Human consciousness is complex. Humans do not simply switch between sleep and wakefulness but move through various levels of consciousness throughout any given day. This can be observed as changes in the brain's chemoelectrical activity (brain waves). Sleep itself is not simply unconsciousness but comprises a cycle of four rather distinct states of subconscious functioning.
Trance states are modes of consciousness in which subconscious levels of brain function become more dominant and the conscious level of awareness is subdued. Trance states are in fact a naturally occurring part of everyday human experience. Sleepwalking and other experiences adjacent to sleep are examples of mundane trance phenomena. Similarly, you may have experienced being "on autopilot" when driving your car -- a mild trance. Our bodies apparently do not require our conscious mind to be fully and constantly engaged even when we are awake, and we periodically go into a kind of standby mode. Trance states of varying depth can also be manufactured. We can induce trance states in ourselves and others through stimuli across our entire sensory range. For example, we may enter trance states both in the charged atmosphere of a rock concert and amidst the softer tones of a symphony orchestra. Manufactured trance states have long been incorporated in religious systems from across the world. Breathing control, incense, music, meditation, dance, fasting, chanting and psychotropic drug use can all be involved in promoting trance states.
Trances, then, are essentially natural, bodily experiences. In some trance states (either mundane or manufactured), hallucinations are experienced or the mind becomes highly suggestible. Here are some examples:
- Hypnagogic and hypnopompic states (in between sleep and wakefulness) may be experienced as supernatural events, including abduction and visitation experiences. I've had a number of mild experiences in this domain throughout my life. Similar states of consciousness may also be implicated in out-of-body experiences (OBEs).
- People lulled into states of hypnotic "regression" may unwittingly fabricate past experiences (especially when the hypnotist asks leading questions), which they thereafter experience as actual memories.
- The practice of speaking in tongues (glossolalia), which in fact occurs in a variety of religious traditions apart from Christianity, may sometimes arise from a trance state. In such cases, the words may be the product of the subconscious mind although the speaker will not be aware of generating anything of their own accord.
As a general human phenomenon, trance states are neutral: not necessarily good or bad per se. Mundane trance states, such as sleepwalking, are simply the way we naturally function in certain states of consciousness. Some manufactured trance states, such as drug-induced hallucinations, may be potentially harmful. Other manufactured trance states can be highly beneficial when conducted ethically and knowledgeably, such as when psychologists use hypnotism for powerful therapeutic effect. God may at times work in people's lives through trance experiences, such as dreams. However, trances may also be a vehicle for demonic powers. The important point is this: apart from trained practitioners of hypnotism, people who manufacture trance states have no way of ensuring either that there will be any truly supernatural experience in the first place, or that the door will be closed to evil.
Back to Todd Bentley and the Florida gathering. The gathering's atmosphere is unquestionably powerful; even on YouTube, you can sense the energy in the gatherings. Furthermore, it is unlikely that many of the participants who are behaving in unusual ways are putting on some kind of act. The participants' behaviour clearly has a symbiotic connection with the atmosphere of the gathering. The question is, What is actually producing the atmosphere of the gathering? It seems to me that certain elements of the gathering are promoting a hypnotically-charged environment. I want to pick up on the aural dimension of this. At one level, the atmosphere is created and mediated by the flow of Todd's words and the music. Despite Todd's casual dress, his speaking is not down-to-earth. His speech oscillates between periods of slow, drawn-out delivery and moments of rapidly increased speed and heightened pitch. His words are not necessarily meaningful and are contributing to a constant ebb and flow of sound. The musicians make their own contributions in response. The people gathered are responding too, clapping, waving and so on. These aspects combine to produce an insistent, repetitive flow of rhythmic sound. These swells of sound are hypnotic: it is the kind of stimulation that can manufacture trance states in people.
In this hypnotic atmosphere, people who are emotionally fragile or hypnotically suggestible are likely to enter a trance state and experience unusual feelings and events. (It may frequently be these kinds of people who are drawn to such events in the first place.) For example, then, when Todd describes the "glory movement" entering the room (see the above post), many participants may actually be experiencing a wave of warmth or colour or light. However, it is unclear whether this wave of glory is from God. In this particular atmosphere, it is likely that such phenomena arise from trance states.
Does this invalidate the Florida gatherings or Todd Bentley's work as Christian ministry? Not necessarily. However, it brings into question the claims that everything happening at such events is from God or even from the supernatural realm. These experiences are not necessarily either from God or from Satan. Given what we currently know about trance states and hypnotic suggestibility, the onus is on the leaders of such events to demonstrate that something more, something godly, is in fact taking place. The fact that people are actually experiencing these phenomena is not itself evidence of the Spirit's work. Instead, the evidence of the Spirit's presence and work is a changed life: the Spirit's fruit (Gal 5 etc).
What are we to make of all this? Trance states have long been part of the practise of a range of religions. In the last two centuries, trance states have apparently also become a valued aspect of some Christian church gatherings. The present-day western church probably has a scant understanding of manufactured trance states, especially the role of insistent, repetitive music and rhythm in producing trances. We may often, unwittingly or by design, infer God and his presence when we have in fact been manufacturing a trance-inducing environment. However, as the writers of the New Testament are often at pains to point out, the Christian message must be both communicated and received in clarity of mind (eg 1 The 2) if it is to change lives and be the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16). Self-control is part of the fruit of the Spirit and Christians should be keen to avoid anything in which their self-control is compromised. While many access the subconscious or subdue consciousness for religious experiences, this is something that Christians must steer clear of. Furthermore, Christian gatherings must be orderly in order for Christians to serve one another and grow the church (1 Cor 12-14). There is a burden here on Christian leaders to ensure that they do not become trance practitioners, unwittingly or otherwise. It is also here that, as I've tried to sketch out in the above post, a keen understanding of the person and work of God's Spirit is especially important.
1 comment:
This is a good article. Some have said that the meetings were demonic. The reality is that some of the trance states were from God and some were from the devil. This depended upon whether the person was born again, demon posessed, or demonically opressed. You have to judge each experience on its own. Maria Woodworth Etter meetings would have corporate trances.
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