by Rev. Michael J Dangler, originally published on his Patreon

In this session, we’re going to talk about the importance of trance magic in Indo-European cultures. This video is designed to help you through question 3 of Magic for Priests in the ADF Clergy Training Program, Question 4 for Initiate Trance 1 in the Initiate Program, and Question 3 in Magician’s Trancework in the Magician’s Guild Study Program, as they stand at this recording. Those question prompts are:

“Discuss the existence and relative function of trance-journey magic within at least one Indo-European culture.”

“Discuss the role of meditation and trance-journey magic as gleaned from various I-E sources, the ancient uses of it, and how it will be useful for your own magical practice.”

“Identify and describe three instances where trance is found in ancient Indo-European cultures.”

I had some trouble not diving deep into different sorts of altered states, but I know there are questions about that in Trance 1, so I’ve let it be for now.

We’ll cover trance in Greek, Hellenistic, Celtic, Norse, and Vedic cultures to get as broad as we can, and talk about how we can make use of some of these techniques ourselves as we grow our practice. We’ll also talk a bit about “shamanism” and how it’s just not the right word for us to use.

What does the question mean?

Each of these questions is looking for a sort of overview of what the practice of trancework looked like in ancient Indo-European cultures. I think it’s important to mention that when we think of “trance,” we’re putting a modern label on ancient practices, and it may not always fit like we want it to. Many instances of trance have been reimagined by modern scholars by incorrectly lumping them into a single practice using the culturally appropriative term “shamanism,” which assumes that there is some sort of singular or underlying process that all cultures do, and that it’s appropriate to use a culturally significant word to group them all under. Generally, no, this just isn’t really cool.

Trancework, ecstatic experience, and culturally-specific terms that refer to the practice of that culture are better ways to describe these practices than the more broad term “shamanism,” and it’s what we stick with in our examinations.

So, what’s the question asking?

These three related questions are seeking an idea of what trance looked like in the ancient world, illustrated through examples. The type of experience we’re looking for is described with generally culture-neutral terms that allow you to review a wider variety of experiences for each culture. So, instead of asking for “examples of shamanism,” we ask for “examples of trance” or “trance-journey magic.” This lets us review a wider selection of practices, and keeps us from using culturally inappropriate (and non-Indo-European) words to describe what we’re seeking.

For folk in the Initiate Program, an extra step to these questions is “how can you use it?” So, we’ll look at some commonalities to give you a path toward answering that piece, as well.

What is Trance?

When I get to videos on Trance, such as a video for Trance 1 in the CTP, Trance for Initiates 1, or Magician’s Trance in the MGSP, I’ll have more depth on what, precisely, trance is, and how you differentiate it from meditation or hypnosis. My hope is that I can provide a super basic definition today that will help you locate and explain trance in cultural context today.

So, for today, we’re going to think about trance as an altered state of consciousness that allows you access to information that is not typically accessible to your normal senses. You can think of it as a way of opening to different experiences than what your waking senses might normally provide you, and it may involve ideas of journeying out or seeking out new information that your body cannot sense in its physical locality. Meditation is the process of stabilizing yourself through calming, centering, and connection, and does not involve any sort of spiritual travel our journey. So, where do we find trance in the ancient world?

Greek Incubation Trance

In Greece, those seeking healings would visit the Temple of Epidaurus, an asclepeion or “healing temple” in Greece for a type of healing sleep. This sort of healing was accessible to all, and it would involve what we call an incubation trance. After an appropriate period of cleansing, usually involving fasting and bathing, a person could be invited into the temple to begin the healing ritual. A klínè, or couch, would be set out and the person seeking healing would lie upon it, and the priests would chant and sing over the person, and wait for them to slip into a dream state and experience an encounter with Æsclepius. Sometimes they would receive a message, or see the god touch their wound and heal it, or the god may even suggest a surgical treatment, which would then be carried out, with the trance providing a basic, sleep-induced form of anesthesia.

The chanting, the incense and herbs, and the cleansing that leads up to the process of incubation help bring a person into a separate state from their usual experience of the world. And this is not at all uncommon.

The Oracle of Trophonius

The Oracle of Trophonius is described by Pausanias in his “Description of Greece,” book 9, chapter 39, and provides another example of incubation. Here, you are cleansed with oils and a bath, and then are given waters of Forgetfulness and Memory to drink. Dressed in new clothing, you hike to a temple, and then descend into a room “not unlike a bread oven.” You lie on your back to receive the answers to your questions, and after you exit, you are set up on a chair of Memory, and asked to tell the priests all that you have seen or have heard. Then, you write it down.

See, even the ancient Greeks journaled their trance experiences.

The Greek Oracle at Delphi

The Oracle of Delphi offers another look at trance; here, a woman sat atop a three-legged stool and spoke prophecy to those who sought her wisdom. The Pythia could be consulted on one day out of each month, and only during the summer (for the god Apollo would leave the temple in the winter, so no prophecy could be had). She would bathe in the local spring, drink of holy waters, and then arrive at the temple to descend into the adyton and prophecy in hexameter verse for those who purchased access and for whom the omens were favorable.

