The paper offers critical reflections on the project of redefining the principles of religious and cultural studies proposed by Wouter Hanegraaff as part of his project of discovery of Western esotericism. The ideas of Hanegraaff’s most recent book “Hermetic Spirituality and Historical Imagination: Alternative States of Knowledge in Late Antiquity” are taken as a starting point. It is shown...
Neutral hypnosis offers a valuable state for researchers interested in the nature of consciousness. By minimizing external influences and suggestions, it allows for the investigation of the intrinsic qualities of hypnotic consciousness and its relationship to normal waking states. Studies have shown that neutral hypnosis can result in a significant shift in self-perception. Self-consciousness...
AbstractThis chapter examines the relationship between trance, possession, and madness in both classical and ritual performance traditions of Keralam. Through detailed analysis of Kathakali, Kutiyattam, and ritual practices such as Teyyam and Guruti at Chottanikkara, it explores how altered states of consciousness are performed, understood, and codified within specific cultural frameworks. In...
AbstractMysticism is mostly employed in the context of theistic religions because historically, mysticism aims at a unification with God. It must be clarified if the project of comparative mysticism that this book suggests can be properly carried out when including non-theistic religions. The chapter examines phenomena such as quietism, ekstasis, and contemplation. Further, the relationship...
AbstractThis chapter lays the philosophical groundwork for a realist phenomenological analysis of the psychedelic experience. As the academic study of psychedelic consciousness emerges, this work contributes a novel approach by employing realist phenomenology—a tradition yet to be systematically applied to psychedelic states. Rather than pursuing metaphysical speculation directly, the focus...
Alterations in consciousness have long been used to enhance creativity. Here, we focus on the ways in which hypnosis and psychedelics alter consciousness to enhance creativity, drawing on both research and first-hand accounts. The research utilizes standard measures of creativity as well as assessments of artistic, musical, and work-related problem-solving ability. First-hand accounts of...
This article tries to define and reach a deep understanding of the intimate nature behind the present-day situation in science and medicine, and how this affects nowadays the human crisis of the world. It also shows how at the base of all these problems rests the stagnant stage of the level of consciousness of rational thinking of the status quo: namely, modern rationality as the unique...
Exposure to rapid and bright stroboscopic light has long been reported to induce vivid visual hallucinations of colour and geometric formations. This phenomenon was first documented by Purkinje over 200 years ago. Since then, significant progress has been made in understanding the effects of stroboscopic light and the experiences it induces through multiple waves of interest from the...
A Ganzfeld is a homogeneous visual field, devoid of any focal points. Such a stimulus has been used by researchers to study perceptual phenomena in the absence of changes in sensory structure. Others have used it to study altered states of consciousness (ASCs). Until now, these different facets have been studied separately with little attention for the emotional subjective experience. This...
In the 1970s, researchers and theoreticians of states of consciousness jointly discussed hypnosis and psychedelic alterations of consciousness, but recent research has mostly kept these topics apart. This paper discusses the similarities and differences of hypnosis and psychedelic alterations of consciousness, stressing that states of consciousness should not be defined by their preceding...