ISSN# 1053-4202

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NTHROPOLOGY
F CONSCIOUSNESS
SOCIETY FOR THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Copyright 1994 American Anthropological Association. All rights reserved.
Volume 5, Number 2 June 1994
Shamanism and Altered States of Consciousness
Douglass Price-Williams
Departments of Psychiatry and Anthropology
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Dureen J. Hughes
Department of Anthropology
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Abstract
There has been a renewed interest in psychology and anthropology in
the idea of altered states of consciousness. This paper begins by examining
the meaning of this term and the extent to which such experiences are
reported globally. The topic of shamanism is then discussed, first with respect
to its social functions, and then to what is known about its psychological
aspects (which is little). Far more is known about altered states of
consciousness (ASCs) as they are expressed in meditation, trance and
possession, and channeling, and a number of studies are reviewed, both of
individuals and of groups, which illustrate the full extent of ASCs. The
following section then goes more deeply into the stimulus situations that are
associated with ASCs. This brings the discussion into drugs, attempts at
altering the sensorium (music and imagery in particular) and recent
technological innovations, peculiar to our time, which deliberately alter our
usual state of awareness through feedback principles. In the final section,
what is known about the physiology of ASCs is reviewed and also the extent
to which these phenomena, including shamanism, are regarded as
pathological. As a great number of people across the world utilize the healing
aspects of trance, possession and shamanic practices, this aspect is discussed,
and lastly the adaptive functions of ASCs are considered, with their context
in the history of psychology.
Review of Key Definitions and Classifications
There has recently been a resurgence of interest in shamanism, altered
states of consciousness, and consciousness studies in general as evidenced by
journals such as Anthropology of Consciousness; Journal ofTranspersonal
continued next page
Contents
Articles
Shamanism and Altered
States of Consciousness
Douglass Price-Williams
and Dureen Hughes
Multidisciplinary
Perspectives
on Consciousness
Michael Winkelman
Review
Self and Consciousness:
Multiple Perspectives
Edited by Frank S. Kessel,
Pamela M. Cole,
and Dale L. Johnson
(Helmut Wautischer)
16
26
2 Anthropology of Consciousness
[ 5 ( 2 ) J
Psychology; Journal of Humanistic Psychology; Imagination,
Cognition and Personality (previously Journal of Altered States
of Consciousness); Consciousness and Cognition; ReVision; and
Shamans Drum, as well as a plethora of popular books on
these subjects. Indeed, in the field of psychology,
transpersonal psychology has matured into a generally
recognized division or subfield. These academic
developments might perhaps be reflective of a larger societal
interest in "all things transpersonal" as embodied in the
much maligned, but nevertheless objectively extant New
Age Movement.
Tart has broadly defined an altered state of consciousness
(A3C) as one in which the individual:
clearly feels a qualitative shift in his patterns of
mental functioning, that is, he feels not just a
quantitative shift (more or less alert, more or less
visual imagery, sharper or duller, etc.), but also that
some quality or qualities of his mental processes are
different. Mental functions operate that do not
operate at all ordinarily, perceptual qualities appear
that have no normal counterparts, and so forth."
(1969:2, emphasis in original)
An early, but comprehensive (and therefore still widely
cited) general description of altered states of consciousness
(ASCs) has been provided by Ludwig (1969). He has
identified ten factors which "tend to be characteristic of most
ASCs, to greater or lesser degree." They are: alterations in
thinking, disturbed time sense, loss of control, change in
emotional expression, body-image change, perceptual
distortions, change in meaning or significance, sense of the
ineffable, feelings of rejuvenation, and hypersuggestibility
(Ludwig 1969.13-17).
The term "altered states of consciousness" appears to
have survived in the literature over the years, but it is worth
noting that Zinberg (1977:1) suggested the term alternate, on
the ground that it makes clear that "different states of
consciousness prevail at different times for different reasons
and that no one state is considered standard." The same
reasoning should be applied to the now accepted term
"altered," even though the semantics suggest an alteration
from a usual base-line consciousness.
Be that as it may, while experiences of this nature may
initially appear to be strange, uncommon, or even in some
sense pathological, it has been found that ASCs are virtually
universal in their distribution across human societies. In a
sample of 488 societies, Bourguignon found that fully 90%
exhibit institutionalized, culturally patterned forms of altered
states of consciousness (1973). As Bourguignon has pointed
out, the capacity to experience ASCs seems to be part of the
psychobiological heritage of our species (1973). Others such
as Weil (1972) and Siegel (1989) have gone so far as to
postulate a species-wide innate drive to experience ASCs.
A variety of different models for categorizing altered
states of consciousness have been proposed including method
of induction (Ludwig 1969), observable manifestations
(including physiological indicators) (Fischer 1971; Lex 1976;
Winkelman 1986), phenomenology (Peters and Price-
Williams 1980, 1983), and level of societal complexity
(Bourguignon 1973). Methods of induction are discussed
below in the section regarding analysis of stimulus situations,
while physiological aspects are discussed in the final section.
Locke and Kelly have defined phenomenological aspects
of ASCs as "the moments of experience that define states of
consciousness from the perspective of the experient"
(1985:40) The phenomenology (experiential component) of
altered states of consciousness varies widely (see Peters and
Price-Williams [1983] for a review of this literature). Much
phenomenological content seems clearly to be derived from
pre-existing cultural constructs, as well as specific situational
demands (Hughes 1991; Peters and Price-Williams 1980; Van
Der Walde 1968), making these aspects instrumental to an
understanding of behavior during the altered state of
consciousness.
In terms of phenomenology, one of the ways of
categorizing ASCs has been with regard to whether or not an
"other" is experienced during the altered state. Bourguignon
(1973) has defined "possession trance" as "states interpreted
by the societies in which they occur as due to possession by
spirits" and "trance" as "states not so interpreted." It might
be noted that these are categories of cultural interpretation as
well as phenomenological experience. Bourguignon (1973)
has also found a statistical association between societal
complexity and the existence of possession trance
institutions: trance states without possession are found in the
simplest societies, trance states both with and without
possession are found in intermediate societies, and possession
trance states are found in the most complex societies.
Exceptions do occur which Bourguignon attributes to
historical and ecological factors, while Greenbaum (1973)
hypothesized that it is societal rigidity in complex societies
which increases the likelihood of institutionalized possession
trance.
Pattison, Kahan and Hurd (1986) have built on
Bourguignon's classifications, noting that "trance" is an
intrapersonal event, while "possession trance" is an
interpersonal event. Both "modes of consciousness" are
considered "normal" (as opposed to psychopathological)
insofar as they are culturally prescribed, learned and practiced
and are within the scope of usual, acceptable and normal
activity within the society in which they are practiced, so
long as they appear within appropriate cultural context.
However, they go on to distinguish between "normal"
possession trance, "possession behavior (neurotic)," and
"possession behavior (psychotic)" (1986:288-289).
