An ‘altered state of consciousness‘ is any state that is
significantly different than a ‘normal’ waking state’, usage of
the term popularised by the research of psychologist, Dr.
Charles Tart. An altered state can occur in association with a
disease such as epilepsy (see post: Epilepsy and the Divine),
infection or trauma. It can also be instigated by metabolic
changes such as lack of sleep, physical/mental exhaustion,
extreme pain, nitrogen ‘narcosis’ (in scuba divers). |San
Bushman in Trance| Many cultures have discovered then have
continued to actively seek out activities or drugs that ‘alter
consciousness’, inducing ‘ecstasy’, ‘providential inspiration’
or ‘contact with the divine’. This is achieved in many different
ways: the San Bushmen of southern Africa induce trance-like
states through ritual and exhaustive dancing, producing visual
and auditory hallucinations. Another technique used in the past
by natives of North America involved heat exposure (sweat
lodges), extreme fasting or the infliction of pa