For many people, this word triggers unease, perhaps even fear. But why?
What is trance actually? It's a collective term for altered states of consciousness, apparently very mystical. I don't think anyone needs to be afraid of trance. On the contrary! We have all been in trance or trance-like states very often in our lives. Especially in infancy, we are almost exclusively in a state of consciousness, which we lose more and more as we get older. If we approach the matter scientifically, we can see that our brain works in different wavelengths (frequencies), which we classify as follows:
Delta (0.5 - 3 Hz): dreamless deep sleep
Theta (4 - 7 Hz): Dream area during sleep (REM); creativity is also at home here
Alpha (8 - 14 Hz): Area of meditation, relaxation and daydreaming
Newborns and infants are exclusively in the lower frequency ranges in the first three years of life. Only when we get older do we also produce beta waves. Some scientists believe that adults used to only be in the beta range when danger was imminent. Today, we adults spend most of our time in this beta frequency, which is unhealthy for us in the long term. Stimulus overload and other influences constantly convey danger to our organism. It's a pretty intense idea, isn't it?
To come back to the trance: Daydreaming or looking into the "fool's box" are already slightly incipient trance states in which our memory still functions. However, there are different trance depths, right up to the very deep trance, where we have no memory afterwards. Basically, our consciousness changes in such a way that one part becomes fully awake, fully activated, while other regions go into a twilight state. A light trance can already lead to great relaxation. Ideally, we can enter the theta range despite being awake. There we then have a visual experience like in a dream and access to our unconscious. Trance is basically a key to our unconscious.
Why should we consciously go into trance? Quite simply: trance is healthy! It is very cleansing on all levels. Physically, emotionally, energetically and magically. It can prevent many illnesses. A defragmentation takes place. All the excess, all the ballast that prevents us from living happily, is thrown off. Trance can lead to ecstasy and ecstasy literally flushes the whole body free of obstructive blockages of any kind.
Simply leaving our everyday beta consciousness has a very strong healing effect on our organism.
How can we enter a trance? By leaving our everyday conditioning through monotonous music (drum or rattle) or movement (dance). It is also possible to enter a trance through breathing, as well as through strong physical exertion or extreme fasting. Pain can also bring us into a trance. Several of these factors are usually combined. In some cultures, psychoactive substances are used for this purpose. However, I also know from my own experience that it is not necessary to resort to such substances, which is why I deliberately do not use any stimulating plants on my shamanic path.
From a shamanic perspective, there are two types of trance: We can leave our body and go on a journey; a journey into our past, to other places or even into other dimensions. However, our body can also be seized by the "spirit" (a deity, a helping spirit, etc.) and be possessed by it for a time. We are then moved, it moves us. It is also possible to find and transform old patterns and conditioning in trance.
In earlier cultures, the whole village, the whole clan, danced and sang together in a trance. This is still practiced by indigenous peoples today. Here in Europe, too, the "St. Vitus dance" existed until the Middle Ages, the causes of which were dismissed as religious delusions or the consequences of a poisonous spider bite. Later on, this trance was banned by the church as diabolical, possessed by the devil. This dogma is still deeply rooted in us today. The movements we make in trance look very strange to many people. Strange for the reason that it has been drummed into us. People who liberate themselves, who free themselves from old structures and cemented conditioning, are a thorn in the side of the dogmatic ruling systems. Yes, even dangerous, because such people can hardly be manipulated or controlled.