Possession behavior (neurotic) is viewed as a vehicle of
symptom expression and resolution and "although the
psychodynamics are neurotic processes, the behavior is often
accepted by the culture as appropriate behavior for conflict
resolution" (1986:289). Possession behavior (psychotic) is
deemed to include such "culture-bound reactive syndromes"
as amok, lotah, koro, imu, witiko ["wmdigo"], pibloktok, and ntp
negi, all of which "are characterized by stereotyped behavior,
usually of psychotic proportion, that the culture recognizes as
clearly pathological' (1986:289, emphasis in original). It
June 1994 ^Shamanism and Altered States of Consciousness 3
might be noted that this system of classification seeks a
synthesis of ways by which to categorize ASCs, i.e.
phenomenology ("modes of consciousness"), the viewpoint of
other members of the culture in which the behavior is found
(categories of cultural interpretation), and those categories
pertinent to "Western" psychology/psychiatry. While such
systems of classification are extremely useful in terms of
organizing large amounts of varied and initially confusing
data, their danger lies in the reification of our own (Western)
conceptions with regard to basic mental processes and their
functions. In so doing, one of the primary aims of cross-
cultural anthropological inquiry (inductive theory building
with regard to the nature of human beings) may be
undermined.
Shamanism
Social Aspects
Theories regarding the origins and meaning of
shamanism have proliferated in the anthropological,
psychological and comparative religion literature. Despite
the significant amount of attention devoted to shamanism,
there is much confusion regarding its ancestry and essential
properties. We believe this is the case not only because a
consensus has yet to be reached as to its basic features, but
because the development of the literature has reflected
various disciplines and theoretical perspectives. Due to this
lack of consensus, ethnographic researchers have put forward
definitions which are at times at variance with each other.
Solutions to this confusion in the literature have been
attempted from two opposing directions: one limits the
phenomenon to a few basic elements, to the exclusion of
others, thereby distinguishing shamans from witchdoctors,
prophets, seers, mediums, priests, etc. The other emphasizes
more inclusive definitions, pointing up broad similarities.
The former approach is often biased, disregarding the overlap
in categories of the numerous functions shamans in various
cultures perform, which indeed are not, from a strict point of
view, shamanic at all. The latter perspective often lends
itself to indistinctiveness, making it difficult to get a sense of
the uniqueness of shamanism and how it differs from other
religious roles and experience.
We can begin with referring to Mircea Eliade (1951/
1972), whose early book on the subject may be said to have
established its importance in the history of religion. Eliade
arrived at the conclusion that shamanism was and is an
archaic technique of ecstasy. He gave priority to a particular
type of trance, characterized by what has been called a
"magical flight" or "soul journey," in which the shaman, in a
visionary state, understands that his soul has departed from
his body, embarking on a mystical voyage in which he or she
either ascends to a heaven or descends to an underworld, or
just travels to mythical worlds. According to Eliade, this
experience is part and parcel of the human condition. That
is to say, ecstasy is pre-eminently a psychological condition, a
"non-historical phenomenon." In his view the shaman's
experience of ecstasy is like other psychological experiences,
such as dreaming or anxiety or imagination, which are pan-
human and not to be sought for its origin in a particular
culture or a specific moment in history. This is not to claim,
however, that shamanism is devoid of cultural context.
Indeed, the very opposite of this statement is true. The
purpose of ecstasy varies according to culture: typical cultural
themes in which ecstasy may occur are the initiatory journey,
the search for the soul of a sick person that the shaman is
treating, the sacrifice to the gods or the leading of souls of
the dead to the underworld. Eliade insisted that the ecstatic
experience was what he called primordial, a universal
psychological experience. This was the primary element of
shamanism. There were secondary elements of shamanism,
which were more culture bound and which introduced
elements according to the specific nature of the culture.
In another work Eliade (1958:77ff) made an important
distinction between two types of religious/psychological
states. This is between the yogic state o(enstasis and the
shamanic state of ecstasy, which we have just been discussing.
Enstasis is the same as samadhi, the ultimate result of Hindu-
Buddhist meditation techniques. It means union, totality,
complete concentration. It is a psychological state in which
the yogi or meditator is completely closed to external stimuli.
The classic Yoga system of Patanjali distinguished between
samadhi with support (differentiated) and a higher samadhi
without support (undifferentiated) in which no feeling of
"otherness" entered the awareness of the yogi, and normal
consciousness vanished completely. The differentiated
enstasis entails an inner identification with a deity as the
object of meditation. In Eliade's view this type of experience
is similar to descriptions of possession experienced by
shamans. He considered that the Hindu-Buddhist
techniques of meditation and their philosophy directly
influenced North and Central Asian shamanism.
There is a further aspect of shamanism that needs to be
mentioned, which is a near universal theme in folklore and
mythology. This is the notion of a "master of animals," a
figure that is protector of game and helper to the hunter.
The so-called "game guardian complex" has a fundamental
belief in the animal soul and in the belief that animals have a
master or father. The supernatural master of animals is the
"owner" of the animal species, a spirit which sees to it that
the fertility of the hunted species is ensured. As La Barre
(1970:164) put if. "Hunters eat the flesh of their kill and
hope that its 'life' will return incarnate." Shamans intervene
in the process of maintaining and restoring balance through
magical manipulation of spirits, containing the anxiety of the
group. The masters of animals, like shamans themselves, are
not noted for their morality; they are often trickster-like
figures and culture heroes who outwit and beguile fate, like
Coyote and Raven of North American Indian shamanism.
Ultimately, however, the powers of the animals, like the
powers attributed to shamans themselves, can be thought of
as psychological displacements, projections and fantasies
regarding worldly affairs. Shamans are believed to possess
mana, revealing a world characterized by what Freud (1913/
1975) called tht "omnipotence of thought," making
indistinct the boundaries of men, animals, spirits and the
4 Anthropology of Consciousness
[ 5 ( 2 ) ]
natural world. The shaman indeed is believed by many
groups to be able to change from man to animal and back
again, and further to be able to dispatch his soul outside of
himself, and in general be able to manipulate nature through
magical rites (see La Barre 1970:176).
Shamanism is still prevalent in the regions of northern
Europe, northern and central Asia and in both North and
South America but as Backman and Hiiltkrantz (1978:27)
have emphasized, "it is evident that shamanism is deeply
anchored in the old hunting cultures with their
individualism, animal-spirit beliefs and hunting symbolism."
It is this heritage that underpins the "master of animals"
aspect, and it raises the concern of the various social
functions that the shaman serves. Following Backman and
Hiiltkrantz (1978:15-16) again, they distinguish four
functions.
The first is that of healer; although all healers are not
shamans, it is true to state that healing is a pretty universal
function of the shaman. The concept of healing involves
paying attention to two different ideas of causation regarding
illness. The first is that the patient is ill because his soul has
been either lost or taken away, and so the shaman has to
make a magical flight to find and rescue it. The second is
that of intrusion, either by an object or a spirit, of the
patient's body; in this case the shaman's technique is to
withdraw the intruding agent, by sucking mainly, or perhaps
by ritual gestures such as sweeping. An example of this
approach comes from an old study of shamanism in Mexico,
in which the shaman rubs the body of the patient with an
unbroken egg. The action is called a "cleaning"; the idea is
that the egg absorbs the disease hidden in the patient's body
(Madsen 1955:51).
The second function is divination. Among the Ainu of
Japan (Ohnuki-Tiemey 1973:24) shamans are consulted to
locate missing persons or objects. The third is the spiritual
function of "psychopomp," escorting the souls of the dead to
their final destination. In Eliade's classic book on shamanism
(1951/1972:209-210) there is a good report of this from a
Siberian group:
The shaman begins by circling the yurt [tent],
beating his drum; then he enters the tent and, going
to the fire, invokes the deceased. Suddenly the
shaman's voice changes; he begins to speak in a high
pitch, in falsetto, for it is really the dead woman who
is speaking. She complains that she does not know
the road [i.e. to the land of the dead], that she is
afraid to leave her relatives, and so on, but finally
consents to the shaman's leading her, and the two
set off together for the supernatural realm.
