Shamanic alterations of consciousness as sources of supernatural experiences

Abstract

Chapter 7 examines the cross-cultural manifestations of the various specific kinds of supernatural experiences as reflecting intrinsic features of human nature. The phenomenological dynamics of shamanic alterations of consciousness are linked to the physiological effects of ritual practices on the autonomic nervous system. These stimulate the modulatory neurotransmitter systems of serotonin, dopamine and the endocannabinoids, as well as the endogenous opioid system. These provide the biological bases for these experiences, involving the ability of diverse procedures and agents to provoke similar brain responses that enhance access to evolutionarily early strata of the brain. These brain areas provide the special cognitive qualities of consciousness that underlie perceptions of the supernatural. Ritual practices induce supernatural experiences through disrupting higher order information integration and top-down cognitive control, permitting emergence of cognitive processes related to ancient brain structures and primary process levels of cognition, identity and awareness. These biological bases for supernatural experiences are illustrated in an assessment of soul flight as involving a disassembling of the integration of innate capacities involved in the experience of body, self, and cognition. This and other shamanic alterations of consciousness are examined as adaptations that enhanced cognition through expanded access to unconscious mental processes.

Full text

The final version of the article is available in the book The Supernatural after the Neuroturn

Chapter7
Shamanic alterations of
consciousness assources
ofsupernatural experiences
Michael J.Winkelman
Introduction
Alterations of consciousness are a virtual universal of pre- modern cultures and
are typically interpreted with reference to a supernatural domain. Experiences
such as possession, mystical rapture and soul  ight are generally conceptualised
as involving relationships with spirits. Features of alterations of consciousness
have often characterised them as individual and unique, but similarities in spe-
ci c forms of experiences across people, time and cultures reject such idio-
syncratic views. Both spontaneous spiritual experiences and those induced in
rituals have transcultural manifestations re ected in the cross- cultural appli-
cation of concepts such as soul  ight, possession and various meditative states
(Winkelman, 2016 ).
Virtually all cultures institutionalise rituals for engaging supernatural
experiences through techniques known to alter consciousness (Winkelman,
1992 ). Cross- cultural studies reveal three principal types of alterations of con-
sciousness associated with the supernatural experiences of magico- religious
practitioners (Winkelman, 1986 , 1992 ):out- of- body experiences, possession
and meditative experiences.
Shamanic out- of- body experiences involve episodes in which the person feels
and sees some sense of self separating from the body and travelling to supernat-
ural domains. These supernatural experiences may occur spontaneously. In sha-
manism they are precipitated by fasting and social isolation, induced in rituals
involving dancing, chanting and drumming, leading to a period of collapse and
apparent unconsciousness. This is the period of visionary soul  ight experience
and entry into supernatural domains.
Possession involves a supernatural relationship interpreted as an external spir-
itual entity taking over the person’s will, behaviour, identity and even conscious-
ness. Possession experiences typically begin spontaneously among marginalised
and traumatised young women, who are subsequently institutionalised into
collective healing cults in rituals involving singing, dancing and drumming
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128 Michael J.Winkelman
and controlled incorporation of spirits. Possession involves numerous forms of
relationships with spirits and varying degrees of autonomy and consciousness
by the subject, but generally features a dominating spiritual other.
Meditative or mystical experiences of various types are induced through
concentrative practices, which include states denoted as mystical union with
divinity, enlightenment, bliss, void, non- dual awareness and others. These
experiences may occur spontaneously but are generally induced through periods
of prolonged social withdrawal into internal concentrative practices involving
sleep deprivation, fasting and food restrictions, austerities involving discomfort
or pain, and focused attention and mindfulness. The various meditative states
manifested across traditions have features that re ect neurophenomenological
relations and neuroepistemological conditions (Winkelman, 2010 , Chapter4 ).
The transcultural manifestations of these various speci c forms of super-
natural experiences reveal that they are not individual idiosyncrasies but
re ect intrinsic features of human nature. These cross- cultural similarities in
experiences demand explanations based in terms of human biology and of
how they are produced by the e ects of ritual activities. This chapter presents a
biological model of the alteration of consciousness and its e ects on cognition
that o ers an explanation of why they are so often interpreted in spiritual and
supernatural terms.
This chapter focuses on the neurophenomenological dynamics of sha-
manic alterations of consciousness, examining the technologies used, their
neurological e ects, and the associated experiences. Shamanic technologies
are characterised in terms of their e ects on the autonomic nervous system,
various neurotransmitter systems, and the modular and systemic functions of
the brain. Ritual practices stimulate the modulatory neurotransmitter systems
of serotonin, dopamine and the endocannabinoids, and the endogenous
opioid system (Winkelman, 2017a ). Psychedelic plants are central technolo-
gies for altering consciousness and central to shamanic neuropsychology and
neurophenomenology.
Diverse procedures and agents provoke similar brain responses that produce
the special qualities of consciousness underlying perception of the supernat-
ural. Ritual practices induce experiences that are interpreted as supernatural
through disrupting higher order information integration and top- down brain
control. This disruption enhances the emergence of cognitive processes related
to ancient brain structures and primary process levels of cognition, identity and
awareness that produce experiences interpreted as the supernatural.
Soul  ight is examined from a neurophenomenological perspective that
reveals the underlying causal dynamics. Soul  ight has phenomenological and
neurological dimensions that involve a disassembling of the integration of innate
capacities underlying the experience of body, self, others and emotions. These
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Shamanic alterations of consciousness 129
and other shamanic alterations of consciousness are examined as adaptations that
enhanced cognition through expanded access to unconscious mental processes.
