John G. Kennedy
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9789774249556
- eISBN:
- 9781617970955
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774249556.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
The building of Egypt's High Dam in the 1960s erased innumerable historic treasures, but it also forever obliterated the ancient land of a living people, the Nubians. In the period 1963–64, they were ...
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The building of Egypt's High Dam in the 1960s erased innumerable historic treasures, but it also forever obliterated the ancient land of a living people, the Nubians. In the period 1963–64, they were removed en masse from their traditional homelands in southern Egypt and resettled elsewhere. Much of the life of old Nubia revolved around ceremonialism, and this study reveals and discusses some of the most important and distinctive aspects of Nubian culture. Since its original publication, this book has become a standard text in the fields of anthropology and cultural psychology. In addition to basic ethnographic data, this study contains discussions on the psychology of death ceremonies, the nature of “taboo,” and the importance of trance curing ceremonies. The book also presents information about a village of Nubians who had been resettled some thirty years earlier, thereby providing some clues regarding the possible patterns of future culture change among these recently relocated people.Less
The building of Egypt's High Dam in the 1960s erased innumerable historic treasures, but it also forever obliterated the ancient land of a living people, the Nubians. In the period 1963–64, they were removed en masse from their traditional homelands in southern Egypt and resettled elsewhere. Much of the life of old Nubia revolved around ceremonialism, and this study reveals and discusses some of the most important and distinctive aspects of Nubian culture. Since its original publication, this book has become a standard text in the fields of anthropology and cultural psychology. In addition to basic ethnographic data, this study contains discussions on the psychology of death ceremonies, the nature of “taboo,” and the importance of trance curing ceremonies. The book also presents information about a village of Nubians who had been resettled some thirty years earlier, thereby providing some clues regarding the possible patterns of future culture change among these recently relocated people.
Carol Laderman
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520069169
- eISBN:
- 9780520913707
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520069169.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
Charged with restoring harmony and relieving pain, the Malay shaman places his patients in a trance and encourages them to express their talents, drives, personality traits—the “Inner Winds” of Malay ...
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Charged with restoring harmony and relieving pain, the Malay shaman places his patients in a trance and encourages them to express their talents, drives, personality traits—the “Inner Winds” of Malay medical lore—in a kind of performance. These healing ceremonies, formerly viewed by Western anthropologists as exotic curiosities, actually reveal complex multicultural origins and a unique indigenous medical tradition whose psychological content is remarkably relevant to contemporary Western concerns. Accepted as apprentice to a Malay shaman, the author of this book learned and recorded every aspect of the healing séance, and found it comparable in many ways to the traditional dramas of Southeast Asia and of other cultures such as ancient Greece, Japan, and India. The Malay séance is a total performance, complete with audience, stage, props, plot, music, and dance, and the players include the patient along with the shaman and his troupe. At the center of the drama are pivotal relationships—among people, between humans and spirits, and within the self. The best of the Malay shamans are superb poets, dramatists, and performers as well as effective healers of body and soul.Less
Charged with restoring harmony and relieving pain, the Malay shaman places his patients in a trance and encourages them to express their talents, drives, personality traits—the “Inner Winds” of Malay medical lore—in a kind of performance. These healing ceremonies, formerly viewed by Western anthropologists as exotic curiosities, actually reveal complex multicultural origins and a unique indigenous medical tradition whose psychological content is remarkably relevant to contemporary Western concerns. Accepted as apprentice to a Malay shaman, the author of this book learned and recorded every aspect of the healing séance, and found it comparable in many ways to the traditional dramas of Southeast Asia and of other cultures such as ancient Greece, Japan, and India. The Malay séance is a total performance, complete with audience, stage, props, plot, music, and dance, and the players include the patient along with the shaman and his troupe. At the center of the drama are pivotal relationships—among people, between humans and spirits, and within the self. The best of the Malay shamans are superb poets, dramatists, and performers as well as effective healers of body and soul.
Cathy Gutierrez
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195388350
- eISBN:
- 9780199866472
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195388350.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
In promulgating trance states and multiple voices talking through particularly young women, Spiritualism had from the outset been skirting the territory of insanity. This chapter explores the rise of ...