Then the shaman finds that the newly dead person is
refused admission by the previous dead, and so an offer of
brandy is made until permission is granted. The dead person
successfully delivered, the shaman returns to the abode of the
living.
The fourth function is that of a hunting magician for the
group. This aspect of the shamans is well described by
ReicheUDolmatoff (1975:83-85) in his studies of shamanism
among theTukano of Columbia. There the shaman has a
special relationship with an entity called Vai-Mahse, the
supernatural Master of Animals; it is through this
supernatural entity that game and fish are found for the
community. The indigenous name for a shaman among the
Tukano is payi. Reichel-Dolmatoff writes (1975:85):
The paye\ lying in his hammock, will absorb the
narcotic powder and, in his trance, will ascend to
the Milky Way, the abode of Viho-Ma/ise [the Master
of Snuff]. With the latter's help he then enters the
hill where the Master of Animals dwells, and there
they begin to bargain for food or medicinal herb, for
vengeance upon enemies or for a successful hunting
season.
In some cases there is a sacrificial priest function
performed by shamans, but the above four functions,
although there are many variants in their enactment
according to region, can well be regarded as illustrative of the
role of the shaman all over the world.
Psychological Notions
We will discuss below the question of whether shamanic
behavior can be considered psychopathological, but there is a
widespread view that the shaman is a "wounded healer"
(Halifax 1982). This theory states that the shaman is indeed
a person who has been physically and psychologically
impaired, but one who has recovered from the disorder, a
notion that can be both compensatory and coping. The
shaman finds a role in the community, finding a medium of
expression of disorder that is not disruptive to the
community. In other words, having been wounded himself,
the shaman is thus able to heal the wounds of others.
Basically this viewpoint holds that the shaman is not really
cured, but that the social tolerance of the condition holds
the disorder in remission. The shamanic behavior, therefore,
acts only as a temporary defense of the basic illness. George
Devereux (1980) was a leading psychological anthropologist
who held this view, suggesting that sooner or later the
defense system would break down and the underlying mental
or personality disorder would manifest itself again. There is a
commonly held belief that the shaman must continually
practice his art or else be consumed by the very forces that he
controls.
Another approach to the psychology of the shaman is to
try and identify purely personality traits in the individual
shaman and avoid pathological typologies altogether. This
requires systematic observation of the shaman and/or the
application of clinical tests. There have not been many
anthropologists who have had the opportunity and the
necessary skills to undertake such a task; but there have been
two studies of this nature. One of them was performed by
Richard Shweder (see Lessa and Vogt 1972:407-412) who
investigated the cognitive abilities of shamans of the
Zinacanteco Indians who live in Chiapas, Mexico. Shweder
used photographs of objects familiar to the Zinacanteco
Indians which ranged from a complete blur to a perfectly
definfcd focus. The shaman-subjects and other matched
Zinacanteco Indians, who were not shamans, were merely
June 1994 ^Shamanism and Altered States of Consciousness
asked to specify what the photograph depicted, and if they
were not sure to say so. The results of the experiment
indicated that shamans avoided bafflement more than their
non-shaman colleagues; they tended to impose form on
ambiguous or chaotic data, and what is more, to generate
other possibilities of what the photograph might be other
than those offered by the experimentera trait that Shweder
considered as "inner-directed." Also, shamans were more
productive in their responses as compared to the matched
groups.
A second example has been the use of psychoanalytic
concepts for understanding the personality of the shaman
(Boyer 1962). While still keeping within the framework of
pathology, this study focused on suggested fixations in the
oral and phallic stages of development and saw the shaman as
a hysterical personality.
Altered States of Consciousness
Individual Studies
There have been a number of studies of specific
individuals who are particularly adept at experiencing altered
states of consciousness. Two of these, which have been done
at the Menninger Foundation with a yogi named Swami
Rama and with Jack Schwarz, are particularly notable
because of the strict laboratory conditions under which the
experiments were conducted. The focus of these studies has
been primarily physiological in nature although there have
also been some experiments in psychokinesis and psychic
perception. Briefly, Swami Rama demonstrated an ability to
simultaneously warm and cool different parts of his right
hand (11 degrees F. difference), which indicated voluntary
control of blood flow; to control the rate of his heartbeat and
stop his heart from pumping blood; and, in addition,
psychokinetically rotate a needle apparatus (Green and
Green 1977:197-218). Jack Schwarz demonstrated voluntary
control of pain and bleeding as well as extensive psychic
phenomena (Green and Green 1977:225-243).
Classical Yoga meditation practices are designed to
produce a permanent split in consciousness between an
observing self and a participating self through cultivation of
the ability to finely focus attention (Castillo 1990, 1992). In
his ethnographic study of Hindu Yogis in South Asia,
Castillo has documented this divided consciousness. He
states:
I am convinced that yogis use meditation and the
resulting division in consciousness to psychologically
escape problems in life, as well as emotional distress
and anxiety present in their primary personality.
They create a secondary self through meditation which
is removed from the problems and emotional distress
present in the life of the primary self. They thus
escape from the suffering of their ordinary lives.
(1992:4, emphasis added)
Eventually, this co-consciousness (of transpersonal and
personal consciousness) is experienced continuously; i.e.
there is a permanent alteration of consciousness, which is
understood by the Yogi as attaining liberation (moksha).
Deikman (1963, 1966), Kennedy (1976) and Castillo (1990)
have also reported cases of "depersonalization" and
"derealization" in individuals practicing meditative
techniques. While the results of meditative techniques can
be "understood" in terms of these Western psychiatric
categories in so far as they fit the criteria established for those
categories, it is important to note the absence of personal,
interpersonal and occupational impairment or dysfunction
experienced by the meditators (Castillo 1990).
Further, "in contrast to Western psychiatric patients,
whose experiences of divided consciousness are characterized
by panic and anxiety, the experiences of the yogis are normal
and normative religious experiences characterized by ecstasy
and bliss" (Castillo 1992:3). It is the cultural context which
is the determining factor. Moreover, even the predisposing
factors which lead to the decision to "renounce" the world in
order to become a yogi (i.e., emotional distress, anxiety,
depression and suffering) are not viewed as indicative of
illness in the Hindu worldview; rather "yogis view depression
as an accomplishmenta realization or deep spiritual insight
about the true nature of the world" (Castillo 1992:5,
emphasis in original). Thus, the results of actively sought
altered states of consciousness are perhaps less a confirmation
of the universality of Western categories of psychopathology
than an indication of the variety of uses to which techniques
of dissociation can be put.
There have also been a number of recent studies of
trance channels (Chandley 1986; Hastings 1991; Hughes
1990, 1991; Hughes and Melville 1990; Klimo 1987). Trance
channeling is a process in which the practitioner goes into
trance while an "other" entity "channels" through the
practitioner's body. While trance channeling shares many
similarities with nineteenth century Western Spiritualism or
mediumship, it is a distinctly late twentieth century, North
American phenomenon as practiced today, replete with
modern themes of personal growth and development, the fact
that trance channeling is often taught in semi-formal classes,
and so forth. (See Hughes 1991 for an ethnographic
description.) The broader culture, of which trance
channeling is a part, has a large influence in molding the
phenomena at a number of different levels of analysis,
including goals and purposes of the practitioners, personal
interpretation of the experience, the nature of the "entities,"
and much of the information the "entities" impart.
