MEDITATION Entering the Trance State Trance and meditation is the art of deliberately changing your state of consciousness from that which you use everyday to one where you join into the magickal flow and processes of the universe. There are three main ways to alter your consciousness and we will begin by describing each of these categories. The first way is by altering your actual physical body processes by any number of methods that alter your brain chemistry. Psychedelic drugs (LSD, peyote, mescaline etc.), fasting, sleep-deprivation, exposure to extremes in temperature or sensation (pain/pleasure), and sensory deprivation are all examples of ways that you can achieve a trance state by altering your body chemistry. I DO NOT RECOMMEND any of these for the beginner. First of all, any or all of these methods can have life-threatening consequences if the practioner is not sufficiently careful. Second of all, states of altered consciousness induced by these methods cannot be easily exited from if the practioner becomes confused or scared or something comes up. If you must experiment with these types, do so only under the expert guidance of an experienced shaman/shamaness high priest/priestess (and I mean experienced in these types of dream-quest trance methods) who can be present with you while you do it. The second way to alter consciousness is through drama. This is a fairly common occurence. This type of altered consciousness happens during any group activity where the emotions of the group are focused on a single outcome or spectacle. Some examples are the religious ecstasy that sometimes occurs at pentecostal revivals and prayer meetings, the unified spirit or emotion that occurs at political rallies, rock concerts, sporting events or even some movies. In this type of event or drama, your attention becomes so focused on whatever it is that is going on that you actually enter a light trance state. Covens and religious groups throughout time have utilized ritual and spectacle to induce this type of heightened consciousness within their membership. The third way is the way that most concerns the solitary witch. This is achieving a heightened state of awareness through meditation and focused thought and chances are good you have already done this at one point or another in your life. Hypnosis and daydreaming are two easily recognized trance states that you may be aware of or have experienced in this category. So why do we want to put ourselves into a trance state? First, our natural "powers" of intuition and observation are closely tied to the dream consciousness. We subconsciously relay messages from it all the time in the form of "hunchs", premonitions, gut feelings, but as a practioner of magick we want more than to just passively catch as catch can, we want to be able to actively harness our dream consciousness to provide information and feedback on the larger universe. Secondly, the dream consciousness is directly tied into the energy field that is the ultimate reality of the world we know. On the most basic level, all matter is really a pattern of energy. Our regular consciousness being limited is unable to recognize the patterns or influence them in any means other than direct physical intervention, but our dream consciousness can add/subtract/ redirect energy into a different pattern and thereby produce magick: changes in the universe brought about by will. That being the case, all spells regardless of their outer form or ingredients need to be performed while in dream consciousness in order to be effective. Not to say that spells that are performed in normal consciousness are completely ineffective, because you are never completely out of touch with your dream consciousness, but the results will be more random depending on how close or far you naturally range from your dream consciousness. As an interesting side note, most people who choose to follow Wicca or any magickal tradition tend to be fairly "intuitive" (ie more tightly linked to their dream consciousness) to begin with. Those who have no interest in magick also seem to be the most divorced from their spiritual being/consciousness. This is a good thing for those of you who have doubts about whether you have the "gift" or not. If you didn't have the gift you wouldn't be interested. So beyond divination and spell-casting what else is meditative trance good for? Meditative trance is good for "digging" around in your psyche to modify and eliminate bad behaviours (ie addictions, uncontrollable anger, depression, panic attacks, poor self-esteem, etc.) and encourage and promote good behaviours (self-esteem, self-control, tolerance, compassion etc.) One of your most important tasks as a Wiccan is to know yourself, and this goes beyond a mere biography of your life so far. It is important to examine each and every experience in your life both good and bad and how you reacted to them, sort of as an outside observer. To know why you think the way you do, what exactly makes you happy/sad/angry . This internal dissection is necessary to allow you to grow, to stop reacting to your life and start directing it. For some it is not too difficult, but for others (especially those from dysfunctional families) it is a painful process, but very necessary to bring yourself to a state of emotional and mental balance, because without this internal balance, magick will be more difficult and less effective and you will not be as adept at judging the fine ethical points of when and how to use it. In other words, meditative trance is useful for getting your life straightened out. So enough with the theory and down into the actual how-tos. The following are some preparatory exercises to get you into the feeling of a non-linear consciousness. Patterning By the way this is a good one for those of you with an artistic bent as it helps you "really" see something. Take an object or scene (looking around your house is fine) and look at it, concentrate on it, but instead of seeing it as a book or a chair (or whatever) see it instead as a play of light and shadow , angle and color. Most of us when we look at something are not really seeing it's true shape but our idea of what the shape is. Go outside and do this on trees, grass, the sky. After a time you should notice that things are a lot more complex than your idea of them was. You can also do this with your other senses. Close your eyes and listen, some sounds will be readily apparent, but don't focus on them, try instead to listen to everything simultaneously like a concert, not picking out any one sound over another. Drifting/Daydreaming Everyone has done this at some point or another...just stared off into space and let their mind wander. But when you do it now pay attention to the way you feel when you do it. This feeling is very similar to the feeling you will have in a light trance state. Now on to actual trance. There are as many methods to achieve a meditative trance state as there are people and no one way is inherently better than any other way. In general any repetative or rythmic occurence that you can tightly focus on will be sufficient to induce a trance state; the ways I give here are just the ones that work best for me. Once you have an idea of how a trance state feels, it is a good idea to experiment around to find the procedure that works best for you. Method 1: Rythmic Breathing Sitting in a comfortable position, close your eyes and consciously relax the muscles of your body. Now concentrate on your breathing. Pace your breaths by either counting or mentally reciting a chant. For example: in 1..2..3..4..out..1..2..3..4 or (one of my favs) in.. Isis.. Hathor.. Mighty.. Mother..out Sol.. Osiris.. Holy.. Father. Breathe evenly and completely all the way in and all the way out. Do this for about 5-10 minutes. You should start to feel a serene floating sensation very similar to the way you feel when you are day dreaming. This is a light trance state. In this state you will still be actively thinking and conscious and if you open your eyes you can observe things and move around, but things will have a "dreamy" quality. You may feel a tingling sensation in your hands or body--this is normal and nothing to worry about. To bring your self out, do something mundane...clap your hands..slap the earth..drink a glass of water...whatever it is you do, you are simply willing yourself to a normal state. Method 2: Color Countdown As before close your eyes and relax. Picture in your mind a red 7. Try to make it as solid as possible. Then an orange 6..yellow 5..green 4..blue 3..indigo..2..violet 1. Take your time with each color and fully visualize it before moving down to the next. As before you should feel the same "dreamy" quality. To bring yourself out you may use the same technique as in Rythmic Breathing or count your self up through the colors. Method 3: Rythmic Sound This one is slightly different. Make some sound...I use a drum, but clapping or repeting a chant is just as effective (or any combination of these). The main idea is to make a rythmic noise. Concentrate on the rythym and "lose" yourself in it. Once again you will know you are in trance when you experience the "dreamy" timeless quality. The main idea right now is to get you used to going into and out of a trance state and becoming used to the effects and sensations so that you become thoroughly familiar with the process...in the next lecture we will go into concentration and what to do while in trance to work magick. Next Lecture: Concentration

Copyright Anne-Marie Krone 1999. All Rights Reserved

This page last modified 4/17/00