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In promulgating trance states and multiple voices talking through particularly young women, Spiritualism had from the outset been skirting the territory of insanity. This chapter explores the rise of psychoanalysis in America and the contested value of trances and hypnosis. As mental health became increasingly medicalized, the religious value of different experiences of consciousness were contested. Spiritualists fought to protect their theological turf from the encroaching charges of insanity even as mediums were institutionalized and labeled as mad. Asylums in the nineteenth century frequently functioned to promote social norms, and women in particular who deviated from mainstream decorum or religiosity often found themselves imprisoned there. Spiritualists were no exception, and the movement that promoted progress and knowledge with the aid of the dead soon found itself an unwilling object of scientific scrutiny.Less
In promulgating trance states and multiple voices talking through particularly young women, Spiritualism had from the outset been skirting the territory of insanity. This chapter explores the rise of psychoanalysis in America and the contested value of trances and hypnosis. As mental health became increasingly medicalized, the religious value of different experiences of consciousness were contested. Spiritualists fought to protect their theological turf from the encroaching charges of insanity even as mediums were institutionalized and labeled as mad. Asylums in the nineteenth century frequently functioned to promote social norms, and women in particular who deviated from mainstream decorum or religiosity often found themselves imprisoned there. Spiritualists were no exception, and the movement that promoted progress and knowledge with the aid of the dead soon found itself an unwilling object of scientific scrutiny.
Anna Powell
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748632824
- eISBN:
- 9780748651139
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748632824.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This book offers a typology of altered states, defining dream, hallucination, memory, trance and ecstasy in their cinematic expression, and presenting altered states films as significant ...
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This book offers a typology of altered states, defining dream, hallucination, memory, trance and ecstasy in their cinematic expression, and presenting altered states films as significant neurological, psychological and philosophical experiences. Chapters engage with films that simultaneously present and induce altered consciousness, and consider dream states and the popularisation of alterity in drugs films. The altered bodies of erotic arousal and trance states are explored, using haptics and synaesthesia. Cinematic distortions of space and time, as well as new digital and fractal directions, are opened up. The text's distinctive re-mapping of the film experience as altered state uses a Deleuzian approach to explore how cinema alters us by ‘affective contamination’. Arguing that specific cinematic techniques derange the senses and the mind, the author makes an assemblage of philosophy and art, counter-cultural writers and filmmakers to provide insights into the cinematic event as intoxication. The book applies Deleuze, alone and with Guattari, to mainstream films such as Donnie Darko, as well as arthouse and experimental cinema. Offering innovative readings of ‘classic’ altered states movies such as 2001, Performance and Easy Rider, it includes ‘avant-garde’ and ‘underground’ work. The book asserts the Deleuzian approach as itself a kind of altered state that explodes habitual ways of thinking and feeling.Less
This book offers a typology of altered states, defining dream, hallucination, memory, trance and ecstasy in their cinematic expression, and presenting altered states films as significant neurological, psychological and philosophical experiences. Chapters engage with films that simultaneously present and induce altered consciousness, and consider dream states and the popularisation of alterity in drugs films. The altered bodies of erotic arousal and trance states are explored, using haptics and synaesthesia. Cinematic distortions of space and time, as well as new digital and fractal directions, are opened up. The text's distinctive re-mapping of the film experience as altered state uses a Deleuzian approach to explore how cinema alters us by ‘affective contamination’. Arguing that specific cinematic techniques derange the senses and the mind, the author makes an assemblage of philosophy and art, counter-cultural writers and filmmakers to provide insights into the cinematic event as intoxication. The book applies Deleuze, alone and with Guattari, to mainstream films such as Donnie Darko, as well as arthouse and experimental cinema. Offering innovative readings of ‘classic’ altered states movies such as 2001, Performance and Easy Rider, it includes ‘avant-garde’ and ‘underground’ work. The book asserts the Deleuzian approach as itself a kind of altered state that explodes habitual ways of thinking and feeling.
Paul Younger
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195140446
- eISBN:
- 9780199834907
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195140443.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The well‐known festival of the Jacobite Syrian Church in Mannarkat in the center of Kerala is clear evidence that festival activity was part of the religious system for all South Indians. This Syrian ...
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The well‐known festival of the Jacobite Syrian Church in Mannarkat in the center of Kerala is clear evidence that festival activity was part of the religious system for all South Indians. This Syrian Christian church is often ”twinned” by people in Mannarkat with the Hindu temple of Bhagavat a mile away, and many worshipers attend the festivals in both locations. The trading community of Syrian Christians had grown from the second century on in the towns around the port city of Koukar, but at some time, leaders in the community led a migration to central Kerala where the trade in spices from the mountains could be controlled more directly. The Mannarkat church claims to have been the first one established after the move, and it still maintains close ties with the churches in the Koukar region and includes an umbrella procession (a privilege of Christians according to an eighth century copperplate inscription) in its festival celebration. The festival today includes some trance and exorcism, but the central focus is on the moment late in the festival when a tiny window opens high up in the wall of the church and everyone suddenly sees the mysterious and wondrous form of Mary and the baby.Less
The well‐known festival of the Jacobite Syrian Church in Mannarkat in the center of Kerala is clear evidence that festival activity was part of the religious system for all South Indians. This Syrian Christian church is often ”twinned” by people in Mannarkat with the Hindu temple of Bhagavat a mile away, and many worshipers attend the festivals in both locations. The trading community of Syrian Christians had grown from the second century on in the towns around the port city of Koukar, but at some time, leaders in the community led a migration to central Kerala where the trade in spices from the mountains could be controlled more directly. The Mannarkat church claims to have been the first one established after the move, and it still maintains close ties with the churches in the Koukar region and includes an umbrella procession (a privilege of Christians according to an eighth century copperplate inscription) in its festival celebration. The festival today includes some trance and exorcism, but the central focus is on the moment late in the festival when a tiny window opens high up in the wall of the church and everyone suddenly sees the mysterious and wondrous form of Mary and the baby.
