Experimental Study of Ostensibly Shamanic Journeying Imagery in Naïve Participants II: Phenomenological Mapping and Modified Affect Bridge

Abstract

This study develops the methodological framework advanced in Rock, Baynes, and Casey's (2005) experimental study of ostensibly shamanic journeying imagery in naïve participants. Specifically, the present study experimentally investigates the impact of the word landscape, featured in Harner's (1990) shamanic journeying to the Lower World instructions, on the number of landscape‐related images reported; examines the origins of ostensibly shamanic journeying images; and maps the phenomenological state effects of shamanic journeying to the Lower World. Sixtyeight naïve participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: either the original or a revised version of Harner's (1990) instructions coupled with monotonous percussion drumming at 8 beats‐per‐second for 15 minutes, or sitting quietly with eyes open for 15 minutes. Each participant's subjective experience was retrospectively assessed using the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI) (Pekala 1991) and a mental imagery checklist. Subsequently, participants were administered the Modified Affect Bridge for the purpose of exploring the origins of mental imagery experienced during the experimental conditions. The results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between conditions with regard to the number of ostensibly shamanic journeying images reported, but not between treatment conditions with regard to the number of landscaperelated images reported. There were no significant relationships between condition and mental imagery derived from autobiographical memories. There were statistically significant differences between conditions with regard to the PCI dimensions of fear, altered state of awareness, and arousal.

Exploring Shamanic Journeying: Repetitive Drumming with Shamanic Instructions Induces Specific Subjective Experiences but No Larger Cortisol Decrease than Instrumental Meditation Music

“…Although very few studies have investigated this phenomenon systematically, participants exposed to repetitive drumming while completing an imagery task reported significantly different subjective experiences in comparison to participants who completed the imagery task without exposure to drumming [61]. Furthermore, differences between subjective experiences related to shamanic instructions and other instructions, such as sitting quietly, were previously reported by Rock [12], [13]. In a similar vein, Shapiro and Lehrer [62] found that participants given autogenic training (which has some similarities with shamanic journeying) reported more sensations of warmth and heaviness in the limbs than participants in a progressive relaxation group.…”

Some Rudimentary Problems Pertaining to the Construction of an Ontology and Epistemology of Shamanic Journeying Imagery

“…The results of Rock, Casey, and Baynes (2006) and facilitated the development of a tentative fourfold ostensibly shamanic journeying imagery origin typology consisting of autobiographical, symbolic, transpersonal and indeterminate sources. An ostensibly shamanic journeying image may be categorized as autobiographical if it appears to be the derivative of an autobiographical memory, that is, a "memory for events that have occurred in one's life" (Reber & Reber, 2001, p. 423).…”

“…The Modified Affect Bridge was developed as one potential partial solution to 2; it was not designed to facilitate unrestricted access to one's unconscious material, but rather to facilitate ordinary remembering among ordinary participants in a non-clinical context. The Modified Affect Bridge was first applied in an experimental context by Rock, Casey and Baynes (2006) and, subsequently, . Rock, Casey, and Baynes (2006) reported that ostensibly shamanic journey images encountered by naïve participants journeying to the lower world with the aid of monotonous drumming at 8 beats-per-second for 15 minutes were just as likely to be derived from autobiographical memories as spontaneous visual mental images reported by naïve participants assigned to the control condition of sitting quietly with eyes open for 15 minutes.…”

“…The Modified Affect Bridge was first applied in an experimental context by Rock, Casey and Baynes (2006) and, subsequently, . Rock, Casey, and Baynes (2006) reported that ostensibly shamanic journey images encountered by naïve participants journeying to the lower world with the aid of monotonous drumming at 8 beats-per-second for 15 minutes were just as likely to be derived from autobiographical memories as spontaneous visual mental images reported by naïve participants assigned to the control condition of sitting quietly with eyes open for 15 minutes. This finding suggests that the epistemological process that results in one being consciously aware of an ostensibly shamanic journeying image involves memory recall and superimposition within one's phenomenal space.…”

Altered States During Shamanic Drumming: A Phenomenological Study

“…(p. 80) It was early pointed out by Walsh (1989) that scientific research on drumming was rather neglected and that such studies were needed. Since then several studies have been performed, evaluating the phenomenological effects and different aspects of monotonous drumming such as change in mood and visual imagery, as well as comparisons with other induction techniques or instructions Rock, Abbott, Childargushi, & Kiehne, 2008;Rock, Abbott, & Kambouropoulos;2008;Rock, Baynes, & Casey, 2005;Rock, Casey, & Baynes, 2006;Rock, Wilson, Johnson, & Levesque, 2008;Woodside, Kumar, & Pekala, 1997). In the study by a thorough analysis of phenomenological contents during rhythmic drumming (as well as for other induction techniques and control condition) was performed.…”