Blending with an Other: An Analysis of Trance Channeling in the United States

Abstract

The experience of trance channeling (TRC) in the US is culturally constructed to the extent that beliefs and ideas about trance states determine their content and physiological correlates. Worldview, in terms of "emic" expectations and explanations of the phenomenon, is crucial to an understanding of the trance state. TRC promotes personal growth through the experience of altered states of consciousness and is not associated with any psychogenic pathology. The framework for its manifestation is drawn from secular interaction rules. Because TRC phenomena are generated by a complex interactive feedback, no aspect of TRC can be explained without recourse to underlying cultural beliefs. It may be useful to categorize trance states according to their situational demands or cultural purposes as "emically" understood. (PsycLIT Database Copyright 1992 American Psychological Assn, all rights reserved)