Phenomenological Experience in Response to Monotonous Drumming and Hypnotizability

Abstract

Participants (N = 206) experienced 15-min of monotonous drumming either before or after hypnosis (Harvard scale). Participants completed the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI) in reference to the last 4-min of drumming. Stimulus order did not affect the objective trance levels as measured by the Harvard scores. The subjective trance level as measured by hypnoidal scores (predicted Harvard scores from the PCI) was significantly higher when drumming preceded hypnosis. Participants' estimated average trance level achieved during drumming fell in the medium range of susceptibility (5-8) (Pekala, 1995). Participants who achieved higher hypnoidal and Harvard scores were more likely to report relaxed feelings and shamanic-type experiences in narratives about their subjective experiences during drumming.

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

“…Music is recognized as a facilitator of ASC [7]. Notably, repetitive drumming has been identified as a form of sonic driving that can facilitate ASC [6], [8]. The frequency range of the rhythmic sequences used to attain ASC has been observed to correspond to that of theta EEG waves [9], and brain wave frequencies have been found to synchronize with rhythmic drumming with repetition rates between 3 and 8 Hz [10].…”

Trance State Effects and Imagery Vividness Before and During a Hypnotic Assessment:A Preliminary Study

“…Over the years, the PCI has been found to be reliable and valid for mapping phenomenological experiences in response to such stimulus conditions as eyes open and closed sitting quietly, breathing, progressive relaxation, hypnotism, drumming and trance postures, and fire walking (Forbes & Pekala, 1993Maurer, Kumar, Woodside, & Pekala, 1997;Pekala & Ersek, 1992/1993Pekala & Levine, 1981Pekala, Steinberg, & Kumar, 1986;Pekala & Wenger, 1983;. Over the last 2 decades, Pekala and colleagues (Kumar & Pekala, 1988Kumar, Pekala, & Cummings, 1996;Kumar, Pekala, & Marcano, 1996;Kumar, Pekala, & McCloskey, 1999;Pekala, 1991aPekala, , 2002Pekala & Kumar, 1984, 1987Pekala, Kumar, & Marcano, 1995;Pekala & Levine, 1981 have used this approach to assess and quantify states and altered states of consciousness.…”

Reply to Wagstaff: “Hypnosis and the Relationship between Trance, Suggestion, Expectancy, and Depth: Some Semantic and Conceptual Issues”

“…Hence, much more basic research on retrospective phenomenological assessment (Pekala, 1991a), and its use with baseline (eyes open and eyes closed sitting quietly) and other types of stimulus conditions still needs to be addressed. To date, the PCI has been used in reference to such stimulus conditions (other than hypnotism) as: meditation (Venkatesh, Raju, Shivani, Tompkins, & Meti, 1997), fire-walking (Hillig, & Holroyd, 1997/98;Pekala & Ersek, 1992/93), an OBE within an NDE (Maitz & Pekala, 1991), shamanistic trances (Rock, Wilson, Johnston, & Levesque, 2008), religious/spiritual narratives Downloaded by [University of Waikato] at 12:36 10 July 2014 (Wildman & McNamara, 2010), a virtual reality environment (Huang, Himle & Alessi, 2000), drumming (Maurer Kumar, Woodside, & Pekala, 1997), and psi phenomena associated with "shamanic-like journeying" (Rock & Storm, 2010).…”