Chapter 5 ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS. Altered states of consciousness are mental states that...
-
Upload
sheila-day -
Category
Documents
-
view
241 -
download
10
Transcript of Chapter 5 ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS. Altered states of consciousness are mental states that...
Altered states of consciousness are mental states that are different from normal states
Frequently used in religious ritualsThe definition of this is subjective and varies by
culture
introduction
Altered states of thinking: changes in concentration, attention, or memory
Disturbed time: acceleration or slowing of timeLoss of control: feeling helpless, give control up to
spiritsChange of emotions: sudden changes of emotional
extremes
characteristics
Change in body image: blurring of body and mind; parts of the body swell or shrink; out of body experience
Perceptual distortions: hallucinations, heightened senses
Change in meaning: increased significance in experiences
Sense of ineffable: cannot communicate to someone not in the same state
Rejuvenation: sense of hope, rebirth; confidence in religious specialists
characteristics
Reduction of stimulation or repetitive stimulation: Solitary confinement, sleep
Sensory overload or strenuous activity: Spirit possession, trances
Factors that cause asc
Increased and sustained mental alertness: Prolonged concentration on a specific task
Decreased alertness or passive mind: Meditation, daydreaming, relaxation
Alterations in body chemistry: Fasting, dehydration, sleep deprivation, drugs
Sweat lodge
Involves abstaining from food and/or drink or other activities (sex)
Alters body chemistryUsually only for short period of time or parts of
each dayCan be seen as a:
Form of disciplineForm of trainingCleansing ritual
fasting
Old and New Testaments:Moses and Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights
Jewish practice of Yom Kippur:Day of Atonement, fast from sunset to sunset next day
Catholic and Orthodox Churches:Fasting from certain foods
Islamic practice of Ramadan:Abstain from food, drink, sex, smoking from sunup to sundown for one month
fasting
Pain can also lead to ASCPain may be
Punishment (Eve, Hindu bad karma)Purifying (Monks who whip themselves)A weapon (Christ’s pain on cross)Source of supernatural power (exorcism)
Sacred pain
People often share religious pain, but it can be individualistic
Example is stigmata, or marks on the body that correspond to Jesus’ wounds
Sacred pain
Other examples of inflicting religious pain:Piercing tongue, face, genitalsPulling string with thorns through these wounds
Can also be associated with rites of passageRemember the ant initiation?Tattooing, scarification, piercing, circumcision all show that the person can withstand intense pain
Intense prolonged pain can lead to euphoria or as healing
Sacred pain
What is occurring in the brain during ASC?Some scientists believe that religious visions are
really hallucinations from migraines Nun Hildegard in the 1100s
Studies have shown that fast rhythmic behavior affects the sympathetic system and may shut the brain down
One specific part, orientation association structure, blurs the boundaries of the body and other objects, leading to a unitary state
Biological Basis
Many cultures use drugs to achieve ASCAn example is the use of peyote in the Native
American ChurchThese drugs help the people contact supernatural
powers
Drug-induced Altered States
Category Examples Effects
Euphoria Morphine, Heroin Reduces brain activity and leads to euphoric feeling
Phantastica Marijuana, Peyote Causes hallucinations, delirium, visions
Inebriantia Alcohol Intoxicates, brings about cerebral excitation followed by depression
Hypnotica Xanax Sedates, kills pain
Excitania Coffee, Tobacco, Cocaine
Stimulates
Tranquilizer Valium Reduces anxiety and produces mental calm
Drug-induced Altered States
The ritual setting is important
There is a difference between recreational and ritual drug use
Ritual drug use is done at certain times and with certain rules; addiction usually does not follow
Drug-induced altered states
Traditional healing in tribal societies is often described as shamanism
"fully 90% of the world's cultures make use of one or more institutionalized altered states of consciousness, and in traditional societies these are, almost without exception, sacred states" (Walsh, 1996, p. 101).
Spirit travel (or soul journeys) by the healer while in an altered state of consciousness
Native American healing
Salish Spirit Dancing:
Among the Salish Indians of the Pacific Coast of North America, Spirit Dancing is practiced as an initiation process for young people who are seen as suffering from spirit illness due to alienation from traditional Indian ways
The healer's job is to "kill" the initiates' faulty and diseased old selves, to let them awaken with a potential for change
"shock treatment"
Also used to treat mental illness
Native American healing
Initiates are secluded in a dark cubicle or "smokehouse tent." Then several people seize the initiates, restrain them,
blindfold them, and hit, bite, and tickle them. The person is lifted up and dropped, carried around, and
whirled aboutAcoustic stimulation (loud rapid drumming, rattling, singing,
and howling). This process is repeated four times until the initiate is weak,
pale, rigid, and appears lifeless on the ground. The initiates are blindfolded for the whole four days, must lie
still, cannot talk or move, and have to fast (although they are teased and tested by people holding tasty bits of salmon held close to their mouths).
Native American healing
The second part of the process is physical training. There are long daily runs, often barefoot in snow, daily swimming in ice-cold waters, and frequent rounds of dancing to the drums, until the initiates are exhausted.
Sometime during the process the guardian spirit is expected to appear in a dream or vision.
The third part of the process is indoctrination. This includes the direct teaching of the rules and sanctions of the tribe and the recounting of traditional tribal lore.
Finally, the initiates take off their old clothes and get new clothes to signify their new life after the cure of the spirit illness. The old personality is shed and the young person is presented to the public as an adult (Amoss, 1978).
Native American healing
1. Holiness ChurchesIndependent churches in Appalachia (West
Virginia)Use concentrated, intense prayer and music to
enter into ASC (no drugs)Speak in tongues, enter trancesInterpret this as being filled with Holy SpiritHandle snakes and drink poison
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwBVcsWYJd8
Ethnographic examples
2. San Healing Rituals!Kung (Kalahari Desert, South Africa)Believe that an energy (n/um), given to them by
the gods, lives in their spineAs they experience !kia the energy moves up the
spine to the brainBring this state about by dancing to singersWhen they are in this state they can heal others
(pull sickness out of person)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyLF3y1YJKA
Ethnographic examples
RastafariansAfro-Caribbean religions that sees former emperor
of Ethiopia as messiahConnect with Israelites in the Old TestamentWant to repatriate black people to AfricaReject Western consumerism and want healthy
lifestyle No chemicals, don’t cut hair (dreadlocks), herbal
remediesSmoke ganga, or marijuana, as “holy herb”
Cite references from Bible
Ethnographic examples