent.org.
  14. ^ Wiles, David (2000). Greek Theatre Performance: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press. Source: [1]
  15. ^ Sarbacker SR (2012). Samadhi: The Numinous and Cessative in Indo-Tibetan Yoga. SUNY Press. p. 13.
  16. ^ 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."
  17. ^ 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."
  18. S2CID 239709916
    .
  19. doi:10.29164/19divination
    .
  20. ^ "Nechung - the State Oracle of Tibet". Archived from the original on 5 December 2006. Retrieved 23 January 2007.
  21. ^ "Les étranges pouvoirs de la transe sur le cerveau étudiés à l'université". Le Monde.fr (in French). 18 November 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  22. ^ "What is the function of the various brainwaves?". Scientific American. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  23. S2CID 17079826
    .
  24. S2CID 9230941
    .
  25. S2CID 28963938
    .
  26. S2CID 208303833
    .

Further reading

External links

Look up trance in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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