2.6. ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
IN THE WORLD OF TODAY.
CHARISMATIC SYSTEMS IN
THE CONTEXT OF MODERN CULTURE
Th e need for getting into ASC that is not realized in scope of traditional public institutes proper to European culture usual y fi nds its implementation in non-religious forms of ASC achievement like alcohol-ism, drugs-addiction, psychedelic music. Due to specifi c feature of social medium current state the extension of adequacy range for diff erent forms of behaviour has resulted in booming experiments with diff erent states of consciousness. Th e society of today is subjected to tortures of spiritual transformation — from actual rejection of transpersonal experience (including both rituals and techniques that facilitate such experience and hermeneutical systems that reveal its meaning) up to chaotic tasting of every method available for obtaining such experience, from psychedelics to state-or-the-art psycho-techniques.
Th is process is also signifi cantly facilitated by modern world globalization: today psychedelic experience of other cultures, both primeval and traditional Oriental ones, becomes available for European culture as well. Th e desire to “taste” the trance-state experience of such cultures beyond the very cultural traditions that had generated it results in emergence of a wide range of unconventional spiritually-religious schools, their maximum coming to the West in 60-70-ies, and in 1980-ies — to the territory of former USSR.
Moreover, the culture itself is changing its attitude to such states, up to gradual institutionalization of many of them (despite the European tradition). Th e fi rst attempt to institutionalize the second (but for the wide-awake) state of consciousness was made within the tradition of psychoanalysis that is known to have paid much attention to techniques of dreams interpretation. Actually for any individual of psychoanalytic culture (and this can be in fact referred to any educated western individual) the reality of his dream that refl ects his genuine state comes as signifi cant as his “common” state. Moreover, the common state is assigned with some element of il usiveness since in this state the individual is parted away from his unconscious sphere through certain 78 Andrey G. Safronov. PSYCHOLOGICAL PRACTICES IN MYSTIC TRADITIONS: FROM ARCHAIC TO OUR DAYS
defense mechanisms. Still this attempt was preserved only within the stratum of elitist culture since psychoanalysis on its own is a system of elitist kind.
Another attempt is the establishment of a specifi c “psychedelic” subculture — including club culture, the culture of drugs taking (“legalize”), corresponding music and cinematography, as wel as religious traditions like Rastafari, — within the traditional mass culture. Th is subculture correlates with the main culture in the same way the carnival culture does with traditional medieval culture, since it provides a prompt outgo for tension accumulated due to cultural restrictions.
Yet there are also attempts made to acknowledge and comprehend transpersonal experience in the framework of offi cial science. As an example we shal draw an article of P. S. Gurevitch [66] who wrote the fol owing: “It is quite possible that it is the transpersonal experience that shal become useful for substantiation of a new cultural project.
Th ere wil be no fatal discretion of physical and spiritual aspects of individual’s essence, no “vexation” of spiritual traditions, human spontaneity, hankering to transcendental notions” [66, pg. 41].
Recently there have been attempts made in western culture to institutionalize ASC in the framework of specifi c psychological trainings, fi rst of al within the system of transpersonal psychology and psychoanalysis. In cultural aspect it takes form of diff erent new psychedelic arts based either upon immersing of art object consumer into altered states of consciousness or upon demonstration of some actual phenomena from a completely diff erent phenomenological position.
Despite the fact that the ASC experience has not been institutionalized in modern western culture there stil exist religious systems which followers practice their achievement. In this case one speaks about so-called charismatic systems. Th e feature typical of such systems is that their fol owers reveal the experience of some particular psychological or mystic states that they cal “descending of the Holy Spirit”, “contact with Lord”, “visitation of spirits” etc. When being in these states the adepts feel as if they gain some supernatural skills (in Christian charismatic tradition this being referred to as “holy sacraments”) that are manifested solely during spiritual practices or in the group of confederates, thus being a typical sample of induced ASC.