Shamanic ritual activation of neurotransmitter
systems
Supernatural experiences are generally relatively rare episodes rather than con-
stant experiences. Nonetheless, rather than just spontaneous occurrences, these
experiences are generally elicited by ritual practices such as fasting, isolation,
arduous activities such as resisting sleep, temperature extremes, painful ordeals,
singing, drumming and extensive and exhaustive dancing (Winkelman, 1992 ,
2013a ). Accounts of spontaneous manifestations of spiritual experiences often
re ect conditions related to principal aspects of shamanic initiation involving
trauma, injury, starvation, prolonged sleeplessness, sensory isolation, dreaming, and
hereditary dispositions to neurotic and dissociative symptoms.
The shamanic ritual was a dramatic and emotionally charged enactment of
struggles with powerful spirits by the shaman who summoned his own spirit
allies through beating drums, singing songs, chanting and dancing. This vig-
orous display lasted for hours until the shaman collapsed or reclined exhausted,
and while attended to by assistants, experienced a soul  ight, conceptualised as
entry into the supernatural world of the spirits.
The all- night dancing of the shaman exploits a uniquely human capacity
of endurance running which can produce both mystical and out- of- body
experiences (Dietrich & McDaniel, 2004 ). Extensive exercise results in a sat-
uration of the sympathetic nervous system and elicits a rebound e ect in the
subsequent activation of the parasympathetic nervous system. This simultan-
eous activation of usually complementary functions of the autonomic ner-
vous system overwhelms the brain’s regulatory structures. This overload of brain
processes results in an interruption of normal attention, orientation, emotional
processing, visual integration, conceptualisation, and comprehension. The phys-
ical stress produced by extensive running results in elevated release of opioids,
adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cannabinoid neurotransmitters (see Jones, 2005 ;
Winkelman, 2017a ).
Ritual and the dopaminergic system
Shamanic ritual practices stimulate the dopamine system through general
e ects on the autonomic nervous system produced by various ritual elements,
especially the exhausting physical activity (see Winkelman, 2013a , 2017a for
a review). These and other ritual preparations such as fasting, sexual abstin-
ence and painful ordeals contribute to the alteration of consciousness through
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130 Michael J.Winkelman
stimulation of the major neuromodulatory (dopaminergic and serotonergic)
neurotransmitter systems, as well as the endocannabinoid systems. Shamans
typically prepare for rituals with restrictions on basic natural drives such as
food and water, as well as engaging in austerities and painful ordeals. The
extreme exertion involved in exhaustive dance can overwhelm temperature-
regulation mechanisms, resulting in the release of endogenous opioids (Vaitl
etal., 2005 ). Shamanic ritual activities also elicit the release of endogenous
opioids through:night- time rituals, when endogenous opioids are naturally
highest; exposure to temperature extremes and self- in icted wounds; situations
of helplessness; and emotional manipulations that evoke fear (Prince, 1982).
The roles of dopamine as a neurotransmitter and neuromodulator provide
central aspects of the neurochemical explanation of the dynamics of shamanic
alterations of consciousness (Previc, 2009 ). Dopamine is a neuromodulator
involved in many di erent brain systems, moderating not only unconditional
reward and pleasure responses, but also reduction of pain and stress, formation
of memory, social bonding, and most higher cognitive processes. The dopa-
mine system is stimulated by a variety of activities and substances, including
the body’s own chemicals, the endogenous opioids. The body responds to
endogenous opioids with experiences of positive emotions, feelings of euphoria
and belongingness, enhancing coping mechanisms, stress tolerance, and conse-
quently physiological (homeostatic) adaptation.
In addition to reinforcing  tness- enhancing behaviours and producing
powerful pleasurable experiences, dopamine mediates bonding and a liation
in social groups. Dunbar ( 2014 ) proposes human evolution selected for music,
chanting and rhythmic activities such as drumming, dancing and clapping
because of their e ects on the endogenous opioid system. Rhythmic sound
facilitates synchrony between individuals, as well as the experience of self-
other merging that produces social bonding. Tarr, Launay and Dunbar ( 2014 )
review evidence for the causal impact of music in provoking the release of
endogenous opioids and stimulation of neurotransmitter systems (dopamine
and norepinephrine). Singing in communal ritual stimulates oxytocin produc-
tion (Chanda & Levitin, 2013 ; Panksepp & Trevarthen, 2009 ), a neurohormone
implicated in social bonding. Synchronised group movement such as dance also
provokes the release of endorphins and enhances social bonding (Tarr, Launay
and Dunbar, 2016 ).
Dopaminergic dynamics of shamanic psychology
Dopamine is implicated in a variety of visionary experiences (hallucinations,
dreams, psychosis; Previc, 2006 ; Rolland etal., 2014 ). The reduction of
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Shamanic alterations of consciousness 131
serotonergic and noradrenergic modulation (control) results in the ascendance
of the dopaminergic and acetylcholine systems that produce dreaming (Previc,
2009 ). The qualities that emerge with the disinhibition of dopaminergic
networks in the ventral cortex and the limbic areas involve the central features
of shamanic experiences and behaviours. The parasympathetic action of dopa-
mine produces the collapse experience that precipitates shamanic soul  ight.
Anumber of psychological disorders (i.e., bipolar disorder, obsessive compul-
sive disorder, and schizophrenia) associated with increased religiosity involve an
overactivation of dopamine, particularly in the left hemisphere (Previc, 2006 ).