Paul Younger
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195140446
- eISBN:
- 9780199834907
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195140443.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Murukapula is a modestly sized village in the south of Kerala which looks out onto the backwaters leading to the sea and has a huge Roman Catholic church for its large population of fishermen. The ...
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Murukapula is a modestly sized village in the south of Kerala which looks out onto the backwaters leading to the sea and has a huge Roman Catholic church for its large population of fishermen. The other two‐thirds of its population are a mixture of people in Untouchables castes and Ilavas who have only a slightly higher caste status. Narayana Guru started a reform movement among Ilavas early in the last century and he visited Murukapula and there is a reform temple in the village still pushing his ideas. The traditional temple compound had separate temples for the Untouchables and the Ilavas, and the Ilava who now owns the compound has tried to redesign the local festival so that it appeals to those two groups and the more modern tastes of those who see the festival as community entertainment. The velicapatu still goes into trance for those who need exorcism, but the cock sacrifice is only simulated and the hook swinging is transformed into a painless initiation of the youth in which the whole community participates.Less
Murukapula is a modestly sized village in the south of Kerala which looks out onto the backwaters leading to the sea and has a huge Roman Catholic church for its large population of fishermen. The other two‐thirds of its population are a mixture of people in Untouchables castes and Ilavas who have only a slightly higher caste status. Narayana Guru started a reform movement among Ilavas early in the last century and he visited Murukapula and there is a reform temple in the village still pushing his ideas. The traditional temple compound had separate temples for the Untouchables and the Ilavas, and the Ilava who now owns the compound has tried to redesign the local festival so that it appeals to those two groups and the more modern tastes of those who see the festival as community entertainment. The velicapatu still goes into trance for those who need exorcism, but the cock sacrifice is only simulated and the hook swinging is transformed into a painless initiation of the youth in which the whole community participates.
Paul Younger
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195140446
- eISBN:
- 9780199834907
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195140443.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The most basic of the festival styles seems to be the one associated with the independent Goddesses or Ammans who are thought to have special sakti (power). Mariyamman is the bestknown of this class ...
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The most basic of the festival styles seems to be the one associated with the independent Goddesses or Ammans who are thought to have special sakti (power). Mariyamman is the bestknown of this class of independent Goddesses in Tamilnadu, and her temple in Samayapuram near Tirucirapalli in the center of that state is one of the more popular of the many hundred of her temples where festivals are held. Worship of Mariyamman starts when someone takes a vow promising to worship and ward off her anger. After a few months of arduous preparations, the vow‐keepers eventually dance their way into the temple grounds while holding a fire pot or kavati or being swung on a hook and the huge crowds on the sidelines show them reverence at every step. After worship, some of the vow‐keepers go into a trance and become possessed by the Goddess so that they can perform healings and exorcisms for others in need. In Samayapuram today the tone of worship includes considerable mocking of the Brahmanical pretensions of the nearby temple of Srirankam.Less
The most basic of the festival styles seems to be the one associated with the independent Goddesses or Ammans who are thought to have special sakti (power). Mariyamman is the bestknown of this class of independent Goddesses in Tamilnadu, and her temple in Samayapuram near Tirucirapalli in the center of that state is one of the more popular of the many hundred of her temples where festivals are held. Worship of Mariyamman starts when someone takes a vow promising to worship and ward off her anger. After a few months of arduous preparations, the vow‐keepers eventually dance their way into the temple grounds while holding a fire pot or kavati or being swung on a hook and the huge crowds on the sidelines show them reverence at every step. After worship, some of the vow‐keepers go into a trance and become possessed by the Goddess so that they can perform healings and exorcisms for others in need. In Samayapuram today the tone of worship includes considerable mocking of the Brahmanical pretensions of the nearby temple of Srirankam.
Hager El Hadidi
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9789774166976
- eISBN:
- 9781617978135
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774166976.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Sociology of Religion
Zar is both a possessing spirit and a set of reconciliation rites between the spirits and their human hosts: living in a parallel yet invisible world, the capricious spirits manifest their anger by ...
