Psychology Chapter on Altered States of Consciousness

Altered States of Consciousness

• Brainwave states:

  • Beta: Waking, consciousness
  • Alpha: Daydreaming, light trance
  • Theta: REM dreaming, deep trance
  • Delta: Deep sleep, unconscious
  • REMINDER: BAT-D!

• Types of altered states of consciousness (ASC):

  • Hypnagogic: State between sleep and wake
  • Hallucinogenic: Psychedelic states induced by drugs
  • REMINDER: Hallucinate
  • Spirit possession: Feelings of disassociation
  • Hypnotic trance: Hypnosis/trance/mesmerism
  • REM dreaming: Lucid dreaming can occur

• Brain structures:

  • Left hemisphere: Logical, analytic; linear thinking; sequential time experience
    • Controls the RIGHT side of the body
  • Right hemisphere: Intuitive, emotional; holistic thinking; spatial time experience
    • Controls the LEFT side of the body; Is connected to ASC!

Other Topics

• Pineal gland: Releases melatonin; called "the 3rd eye."
• Reticular Formation: Governs sleep and waking; called the "seat of consciousness."
• Temporal lobes: Stimulating them causes visions and feelings of sensed presence/ASC
• Hypnosis: State of putting someone in a trance.
  • Historically called mesmerism
  • Renamed "hypnotism" after Charcot.
  • REMINDER: Sigmund Freud was Charcot's student!
• The God Helmet: Brain stimulation evokes religious experiences.
  • Uses magnetic fields to stimulate temporal lobes
• Doors of Perception: Book written by Aldous Huxley.
  • Named after a poem by William Blake.
  • Talks about experiments with mescaline (hallucinogen)

Enthogens

• Entheogen: Plants used for religious purposes; believed to contain divine energy.
  • Ayahuasca: Used by Amazonian shamans in Santo Daime
  • Peyote: Cactus containing mescaline; used by native American churches
  • Ergot: Brain fungus; used in rituals
  • Fly agaric: Mushroom; used by shamans
  • Cannabis: Hemp/hashish; used by medieval groups and Rastafarians

Syncretism

• Syncretism: Religious hybrid combining earlier religions (often indigenous and colonizing).
• Syncretic religions greatly influenced by Western European spiritualism.
• Spiritualism: Began with the Fox sisters' table-rappings
  • Believe in a progressive afterlife and contact with spirits via mediums
  • Believe in reincarnation

Spirit Possession

• Widespread practices: Ouija boards, automatic writing, table séances

• Theories of possession:

  • Emic theory: Involves actual spirit beings
  • Theatric theory: Possession as a performance art
  • Dissociation theory: Temporary ego displacement (somewhat like multiple-personality disorder)

• Other information:

  • Rhythmic drumming/singing induces trance
  • Possessed people have memory loss and changes in physical appearance
  • Non-Haitian people report possession.

• Afro-Christian religions:

  • Vodun:
    • Origins: French slaves in Haiti
    • Practitioners: Hougans and mambos
    • Shrines: The peristyle
    • Meditative: Lwa, Legba
    • Controversy: Are zombies real?
    • Santeria
      • Origins: Cuban slaves
      • Practitioners: Santeros
      • Shrines: Altars in homes or botanicas
      • Mediators: Orisha, Chango, Yemaya
      • Controversy: Animal sacrifices
    • Candomble:
      • Origins: Brazilian slaves
      • Practitioners: Umbandistas
      • Shrines: Altars in homes
      • Mediators: Ogoun, Oloddua
      • Controversy: “Surgeon of the Rusty Knife" (possessed by German WW2 doctor)

Revitalization Movements

• Revitalization Movement: Deliberate, organized effort for a more satisfying culture, often in response to colonization.

  • Usually occurs in cultures experiencing colonial pressures and drives individuals to expel influences and preserve culture.

• Revitalization Movements Characteristics:

  • Nativist/nationalist
  • Messianic
  • Prophetic
  • Syncretistic
  • Millenarian/apocalyptic
  • Reactionary/traditionalist
  • Anti-colonial
  • Non-progressive; focused on the past

• Ghost Dance:

  • Founder: Jack Wilson (Paiute)
  • Practice: 19th-century Plain Indians
  • Rituals: Circle dances, chanting; ghost shirts to protect from white men's bullets
  • Beliefs: Reviving buffalo herds and ancestors

• Cargo Cults:

  • Founded: Pacific Melanesian Island cultures (after WWII)
  • Rituals: Used statues/soldiers/planes to magically compel return of cargo
  • Beliefs: Attacked colonial powers for holding back cargo

• Serpent Handlers:

  • Practitioners: Holiness-Pentecostal (Charismatic) churches in the Bible Belt
  • Rituals: Handle poisonous snakes, drink strychnine
  • Beliefs: Faith = salvation

• Zapatista Revolt: Uprising in Chiapas, Mexico, in 1994.