Several approaches have been made to the study of these
phenomena. Chandley has developed a seven-stage
personality developmental model which she states most
channels experience while becoming trance channels. These
stages are conceptualization, preparation, gestation,
recognition, activation, integration and maturation;
Chandley believes the ultimate result is a self-actualized
personality (Chandley 1986). This approach focused on
transpersonal aspects of the phenomena, and is consistent
with themes of personal growth and development which are
prevalent in the philosophy and channeled material of the
practitioners.
A psychophysiological approach has been taken by
6 Anthropology of Consciousness
[5(2)J
Hughes and Melville (1990), whose study is discussed in the
final section of this paper.
The apparent similarities between trance channeling and
multiple personality disorder have been explored by Hughes
(1990) using a structured interview approach. While
dissociation may lie at the heart of both types of phenomena,
they are very different with regard to etiology, function,
control and pathology.
Finally, Hastings (1991) has described a number of cases
of "exceptional channeling" in the areas of health diagnosis
and treatment (Edgar Cayce); literary creation (Pearl
Curran); mathematics (Srinivasa Ramanujan); music
(Rosemary Brown); art (Luiz Gasparetto); religion and
psychology (Jane Roberts, Helen Schucman); and gardening
(the Findhom community). Hastings has found several
characteristics common to all of these cases: there are a
variety of skills that come from outside the conscious mind of
the person; the creation of the material is effortless,
immediate, and spontaneous; the skills demonstrated are at a
level of exceptional human capabilities, though the channels
do not appear to have these qualities; and the channels
themselves are not abnormal or dysfunctional (1991:25).
Group Studies
The attainment of altered states of consciousness may be
private or public events. For example, the Indian celebration
of Thaipusam in Malaysia is an annual ceremonial event
where many Hindu devotees have their bodies pierced with
needles and hooks during a trance state and then complete a
pilgrimage through crowd-lined streets to a temple before
having the hooks and skewers removed. This practice, called
"bearing kavadi" is motivated by making a vow to a deity
either after a favor is received, or in hopes of achieving
success in areas such as occupational or educational pursuits,
family or financial difficulties, health concerns, and so forth.
The practice may also be a gesture of religious devotion
(Ward 1984). Temple rituals are performed to induce
"ecstatic" trance before the piercing is performed, in order to
control pain and bleeding (Ward 1984:307).
Trance practices such as these have been analyzed at a
variety of different levels. The Hindu community in
Malaysia is a small minority (less than 10%), and the
Thaipusam ceremonies not only attract attention, but also
preserve and intensify religious identification within the
group (Ward 1984:325). The public nature of the
ceremonies also serves as a way of attaining status within the
Hindu community. Ward has noted that while both women
and children tend to fulfill their vows early in the day before
large crowds assemble, "the most theatrical aspects are
concentrated in the young men in the 18-30 age bracket who
indulge in elaborate piercing and animated dancing
throughout the procession" (Ward 1984:325). The theatrical
aspects are not to be underestimated; regulations in Penang
limit cheek skewers to less than eight feet in length. Further,
vow fulfillment provides a sense of self-satisfaction and
contentment. Ward hypothesizes that the ritual experience
may also "offer therapeutic effects by the release of repressed
emotions in a fashion kin to psychiatric abreaction," insofar
as norms of everyday behavior are contravened during the
ceremony (1984:326).
Another very well documented example of ceremonial
possession trance are the vodou cults in Haiti. Vodou is a
syncretic religion containing elements of Catholicism as well
as several African cultures. Trance induction is through
drumming, dancing and song; spirits are invited to rituals
offered in their honor and are asked to help in curing, in
magic and in giving advice (Bourguignon 1976/1991:24).
During the trance, the personality of the individual is
displaced and his or her body is taken over (possessed) by the
spirit. Bourguignon has noted with regard to Haitian vodou:
Possession trance offers alternative roles which
satisfy certain individual needs, and it does so by
providing the alibi that the behavior is that of spirits
and not of the human beings themselves. And
furthermore, in order for human beings to play such
assertive roles, they must be totally passive, giving
over their bodies to what are ego-alien forces. In a
hierarchical society, demanding submission to those
in authority, one acquires authority by identification
with symbols of power, identification which goes as
far as the total assumption of the other's identity,
total loss of one's own. In this authoritarian society,
it is possible to act out dominance fantasies by
pretending, to self as well as others, total passivity
and subjection. (1976/1991:40)
A number of other studies have examined the public
nature and context of certain ASCs (see for example, Besmer
1983; Goodman, Henney and Pressel 1974/1982; Perez y
Mena 1991). While it is convenient to separate ASCs on
the basis of their context, i.e. private vs. public events, for
the purpose of examining their social ramifications, it should
perhaps be borne in mind that to the extent that
consciousness itself is a private realm, altered states are also.
Further, there are both public and private contexts for the
types of activities detailed in the above section entitled
"Individual Studies."
Analysis of Stimulus Situations
Drugs
The relationship of shamanism in particular, and other
religious activities in general, to the use of psychoactive drugs
has a very extensive literature. The fact that many plants
contain elements that trigger mind-altering conditions has
caught the attention not only of psychologists and
anthropologists, but of ethno-botanists and pharmacologists,
as well as historians of religion. The vast literature extends
into these areas. Plants such as the cactus, mushroom,
specific vines and fungi, and seeds of certain shrubs, have all
been discovered to contain powerful chemical agents that
elicit hallucinogenic states in the individual that partakes of
them. Of course, as Siegel (1989) has clearly pointed out,
the outcome of these altered states depends not only on the
quality and quantity of the specific plant substance; it also
depends on the physical nature of the individual, the mental
set of the person and the setting in which it is applied. A
June 1994
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Shamanism and Altered States of Consciousness 7
distinction also needs to be made between the ingestion of
plants in their natural state and ingestion of the chemical
agent alone that is synthesized from the plant. For example,
the well known chemical d-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD),
is a derivative of ergot. Morning-glory seeds have been found
to contain LSD-like compounds and their psychological
effects are similar, though not identical, to effects of the
laboratory synthesized LSD. The nature of the drug
preparation is also a further variable that needs to be assessed
when considering its effects. For example, Wasson (cited in
Furst 1976:65) pointed out that in the natural environment,
if morning-glory seeds are taken whole or if they are cracked,
no discemable results are experienced. The seeds have to be
treated as indeed the Mexican Indians treat them: they have
to be finely ground and then the flour is allowed to be soaked
briefly in water. The mental set of the individual, the setting
in which the psychoactive drug is taken, and, in addition, the
ritual preparations which the person undertakes before the
ingestion of the drug, are all heavily influenced by culture.
Particularly it has been observed that the same drug may
produce negative results if taken alone; when ingested in a
group setting or with a guide the results are quite different.
The heavy emphasis on the expectations of the drug user and
the general social support of the act itself place critical
importance on the symbolical and mythological systems of
the enveloping culture. The images arising in the mind of
the drug participant usually have mythological referents that
are meaningful in the religious system.
