Forms of “altered” consciousness are common in human life yet at the same time (apart from dreams) seldom investigated in depth by anthropologists. The main areas where such states of consciousness have been found, and up to a point studied, are dreaming, including prophetic and creative dreams; sensations of contact of various kinds with and from the dead; the experience of music, poetry and...
Shamanism and possession are central concepts in the religious practices of many “premodern” societies, with substantial similarities manifested across cultures and time that reflect their basis in human nature. Shamans and possession both involve ritual alteration of consciousness but differences between them are illustrated by cross‐cultural studies and the distinctive experiential features...
After a brief review of the history of the idea of an activity-increasing hypnotic induction procedure with eyes open and pedaling a bicycle ergometer, the features of active-alert hypnotic induction are summarized. Results of research conducted on healthy volunteers revealed the behavioral, experiential, physiological, and interactional characteristics of the induced altered state of...
In recent years, the scientific study of meditation and psychedelic drugs has seen remarkable developments. The increased focus on meditation in cognitive neuroscience has led to a cross-cultural classification of standard meditation styles validated by functional and structural neuroanatomical data. Meanwhile, the renaissance of psychedelic research has shed light on the neurophysiology of...
This chapter discusses how hypnotic inductions can be accomplished through associational strategies or dissociational strategies as the basis for trance development. It provides an induction transcript with detailed commentary. The transcript illustrates how associational and dissociational techniques blend together and emphasizes some practical points regarding clinical inductions. The chapter...
‘Ecstasy’, long considered a primary experiential marker of shamanism, has been conflated with Mircea Eliade’s description of ‘cataleptic trance’ and the subsequent notion of an ‘altered state of consciousness’. More recent scholarship contests this fixation on the mental state of shamanism, whether in the Arctic or its presumed geographical migration elsewhere. We retrieve the more common...
Historically the exclusive purview of contemplative religious paths, awakening into nonduality was considered the pinnacle of human attainment, even if, in some traditions, it proved to be the threshold to even more sublime states. Awakening was traditionally available only to dedicated elite seekers, usually renunciates who practiced for years in monastic communities, their progress directed...
경주 황남동 석곽묘군에서 집중적으로 출토된 신라 부착토우의 공간적 편재성(偏在性)과 부착토우 제작자의 성격을 이해하기 위해 최근에 조사, 보고된 경주 쪽샘유적 출토품을 포함하여 현재까지 보고된 경주지역 신라 부착토우의 표현 대상과 방식을 살펴보았다. 이를 통해 지금까지 보고된 부착토우는 제작 방식에서는 과감한 과장과 생략 기법을 공유하면서도 그 표현 소재는 일정한 레퍼토리로 한정되는데 그러한 소재의 거의 대부분이 황남동 석곽묘군 출토품에서 확인됨을 알 수 있었다. 이러 한 부착토우의 공간적 편재성과 표현 방식의 공통성 및 소재의 한정성을 설명하기 위해 샤머니즘과 ASC 및 미니어처에 대한 비교문화적인 연구 성과를 검토하였다. 그에 기반하여 신라의 부착토우는 신라인의 일상이나 희로애락, 또는 재생,...
A 54-year-old otherwise healthy man presented with altered mental status. On admission, the patient was confused and agitated, with a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of 11, suggesting moderate brain injury. He was sedated, placed on a ventilator, and started on tobramycin and ceftazidime for presumed bacterial meningitis, but switched to ceftriaxone once cultures returned as Escherichia coli....
Dear Editor, An 18 year old woman with an altered level of consciousness presented with friends at 03:00 to the ED having consumed alcohol throughout the evening and ingesting two tablets at midnight that she presumed to be 3,4-methylenedioxy methamphetamine (MDMA). She had no past medical history and was not on any regular medications. On arrival, she was haemodynamically normal (heart rate 81...