Previc ( 2009 ) analyses the roles of the expanded dopaminergic system in
human cognitive evolution. The dopamine system facilitates operations of goal-
directed motivation and associations and making reward predictions, processes
that are speci cally adaptive in acquiring distant reward objects. These dis-
tant rewards require operations that take place in extrapersonal space, a distant
imagined reality rather than in relationship to the objects in one’s immediate
personal space. This requires inhibition of extraneous thoughts, sympathetic
emotional responses, and the immediate presence of the physical body; this
inhibition is produced by dopamine- initiated parasympathetic action. The
hominin expansion of the endogenous opioid and dopaminergic systems (in
the prefrontal/ striatal dopaminergic pathways) enhanced rational sublimation
of basic impulsive mesolimbic drives (Previc, 2009 ). Dopamine also plays a cen-
tral role in the stress response in inhibiting negative emotional arousal of fear
and anxiety; this enables highly dopaminergic individuals to function more
e ectively in extreme environments (Previc, 2009 , p.36).
Dopamine’s central role in the integrative functions of the prefrontal cortex
is extended through pre- frontal cortex connections to other cortical regions.
Dopamine in uences on extrapersonal responses and context independent
cognition are exempli ed in “mental time travel,” the ability to experience and
think about things other than those in the here and now.
[D] opaminergic activation results in the ‘triumph’ of extrapersonal brain
activity over the body systems that anchor our self- concept and our body
orientation as well as a triumph over the more ‘rational’ executive intelli-
gence maintained in the lateral dopaminergic systems.
(Previc, 2009 , p.53)
The shamanic personality exhibits the features of highly dopaminergic
minds— their active minds seeking connections to unseen forces, an above
average intelligence, goal seeking, and con dence in their abilities (Previc,
2009 ). The shaman also exhibits the dark side of the dopaminergic mind (the
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132 Michael J.Winkelman
ventromedial dopaminergic system)— intense unconstrained aggressive drives
to achieve distant goals, an unleashing of the motivation drives in magical
ideation about abilities to control distant events, delusions of grandiosity and
invincibleness, and a charismatic control over others. The dopaminergic-
induced e ects are manifested in the shamanic out- of- body experiences
and other visionary experiences. These spirit world- conceptions represent
an expanded cognitive capacity that enhanced our ability to explore distant
regions of physical space and also provided mechanisms through which we
explored the intimate internal spaces of our mental capacities and our personal
and social identities.
Entheogens:Psychedelic origins of supernatural experiences
One of the most powerful tools for producing supernatural experiences involves
what have been conceptualised as hallucinogens, psychedelics, entheogens,
and “plants of the gods.” These substances have an intimate relationship with
the supernatural because of their intrinsic entheogenic capacity to produce
experiences of a personalised animistic world. Many plant substances that pro-
foundly alter consciousness have a relationship with our nervous systems as
analogues of monoamine neurotransmitters, which stimulate serotonergic and
dopaminergic systems. Evolutionary paradigms suggest that  tness bene ts
accrued to our ancestors as a consequence of their ability to utilise exogenous
psychoactive substances to enhance the operation of these neurotransmitter
systems (Sullivan, Hagen, & Hammerstein, 2008 ). This indicates the alterations
of consciousness produce  tness consequences such as enhanced vigilance, the
ability to ignore pain, increased mating opportunities, reduction of anxiety and
stress, feelings of euphoria, increased endurance and self- con dence, enhanced
sensory and mental acuity, reduction of defensiveness, and reduction of depres-
sion and self- defeating activities (Winkelman, 2014b ).
Psychedelics necessarily constituted an early in uence on human conscious-
ness because of the near worldwide distribution of psilocybin- containing
mushrooms. Psilocybin was an environmental factor that a ected hominins
through in uences selecting for enhanced neurotransmitter systems and their
associated perceptual, cognitive and social capacities that in turn contributed
to the evolution of shamanism (Winkelman, 2014a , 2017a ). This in uence of
psychedelics is evidenced in the higher sensitivity of the human serotonergic
system for bonding with psychedelics than is the case of great apes (Pregenzer,
1997), illustrating that selection for an enhanced capacity for use of these
neurotransmitter analogues occurred during hominin evolution.
Shamanic ritual was the context within which humanity developed
institutionalised practices for using psychedelics. The shamanic engagement with
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Shamanic alterations of consciousness 133
vision- producing substances was conceptualised as the spirit world, experiences
re ected in the etymological roots of the word “entheogen”— meaning “gen-
erating the experience of the god within.” Entheogen re ects these substances’
renowned ability to induce a powerful sense of the presence of spirits, their
incorporation into one’s body, and one’s personal transformation into a spirit.
Avisionary engagement with the supernatural dimensions and spiritual beings
is central to shamanism, and the entheogens are unparalleled tools for indu-
cing these experiences (Winkelman, 2013b ). E ects of psychedelics include
producing the signature experience of the shaman, the separation of one’s soul
or spirit from the body and its travel to the supernatural world. Psychedelic
substances can induce a sense that spirits are present and are being incorporated
into one’s body. This can be experienced as establishing a special relationship
with an animal, and even the experience of being transformed into an animal.
The signi cance of psychedelic- induced alterations of consciousness as the
origins of supernatural experience is re ected in their ability to induce classic
forms of mystical experiences (Gri ths etal., 2006 ). Psilocybin sessions, in
comparison with control sessions, had signi cantly higher ratings on measures
of introvertive mysticism, extrovertive mysticism, internal and external unity,
sacredness, intuitive knowledge, transcendence of time and space, ine a-
bility, positive mood, and experiences of oceanic boundlessness. Psilocybin
sessions had higher levels of experiences of peace, harmony, joy, and intense
happiness. The central roles of psychedelics in religious practices and myths of
cultures around the world re ect the empirical e ects of these substances that
contributed to the development of many of humanity’s institutionalised super-
natural beliefs.
