Hallucinogenic Shamanism.

Hallucinogenic drugs and plants in psychotherapy and shamanism.

Western psychotherapy and indigenous shamanic healing systems have both used psychoactive drugs or plants for healing and obtaining knowledge (called "diagnosis" or "divination" respectively). While there are superficial similarities between psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and shamanic healing with hallucinogenic plants, there are profound differences in the underlying worldview and conceptions of reality. Four paradigms are reviewed:
(1) psychedelic psychotherapy within the standard Western paradigm--here the drug is used to amplify and intensify the processes of internal self-analysis and self-understanding;
(2) shamanic rituals of healing and divination, which involve primarily the shaman or healer taking the medicine in order to be able to "see" the causes of illness and know what kind of remedy to apply;
(3) syncretic folk religious ceremonies, in which the focus seems to be a kind of community bonding and celebratory worship; and
(4) the "hybrid shamanic therapeutic rituals," which incorporate some features of the first two traditions. There are two points in which the worldview of the shamanic and hybrid shamanic ceremonies differs radically from the accepted Western worldview:
(1) the belief and assumption (really, perception) that there are multiple realities ("worlds") that can be explored in expanded states of consciousness; and
(2) the belief that "spirits," the beings one encounters in dreams and visions, are just as real as the physical organism.

Source: California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, USA. rmetzner@svn.net
Image: http://fractalenlightenment.com

Trancing in Religion

Trancing is activity that results in an altered state of consciousness in which an individual is in a hypnotic-like mental state or at least profoundly absorbed.  This is a common technique used by shamans all over the world to enter the spirit world.  When they go into a trance, they commonly report that they are taking a journey in which they must pass through difficult situations in order to reach their own spirit helpers.  Those friendly spirits then aid the shaman in curing an illness, bewitching someone, or in some other supernatural way.
Around the world, shamans and mystics use a variety of methods to achieve a trance state.  These include:

1.	fasting
2.	self-torture (flagellation)
3.	sensory deprivation (prolonged isolation from normal human contact)
4.	breathing exercises and meditation
5.	prolonged, repetitive, ritual dancing and/or drumming (this can alter brain wave patterns)
6.	hallucinogenic drugs

Early 20th century Crow Indian on the Great Plains of North America using self-torture in order to receive a vision from the supernatural world.  Skewers of bone are inserted through the chest skin and tied with leather thongs to a "sun pole."   He will dance around it until the skewers tear free.

Turkish Dervishes using prolonged, repetitive, ritual dancing to enter an altered state of awareness. Accompanied by music, they slowly dance around in a large circle while constantly spinning.  The Dervishes are a mystic Sufi sect of Islam.

The shamanistic use of hallucinogenic drugs has been widespread, especially in the Americas.  Their use has been particularly common in small-scale, egalitarian societies.  When such drugs are available, they are usually considered to be the easiest and the fastest method of contacting the supernatural.  Hallucinogenic drugs derived from plants are the most common sources.  Some of these drugs can quickly bring on visions of an overwhelming nature in addition to causing strong physical reactions.  The use of hallucinogens traditionally was not limited to shamans in Siberia, the Amazon Basin of South America, and Europe until the late Middle Ages.  In these regions, an experienced shaman usually functioned as a facilitator and guide for a group of people taking these drugs in an attempt to contact or enter the supernatural world.

Source : http://anthro.palomar.edu