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Zar is both a possessing spirit and a set of reconciliation rites between the spirits and their human hosts: living in a parallel yet invisible world, the capricious spirits manifest their anger by causing ailments for their hosts, which require ritual reconciliation, a private sacrificial rite practiced routinely by the afflicted devotees. Originally spread from Ethiopia to the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf through the nineteenth-century slave trade, in Egypt zar has incorporated elements from popular Islamic Sufi practices, including devotion to Christian and Muslim saints. The ceremonies initiate devotees—the majority of whom are Muslim women—into a community centered on a cult leader, a membership that provides them with moral orientation, social support, and a sense of belonging. Practicing zar rituals, dancing to zar songs, and experiencing trance restore their well-being, which had been compromised by gender asymmetry and globalization. This new ethnographic study of zar in Egypt is based on the author's two years of multi-sited fieldwork and first-hand knowledge as a participant, and the collection and analysis of more than 300 zar songs, allowing access levels of meaning that had previously been overlooked. The result is a comprehensive and accessible exposition of the history, culture, and waning practice of zar in a modernizing world.Less
Zar is both a possessing spirit and a set of reconciliation rites between the spirits and their human hosts: living in a parallel yet invisible world, the capricious spirits manifest their anger by causing ailments for their hosts, which require ritual reconciliation, a private sacrificial rite practiced routinely by the afflicted devotees. Originally spread from Ethiopia to the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf through the nineteenth-century slave trade, in Egypt zar has incorporated elements from popular Islamic Sufi practices, including devotion to Christian and Muslim saints. The ceremonies initiate devotees—the majority of whom are Muslim women—into a community centered on a cult leader, a membership that provides them with moral orientation, social support, and a sense of belonging. Practicing zar rituals, dancing to zar songs, and experiencing trance restore their well-being, which had been compromised by gender asymmetry and globalization. This new ethnographic study of zar in Egypt is based on the author's two years of multi-sited fieldwork and first-hand knowledge as a participant, and the collection and analysis of more than 300 zar songs, allowing access levels of meaning that had previously been overlooked. The result is a comprehensive and accessible exposition of the history, culture, and waning practice of zar in a modernizing world.
John Beer
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199574018
- eISBN:
- 9780191723100
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199574018.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
Further interest in natural observation and philosophical speculation. Visit to a German university familiarizes him with the contemporary cult of Spinoza. Intercourse with scholars and intellectuals ...
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Further interest in natural observation and philosophical speculation. Visit to a German university familiarizes him with the contemporary cult of Spinoza. Intercourse with scholars and intellectuals in Germany. Return to England and further interest in Spinoza. Interest in pure mathematics, the interplay of forms and energies and the phenomena of growth. Beginnings of attachment to Sara Hutchinson. Relevance of experiences of delight and trance in her company to the inner, musical sense in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.Less
Further interest in natural observation and philosophical speculation. Visit to a German university familiarizes him with the contemporary cult of Spinoza. Intercourse with scholars and intellectuals in Germany. Return to England and further interest in Spinoza. Interest in pure mathematics, the interplay of forms and energies and the phenomena of growth. Beginnings of attachment to Sara Hutchinson. Relevance of experiences of delight and trance in her company to the inner, musical sense in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
Keith E. McNeal
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813037363
- eISBN:
- 9780813042121
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813037363.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Latin American Studies
This is a comparative historical ethnography of the convergent colonial globalization of African and Hindu traditions of trance performance and spirit mediumship in the southern Caribbean, as well as ...
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This is a comparative historical ethnography of the convergent colonial globalization of African and Hindu traditions of trance performance and spirit mediumship in the southern Caribbean, as well as their divergent political fates in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago's era of postcolonial multiculturalism. The analysis utilizes the methodology of controlled comparison in order to investigate the history of capitalism and modernization of religious cultures more usually thought of as “primitive” and hardly “modern.” This study explicitly compares and contrasts Afro-Caribbean and Indo-Caribbean materials in a systematic, multi-dimensional manner; it therefore makes innovative contributions to Anthropology, Religious Studies, and the Historiography of Modernity. This book not only charts the subaltern cultural histories of originally West African and South Asian ritual traditions among proletarian and lower classes throughout the colonial period in the West Indies, but also shows how they have become modernized—privatized, individualized, psychologized—and progressively more similar to one another as a result of congruent experiences in the Caribbean. The author argues for the theoretical value of transculturation over “creolization” or “syncretism” as concepts for the analysis of hybrid sociocultural interaction specifically, and cultural history more generally.Less
This is a comparative historical ethnography of the convergent colonial globalization of African and Hindu traditions of trance performance and spirit mediumship in the southern Caribbean, as well as their divergent political fates in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago's era of postcolonial multiculturalism. The analysis utilizes the methodology of controlled comparison in order to investigate the history of capitalism and modernization of religious cultures more usually thought of as “primitive” and hardly “modern.” This study explicitly compares and contrasts Afro-Caribbean and Indo-Caribbean materials in a systematic, multi-dimensional manner; it therefore makes innovative contributions to Anthropology, Religious Studies, and the Historiography of Modernity. This book not only charts the subaltern cultural histories of originally West African and South Asian ritual traditions among proletarian and lower classes throughout the colonial period in the West Indies, but also shows how they have become modernized—privatized, individualized, psychologized—and progressively more similar to one another as a result of congruent experiences in the Caribbean. The author argues for the theoretical value of transculturation over “creolization” or “syncretism” as concepts for the analysis of hybrid sociocultural interaction specifically, and cultural history more generally.