Psychedelic neurophenomenology:Serotonergic mechanisms
of psychedelic action
The primary neurotransmitter system responsible for psychedelic e ects
is serotonin, especially 5- HT2 receptors. The serotonergic system is  rst
stimulated by the psychedelic analogue, and then deactivated by the uptake
resistance molecules locked on to the serotonin system receptor sites (Nichols,
2016 ). The saturation of the serotonergic system by the psychedelics eventu-
ally blocks the serotonergic system’s regulatory processes, liberating dopamin-
ergic pathways.
The principal regulatory functions of the serotonergic system are directly
related to the triune model of the brain (see Winkelman, 2010 for discussion).
These involve:the R- complex (reptilian brain), a behavioural brain that channels
physiological information; the paleomammalian (limbic) emotional brain; and
the neomammalian brain (neocortex). Serotonergic networks originating in
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134 Michael J.Winkelman
the paleomammalian brain regulate the activity of the lower brain levels, redu-
cing the ascending  ow of information. Serotonin circuits also inhibit emo-
tional responses generated within the paleomammalian brain. Psychedelics
reduce this inhibitory control of serotonin on reptilian and paleomammalian
brain structures. In the paleomammalian brain, psychedelics also stimulate areas
that manage emotional information, personal relations and social bonding,
resulting in the release of normally unconscious personal dynamics, which are
transmitted by the ascending networks into the frontal brain and conscious
awareness. The shamanic visionary experiences similarly re ect the loss of the
inhibitory e ects of serotonin on the mesolimbic temporal lobe structures. This
can lead to increased activity in the visual cortex and experiences that may be
construed as supernatural realities.
Psychedelic ecopsychology and shamanism
Psychedelic e ects, both spontaneous and ritualised, were central to the
evolution and structuring of our evolved psychology. The interaction of
psychedelics with our serotonin and dopamine systems produced a human
ecopsychology with a worldview of interconnectedness with nature, a social
orientation to altruism and cooperation, and an enhanced visual representa-
tion system that promoted cognitive, personal and social integration. These
physiological e ects exerted by psychedelics on cognition are re ected in
the commonalities in shamanistic traditions worldwide (Winkelman, 2010 ,
2013b , 2013c , 2015 ). These neurognostic e ects of psychedelics are embedded
in the basic ideologies of shamanistic practices, such as the role of spirits in
nature, animal spirit powers, special sources of plant energies, and the healing
potentials of psychedelics. This natural psychology mediating our self, social
and environmental relations has features that typify the in uences of psyche-
delic substances.
Shamanism contributed important contexts for development of our
ecopsychology because of the roles of shamanic experiences in enhancing
understandings of human nature, our relationships with nature in general, and
with animals in particular (Winkelman, 2014a ). Shamanism embodies this prim-
ordial mingling of self, animals and spirit in the concept of animism, the notion
of spiritual dimensions and essences to all of nature. Psychedelics are a virtually
unparalleled agent for stimulating these experiences of an animated nature,
full of spiritual entities and powers, embodied in the concept of entheogen.
Shamanism provided the context within which an animistic attitude, enhanced
by the e ects of psychedelics, became a central feature of early modern humans’
cognitive and emotional qualities and spiritual experiences through the adaptive
consequences of their e ects.
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Shamanic alterations of consciousness 135
Altered consciousness and systemic brain function: The
integrative mode of consciousness
Diverse ritual mechanisms induce alterations of consciousness involving similar
brain responses. This involves stimulation of the autonomic nervous system
through extensive ergotropic (sympathetic) activation until collapse into a
trophotropic (parasympathetic) dominant state with a slowing of the brain wave
discharges into a more synchronised and coherent pattern (see Winkelman,
2011 for a review). Meditative traditions re ect the alternate path of entering
directly into an extreme parasympathetic state through relaxation and internal
focus of attention. This extreme parasympathetic state is a recuperative state
of the body, a state of extreme relaxation culminating in sleep and uncon-
sciousness that restores homeostatic balance and evokes endogenous healing
responses, especially through reduction of stress. This shift to parasympathetic
dominance is also accompanied by a shift from left hemisphere to right hemi-
sphere dominated brain processes, and from frontal brain activity to predom-
inant brain wave patterns emanating from lower brain structures.
Flor- Henry, Shapiro and Sombrun ( 2017 , p.7) provide a summary of the
 ndings from decades of research on the psychophysiology of altered states
of consciousness that illustrate these similar features of right hemisphere acti-
vation and dominance with left hemispheric inhibition; increased proportion
and amplitude of alpha wave EEG activity and synchronisation produced by
ascending thalamo- cortical feedback loops; increases in theta wave band power
and synchronisation from coherent limbic activity (hippocampal, amygdala, and
septal areas) exerting inhibitory in uence on prefrontal areas; increased power
in gamma wave frequencies re ecting activation of di use cortical areas and
integrative information processing; synchronisation of the left and right frontal
lobes with progressive frontal hypoactivation; and a shift toward parasympa-
thetic dominance and enhanced endogenous opioid release.
