Barry Klein, PhD Studies in Transpersonal Consciousness, Walden University. Adviser: Harris Friedman, PhD barry.klein@waldenu.edu, http://PaiBeiraMar.org

We will juxtapose the perspective of a skilled practitioner of various shamanic approaches with that of scholars of transpersonal psychology. We will begin with commonalities and differences among various techniques used to pass through many alternate states of consciousness, including inferring about their underlying psychological dynamics and possible effectiveness when applied in therapies and for otherwise promoting growth. We will also explore on various “shadowy” states, including those often deemed psychopathological but that can instead be seen as spiritual emergencies or as signs of nascent spiritual growth (e.g., many shamanic traditions see a breakdown as a necessary prerequisite to a breakthrough in becoming a shaman).

We will examine how culturally conditioned preconceptions limit experience, while going beyond these by experiencing alternate states of consciousness, can promote profound change. We will also draw from dream, gestalt, hypnotherapeutic, Jungian, mindfulness, neurolinguistics, somatic, and other psychological traditions. We intend to situate these various approaches into overarching frameworks.

“The term shaman … describes a practitioner who attends to the psychological and spiritual needs of a community that has granted [such] status. … Techniques and activities that … access information not ordinarily attainable by members of [that] group.” (Krippner, APA award address) “A [shaman’s] mode of perception is seeing [which] provides direct insight into a person, event, or awareness itself. It bypasses the symbolic, indirect qualities of the rational intellect.” (Ken Eagle Feather) “To both the Totecs of ancient times and to the [shamanic] peoples of today, religion was not a set of predetermined patterns of behavior, dogmas or the projection of self-importance, but a series of practices that were aimed to keep man in touch with Spirit.” (Victor Sanchez)

The word shaman comes from the language of the Arctic Tungus which means "one who is excited, moved, or raised.“ (Bancroft, 1998) “The shaman is responsible for searching for, and recovering, the evicted soul; the demon is driven out and the body returned to its rightful owner.” [Guiley, 1991]. “Seven types of paranormal belief: extrasensory perception, witchcraft, superstition, spiritualism, extraordinary life forms (elves, ETs, ghosts, unicorns), precognition and traditional religious beliefs.” (Tobacyk and Milford (1983) “Using the icaro (ayahuasqueiro intonation) means charging an object or potion with the power of the shaman, conferring upon it a specific property to be transmitted to the recipient, for purification, protection, curing, harm or influence over one’s will- power. A ‘maestro’ neither transmits ‘techniques’ nor formal instruction to his apprentice but rather accompanies and guides him to gain that knowledge for which he is preordained. As part of the training he passes on his icaros.” (Mabit) “The [shaman] recognizes that the only reason, pourpose or meaning that life has is the intent s/he places upon the journey. With this in mind, the [shaman’s] approach is with humor, deliberately seeking change, death and movement as sacred allies.” (Swift Deer, 1987)

(from Ross Heaven, Plant Spirit Shamanism)

(from Ross Heaven, Plant Spirit Shamanism)

• “It doesn’t matter how you feel about something; wait for a vision to guide you.” (Amerind)

• “The limitations of the ordinary world do not hold in the dreamtime.” (Aborigine)

• “Reality is determined by the intent of the warrior.” (Mexican Indian)

• “What is possible is determined by the personal power that the shaman has stored up.” (Worldwide traditions)

• “One’s sense of time-sequence or causality is arbitrary; a master navigates the possibilities.”

• “Everything in nature has a story and a song; if you listen very quietly, you will hear the answer to every question.”

• “If you want control in your life you must know yourself, and in order to know yourself, you must know your dreaming.”

• “Every obstacle in your path is your opportunity to know yourself and to store up power.”

• “To the shaman/warrior, Death is an ally, not an enemy, although not one to be trivialized. At every moment, the warrior knows that Death is ready to take him, but he takes himself lightly.”

• “To the shaman, Death is not an end, a surceasement (as it is to an ordinary man), but the doorway to another dimension if he proves impeccable.”

• “In all matters, the shaman deals with the spirit of the thing. Every thing, even every relationship, has its own spirit which must be addressed, and satisfied or conquered.”

• “To the shaman, every healing or success is a spiritual passage.”

• “Nothing is treated as ordinary or mechanical, but rather as alive and sentient.”

This animated cartoon shocks the ordinary sensibilities.

“It is entirely possible that, behind the perception of our senses, worlds are hidden of which we are unaware.”

“Our normal waking [rational] Consciousness is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted by the flimsiest of screens, there lie potential, [very different] forms of consciousness. We may go through life without suspecting their existence; but apply the requisite stimulus and, at a touch, they are there in all completeness. … No account of the universe in its totality can be final which leaves these other forms of consciousness disregarded. … At any rate, they forbid a premature closing of our accounts with reality.

“We all start out knowing magic. We are born able to sing to birds and read the clouds and see our destiny in grains of sand. But then we got the magic educated right out of our souls.

“We got put on the straight and narrow path and told to be responsible, tod to grow up, because the magic we knew made them ashamed of what they’d allowed to wither in themselves.”

- Robert R. McCammon

1. Intention of awareness; empathy and wisdom; 2. Serving society for the greater good; 3. Serving and protecting the individual; 4. Competence in one’s specific practice; 5. Integrity, self-awareness; 6. Quiet presence; 7. Non-profit motive; 8. Tolerance and respect for others’ beliefs; 9. Peer review (by recognized practitioners).

from Spiritual Growth & Entheogens, Roberts (ed.)

Empathy, sensitivity, conscience Internal energy: chi, “orenda,” personal

power Courage, intrepidness, daring, drive Resourcefulness, imaginativeness Passion, caringness Sincerity, good will Intuition, psychic degrees of awareness Patience and perseverence.

