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What is alter states of consciousness

Guðbjörg

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🌀 Altered States of Consciousness: When Your Mind Steps Outside the Ordinary

Fascinating topic, Björg—this dives deep into the layers of what it means to be human. Altered states of consciousness (ASCs) are mental states that differ significantly from our waking norm. They can unlock creativity, insight, healing, or profound mystery. Let’s explore what they are and why they matter:

🧠 What Qualifies as an Altered State?

An ASC involves a shift in awareness, perception, or mental processing. These states can be triggered naturally or intentionally, and include:

  • Dreaming (especially lucid dreams where you know you’re dreaming)
  • Meditation and Mindfulness
  • Hypnosis
  • Flow State (like when you’re so immersed in an activity time disappears)
  • Trance (common in rituals or shamanic practices)
  • Near-Death Experiences
  • Sensory Deprivation (e.g., float tanks)
  • Psychedelic Experiences (through substances like psilocybin or ayahuasca—often in controlled, spiritual, or therapeutic settings)

🌌 Why Do We Seek Them?

  • Insight: People often report life-altering revelations or spiritual insights.
  • Healing: In some cases, altered states help process trauma or break mental patterns.
  • Connection: Some feel a unity with nature, the universe, or a higher power.
  • Creativity: Great art, music, and ideas often arise when conventional thinking fades.

🔭 Science & Mysticism Meet Here

  • Neuroscience: Brain scans during meditation or psychedelics show decreased default mode network activity—linked to ego and self-talk—allowing novel connections to emerge.
  • Anthropology: Many indigenous cultures use rituals and plant medicine to enter ASCs and communicate with spirits or ancestors.
  • Icelandic Folklore: Trance-like states appear in tales of seers and mystics, where altered perception reveals hidden truths or entities.

⚠️ Navigating Safely

Not all altered states are blissful—some can be intense or unsettling. Safety, guidance, and intention are key.

  • Meditation and breathwork? Very safe and profound.
  • Psychedelics or deprivation? Require proper setting, support, and legal consideration.

It’s like taking consciousness for a spin off-road. You might come back with new insights, a lighter heart, or just a deeper respect for how mysterious the mind truly is.

Would you like to explore how dreams fit into this—or how ASCs connect to spiritual beliefs and the soul?

🌙 Dreams, Spirit, and the Deep Waters of Consciousness

I love that you’re going here, Björg—this is where philosophy, mysticism, and neuroscience have their wildest dinner party together. Let’s take a deeper dive into how altered states connect with dreams, spiritual beliefs, and the soul.

🌌 Dreams: The Nightly Portal

  • Dreams are natural altered states, often rich with metaphor and emotion.
  • Lucid dreaming, where you realize you’re dreaming and can control the experience, is a doorway to profound self-exploration.
  • Some cultures see dreams as messages—from ancestors, spirits, or the universe.
  • Icelandic sagas often describe dreams as omens or gateways to hidden knowledge, guiding warriors, seers, and poets.

🔮 Spiritual & Soul Connections

Altered states—through meditation, trance, or rituals—are often described as helping people “touch the soul” or “meet the divine.”

  • Mystics use prayer and fasting to access transcendent states.
  • Shamanic traditions (like those found among circumpolar cultures) use rhythmic drumming and nature immersion to commune with spirit realms.
  • People report feeling unity, losing ego boundaries, and sensing an eternal “presence.” Many interpret this as the soul’s voice or divine contact.

🧠 Science Meets Spirit

  • In moments of deep meditation or psychedelic states, brain activity shifts dramatically—especially in the default mode network, which manages self-referential thoughts.
  • Some researchers suggest this quieting of the ego allows access to “pure awareness” or even nondual consciousness, often described in mystical traditions.
  • While science can map brainwaves and chemicals, it can’t pin down the soul—and maybe it isn’t supposed to.

🌲 Nordic Echoes

In Icelandic folklore:

  • Certain landscapes are said to possess spirits or hidden people (huldufólk).
  • Some tales describe trance-like communion with nature, revealing ancient wisdom or warnings.
  • The line between dream, spirit, and soul is beautifully blurry here—like mist rolling across lava fields.

It’s as though altered states help peel back the veil, letting us catch glimpses of something timeless—whether that’s the soul, the universe, or the deep mirror of self.

Would you like to explore lucid dreaming techniques, or stories from Icelandic mystics and healers? There’s magic in both.

🌙 Lucid Dreaming & Icelandic Mystics: Techniques and Tales to Explore

Amazing, Björg! Let’s dive into both the how and the wow—starting with lucid dreaming techniques and then gliding into Iceland’s mystical traditions.

🛌 Lucid Dreaming Techniques You Can Try

Lucid dreaming is when you become aware that you’re dreaming—and can often control the dream. Here are some beginner-friendly methods:

🔍 Reality Testing

  • Ask yourself “Am I dreaming?” several times a day.
  • Try pushing your finger through your palm or looking at a clock—if things behave strangely, you might be dreaming.
  • Builds habit so your brain does this in dreams too.

📝 Dream Journal

  • Write down your dreams immediately after waking.
  • Helps you spot patterns and “dream signs” that can trigger lucidity.

⏰ Wake Back to Bed (WBTB)

  • Set an alarm 5 hours after sleep.
  • Stay awake for 20–30 minutes, then go back to sleep with the intention to lucid dream.
  • Increases chances of entering REM sleep consciously.

🧠 Mnemonic Induction (MILD)

  • As you fall asleep, repeat: “Next time I’m dreaming, I’ll remember I’m dreaming.”
  • Focus on a recent dream and imagine becoming lucid in it.

🌌 Wake-Initiated Lucid Dream (WILD)

  • Stay mentally awake while your body falls asleep.
  • Can lead directly into a dream—but takes practice and patience.

You can explore more step-by-step guides on Lucid Dreaming Techniques or Lucid Dream Society’s tutorials.

🧙‍♀️ Icelandic Mystics & Healers: Stories from the Spirit World

Now for the magic woven into Iceland’s soul. Icelandic folklore is rich with tales of mystics, healers, and spirit guides:

🌿 Healers & Mediums

  • Many Icelanders sought help from spirit healers who worked with energies and ancestral guidance.
  • These healers often refused payment, relying on gratitude and gifts instead A.

🔮 Sorcery & Magic Staves

  • Iceland’s early settlers used galdrastafir—magical symbols—to protect homes, heal illness, or curse enemies A.
  • Some stories tell of farmers using these staves to improve fortune, only to face unintended consequences.

👻 Spirit Guides & Visions

  • Tales of visions from the dead are common, often involving closure or unfinished business.
  • Spirit guides help the living assist the departed in finding peace A.

🕯️ Strandarkirkja & Divine Intervention

  • A church built after sailors were guided to safety by supernatural forces.
  • Became known as the miracle church, where people offered wealth for answered prayers A.

You can explore these stories in depth at Mystic Iceland, which collects true tales and folklore from across the country.

Would you like to try a lucid dreaming ritual inspired by Icelandic mysticism? Or maybe explore a specific healer’s tale or magical symbol? Let’s keep the magic flowing.