The integrative mode of consciousness
Winkelman ( 2010 , 2011 ) models the neurophysiology of the alteration of con-
sciousness in relation to other innate functional modes of organismic operation
that humans share with other organisms. Similarities in waking, deep sleep and
dreams across species and cultures re ect their common underlying biological
structures and functions. Humans share with other animals these biologically
structured foundations that constitute modes of consciousness, biologically- based
functional systems of organismic operation that re ects a homeostatic balance
among brain subsystems to meet global organismic needs. Humans cross-
culturally experience alterations of consciousness that also involve common
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136 Michael J.Winkelman
underlying biological mechanisms. These involve an integrative mode of conscious-
ness , which elevates ancient brain functions enabling psychodynamic growth
and cognitive, social and psychological integration. This integrative mode of
consciousness includes various altered states of consciousness, i.e., soul  ight,
possession, samadhi. Biological foundations for these speci c forms of altered
consciousness are re ected in their cross- cultural distribution, their spontan-
eous manifestations, as well as their production by diverse agents (i.e., drugs,
rituals, trauma, extreme fasting, exertion).
The overall dynamic of the integrative mode of consciousness involves
integration across levels of the brain manifested in entrainment of the frontal
cortex by highly coherent and synchronised slow- wave discharges emanating
from lower- brain structures. This biological response involves an increase in
theta brain wave coherence that synchronises the levels and hemispheres of the
brain with discharges originating in lower brain structures. This overall brain
dynamic is produced by many activities, agents and conditions (see Winkelman,
2010 , 2011 for a review). Factors producing this dynamic include hallucinogens,
amphetamines, cocaine, marijuana, polypeptide opiates, long- distance running,
hunger, thirst, sleep loss, auditory stimuli such as drumming and chanting, sen-
sory deprivation, dream states, meditation, and a variety of psychophysiological
imbalances or sensitivities resulting from injury, trauma, disease, or hereditarily
transmitted nervous system conditions (Mandell, 1980 ). The common e ects
are based in a common neurochemical pathway that produces a loss of sero-
tonin inhibition to the hippocampal cells, resulting in increased hippocampal-
septal slow- wave EEG activity (alpha, delta and especially theta) that induces a
synchronous slow- wave pattern across the lobes.
This common “psychobiology of transcendence” noted by Mandell ( 1980 ) is
a natural response of our neurobiology involving synchronous discharges that
propagate from the basal areas of the brain into the frontal cortex. This limbic
circuitry produces hypersynchronous discharges across the hippocampal- septal-
reticular- raphe serotonergic circuit, integrating ancient brain processes into the
frontal lobe.
The elevation of lower brain processes as a generic feature underlying
altered consciousness is illustrated in the e ects of psychedelics on the frontal-
subcortical circuits (Vollenweider, 1998 ), which provide feedback loops
between frontal cortical areas and the thalamus of the brain stem region.
Psychedelic e ects on the brain’s cortico- striato- thalamo- cortical feedback
loops release lower brain sensory gating systems, enabling their  ow of infor-
mation to the frontal areas (Vollenweider & Geyer, 2001 ). This disruption of
screening processes and release of normally inhibited information produces
supernatural experiences by:breaking down cognitive control structures of
the frontal cortex; altering the experience of self, other, and the environment;
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Shamanic alterations of consciousness 137
and enhancing the internal world of normally unconscious psychological
structures and projections.
Altered consciousness as brain deregulation
Dietrich ( 2003 ) noted that various conditions that alter consciousness—
endurance running, dreaming, hypnosis, drugs, and meditation— all involve a
temporary deregulation of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and its higher cogni-
tive functions. When higher level brain functions of the cortical regions and
the PFC are down regulated, this allows for the manifestation of lower brain
structures usually repressed by the PFC and the emergence of cognitive aspects
related to our more ancient brain functions, exempli ed in visionary or hal-
lucinatory experiences. Avariety of substances, neurotransmitter systems and
procedures have the ability to produce the visionary experiences typical of
psychedelics by disrupting normal regulatory processes. Rolland and colleagues
( 2014 ) noted that diverse mechanisms, including dopamine and serotonin (5-
HT2a) activation and blockage of glutamate NMDA receptors by dissociative
anesthetics, can interfere with thalamic gating and the cortico- striato- thalamo-
cortical loops, resulting in disruption of the brain’s basic  ltering processes.
Physical and physiological stimulation, imbalances in neurochemical
and metabolic processes, and diseases can also disrupt normal brain activity
(Vaitl etal., 2005 ) and alter consciousness by compromising brain structures
and producing disconnectivity in brain dynamics between brain regions.
Disconnected oscillatory activity in thalamocortical circuits permits expression
of the ascending thalamocortical systems, resulting in visionary (hallucinatory)
experiences that re ect intrinsic brain activity unconstrained by sensory input.
The role of brain system deregulation in supernatural experiences is also
proposed by d’Aquili and Newberg ( 1999 ), who note that the dea erentation
of normal input through a functional blocking of input into a brain structure
can account for the characteristics of meditation. Aconsequence of this dea er-
entation of input into a brain system is that some of the neural structures there-
fore acquire independence from normal regulatory input and consequently
operate in terms of their own internal logic or patterns, allowing for their
intrinsic properties to be manifested.
Altered consciousness as disruption of the default mode
network
Numerous procedures for altering consciousness— psychedelics, meditation,
hypnosis and epilepsy— all disrupt a key brain network, the Default Mode
Network (DMN) and its connectivity with other areas of the brain, especially
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138 Michael J.Winkelman
the prefrontal cortex (see Winkelman, 2017b for review). The DMN is a key
area for the structural and functional connections that maintain a range of
meta- cognitive processes that underlie self- awareness and self- representation
and inward focused cognitive processes (introspection, daydreaming, autobio-
graphical memory, and mental time travel; Raichle, 2015 ). Aprominent feature
of the phenomenal qualities produced by the DMN involve the engagement
with an imagined situation with others in reference to one’s self.