Sensory Alterations
We now consider methods which involve alterations of
sensory and image processes, which may be used either
independently or in parallel with drugs. Four specific areas
are noteworthy. The first is in the domain of music and
sound, in particular drumming in the case of shamanism.
The second is dancing and movement in general. The third
is imagery, which is either stimulated by direct concentration
on a stimulus figure or is elicited by deprivation of the
external senses. Of course these methods are often used
together: dancing and music obviously are related, and, as is
the case with initiation ceremonies of Australian aborigines,
the symbols painted on the body of the initiate, are present
during the dancing and singing of the ritual. The fourth area
is simply the absence of stimuli.
Now, the use of the drum by the shaman is observed
widely across many cultures, as is the use of the rattle or bells.
Thus the intrusion of sound, or at least a particular type of
sound, is clearly manifest in shamanism. It is very pertinent
to note that imagery is immediately associated with the drum
in most cases. As is the case of the Mapuche Indians of
Chile (see Grebe 1973) the symbolic cosmology of the group
is drawn on the skin of the drum, and the various parts of the
drum are referenced in the origin myths of the various trees
and plants from which the parts are made.
If we are to consider the effects of sound independently,
then there has been some speculation on the matter. Neher
(1962) was one of the first to suggest that the beating of a
drum elicited certain waves in the brain, thereby effecting an
altered states of consciousness. Neher pointed out that eight
to thirteen cycles per second is the range of individual
differences in basic brain wave frequency, and that drum
rhythms in many parts of the world follow this pattern. The
drum, of course, as we have already noted, is just one of
several musical instruments that are used in trance and
shamanic and possession performances, along with the
ubiquitous rattle, the whistle and bells. The importance of
music for Warao shamans has been reported by Olsen
(1975:20). He stated emphatically that:
Music, combined with cultural conditioning,
produces, I believe, a 'pure' trance, similar to the
meditative trance state achieved by Buddhist monks
while using music to reach enlightenment. Music is
the vehicle, or the shamanic tool, among the Warao
that induces this so-called 'pure' trance state during
the shaman's benevolent curing role, and even,
perhaps during his malevolent role as an inflictor of
destruction and illness.
In this society, according to Olsen, music and experience
are correlated with respect to specific shamanic
phenomenology. Correlated with the ecstatic trance of the
Warao shaman are two characteristics expressed in their
songs: "melodic expansion" and "upward drift." The first
characteristic occurs only during the most melodic section of
the curing rituals, at the point when the spirit that has
caused the illness is named. The second characteristic,
"upward drift," which is a gradual and continuous microtonal
rise in pitch, comes in when contact with the spirit is felt
(see Olsen 1975:24, 29). Music more generally has been
examined in relation to possession in a book by Rouget
(1985). This scholar is more cautious concerning the
question of causation, and has taken issue with Neher
specifically, stating flatly that "there is no valid theory to
justify the idea that the triggering of trance can be attributed
to the neurophysiological effects of drum sounds" (1985:175).
Rouget's conclusion with respect to the relationship of music
to altered states of consciousness is that it provides as it were
a kind of language that "speaks simultaneously.. .to the head
and legs" (1985:325) and provides a medium of identifying
and expressing the belief system in spirits or deities.
The same statements that have been applied to the
relationship between sound and altered states of
consciousness can be applied to dance and movement.
Whereas the scientific assessment of the influence of
movement is difficult to make regarding ASCsbecause of
the obvious other stimuli with which it is associatedit is
interesting to note that some folk societies make a direct
correlation. The !Kung people of the Kalahari desert (Katz
1981) believe in a special energy, which they call n/um, that
is evoked through dance. N/um, like the concept of
Kundalini from India, is said to reside at the base of the spine
and in the pit of the stomach. When it is activated it travels
up the spine and reaches the base of the skull. Katz
(1981:60) gives a graphic description of this process:
The central event in the healing tradition is the all
night dance. Sometimes, as often as four times in a
8 Anthropology of Consciousness
[ 5 ( 2 ) ]
month, the women sit around the fire, singing and
rhythmically clapping as night falls, signaling the
start of a healing dance. The entire camp
participates as the men, sometimes joined by
women, dance around the singers. As the dance
intensifies, n/um ("energy") is activated in those who
are healers, most of whom are among the healing
men. As n/um intensifies in the healers, they
experience ikia (a form of enhanced consciousness)
during which they heal everyone at the dance.
Some martial arts are considered to arouse and
manipulate an energy that is called chi in the East. So it is
clear that the notion of correlation of movement and dance
with consciousness is widespread and deep. There is a whole
division of YogaHatha-Yogawhich is concerned with
postures. What is lacking in the literature is the abstracted
analysis of dance and movement with respect to the
experiential. What is usually observed is dance associated
with music, and perhaps both with images.
We are perhaps in a more fortunate position with
imagery, as the manipulation of images can be studied
independently, and now there is a sizeable literature on the
subject. The use of imagery in shamanism was first raised in
the context of its application in modern guided imagery by
Eliade (1960), and amplified by Peters and Price-Williams
(1980) by referring to the Jungian technique of active
imagination, and what has come to be called, in general,
waking dreams (see Watkins 1981). The cultivation of
imagery by shamans has been studied extensively by Noll
(1985), and its use in the treatment of illness, both by
shamans and in modern medicine has been documented by
Achterberg (1985). Price-Williams (1987) has described
how the phenomena of waking dreams and controlled
imagery are prevalent in situations studied by
anthropologists, and more recently Stephen (1989) has
shown how religious imagery is experienced in New Guinea.
Luhrmann (1989:191-200) who has studied contemporary
ritual magic in England, has remarked on the technique of
creative visualization used by modern-day witches, through
means of which "powers" are summoned. What are we to
make of this psychologically? Walsh (1990:90) has suggested
in the case of the shaman that he:
learns to organize and interpret the flux of visual
images seen during trances. Even in an ordinary
state, an almost continuous flux of images can be
seen when the eyes are closed. In altered states,
these images can become clearer, more meaningful,
and more archetypal.
Whatever the explanation, it would thus seem that the
use of imagery, visual and otherwise, is an ancient and
widespread phenomenon that is involved in the cultivation
of altered states of consciousness and in healing. When the
imagery becomes out of control and no longer recognized for
what it is, then the images become hallucinatory and the
experience tends towards the pathological.
The fourth area of interest is that of sensory deprivation.
Experiments on this subject go back to the mid-nineteen
fifties, and constitute having a subject stripped of visual,
auditory and tactile stimuli, as when a subject is placed into a
water tank of body-warm temperature, with goggles and ear
shields. All these experiments have shown that under such
conditions subjects tend to project their own internal images:
in other words, hallucinate. (See Zubek 1969 for summary.)
The analogue with monks, hermits and recluses can easily be
seen, or with any ritual that occludes usual stimuli.
Technological Input
In recent years there have been at least two
technological innovations that elicit altered states of
consciousness, which are based on the principle of
biofeedback. The first is connected with the phenomenon
known as "lucid dreaming"; the second is known as "Virtual
Reality."