PSYCHOLOGICAL PRACTICES IN MYSTIC TRADITIONS: FROM ARCHAIC TO OUR DAYS. Andrey G. Safronov 7 9
Th e research study of Christian charismatic systems was performed by V. V. Titarenko in his works [281 — 286] where he shows that the phenomenon of charismatic movement has been an immanent characteristic feature of religion within the whole period of its existence. Th is conclusion comes into fair alignment with the theory advanced by the present work stating that ASC are necessary for the sake of religious system functioning. Th e author has fi gured out four main features of modern Christian charismatic movement. But the methodology used prevented the author from going beyond the limits of cultic groups of religious worship that intentional y identify themselves as “charismatic cults”. Along with this, the phenomenological analysis of the states of consciousness which make basis of such groups enables us to suffi -
ciently enlarge the scope of phenomenon under consideration.
Th e term “charisma” (from the Greek charisma — the gift) is one of the most polysemantic scientifi c and religious terms. Initial y in Christian theology is stood for specifi c gifts the Holy Spirit gave to disciples during his descent at the time of Pentecost. Later on this term was transferred to sociology and psychology as a notifi cation of person’s specifi c ability of infl uencing upon other people behaviour. In religious practice the term “charismatic movement” is related to the class of Christian systems which adherents believe that charisma can even today come down on people in their communication with the Holy Spirit, taking form of God’s gifts like “speaking other tongues” (glossolalia), healing skil s, holy texts exegetics, prophesy etc. Th e very names of existing groups — the Pentecostals and the Charismatics — origin from these believes.
Final y, in modern religion study the term “charismatic cults” conventional y denotes religious groups united around a charismatic leader and existing mostly due to his personal renown. According to M. Weber [37] who was actually the one to have introduced this notion, charismatic cult is an initial formation stage of any modern religion. In the process of its further development charismatic relationships are substituted by administrative — fi nancial ones. Weber cal ed this process the
“routinization”. Th ere is a paradox here, since despite al metamorpho-ses of the notion “charismatism” the scope of religious systems considered from positions of various charismatism defi nitions coincide, and thus we shall not comment upon which charismatism is actually meant.
80 Andrey G. Safronov. PSYCHOLOGICAL PRACTICES IN MYSTIC TRADITIONS: FROM ARCHAIC TO OUR DAYS
Modern charismatic movement takes it origin from the group adherent toMethodist preacher Ch. F. Parham (1873-1929); one of his followers started “speaking in tongues”, and further on this gift manifested itself by other members of this religious group. Stil , one can fi nd numerous descriptions of similar states both in the history of Christianity and other religions as well.
Th e prophetess Blessed Hildegard of Bingen (1098 — 1179) had visions and she could “speak in tongues”.
Saint Vincent Ferrer (1350 — 1419), a Dominican monk, had a “gift of tongues” and was understood by the Greeks, Germans and Hungar-ians, though he spoke to them only his native Catalan.
Saint Francis Xavier (1506 — 1522) was also graced with this unusual gift and could preach to people of India, China and Japan in their native languages though he had never learned them.
Th e Cevennes prophets (1685 — 1700) obtained their prophecy gift at the time of persecutions by Roman Inquisition. Many of them were yet children. Th ey used to go into ecstasies and utter words that they considered to have been inspired by Holy Spirit. Th e most common subject of their prophesy was the Second Advent of Christ. Th e data available says that some of them spoke Hebrew and Latin though they had never learned these languages. Just like ancient Montanists, they also prophesied soon coming of Christ and establishment of his Earthly Kingdom. Th ey claimed the spiritual gifts that had come down on them to be the sign of Jesus’ soon coming.
Members of the Quakers, the movement founded by G. Fox (1624 —
1691), believed that the Holy Spirit reveals itself through prophets.
Th ere is information available about some of them also practicing
“speaking in tongues”.
E. Irving (1792 — 1834), the clergyman of Presbyterian Church in Scotland, was the founder of Irvingism — the name for the group of people who spoke unknown languages while being in ecstatic state.
Shakers (“Shaking Quakers”), the American community headed by “mother” Ann Lee (1736 — 1784) were dowered with “gift of tongues” that sometimes manifested accompanied by ecstatic joy and dancing.
PSYCHOLOGICAL PRACTICES IN MYSTIC TRADITIONS: FROM ARCHAIC TO OUR DAYS. Andrey G. Safronov 8 1
Representatives of some religious communities of the XIX-th cent.
in Sweden (“Readers”), Ireland, as well as the fi rst Methodists were also noted for the gift of speaking in tongues.