There’s speculation that naturally-occurring ethylene, benzene, or methane gas from a fissure beneath the ground may have contributed to the Pythia’s ability to enter her trance state, but there’s no real consensus that this was the case; in any event, ancient sources agree that preparation, cleansing, and a high ritual atmosphere were key parts of this practice.

Hellenistic Sibyls and Bakis

Throughout the Greek and Roman world, sibyls, female prophets, and bakis, male prophets, were a fixture and often consulted. There were several throughout the ancient world, covering Greece, Anatolia, Persia, and Italy, and even Libya, including one that predated the Pythia at Delphi. Usually chanting their oracular visions in a hexameter verse, like the Pythia, these verses also formed the basis for the Roman Sibylline Books. They are described as “frenzied” and “possessed by the gods,” and, like the Pythia, sitting or standing upon a raised platform; in this case, a rock.

Celtic Tarbfeis, “Bull-Sleep,” and Imbas Forosna

Further north, we can find the Celtic tarbfeis, or the “Bull-Sleep,” where the druid eats the meat and drinks the broth of a slaughtered white bull, and then is wrapped in the hide. Other Druids sing a spell around him, and he receives the vision he requires. In the cited examples in lore, it is used to determine a future king.

The process of imbas forosna has a similar bounding structure, where the poet delicately chews raw meat, and then presents it to the gods with a prayer. Then, he sings an incantation into his palms, and presses them on his cheeks. Then, laying down to sleep, his soul departs his body and goes out to find the knowledge he seeks, returning after a time.

Norse Seiðr

When we look at Norse trancework, the en vogue trancework to consider is, of course seiðr. Seiðr is a practice whose modern interpretation seems to involve a “journeying out” from the self, but the lore reflects a different picture. In Erik the Red’s Saga, she arrives wearing special clothing, and then the trance is created by the eating of special foods, including a porridge of kid’s milk and the hearts of animals, followed by ward-songs, a form of galdr. Then, the seeress, seated upon her high seat, says that the spirits have gathered in that space with them, and she begins to speak for them and with them for the folk.

Seiðr, as described by the saga, is not a “journeying out,” but rather a “drawing close” of spirits. It does, however, show the connection between spirit magic and song, and how they intersect.

Norse berserker, “Bear-Shirts,”and Úlfhéðnar, “Wolf Coats”

There’s a type of battle fervor called furor heroicus, or “Heroic Fervor” that is also worth mentioning as we speak of Norse trances: Berserkers and Úlfhéðnar (Bear-shirts and wolf-coats)

First mentioned in a description of Harald Fairhair’s victory at Hafrsfjǫrðr around 872, the poem says, “the berserks roared, / the battle was in full swing, / the wolfskins howled / and shook the irons.” In this early poem, it’s hard to tell if the two types of warriors are the same, or different. Either way, they are known to bite their shields and become immune to the ravages of war and normal weapons. The men howl and shout, and enter into a frenzy or fervor during the battle.

Saxo Grammaticus suggests that a “Troll-Drink” was consumed prior to battle, which led to the berserker trance and rage, but none of the Sagas seem to support this assertion. I don’t have any sources about the use of songs, but I would not be surprised if either there was a song to prepare them, or if the howling and shouting was part of the process.

Vedic Soma 

The Vedic drink soma is the juice of a plant whose identity is generally unknown; its name literally means to “extract” or “distill,” and we have a great deal of information about how it is prepared from the Vedas. It is a plant that is pressed, strained, mixed with water and milk, and then poured into containers for storage and consumption. Upon drinking the Soma, the authors of the Vedas spoke about how they became immortal, how they went into the light, and how they found the gods. It’s said to give control over sensations, and to heal those who are sick. The highly ritualized preparation process, along with the cleansings that are required for that preparation, draw the priest into the realm of trance.

Conclusion: How Can We Use These Techniques?

There are plenty of other cultures that we can travel through, but hopefully this gives you a really good start on that journey.

Trance is used in the ancient world for a wide variety of religious solutions, from divination, to healing, to seeking vision and direct experience of the Spirits. All of these experiences are available to us as well, if we choose to seek them out, and I think that we should. These are basic human needs throughout our history, and claiming them is vital to our work.

One of the key things we notice straight away is that the experience of cleansing and preparation is key to ancient forms of trancework. When we come before the altar, it makes sense for us to engage our senses on a variety of levels and draw ourselves into the experience, letting it build deep connections between the ritual work and the sense of religiosity that brings about a trance state.

This can be slightly complicated by notions of purity and purification, but I don’t think that ideas of “ritual purity” are as useful as understanding that the process of cleansing engages all the senses, and helps a person open to a variety of new experiences along the way. We hear of ritual bathing, new clothing, foods, songs, and fragrant herbs. All of our senses become engaged in these experiences, and they open new ways for us to touch the divine. Trance itself is, of course, the process of accessing these new experiences through alternative states of consciousness; if we can learn how to create the conditions that ancient pagans used to seek those experiences, we can apply them to our experience as well.