I know Thal wants us to post 101s and info threads... but I'm not one for posting up articles as new threads (I'm much better at answering threads than starting them). I do want to see some action in here, though... so instead of 'Rae'ya's article about altered states of consciousness' I'm posting 'the thread for our collective experiences with altered states of consciousness'.
For those who aren't familiar with the concept... an altered state of consciousness (ASC) is generally considered to be any state that is not your everyday operating consciousness, which can be measured through brain wave frequency (normal waking consciousness is usually beta wave). Usually it relates to things like a trance state, certain meditative states, ritual consciousness, and states where you may do ritual, divination, spirit communication, mediumship, magick or psychism. Specifically related to shamanism, it's usually the state (or states) where we perform spirit communication, soul retrieval, healing and/or journeying.
Altering our state of consciousness can be done via a number of techniques: drumming or percussion, repetitive movements, dance, rhythmic music, chanting, breath work, swaying, enthoegens (drugs and alcohol, both legal and illegal), meditation, pain, sex, sensory deprivation, sensory overload, ritual, temperature changes, fasting, asceticism, sleep deprivation, kundalini rising... the list goes on.
So tell me... what do you do to alter your state of consciousness? What altered state/s do you use? Are you a fan of excitatory methods or inhibitory methods, or both? What do you do in ASC? Do you have different methods for different purposes. What are your success stories? What are your failures? Talk to us about ASC... how, why, where, what... everything and anything you can think to add...
For those who aren't familiar with the concept... an altered state of consciousness (ASC) is generally considered to be any state that is not your everyday operating consciousness, which can be measured through brain wave frequency (normal waking consciousness is usually beta wave). Usually it relates to things like a trance state, certain meditative states, ritual consciousness, and states where you may do ritual, divination, spirit communication, mediumship, magick or psychism. Specifically related to shamanism, it's usually the state (or states) where we perform spirit communication, soul retrieval, healing and/or journeying.
Altering our state of consciousness can be done via a number of techniques: drumming or percussion, repetitive movements, dance, rhythmic music, chanting, breath work, swaying, enthoegens (drugs and alcohol, both legal and illegal), meditation, pain, sex, sensory deprivation, sensory overload, ritual, temperature changes, fasting, asceticism, sleep deprivation, kundalini rising... the list goes on.
So tell me... what do you do to alter your state of consciousness? What altered state/s do you use? Are you a fan of excitatory methods or inhibitory methods, or both? What do you do in ASC? Do you have different methods for different purposes. What are your success stories? What are your failures? Talk to us about ASC... how, why, where, what... everything and anything you can think to add...
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