Hypnosis & Shamanism
The three traditional inner worlds of shamanism
(mainly Hawaiian) correspond to the three aspects of consciousness.
Shamanism compared to today
- Middle World
- Lower world
- Upper world
- Awareness
- Subconscious
- Overconfidence
Shamans call this journey going into another reality; Hypnosis refers to it as a trance;
The middle world: “creative imagination and visualization”
This intermediate world, looks like the contingent outer world and is used to make changes to the outer world.
It is a state of consciousness that combines imagination and creative visualization, a state of relaxation that promotes stress reduction and a high level of creativity;
Traveling to the middle worlds is very similar to the type of hypnosis used by Milton Erickson;
Conversational hypnosis and metaphors, stories, legends and fairy tales that have a special ability to engage our minds by projecting ourselves into the story.
Doing some kind of guided creative imaginary visualization that would inspire or dream about what we are trying to solve.
The underworld: “the subconscious”
In hypnosis, we can use physical relaxation and the metaphor of walking down a flight of stairs, an elevator, or a hill, etc.
On the shamanic journey, the descent into the underworld takes place by entering the ground through a cave or through an opening connected to a tree;
In shamanism, this underworld allows you to regain strength in order to heal and regain your soul;
This is where the personifications of one’s own belief system are developed; The personal convictions are represented there in the form of people and symbols. (or even totems of animals)
It is a twilight state, whether awake or asleep. It is the state of the brain where the magic happens in the deepening of one’s own neurological activity (dreams).
Entering this dreamlike state without falling asleep requires practicing meditation.
This descent corresponds first to a deep sleep, essential for health and well-being, then to a healing state, a state of detached consciousness, then a state of meditation, a state of intuition and memory, what some people in hypnosis would call a deep trance.
The upper world: “the superconscious”
In shamanism, this journey to the upper world uses ideas such as climbing along a rope to the clouds, climbing a tree, making a climb, floating through a hole in the sky, climbing to the top of a mountain…
The purpose of traveling to the upper world is to get a different perspective on something by using our higher mind, a creative mind;
A hypnotic equivalent can be the state of hyperempiria (extended experience), an altered state of consciousness (trance) in hypnosis in which sensory input from the senses is perceived more intensely.
Usually the concept of climbing up is used rather than descending; Once at the top, the staging is imaginative and very lively; The upper world is the abode of the gods, angels and spiritual leaders; The shamans go there on journeys of divination and inspiration;
Shamans use this state for higher education, inspiration and concentration; It is a state of alertness, responsiveness and heightened sensitivity that leads to a higher consciousness in which a person’s creative abilities are brought to a higher level; It is an intense sensory experience;