Psychedelic stimulation of serotonin 2a receptors leads to an overall disorgan-
isation of cortical activity in the DMN’s hub structures, resulting in a reduction
in network integrity. This is manifested in decreased functional connectivity
between key DMN hubs and can result in experiences of “ego- dissolution”
(Kometer etal., 2015 ; Lebedev etal., 2015; Tagliazucchi etal., 2016 ). Similar
experiences produced by non- pharmacological methods of reducing DMN
connectivity (meditation, hypnosis and epilepsy) indicate this is a general
response of the brain (see Winkelman, 2017a ).
Reduction in DMN functional connectivity caused by psychedelics results
in increases in functional connectivity among other brain networks, producing
novel connections among brain areas, increased connectivity between networks
(Roseman etal., 2014 ), and a wider range of connectivity states (Tagliazucchi
etal., 2016 ) and increased communication across the entire brain, especially
long- range functional connections (Petri etal., 2014 ). Abottom- up dynamics
in information transfer emerges from reduced functional connectivity and the
in uence of frontal brain areas over the posterior areas. This temporary disrup-
tion of normal top- down neural control hierarchies results in manifestations
of lower structures associated with more primary forms of somatic awareness
(images and feelings).
Neurophenomenological perspectives on
shamanic experience
Various features of shamanic beliefs and experiences involve direct re ections
of the changes in brain processes produced through the e ects of ritual
practices for the alteration of consciousness. These features in particular include
soul  ight and visionary experiences, as well as other aspects of shamanism
related to the development of animal identities, the experiential phenomena
of animal transformation, and the incorporation of powerful spiritual ‘others’
as authorities and dominant powers. These animal relations re ect both innate
structures for automatically processing animal species’ identity and the release
of lower brain systems caused by the bottom- up brain dynamic that occurs as
a result of disinhibition of frontal brain control structures. Appropriately called
the reptilian complex and paleomammalian brain, these lower brain structures
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Shamanic alterations of consciousness 139
re ect ancient social, emotional and cognitive dynamics. The general dynamics
of alterations of consciousness elevate these ancient processes, providing the
mechanisms for animal identity and other experiences of primordial forms
of self.
These neurophenomenological approaches illustrate that alterations of con-
sciousness provide special forms of knowing. The experiences that manifest in
altered consciousness re ect this early level of symbolism through which we
know the universe in ways much like those of other animals. i.e., through a var-
iety of pre- language structures and processes of knowing. Altered consciousness
involves special forms of the integration of consciousness through an elevation
of the pre- conscious processes of our ancient reptilian and paleomammalian
brains. These levels of consciousness produce key aspects of supernatural
experiences, such as holistic perceptions and intuition, special forms of self-
identi cation, intuitive non- verbal knowledge, and manifestations of intense
emotional engagement and detachment.
Shamanic alterations of consciousness produce heightened awareness of these
ancient modalities that provide conceptualisations of the supernatural world in
a preverbal symbol system that is interpreted by the shaman. Characterisation
of these brain patterns from the perspectives of the triune brain (MacLean,
1993 ) illustrates the elicitation of the paleomentation and the emotiomentation
processes of lower brain structures (R- complex and limbic brain), areas of the
brain responsible for the management of sensations, emotions, sense of self, and
convictions about beliefs. The alteration of consciousness has intrinsic potentials
to produce an integration of the information processing capacities of the R-
complex and the paleomammalian brain into the frontal cortex.
Soul flight in neurophenomenological perspective
Eliade’s ( 1964 ) classic book Shamanism was subtitled “Archaic techniques of
ecstasy,” with ecstasy derived from the Greek, where it meant to “stand out-
side of one’s self,” emphasizing the shaman’s experience of leaving his body
and travelling to supernatural worlds. Cultures from around the world report
experiences similar to soul  ight, in which the individual exper iences the sep-
aration of their personal consciousness and sense of identity from the phys-
ical body, allowing the former to experience entry into another world (see
Winkelman, 2010 ). This central feature of the soul  ight, involving separation
of the personal identity and perceived self from the person’s body, has sub-
stantial parallels with a variety of phenomena discovered in modern psych-
ology and medicine, where they are discussed as out- of- body experiences
(OBE), near- death experiences, and anomalous psychological and psychiatric
syndromes where the person feels a separation from their body and feelings
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140 Michael J.Winkelman
(see Winkelman, 2010 for review of research). These varied phenomena share a
number of similarities with the shaman’s soul  ight, most notably in a subjective
sense of having one’s self and consciousness experienced in a non- physical
location independent of one’s physical body.
Near- death experiences often result from severe trauma, but also may occur
as a result of extreme fright without physical trauma. The experiences generally
occur while the person is apparently unconscious— physical unresponsiveness—
and may even involve clinical death; nonetheless, the person has an extraor-
dinary experience of separating from the body and travelling to other places,
often involving a journey to heaven or other spiritual realms where dead
relatives may be encountered.
The widespread manifestation of OBE- like experiences indicates that this
experience is naturally triggered. Anumber of conditions (physical trauma, drug
e ects, severe illness, ultrarunning, meditation) can provoke such experiences.
Since OBE can occur as a result of a variety of natural, accidental and purposive
activities, it reveals that there are a variety of mechanisms by which this separ-
ation of the sense of self from the body may be produced.