Kenneth Schweitzer
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- March 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781617036699
- eISBN:
- 9781621030065
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781617036699.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, Ethnomusicology, World Music
An iconic symbol and sound of the Lucumí/Santería religion, Afro-Cuban batá are talking drums that express the epic mythological narratives of the West African Yoruba deities known as orisha. By ...
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An iconic symbol and sound of the Lucumí/Santería religion, Afro-Cuban batá are talking drums that express the epic mythological narratives of the West African Yoruba deities known as orisha. By imitating aspects of speech and song, and by metaphorically referencing salient attributes of the deities, batá drummers facilitate the communal praising of orisha in a music ritual known as a toque de santo. This book blends musical transcription, musical analysis, interviews, ethnographic descriptions, and observations from his own experience as a ritual drummer to highlight the complex variables at work during a live Lucumí performance. Integral in enabling trance possessions by the orisha, by far the most dramatic expressions of Lucumí faith, batá drummers are also entrusted with controlling the overall ebb and flow of the four- to six-hour toque de santo. During these events, batá drummers combine their knowledge of ritual with an extensive repertoire of rhythms and songs. Musicians focus on the many thematic acts that unfold both concurrently and in quick succession. In addition to creating an emotionally charged environment, playing salute rhythms for the orisha, and supporting the playful song competitions that erupt between singers, batá drummers are equally dedicated to nurturing their own drumming community by creating a variety of opportunities for the musicians to grow artistically and creatively.Less
An iconic symbol and sound of the Lucumí/Santería religion, Afro-Cuban batá are talking drums that express the epic mythological narratives of the West African Yoruba deities known as orisha. By imitating aspects of speech and song, and by metaphorically referencing salient attributes of the deities, batá drummers facilitate the communal praising of orisha in a music ritual known as a toque de santo. This book blends musical transcription, musical analysis, interviews, ethnographic descriptions, and observations from his own experience as a ritual drummer to highlight the complex variables at work during a live Lucumí performance. Integral in enabling trance possessions by the orisha, by far the most dramatic expressions of Lucumí faith, batá drummers are also entrusted with controlling the overall ebb and flow of the four- to six-hour toque de santo. During these events, batá drummers combine their knowledge of ritual with an extensive repertoire of rhythms and songs. Musicians focus on the many thematic acts that unfold both concurrently and in quick succession. In addition to creating an emotionally charged environment, playing salute rhythms for the orisha, and supporting the playful song competitions that erupt between singers, batá drummers are equally dedicated to nurturing their own drumming community by creating a variety of opportunities for the musicians to grow artistically and creatively.
Susan Starr Sered
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195104677
- eISBN:
- 9780199853267
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195104677.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
Possession trance is a pivotal component in the majority of women's religions. In nine out of the twelve women's religions cited in this book, possession trance occurs either frequently or ...
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Possession trance is a pivotal component in the majority of women's religions. In nine out of the twelve women's religions cited in this book, possession trance occurs either frequently or occasionally in the context of ritual. Both male-dominated and female-dominated religions utilize techniques of dancing, swaying, spinning, drumming, meditation, and singing to induce trance. Erika Bourguignon, however, comments on one interesting gender difference. Trance—an altered state of consciousness induced by a number of well-recognized techniques and not involving possession—is reported more often for men. Possession—the belief that supernatural beings can enter human beings, that humans can temporarily become gods, spirits, demons, or ancestors—is reported more often for women. Put differently, what is more common among women is not a dissociative state known as trance, but a cultural interpretation known as spirit possession. Spirit possession, if it occurs, is rare during the rituals. In the Feminist Spirituality Movement, techniques such as meditation, dance, and chanting are used to induce altered states of consciousness, and rituals that dramatize the goddess-nature of mortal women are common.Less
Possession trance is a pivotal component in the majority of women's religions. In nine out of the twelve women's religions cited in this book, possession trance occurs either frequently or occasionally in the context of ritual. Both male-dominated and female-dominated religions utilize techniques of dancing, swaying, spinning, drumming, meditation, and singing to induce trance. Erika Bourguignon, however, comments on one interesting gender difference. Trance—an altered state of consciousness induced by a number of well-recognized techniques and not involving possession—is reported more often for men. Possession—the belief that supernatural beings can enter human beings, that humans can temporarily become gods, spirits, demons, or ancestors—is reported more often for women. Put differently, what is more common among women is not a dissociative state known as trance, but a cultural interpretation known as spirit possession. Spirit possession, if it occurs, is rare during the rituals. In the Feminist Spirituality Movement, techniques such as meditation, dance, and chanting are used to induce altered states of consciousness, and rituals that dramatize the goddess-nature of mortal women are common.