Lucid dreaming refers to the fact that some people are
aware that they are dreaming while they are dreaming. Early
reports on this phenomenon date back many years, but only
recently has there been invented a device that promotes this
state of awareness. It is based on the finding that dreaming is
correlated with rapid eye movements (REM). The device is
described by LaBerge (LaBerge and Rheingold 1990:73) who
designed it:
This was a pair of black boxes which worked as an
interface between an eye movement detection
system and a portable computer. Sensors in a mask
worn by the sleeper detected eye movements and the
computer monitored the level of eye movement
activity. When this level was high enough, the
computer sent the signal through the apparatus to
switch on flashing lights in the mask.
The flashing lights act as a conditioned stimulus to make
the sleeper aware in the dream that she is dreaming. One
subject reported her dream experience with this mask such:
I'm sitting in the car outside a store. The lights in
the goggles go on. I feel them on my face. I wait for
them to turn off before doing a reality check. I
reach up to take the goggles off...then the goggles
aren't there anymore, and, still sitting in the van, I
decide to test reality by reading a dollar bill. A word
is wrong, so I conclude I am dreaming!
We should add that users of this light device are
provided with reading matter and instructions that encourage
interest in dreams and recording them, and facilitate a state
of awareness that promotes lucidity. In fact LaBerge and
Rheingold have elaborated what they called the MILD
technique (an acronym for Mnemonic Induction of Lucid
Dreams) that concentrates on intent and recall in dreaming
and on recognition that one is dreaming.
An even more elaborate visualization technique is the
Virtual Reality instrumentation. This is a technology that
has grown out of a number of other fields: human-machine
interface designs, data visualization techniques, robotics,
computer graphics and computer-aided design (see Jacobson
1991:10). It has been well described recently by Charles Tart
(1990). The concept of Virtual Reality follows the idea of a
flight simulator, used for training airplane pilots, and is a fully
June 1994 ^Shamanism and Altered States of Consciousness 9
computer-generated model. There is a special data glove on
each hand of the subject undergoing this experience, which
informs a computer what the subject's hands and fingers are
doing. A sensor on a cap on the subject's head performs the
same function for head rotation. A similar process is enacted
with sensors placed on the full body. Then, on the input side,
a miniature color television fills the eyes with programmed
images, and stereo earphones fill the ears with programmed
sounds. In other words, an entire world can be projected
technologically into a person's experience, and he or she can
then be led to "believe" that this is identical with what is
usually called "real" experience. Certainly the fine line
between simulated and ordinary reality can be blurred this
way. The implication for what we now call altered states of
consciousness is that the alterations in consciousness can be
technologically modified. Tart (1990:231), for example,
envisaged the application of Virtual Reality instrumentation
for psychological testing:
Eventually, we could have psychodiagnostic tests
that involve a client entering standardized varieties
of virtual realities, representative of life, and having
their reactions measured. There will be office and
home scenes, parties and lovers' quarrels etc. This
kind of testing will be far more dynamic than
ordinary psychological testing as the way the scenes
unfold will be partially controlled by the client's
reactions.
Conclusions and Relationship to Psychology
Physiological Aspects of ASCs
Methods of inducing ASCs have been correlated to
some extent with physiological indicators (Winkelman
1986), especially with regard to EEG and the autonomic
nervous system. However, as Locke and Kelly (1985) point
out, there have been no reports in the anthropological
literature of direct recording of covert physiological
indicators (EEG, EKG, EMG, skin potentials, etc.) in non-
western field settings (but see Green and Green 1977 for a
report of their preliminary work with several yogis in India).
Consequently, much of the theoretical explanation
concerning ASCs in non-western settings has been
inferential in nature (not yet subjected to empirical
verification). The importance of this point can be illustrated
through a brief review of EEG research on meditative states.
In 1955, Das and Gastaut reported strong beta activity of
high amplitude during the meditative states of practitioners
of Kriya Yoga. These results were not verified in later EEG
studies of meditative states: Anand, Chhina and Singh
(1961) in studying Baj Yogis experiencing the samadhi state
found an increase in amplitude of alpha waves which
persisted despite strong experimental stimuli such as bright
lights, loud noises, etc. Kasamatsu and Hirai (1972) studying
disciples of Rinzfli and Soto Zen also found an increase in
alpha rhythm amplitude (as well as rhythmical trains of theta
waves among the most experienced practitioners) during
their meditative states. Similarly, practitioners of
Transcendental Meditation were found to exhibit an increase
in alpha rhythm amplitude, short theta periods, and, in the
most advanced subjects, some beta waves (Banquet 1978).
[See also Schuman (1980) for a comprehensive review of
physiological models of meditative states.) Although most
reports have indicated an increase in alpha rhythm, it would
seem that this is not necessarily at the expense of other types
of brainwave activity. It can be deduced from these studies
that not all meditative traditions produce the same
physiological "state," so much so that Pelletier (1978) has
argued that each state is consistent with the philosophy of its
respective meditative tradition. The significance of this
point is not to be underestimated, especially in light of the
plethora of mechanistic models for categorizing ASCs.
Johnson (1970:501) has so stated:
EEG and autonomic data cannot be used to define
states of consciousness; the state of consciousness of
the subject must first be known before the
physiological significance and possible behavioral
meaning can be inferred.
Given the fact that culturally relevant, individually held
purposes (philosophy or mental constructions) at least
partially determine physiological correlates of ASCs, it would
seem imprudent, given the current lack of empirical data, to
attempt to equate one particular type of ASC with another,
or to "explain" one type in terms of another, based solely on
(often hypothesized) physiological factors.
Another line of enquiry into physiological aspects of
ASCs has been the production and effect of endorphins on
the body. It is well known that extended periods of strenuous
motor activity can lead to a pain-free state of euphoria
following an initial period of pain and fatigue (Appenzeller, et
al. 1980; Fraioli, et al. 1980). This state has colloquially
come to be known as "runner's high." Prince has
hypothesized that this state may be characteristic of
shamanic trances associated with vigorous motor activities in
the form of dance, and trance phenomena which involve fine
motor tremors (1982:414), as well as analgesia among
Kentucky fire handlers (1982:412). He goes on to further
hypothesize that endorphin-related analgesia and euphoria
may result from purely psychological stress (terror of
impending ego dissolution or other situation of life stress) in
the absence of motor hyperactivity (the "mock hyperstress
hypothesis"). While research into neuroendocrine correlates
of ASCs, both with and without hypermotor activity, may
indeed be fruitful, especially in light of the resurgence of
dissociation theory, it would seem that care must be taken
not to generalize too broadly from one trance state to
another. For example, while trance channels do report
feelings of euphoria and ecstasy, they do not engage in
hypermotor activity as part of their trance induction process,
nor do they report severe psychological stress such as terror of
impending ego dissolution, but rather a harmonious
"blending" of "entity" and practitioner (Hughes 1991).
Winkelman (1986) has attempted to correlate method of
induction, psychophysiological factors and
phenomenological experience, postulating three broad
"entailment chains" or traditions: the "meditative tradition"
10 Anthropology of Consciousness
[5(2)]
associated with sleep deprivation, austerities, auditory
driving, fasting, and social isolation; the "shamanic tradition"
associated with sleep, unconsciousness, soul journey, and
excessive motor behavior; and the "mediumistic" or
"possession trance tradition" associated with amnesia,
possession, convulsions, spontaneous onset and excessive
motor behavior. He goes on to hypothesize "a relationship
between temporal lobe syndrome and trance states,
particularly possession" (1986:194). While Winkelman does
indeed find such a statistical relationship, it should be noted
that the data utilized in his analysis are limited to "variables
indicating temporal lobe discharges" as found in the
ethnographic record; as noted above, there are, as yet, no
empirical data, in the form of actual EEGs of practitioners of
possession trance, collected in a non-western field setting.