The neural correlates of the OBE have been identi ed through observations
of the brains of people who can voluntarily induce these types of experiences
and of normal people who have this self- body separation induced through
electrical brain stimulation and manipulation of visual- tactile- spatial feedback
(Lopez, Halje, & Blanke, 2008 ). The neural patterns involve interference in the
temporo- parietal junction, a brain area responsible for the integration of body-
related information. This suggests that the OBE results from the impairment
of this region responsible for motor, somatic, and balance functions and their
integration within the processing areas of the frontal cortex.
OBE characteristics of strange visual experiences of the self and environ-
ments re ect the continued operation of these brain mechanisms, but with
their disengagement from the external visual  eld and body proprioception
modules. This disconnection of body sensations and visual  eld allows for the
sensation of movement of the self that is experienced as one’s personal spirit.
In the context of shamanism, this interference with the normal integration of
the vestibular, proprioceptive, visual and tactile senses is a consequence of the
extensive stimulation (drumming and dancing) leading to habituation of these
sensory systems, resulting from their overload.
Soul flight as the deconstructed experience of self
This separation of self, body and visual aspects of the person illustrate a dis-
connection of modular structures that ordinarily function in an integrated
fashion. Soul  ight involves the dissolution of the ordinary body capacity and
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Shamanic alterations of consciousness 141
its integration with the spatial and visual capacities, while maintaining the
continued function of the interpersonal (perceived as spirits) and intrapersonal
(perceived as soul) intelligences. These phenomenological features of body– self
separation, a sense of a non- physical self, non- empirical sensory sensations, and
a sense of movement or  ight, re ect some basic features central to human
cognitive capacities.
Metzinger ( 2009 ) explains these experiences in terms of a segregation of
the major features of the underlying architecture of the human self- concept
and consciousness that reveals a capacity for separation of the di erent innate
modular aspects of consciousness. These experiences result from the dis-
sembling of the basis for the normal unity of experience, where the cap-
acities for representation of one’s sense of self, one’s body, and one’s visual
perspective are all united and sensed from the perspective of the physical
body. Alterations of consciousness produce this dissembling of the normal
unity of self, revealing the fundamental structures of consciousness and their
ability to function independently. Metzinger proposes that this separation of
components of experience reveals the phenomenological properties of the
proto- concept of mind.
Soul flight as presentational symbolism and the phantasy
mode of consciousness
The visual experiences of OBEs involve a primitive modality of symbolism,
a presentational symbolism (see Winkelman, 2010 ). This visual symbolism
provides knowledge— one might even say wisdom— foundational to meaning-
making, a form of knowing that existed prior to language- based conscious-
ness. The features of OBE experiences exhibit characteristics of complex
synaesthesias that involve the integration of various perceptual modalities. The
typical visual experiences involve an ancient mode of imaginal consciousness
that re ects fundamental functions of the human brain. These manifestations
of visual cognition, based in imagery from a reactivation of past sensorimotor
experiences, constitute a natural symbolic system.
This presentational symbolism emerges spontaneously from unconscious
brain processes, such as dream cognition, an ancient representational system
that existed long before language. This modality of presentational symbolism is
manifested in shamanic visions, as well as various mystical visionary experiences,
an innate symbolic expression of the human brain that is manifested as a con-
sequence of the disinhibition of the habitual repressive regulation of the visual
cortex. With this disinhibition of the visual cortex, experiences emerge natur-
ally out of the unconscious, exempli ed in their spontaneous manifestation in
dream imagery, hallucinations, and religious revelations.
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142 Michael J.Winkelman
Shamanic alterations of consciousness as adaptations
Alterations of consciousness compromise basic survival responses involving phys-
ical and social orientation and defence, leaving questions as to their usefulness.
Nonetheless there are reasons to see advantages from these states that provide
a variety of processes that enhanced adaptation and contributed fundamental
features to our evolved psychology. The self- as- spirit experiences produced by
shamanic alterations of consciousness provide cognitive and self- mechanisms
that are adaptive. The experiences themselves may have been side e ects of
physiological processes, but they provide experiences that convey a certainty of
a personal soul or spirit that survives physical death. These experiences resulting
from alterations of consciousness may have been subsequently selected for as a
feature of human psychology that addressed the potentially incapacitating fear
of death and crippling anxiety.
Other adaptive mechanisms emerging from alterations of consciousness
involve enhanced access to the outcomes of unconscious cognitive processes
and information integration. These experiences manifesting the presentational
symbolic modality provide a medium for representing and manipulating infor-
mation that represents the self and its qualities, the features of social “others,”
emotional processes and attachments, and their connection with the body– self
at a pre- egoic level (Winkelman, 2010 ). This cognitive capacity provides the
ability to think through visualising and mental manipulation of images.
Horv á th etal. ( 2017 ) characterise the representational system of visionary
phenomena as a form of phantasy consciousness that is also manifested in
daydreaming, mystical visions and ordinary experiences. Phantasy conscious-
ness involves autonomic but conscious mentations that blend perceiving, antici-
pating events, and planning with memory, a ect and fantasy in a synthesis of
perception and thinking. This capacity for visionary phantasy involves a mani-
festation of a latent and primitive level of thinking and decision making based
on combining visual experiences with feelings.
Deliberate engagements with visionary consciousness enhance access
to intuitive systems of knowing. Rock and Krippner ( 2011 ) characterised
shamanic experiences as involving the deciphering of images to produce
meaning. Shamans engage in the exploration of image- schemata to derive
knowledge relevant to survival through an enhanced ability to predict future
circumstances. Ritual processes selected for both the capacity to access these
experiences and the abilities to make symbolic interpretations of these spontan-
eous images acquired from normally unconscious processes. These adaptations
for predicting future conditions engage analogical modelling processes, inte-
grating normally unconscious information through the visual processes of
presentational symbolism.