Phillip H. Wiebe
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195126693
- eISBN:
- 9780199853366
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195126693.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter presents descriptions of the apparitions people have experienced as narrated to the author. The experiences are divided into five groups. The first group consists of experiences in which ...
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This chapter presents descriptions of the apparitions people have experienced as narrated to the author. The experiences are divided into five groups. The first group consists of experiences in which people appear to have fallen into trances, or where the experience began in what seemed to be the “normal” world but did not continue there, or where the experience had a dreamlike character. The second group of experiences consists of those in which percipients were aware of a significant change in the physical environment they knew themselves to be in. The third group of experiences consists of those in which the physical environment appeared to percipients as they knew it to be, apart from the visionary figure that appeared in it. The fourth group of experiences applies to those in which several percipients were simultaneously affected. The fifth group involves visions in which some event in the life of Jesus is apparently re-enacted, for example, an event of his childhood or his crucifixion.Less
This chapter presents descriptions of the apparitions people have experienced as narrated to the author. The experiences are divided into five groups. The first group consists of experiences in which people appear to have fallen into trances, or where the experience began in what seemed to be the “normal” world but did not continue there, or where the experience had a dreamlike character. The second group of experiences consists of those in which percipients were aware of a significant change in the physical environment they knew themselves to be in. The third group of experiences consists of those in which the physical environment appeared to percipients as they knew it to be, apart from the visionary figure that appeared in it. The fourth group of experiences applies to those in which several percipients were simultaneously affected. The fifth group involves visions in which some event in the life of Jesus is apparently re-enacted, for example, an event of his childhood or his crucifixion.
Keith E. McNeal
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813037363
- eISBN:
- 9780813042121
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813037363.003.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Latin American Studies
The prologue launches the book with two anecdotes experienced by the author engaging with African and Hindu spirit mediums, which introduce the reader to the practice of trance performance as well as ...
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The prologue launches the book with two anecdotes experienced by the author engaging with African and Hindu spirit mediums, which introduce the reader to the practice of trance performance as well as the local traditions of spirit mediumship in Trinidad focused upon here: Orisha Worship and Shakti Puja. The notion of ecstasy used throughout is also introduced.Less
The prologue launches the book with two anecdotes experienced by the author engaging with African and Hindu spirit mediums, which introduce the reader to the practice of trance performance as well as the local traditions of spirit mediumship in Trinidad focused upon here: Orisha Worship and Shakti Puja. The notion of ecstasy used throughout is also introduced.
Keith E. McNeal
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813037363
- eISBN:
- 9780813042121
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813037363.003.0002
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Latin American Studies
This chapter further elaborates upon the concept of ecstasy in practices of popular mysticism introduced in the Prologue and differentiates between practices of “baseline ecstasy” and “individuated ...
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This chapter further elaborates upon the concept of ecstasy in practices of popular mysticism introduced in the Prologue and differentiates between practices of “baseline ecstasy” and “individuated mediumship,” as well as highlighting the significance of the contrast between positive ecstasy and negative affliction in ecstatic religious behavior. It examines commonly shared vernacular conceptualizations in both African and Hindu trance-performance practices in Trinidad such as “power,” “manifestation,” “possession,” and “play.” The chapter theorizes the ritual arts of trance as a form of “alter-cultural praxis” and reviews the literature on Afro-Caribbean ludic performance culture in order to better situate the comparative study. It provides an overview of the entire book, including the methodology of controlled comparison utilized.Less
This chapter further elaborates upon the concept of ecstasy in practices of popular mysticism introduced in the Prologue and differentiates between practices of “baseline ecstasy” and “individuated mediumship,” as well as highlighting the significance of the contrast between positive ecstasy and negative affliction in ecstatic religious behavior. It examines commonly shared vernacular conceptualizations in both African and Hindu trance-performance practices in Trinidad such as “power,” “manifestation,” “possession,” and “play.” The chapter theorizes the ritual arts of trance as a form of “alter-cultural praxis” and reviews the literature on Afro-Caribbean ludic performance culture in order to better situate the comparative study. It provides an overview of the entire book, including the methodology of controlled comparison utilized.
Joan E. Taylor
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199291410
- eISBN:
- 9780191700637
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199291410.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism, Religion in the Ancient World
In terms of gender roles, both men and women in the Mareotic group share a meal symbolic of God's everlasting covenant with Israel, which they then interpret as the triumph of enkrateia, ...