Some preliminary work has been done with trance channels
in the United States which indicated that even though there
are rather dramatic changes in brainwave activity during the
trance channeling state, the EEGs of the trance channels
were inconsistent with what would have been found if
"temporal lobe syndrome" in the form of petit mal seizures,
psychomotor epilepsy or grand mal seizures were occurring
(Hughes 1990). Further, while trance channeling can be
categorized as a form of possession trance as defined by
Winkelman, i.e., "a trance state interpreted by the culture as
a condition during which the practitioner's own personality is
temporarily displaced by the personality of another entity,"
convulsions, excessive motor behavior, spontaneous onset,
and amnesia are not consistently associated with trance
channeling, although some individuals have reported the
latter two characteristics (Hughes 1991).
While comprehensive theoretical constructs correlating
all lines of inquiry into altered states of consciousness are
certainly academically attractive given the huge variety of
cross-cultural phenomena in this area, it would seem that the
preliminary empirical data seem to defy such neat
categorizations.
Psychopathology
Whether or not altered states of consciousness are
indicative of psychopathology has been a question of much
debate. By definition, ASCs are states of mind which are
different from the individual's normal mode of functioning
(Pelletier 1978). While the dictionary definition of "normal"
is simply "of the usual standard; regular; usual" (Thomdike
Bamhart), in psychology "normal" is defined as "not
mentally ill; sane." It can readily be seen that this rather
simple semantic confusion is indicative of much deeper issues
involving not only normal/abnormal dichotomies
characteristic of Western psychological theories, but also a
fair degree of Western ethnocentrism.
Two basic approaches seem to have emerged with regard
to the psychopathology of ASCs question. The first is
dependent upon cultural relativism, and seeks to assume the
viewpoint (or "worldview") of the specific society to which
the practitioner of the ASC belongs. Adjudications as to
whether behavior is "normal" or "abnormal" are essentially
left up to other members of the practitioner's own society
(Bourguignon 1976/1991). Cultural, and indeed situational,
context is deemed of primary importance with regard to the
validity of judgments regarding psychopathology.
The second approach has been to apply Western
psychological and psychiatric concepts of psychopathology
directly to behavior observed in other cultures. In these
terms various altered states, in keeping with the normal/
abnormal dichotomy, have been labeled hysteric, neurotic
and psychotic. Noll has pointed out that the issue of
psychopathology "pivots on issues of volition, purposefulness
of behavior, and consciousness of thoughts and behavior"
[the amnesia question] (1989:48), but it should be noted that
these criteria are in themselves basic to Western concepts of
mental health.
We can note the problem of psychopathology with
respect to the shaman. The behavior of the shaman is
marked by ecstasy, trance, possessed voices, and description
of visionary entities and domains. While most of these terms
are in a continual process of re-definition by social scientists
and psychologists, there has always been a tendency to regard
all such behavior as simply pathological. What precise type
of psychopathology has been a matter of debate: the
principal favorites have been hysteria and schizophrenia.
Hysteria falls under the general heading of the dissociative
disorders, which would include amnesiac episodes, multiple
personality and disorders of depersonalization. The
distinctive criteria of the dissociative disorders are sudden
and temporal alteration in consciousness, or in the sense of
personal identity, or sometimes in bizarre motor behavior.
The possession aspects of the shaman are thus interpreted as
temporary alterations in identity; the trance itself as a shift in
consciousness; and the physical actions of the shaman, which
are often violent and excitable, as representing the bizarre
motor behavior of hysteria. The so-called flight of the
shaman, in which he represents himself as travelling to
mythical domains to retrieve the soul of his patient, is simply
interpreted as hallucinations: images and representations
which are interpreted as being dissociated from other
perceptual processes and which are mistaken by the shaman
for real experiences. The very dramatic quality of the
shaman, which is performed ritually with an audience, is seen
as a kind of histrionic personality disorder.
When schizophrenia is invoked for labelling the
psychological behavior of the shaman, attention is drawn to
the symptoms of delusion and thought disorder which the
shaman is believed to have. However, there is one dominant
feature of the schizophrenic which is lacking with the
shaman, namely that of impaired social relationships. This is
not only completely lacking in shamans, but the role of the
shaman is highly valued in his or her society, and there is no
estrangement between this figure and the group which he or
she serves.
Finally, the fact of cultural contextualization, or the
cultural embedding of an ASC, might in itself be an
indicator as to whether or not the altered state is
pathological in nature (Peters and Price Williams 1980); the
issue here is whether the behavior is purely idiosyncratic, or
June 1994 ^Shamanism and Altered States of Consciousness 11
learned by following a cultural model (Bourguignon 1976/
1991). While issues of psychopathology certainly have not
been resolved, it is perhaps most fruitful at this point to
simply note that while individual practitioners of various
ASCs may or may not exhibit (varying) degrees of
psychopathology, there is no indication that altered states of
consciousness in and of themselves are inherently
pathological.
Psychotherapeutic Functions
While altered states and shamanistic practices have
sometimes been labelled pathological by Western standards,
the very opposite has been thought by indigenous peoples
and also by some Western scholars; i.e. that the process is one
of healing, both in physical terms and psychotherapeutically.
We will illustrate the healing function of altered states of
consciousness with respect to particular types.
Dreams
Healing through the power of dreams goes back a long
way in history: the ancient practice of incubation has been
recorded as far back as 3000 B.C., associated with the temples
dedicated to the mythical figure of Asclepius, in the area of
Greece and nearby Mediterranean regions. The basic
practice in incubation was for a sick person to spend a night
in a sacred spotit could be a shrine, a temple, a church or a
sanctuary. While he was asleep, the god associated with the
place would visit the dreamer and apply a cure. In Greek
times the dream figure would be Asclepius himself. When
these areas became Christianized, the dream figure would be
a saint, as in the case of St. Anthony who visited dreamers in
the crypt of the cathedral in Amalfi, southern Italy. This
practice, in this general area, was reported at least up to the
beginning of the twentieth century. In a dream, the god or
saint would appear and perform a number of possible healing
functions: he might directly enact a cure, or he might
suggest a diet, or prescribe actions that the sick person
needed to carry out (see Edelstein and Edelstein 194^;
Hamilton 1906). In recent times, incubation has been
observed in Morocco (Crapanzano 1975), where tombs of the
saint are sought out for sleeping, so that one might be cured
by the saint.
Possession Trance
A representative example of healing through possession
trance is that of the Zar cult, which can be found throughout
the Middle East. It has been well studied by Kennedy (1978)
in the case of the Nubians of Egypt. Disorders are observed,
mainly in women, which are believed by the local
12 Anthropology of Consciousness [5(2)]
populations in which this Zar cult is seen, to be caused by
spirits through possession. What is distinct with the Zar cult
is that both patients and healers are dissociated during the
course of treatment, and indulge in a dialogue while both are
possessed. If a woman is suspected of having an illness caused
by a Zar spitit, a ceremony is called for which could last for
several days. During this time there is much dancing and
singing, some animal sacrifice, and a ceremonial journey
down to the Nile where the patient and others bathe their
bodies. Kennedy (1978:208) described how:
The audience's enthusiasm may be low at the
beginning of a zar performance, or may flag at later
points during long sessions. At such times, the
sheikh of the zar usually demonstrates his own
supernatural abilities. He becomes possessed by a
series of often quite different spirits, each demanding
elaborate costume changes."