Education in relevant traditions and sciences; Daily “long drink of silence”; Mindful and creative work; Surrounding self with sacred influences; Selfless service and genuine charity; Daily journaling; Ritual practices; Master one’s moods and impulses; Dreamwork, trance-work; Daily habit-breaking and ‘appointments’; Self-awareness practices; Dissolving the ego-mask; Encountering Death.

Early experience of allophrenia, ASD, & trance states; Multiple encounters with Death in early life & beyond; Early attraction to spirituality and altered states; My affect on people’s moods and states; Lifelong quest for spiritual & scientific understanding; Comforting to schizophrenics and lost souls; My showing up in other people’s dreams & visions; Abundance of synchronicities and “Hail, Mary’s”; Psychic abilities & mediumship; High resourcefulness & creativity; Multiple initiations in shamanic, spiritist, & religious

traditions; Fluidity in shifting among states, and remembering.

Castaneda’s Hierarchy of State Levels

• Ordinary tonal-realities (infinitely many) • Dreaming into other realities • Seeing from a higher-level state into a lower one • Heightened awareness • The “place of no-pity” • Second attention (“the nagual”) • “The double” • Shifting downward in the “luminous egg”

(shape-shifting, transmutations, sorcery).

(from Tales of Power, Eagle’s Gift, and Fire from Within)

Shape-Shift Concepts from Neuro-Linguistic Programming

• Visual / Auditory / Kinesthetic representational systems

• Submodalities • Modeling and pre-imaging • Rapport-building techniques • Metaphor and imagination • Habit-breaking inductions • Biological micro-cues.

(Adapted from Bandler & Grinder (1975). The Structure of Magic, Vol. 1)

My Method for Sensing a Person’s State in Realtime

• Enter (or self-induce) oneself into a state close to that of the subject (empathic connection).

• Using rapport skills, set up a trust channel of communication.

• Using psychic sensibilities (natural and developed through disciplines), allow the person’s experience to induce similar in you.

• Record (later if necessary) the features you sense – journaled words, art forms, music.

• (In therapy session) Induce corrections in the mutual rapport field.

Greater understanding of the mindsets of non-Western societies, particularly indigenous cultures which use non-Western constructs.

New, more effective treatments for learning disorders, neurological dysfunction, and psychopathologies.

Support for personal transformation and enlightenment.

More effective ways of communicating ideas.

Uncharacteristic postures, expressions, and movements;

Changes in voice, handwriting, and content of speech and writing;

Noticeable change in perspective and mood; New abilities, perceptions, cognitions, super-

learning, and ways of interpreting reality, including synesthesia and materiality of surroundings;

Unusual silence, stillness, buzzing, rattling; Bipolar-like or schizotypal changes; Dream-like features and events; Shape-shifting, disappearing, or doubling.

Going to church or other place of habitual inspiration Enjoying favorite entertainments Getting drunk or using narcotics Cognitive-dissonance experiences Stepping into an elevator or other enclosed or

crowded space Interruptions of habitual actions (e.g., handshake,

grooming) Shock, thrill, fright, or trauma Severe or prolonged illness Close encounter with death or supernatural event Psychosis or other mental/emotional condition Spells, possession, or superstition Religious or mystical experience

Singing, dancing, drumming, chanting, performing ritual, and expressing mindful art;

Becoming aware of openings, synchronicities, dreamlike events, and ‘gifts’;

Paradigm shift: embrace a controversial or non-sensical view;

Becoming acutely sensitive and aware of nature and subtle energies;

Sacred use of potent smokes, herbs, elixirs, and brews;

Becoming so still and at peace that the universe opens up for you.

Negative or dark inductions: Using a brew or a spell to force a particular shift, especially for taking advantage over other people or for material gain.

To ordinary attention, “the supernatural” is invisible for the same reason that a TV picture is, until we tune it in.

Ordinary awareness can focus on a particular matter of interest, but the granularity proves too coarse for subtle perceptions.

Through disciplines and special knowledge, perceptual resolution can become fine enough to apprehend the features of the supernatural world.

(Adapted from Gurdjieff and Wilber)

(Adapted from Gurdjieff and Castaneda)

(Adapted from Wilber, Gurdjieff, and Castaneda)

Adapted from Castaneda: Tales of Power

Bancroft, M. (1998). The history and psychology of spirit possession and exorcism. Retrieved from http://www.markbancroft.com

Eagle Feather, K. (2006). On the Toltec path. Bear & Co. Ferrer, J. N. (2002). Revisioning transpersonal theory. James, W. (1901). The varieties of religious experience. Krippner, S. C. (2002). Conflicting perspectives on shamans and shamanism.

American Psychologist, Nov. 2002, 961-977. MacDonald, D., & Friedman, H. (2002). Assessment of humanistic,

transpersonal and spiritual constructs: State of the science. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 42, 102-125.

Polito, V., Langdon, R., & Brown, J. (2010). The experience of altered states of consciousness. Consciousness and Cognition, 19, 918–925.

Reagan, H. “Swift Deer” (1987). Shamanic aspects of the impeccable warrior. Deer Tribe Meti-medicine Society (private publication).

Roberts, T. B. (ed.). (2012). Spiritual growth & entheogens. Park Street Press. Tart, C. T. (1972). States of consciousness and state-specific sciences. Science,

176, 1203-1210. Tupper , K.W. (2002). Entheogens and existential intelligence: The use of plant

teachers as cognitive tools. Canadian Journal of Education, 27(4), 499-516. Wilber, K. (2000). Integral psychology. Shambhala Publications.

Please take the handouts and compare these ideas to your own research approaches. Your criticisms, questions, and suggestions are much appreciated! - Barry Klein