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In terms of gender roles, both men and women in the Mareotic group share a meal symbolic of God's everlasting covenant with Israel, which they then interpret as the triumph of enkrateia, self-control. They appear to have understood that their contemplation of scripture and musical compositions, mortification of the body, and quiet solitariness involved some kind of training for a vision of God. In Philo's presentation in De Vita Contemplativa, the people of the Mareotic group work themselves into an altered state of consciousness usually referred to as a trance, so that ‘they keep the memory of God’ constantly and ‘in dreams nothing else is dreamt of apart from the beauty of the divine attributes and powers’. One of the means by which the group ascends towards seeing the divine light of God is music. For the Mareotic group, though not actually for Philo, Moses — as inspired prophet — leads the men who have also in some way become struck by the rapture of divine inspiration. Miriam — as inspired prophet — does likewise with the inspired women.Less
In terms of gender roles, both men and women in the Mareotic group share a meal symbolic of God's everlasting covenant with Israel, which they then interpret as the triumph of enkrateia, self-control. They appear to have understood that their contemplation of scripture and musical compositions, mortification of the body, and quiet solitariness involved some kind of training for a vision of God. In Philo's presentation in De Vita Contemplativa, the people of the Mareotic group work themselves into an altered state of consciousness usually referred to as a trance, so that ‘they keep the memory of God’ constantly and ‘in dreams nothing else is dreamt of apart from the beauty of the divine attributes and powers’. One of the means by which the group ascends towards seeing the divine light of God is music. For the Mareotic group, though not actually for Philo, Moses — as inspired prophet — leads the men who have also in some way become struck by the rapture of divine inspiration. Miriam — as inspired prophet — does likewise with the inspired women.
Brian O'Shaughnessy
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199256723
- eISBN:
- 9780191598135
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199256721.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
Self‐awareness—knowledge of self and of one's mental states—is of central importance in ensuring the properties constitutive of consciousness in rational beings. A modified Cartesian thesis is ...
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Self‐awareness—knowledge of self and of one's mental states—is of central importance in ensuring the properties constitutive of consciousness in rational beings. A modified Cartesian thesis is defended: that a well‐formed state of self‐conscious wakefulness is such that the present contents of that mind must be insightfully given to its owner. This is demonstrated through investigating four different states in which insight is diminished and consciousness absent or impaired: sleep, trance, intoxication, and psychosis. These states are analytically explored, and the thesis proven in each case. It emerges that the very items that constitute consciousness in unthinking animals, do the same in thinking animals, only in a more developed form. The differentia of the state of self‐conscious wakefulness is analysed into the co‐presence of a syndrome of mutually necessitating properties : self‐knowledge, rationality, freedom, thinking, etc. When this syndrome is conjoined with the availability of the perceptual attention, together with experience, the state is fully constituted. This is the answer to the fundamental question: what is consciousness?Less
Self‐awareness—knowledge of self and of one's mental states—is of central importance in ensuring the properties constitutive of consciousness in rational beings. A modified Cartesian thesis is defended: that a well‐formed state of self‐conscious wakefulness is such that the present contents of that mind must be insightfully given to its owner. This is demonstrated through investigating four different states in which insight is diminished and consciousness absent or impaired: sleep, trance, intoxication, and psychosis. These states are analytically explored, and the thesis proven in each case. It emerges that the very items that constitute consciousness in unthinking animals, do the same in thinking animals, only in a more developed form. The differentia of the state of self‐conscious wakefulness is analysed into the co‐presence of a syndrome of mutually necessitating properties : self‐knowledge, rationality, freedom, thinking, etc. When this syndrome is conjoined with the availability of the perceptual attention, together with experience, the state is fully constituted. This is the answer to the fundamental question: what is consciousness?
Alf Gabrielsson
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199695225
- eISBN:
- 9780191729775
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199695225.003.0021
- Subject:
- Psychology, Music Psychology, Social Psychology
In accounts of strong experiences with music, the experience is sometimes described with words such as ‘magical’, ‘mysterious’, ‘supernatural’, or ‘extraterrestrial’. The narrator feels as if he/she ...
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In accounts of strong experiences with music, the experience is sometimes described with words such as ‘magical’, ‘mysterious’, ‘supernatural’, or ‘extraterrestrial’. The narrator feels as if he/she is put in a trance or ecstasy, there may be a feeling of totally merging with something bigger and of glimpsing other worlds or existences. These are examples of transcendental experiences (from the Latin transcendere = to exceed, surpass), that is, experiences that go beyond what is considered as ordinary perception and experience. This chapter presents a selection of accounts that can illustrate such transcendental experiences in connection with music. It is, of course, self-evident that these are hard to put into words. Often, such descriptions are restricted to one or several expressions of the type above, perhaps with the addition of an image or a metaphor. One can also count so-called ‘out-of-body experiences’ as transcendental experiences.Less
In accounts of strong experiences with music, the experience is sometimes described with words such as ‘magical’, ‘mysterious’, ‘supernatural’, or ‘extraterrestrial’. The narrator feels as if he/she is put in a trance or ecstasy, there may be a feeling of totally merging with something bigger and of glimpsing other worlds or existences. These are examples of transcendental experiences (from the Latin transcendere = to exceed, surpass), that is, experiences that go beyond what is considered as ordinary perception and experience. This chapter presents a selection of accounts that can illustrate such transcendental experiences in connection with music. It is, of course, self-evident that these are hard to put into words. Often, such descriptions are restricted to one or several expressions of the type above, perhaps with the addition of an image or a metaphor. One can also count so-called ‘out-of-body experiences’ as transcendental experiences.
