Activity 3.3: Altered States of Consciousness
Altered States of Consciousness
In many societies, it is common for religious specialists to engage in altered states of consciousness (ASCs) during their practice. It is also common for groups to engage in communal rituals where they all enter into an ASC. Please read this online textbook chapter about ASCs and ritual, then submit your answers to the questions below.
1. What are some methods people around the world use to get into an ASC?
2. What is an example of a ritual practice that involves an ASC? Please explain your example in as much detail as possible. In addition to the chapter linked above, here are some additional resources to use:
- Sweat Lodge Ceremonies Heal War’s Wounds [article]
- Ayahuasca Tourism in the Amazon [article]
- Jathilan in Java, Indonesia [25min video – log in with MCC Library]
- The Holy Ghost People (Appalachian Holiness Church) [52min video – YouTube]
- The Hauka in Ghana and Niger, West Africa [begins at 47:53 in this video – transcript available – briefly contains animal sacrifice – log in with MCC Library] In this ritual, practitioners go into a collective trance simply by being around each other in the ritual context that calls for this trance. The local explanation is that practitioners are possessed by the spirits of colonial militia members who occupied their land a generation before, and acts as a way of processing the collective trauma of colonization in the region.
3. After doing this reading and research, why do you think rituals involving ASCs are so widespread?