Prince (1980:316) has pointed out, in his discussion of
the Zar phenomena, that there are two patterns found when
dissociative states are used psychotherapeutically: first, the
healer is dissociated (in trance or trance possession); second,
the patient is dissociated, while the healer may or may not
be. As we have seen, the Zar cult falb under the latter class,
with the healer also becoming dissociated.
Trance
An example of a healer going into trance to effect a
curing, but not becoming possessed, is seen with the dukun of
Java (Geertz 1960/1977). A dukun is at once a curer, sorcerer
and ceremonial specialist; the term is generic, there being all
kinds of dukunsmasseurs, midwives, mediums, herbalists
and so on. The practice for curing which can be thought of
as trance is well described by Geertz (1977:149):
The dukun meditates, going into a near trance and
clearing his mind entirely of any 'pictures' until he
gets an abstract and formless feeling which tells him
what the disease is and what the cure should be.
Ritual
Strictly speaking, a practiced ritual does not necessarily
involve an altered state of consciousness, but it might be
argued that, psychologically speaking, a ritual requires careful
concentration and almost obsessive care for detail to the
point where the ordinary day-to-day consciousness and
awareness is transformed to a certain degree. In any case, for
the sake of completeness, we should illustrate
psychotherapeutic functions effected by ritual alone.
Previously we had discussed one role of the shaman as healer.
The shaman might enact curing through a number of
methods, including herbs and in possession trance. Another
way is through simply carrying out a meticulous ritual. A
good example comes from Peru, being that of the curandero
called Eduardo who was studied over a period of time by
Douglas Sharon (1978). In many south American rituals
performed by shamans and curanderos the concept of a mesa is
crucial. A mesa is a display of so-called "power objects,"
objects which have been acquired by the shaman, have
special meaning for him and which are understood as a
medium through which acts of healing are carried out. The
term also'refers to ritual acts performed with these artifacts.
As Sharon (1978:62) explained it in the case of Eduardo:
Taken as a whole, the mesa symbolizes the duality of
the worlds of man and naturea veritable
microcosm duplicating the forces at work in the
universe.
In Eduardo's case and in other South American shamans,
the mesa operation may be conjoined with the imbibing of
hallucinogens (specifically, the San Pedro cactus for
Eduardo), but it is the ritual application of the mesa in
curanderismo in general that provides the symbolic prop" as
Sharon called it for not only curing, but for other diverse
"magical" properties, such as locating lost property, punishing
thieves, influencing the weather, and so forth (see Sharon
1978:73).
Meditation
There are many kinds of meditative techniques (see
Goleman 1977), but one in particular has been the target of
investigation for therapeutic effect. This is the technique of
Transcendental Meditation. Basically, the technique consists
of a repetition of a Sanskrit word or sound, a so-called mantra
(see Goleman 1977:68-74 for full description). Usually the
repetition is performed when the subject is in a quiet and
relaxed state, so that it is difficult to distinguish the effects of
the mantra per se and the bodily state of relaxation during
which it is said. Both physiological and psychological effects
of Transcendental Meditation have been investigated. Prince
(1980:313-314) has summarized the various studies showing
indeed that positive effects have been determined, but that
some similar physiological results can also be matched by
traditional relaxation methods.
Adaptive Functions
Proposed social and psychological functions of ASCs
abound in the literature. Underlying all of the proposed
functions of ASCs is the assumption that such states are
"adaptive" in some way. It is important to note here that the
term "adaptation" has a specialized definition in terms of the
theory of evolution through natural selection, as well as its
more common dictionary definition. In its general sense,
"adaptation" is defined as "adjustment to different
circumstances or conditions" (Thomdike Barnhart
Advanced Dictionary), while in its specialized sense,
"adaptation" is defined as "genetic changes within
populations in response to selection (environmental)
pressure; usually takes many generations" (Nelson and
Jurmain 1988:619). Thus the species-wide human capacity to
experience altered states of consciousness is clearly a product
of evolutionary processes over many generations (as
evidenced by their extremely widespread distribution)
(Ludwig 1969), yet what selective (environmental) pressures
this capacity is an adaption to has not yet been clearly
addressed in the literature.
By contrast, adaptive functions as they are more
generally set forth in the literature are merely adjustments to
different circumstances or conditions that may be made by a
single individual within a single lifetime. In keeping with
this sense of the term, Ludwig has outlined some "adaptive
June 1994
iShamanism and Altered States of Consciousness 13
expressions" of ASCs: "to acquire new knowledge or
experience, express psychic tensions or relieve conflict
without danger to himself or others, and to function more
adequately and constructively in society." (1969:19).
Possession trance has been linked, by some researchers, to
circumstances of educational and economic deprivation and
frustration suffered by marginal social groups, particularly
minorities and women in societies which deny social mobility
(Bourguignon 1976/1991; Greenbaum 1973; Kiev 1972;
Lewis 1966; Ward 1984).
Altered states of consciousness have also been viewed as
vehicles of adaptation for societies as a whole when
confronted with consequences of social, cultural, economic,
and political change, especially when they have resulted in
revitalization movements (La Barre 1938, Wallace 1956).
These may focus on accommodation to changing
circumstances such as those brought on by European
expansionism and consequent reservation life, as in the case
of Native American revitalization movements, or as a way of
reconfirming religious beliefs and traditions, as in the case of
Thaipusam ceremonies among the Hindu community in
Malaysia (detailed above). In either case ASCs may be
utilized to promote cohesion in marginal communities.
Conclusion
There seem to be no simple or monolithic explanations
regarding any aspect of enquiry into altered states of
consciousness. Aside from the many terminological problems
in definition and description of the phenomena, etiologies
and functional explanations have been proposed with
reference to a wide variety of academic disciplines, and their
concomitant theoretical orientations. Further, it has been
tentatively concluded that many of the specifics with regard
to the manifestation of ASCs seem literally to be reflective of
the meaning systems of the participants, thus making the
phenomena particularly slippery when attempting to deduce
characteristics of a fundamental or universal nature. Finally,
the preoccupation of Western thought with concrete
material phenomena has resulted in a scientific bias against
systematic inquiry into such ephemeral phenomena as
consciousness itself, the apparently universal human need for
spirituality and the seemingly equally universal search for
personal meaning in life. Despite these difficulties, altered
states of consciousness stubbornly persist as a significant
aspect of human experience and therefore warrant serious
attention by psychologists and other scholars.
Moreover, we should add that the topics discussed in this
chapter are really updates of issues that have been long
reviewed by psychology. One need only go back to William
James's (1902) Varieties of Religious Experience to realize that
what we now are calling altered states of consciousness and
shamanistic states are similar, if not identical, to those earlier
understood as experiential correlates of mysticism and
religious experience. Culture and time undoubtedly
influence the way in which these experiences are understood
by the subject and communicated to others. And, again,
without doubt, the degree to which such experiences are
taken seriously by mainstream psychology may also differ
over time. Nevertheless, the substantive areas concerned
have a long and respectable history in the study of human
nature.
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