Jonathan Weinel
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- March 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190671181
- eISBN:
- 9780190671228
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190671181.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, Popular
Inner Sound explores how altered states of consciousness have shaped the design of electronic music and audio-visual media. The book begins by discussing consciousness, and how this may change during ...
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Inner Sound explores how altered states of consciousness have shaped the design of electronic music and audio-visual media. The book begins by discussing consciousness, and how this may change during states such as dreaming, psychedelic experience, meditation, and trance. Next, a variety of shamanic traditions are reviewed, in order to explore how indigenous societies have reflected visionary experiences through visual art and music. This provides the necessary background from which to consider how analogue and digital audio technologies enable specific capabilities for representing or inducing altered states of consciousness in psychedelic rock, electronic dance music, and electroacoustic music. Developing the discussion to consider sound in the context of audio-visual media, the role of altered states of consciousness in films, visual music, VJ performances, interactive video games, and virtual reality applications is also discussed. Through the analysis of these examples, the author uncovers common mechanisms, and ultimately proposes a conceptual model for ‘Altered States of Consciousness Simulations’. This theoretical model describes how sound can be used to simulate various subjective states of consciousness from a first-person perspective, in an interactive context. Throughout the book, the ethical issues regarding altered states of consciousness in electronic music and audio-visual media are also explored, ultimately allowing the reader to consider not only the design of Altered States of Consciousness Simulations, but also the implications of their use for digital society. In this way, Inner Sound explores the limits of technology for representing and manipulating consciousness, at the frontiers of electronic music and art.Less
Inner Sound explores how altered states of consciousness have shaped the design of electronic music and audio-visual media. The book begins by discussing consciousness, and how this may change during states such as dreaming, psychedelic experience, meditation, and trance. Next, a variety of shamanic traditions are reviewed, in order to explore how indigenous societies have reflected visionary experiences through visual art and music. This provides the necessary background from which to consider how analogue and digital audio technologies enable specific capabilities for representing or inducing altered states of consciousness in psychedelic rock, electronic dance music, and electroacoustic music. Developing the discussion to consider sound in the context of audio-visual media, the role of altered states of consciousness in films, visual music, VJ performances, interactive video games, and virtual reality applications is also discussed. Through the analysis of these examples, the author uncovers common mechanisms, and ultimately proposes a conceptual model for ‘Altered States of Consciousness Simulations’. This theoretical model describes how sound can be used to simulate various subjective states of consciousness from a first-person perspective, in an interactive context. Throughout the book, the ethical issues regarding altered states of consciousness in electronic music and audio-visual media are also explored, ultimately allowing the reader to consider not only the design of Altered States of Consciousness Simulations, but also the implications of their use for digital society. In this way, Inner Sound explores the limits of technology for representing and manipulating consciousness, at the frontiers of electronic music and art.
Robert M. Torrance
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520081321
- eISBN:
- 9780520920163
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520081321.003.0010
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
The medium's personal transformation by possession trance is a temporary change without major consequence (in most instances) for daily life. Her self-perception as the passive implement of a power ...
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The medium's personal transformation by possession trance is a temporary change without major consequence (in most instances) for daily life. Her self-perception as the passive implement of a power beyond her control reduces, moreover, the extent to which she actively participates in shaping its responses (thus in shaping the future), and increases her tendency to fall back on cultural stereotypes restricting both the uncertainty that initiates the quest and the transformative encounter with the new which is its goal. Only in exceptional cases does the recognized medium fail to enter trance and transmit the spirit's words—and without risk of failure, the quest through spirit possession can never go far toward transcending the ancestral certainties of ritual to which it remains, in many tribal religions, firmly linked.Less
The medium's personal transformation by possession trance is a temporary change without major consequence (in most instances) for daily life. Her self-perception as the passive implement of a power beyond her control reduces, moreover, the extent to which she actively participates in shaping its responses (thus in shaping the future), and increases her tendency to fall back on cultural stereotypes restricting both the uncertainty that initiates the quest and the transformative encounter with the new which is its goal. Only in exceptional cases does the recognized medium fail to enter trance and transmit the spirit's words—and without risk of failure, the quest through spirit possession can never go far toward transcending the ancestral certainties of ritual to which it remains, in many tribal religions, firmly linked.