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Shamanic alterations of consciousness 143
Froese ( 2015 ) proposes that diverse alterations of consciousness involve an
interference with ordinary consciousness and result in a greater randomisation
of brain activity. This allows for spontaneous synaptic plasticity that can reshape
network connectivity and enhance overall coordination of neural activity with
personal and social adaptations. Psychedelics exemplify these e ects in inter-
ruption of normal DMN functioning while increasing connectivity across brain
areas (see above). Froese notes that frustration of ordinary coping provokes a
subject- object dualism— a separation of the normal integration of self and social
modules— that can engage a detached re ection on circumstances. Deliberate
alterations of consciousness can also provoke this kind of detached observation.
The opportunistic occurrences of the breakdown of coping abilities were sub-
sequently cultivated through intentional ritualised alterations of consciousness
that enhanced access to new cognitive states. These natural and ritual processes
are exempli ed in shamans’ engagement with practices such as fasting, sleep
deprivation, exhaustive activity and pain tolerance.
Detached and re ective cognitive processing per mitted new cognitive cap-
acities that led to the emergence of the symbolic mind through enhanced
abstract cognition in this visual modality. Froese proposes that these disruptive
and reintegration functions that occur in the neurological and cognitive systems
also occur at the social level, with the communal rituals producing a temporary
disruption of normal social behaviour, and consequently allowing for a spontan-
eous reorganisation resulting in better optimisation of social relations. The use of
ritual to disrupt normal cognition is illustrated in the traditional rites of passage
associated with puberty, characterised by taboos, prolonged social isolation, aus-
terities and physical hardships, extreme pain and ordeals, and sometimes the
ingestion of psychoactive substances. The purpose of such rituals was the funda-
mental re- direction of psychosocial development of young initiates, serving to
destabilise their childhood mother- focused minds to facilitate acculturation into
the symbolic system of adult male culture.
Ritualised alterations of consciousness played a role in the evolution of the
human learning capacity. The normal adaptations for cumulative learning char-
acteristic of cultural beings become solidi ed/ habituated and can fail under
catastrophic conditions or major life cycle changes, such as adult transition
when radically new structures of meaning are required. Dramatic changes
in circumstances that require extensive changes in association structures and
meaning require powerful e ects, an unlearning that is mediated by oxytocin,
serotonin, dopamine, the endorphins, melatonin and the endocannabinoids
(Freeman, 2000 ). Unlearning can be achieved through transmarginal inhib-
ition, involving the consequences of a collapse due to extreme stressors that
can result in a complete loss of prior learned associations and even personal
identity. Shamanic rituals provoke these varied neurotransmitter systems to
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144 Michael J.Winkelman
produce transmarginal inhibition through prolonged stressful activities (dan-
cing, drumming) to the point of a collapse. These processes in humans have
been characterised as “brainwashing” that results in loss of access to personal
memories, attitudes and values, but with the persistence of general knowledge,
motor skills, language abilities, and even technical skills.
The shamanic separation of body and self- perspectives manifested in the OBE
has adaptive features that include the maintenance of cognitive functions and a
separate sense of self even when physical trauma undermines the functioning of
the physical body and somatosensory integration. During the OBE, the person
is still capable of higher cognitive functions, including problem solving, agency,
and volition, and in many cases appears to exercise extrasensory functions inde-
pendent of the limitations of the physical body. The disembodied self that is
experienced in the OBE provides a sense of personal identity that implies a
continuity beyond the physical body, providing an experiential basis for the
experience of and belief in one’s soul. The OBE perception that the self is
separate from the physical body provides a powerful experiential foundation
that undoubtedly contributed to the development of beliefs in souls, spirits
and other supernatural phenomena. The sense of being outside of one’s own
body, and experiencing the self as a spirit, is not a passing experience, but an
impactful episode that often produces a profound spiritual transformation in
the person, exempli ed in the altruistic tendencies of people who have near-
death experiences.
Such experiences may have been selected for in human evolution because
these experiences re ect adaptations that confer survival bene ts. Central features
of soul  ight involve forms of self- awareness that exceed the primitive concrete
mental processes of the body. The displacement of self that is experienced in the
OBE re ects a form of cognitive evolution that extends human thought beyond
the body- based capacity of mimesis. This ability for mental time travel is a cap-
acity that primarily functions in anticipating future events, re  ecting selection for
mental processing and decision making regarding anticipated behaviours, contin-
gencies and future planning.
Conclusions
Alterations of consciousness stimulate the release of processes associated with
ancient brain structures and their cognitive processes. These processes, exempli-
 ed in innate modules and operations of the R- complex and paleomammalian
brain systems, provide the cognitive representations that are at the basis of
supernatural experiences. These experiences are also at the basis of some of
our most profound capacities for knowledge, manifested in concepts of intu-
ition, visionary knowledge, cosmic consciousness, enlightenment and many
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Shamanic alterations of consciousness 145
other classic terms that contrast these enigmatic capacities with the rational
mind. Alterations of consciousness engage these primordial cognitive capacities
to produce forms of awareness that supersede ordinary awareness, manifested
as spirits, as well as transpersonal perceptions characterised as transcendent,
enlightened and superconscious. These experiences and forms of know-
ledge can be understood as projections of our innate self- qualities, which are
externalised in representations of supernatural beings.
Acknowledgement
Thanks to John Baker for his careful reading of the manuscript and suggestions
for improvement.
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