  • Some interpretations indicate elements of a secular Mayan revitalization movement

• Christianity:

  • Zealots of Masada: Confrontation, guerrilla warfare
  • Essenes: Withdrawal from corruption, rebuilding

Shamanism

• Shaman: Master of spirits (from Tungus)
  • Roles: Diviner, healer, judge, prophet, medium
• Eliade: Master of ecstatic techniques; began 100,000 years ago

Witchcraft

• Evil eye: Gaze causing misfortune, curses, or hexes.
• Mobility hypothesis: Societies become more patriarchal and patrilineal when they settle, often leading to accusations of witchcraft.
• Malleus Maleficarum: Book responsible for the deaths of millions of women.

Wicca

• Founder/origins: Gerald Gardner (England 1940s)
• Beliefs: Ecology, feminism, god/goddess duo
• Practices: Coven/grove membership/solo practice

Other topics

• Salem witch hunts
• Sun dance: Native American solstice ritual
• Devil's Tower: Native American site of rituals.

Religion and the State

• Theocracy: Religion = law

• Divine kingship: Religious official controls “divine” king

• Dual state: Religion and state are separate but equal.

• Secular state: Religion and state are separate.

• Atheist state: Religion is forbidden.

• Fundamentalism: Religious writings are legit

• Modernism: Scriptures should not be taken literally.

• Scopes Monkey Trial (related to evolution and religion): Teacher accused for teaching Darwinian evolution.

Eastern Religions

• Hinduism: Karma, Dharma, Reincarnation
• Buddhism: Ending the cycle of reincarnation, entering Nirvana.
• Taoism: Harmony with nature, “not doing”
• Confucianism: Social harmony, filial piety
• Zen: Branch of Buddhism, focused on learning through paradox
• Shinto: Indigenous Japanese religion.
• Theosophical Society: Attempt to merge eastern and western philosophies
• I Ching: Chinese oracle for divination

Islam

• Five pillars of Islam
  • Shahada: Declaration of faith in Allah
  • Salah: Prayer 5x a day, facing Mecca
  • Sawm: Fasting in Ramadan
  • Zakat: Giving to the needy
  • Hajj: Pilgrimage to Mecca
• Sunni vs. Shia: Religious dispute over leadership succession.
• Wahhabism: Official religion of Saudi Arabia, Sunni fundamentalist.
• Seven prophets (Jesus, Muhammad).
• People of the book: Jews and Christians. (according to Islam)
• Sufis: Mystical branch
  • NOTE: Sufis reject fundamentalism.

Techgnosis

• Techgnosis: Seeking knowledge through technology.
• Extropians: Believe in a force opposite to entropy called extropy and driven by technology.
• Transhumanist: Technology is believed to take humans to a status beyond human by merging.
• Raelians: UFO-based religion, claim contact with aliens; believe in human cloning.
• Church of Scientology: Monitors spiritual progress through an e-meter.

Miscellaneous

• Christian Nationalism: A belief that the U.S. was founded as a Christian nation.
• Manifest Destiny: The belief that the U.S. has a divinely appointed destiny.
• Singularity (Ray Kurzweil): The idea that AI will cause human societal change.
• Dalai Lama: Leader of Tibetan Buddhists.
• Clash of Civilizations (Samuel Huntington): Discussion of conflicts between Islam and the West. REMINDER: Islam vs. U.S.
• Liminality (Van Gennep): The state of transition amidst social changes; rituals.
• Solstices and Equinoxes: Important events that mark the four seasons.
• Mayan/calendar: Several calendars, with the cyclical aspects
• Pilgrimage: Journeys to sacred spots
  • Santiago de Compostela: Northwestern Spain; pilgrims wear scallop shells
  • Al Aqsa: Northern Israel; holiest site for Islam.
  • Glastonbury: Southwestern England; legends and history
• Totem and taboo: Societal beliefs (including prohibitions and restrictions) associated with clans, ancestors, and groups.
  • Totem: Clan symbol; believed to be a legendary/ancestral figure, to whom respect is due
  • Taboo: Forbidden thing; (Prohibitions on actions, prohibitions on association.)
  • Totemism: Belief in kinship with an animal or object.
  • Hinduism: Castes and Restrictions.
  • Decalogue/Noahide laws: Commandments for humankind.

Test your knowledge on altered states of consciousness, including brain structures, drug-induced states, and spiritual practices. This quiz covers topics ranging from the science of dreaming to cultural beliefs in religion. Challenge yourself with questions on theories and practices associated with spirituality and consciousness.