Th e interest in charismatic systems within the scope of present investigation work is subjected to the fact that, as it was mentioned above, their functioning is based upon achievement of various ASC
by their adherents. Indeed, having analyzed a large group (ca. 60) of charismatic systems the author managed to distinguish their common generic features [238].
1. Th e system followers can get into specifi c altered states of consciousness that they refer to as the “descent of the Holy Spirit”, “contact with Lord”, “coming of spirits” etc.
2. Th e system followers believe into supernatural skills emerging by them (in Christian charismatic tradition this is treated as the gifts of God), especially in case these skills are linked to mentioned mystic states and manifest only during cultic practices or in a group of confederates.
3. Th ere is a charismatic myth available — a myth about environment where the adherents of this system live. In charismatic religion a myth is not a description of events that happened “once upon a time in a far-far land”. On the contrary, a member of charismatic community himself becomes a member of the intensively developing myth. Mythologic character of charismatic mentality can be defi ned by the following features: some particular events are interpreted in compliance with the mythologem; the person and people in his surrounding are correlated with mythological fi gures (12 “disciples” of the White Fellowship).
4. Th e adherents of such schools consider themselves to be the chosen ones.
5. Th ere is an eff ect of commitment assign that is revealed in transposition of one’s everyday problems onto supernatural protectors.
6. Th ere exist specifi c techniques of “communication” with supernatural forces available within the systems.
One can easily notice that analogous phenomena exist in other systems as well, and not only in those that refer themselves to charismatic ones, but even in ones that are not purely religious. For example, the participants of Zolotov’s workshops (we shall later touch 82 Andrey G. Safronov. PSYCHOLOGICAL PRACTICES IN MYSTIC TRADITIONS: FROM ARCHAIC TO OUR DAYS
upon phenomenon of psychological cults) denoted themselves as having diff erent extrasensory skills that emerged at the workshop yet disappeared after it was over. Such eff ects can be observed in many occult-technocratic systems.
In this way the term “charismatic system” can be applied not only to a smal group of neo-Christian communities, but to many other religious systems as wel . Moreover, it is not always that the system the term “charismatic” can be applied to comes in strict compliance with the notion of religion.
Let us analyze the phenomenon of charismatism and the reasons of its existence, as wel as consider completely diff erent charismatic systems as a unique cultural phenomenon.
Th e altered states of consciousness that emerge by the fol owers of charismatic systems can be distinguished into three main groups: 1. Th e state of facilitation — the feeling of increased spiritual force, own signifi cance and own skil s that occur to believers. Th is is the group of eff ects that holy gifts are referred to.
2. Th e state connected to motivation change. Th is group includes the “god-inspired” acts, i.e. actions and deeds performed under infl uence of the superior will, the prompts received from superior forces etc.
3. Th e state of environment “infl uencing” that lies in believer’s eff ecting (either actually or imaginary) upon the course of events that are signifi cant for him.
Still the main distinctive feature of ASC attained by adherents of charismatic systems is the fact that such states occur only in case of collective performance of corresponding rituals. Th e divinity of developed charismatic churches even gives a detailed substantiation of this issue; moreover, the believers are warned against getting into such states beyond the community.
Another peculiar feature of such communities is that they always bear charismatic character in terms of Weber’s concept, i.e. they are united around a charismatic leader who provides the induction of the necessary states.
Charismatic movement in the world of today has reached some tremendous scale. Along with previously discussed religious systems, one PSYCHOLOGICAL PRACTICES IN MYSTIC TRADITIONS: FROM ARCHAIC TO OUR DAYS. Andrey G. Safronov 8 3
can regard as charismatic several most signifi cant groups that are united by a number of common features: religious-mystic, occult-mystic, occult-technocratic, psychedelic, commercial.
As a rule, religious-mystic systems come as mystic sects or schools within the scope of traditional religions, for example, Sufi sm in Islam or Pentecostalism in Christianity. Recently there appear more and more charismatic systems of neo-Christian type that practice healing, speaking in tongues (glossolalia), col ective hymn performance for cal ing on the Holy Spirit etc. A specifi c feature of these systems is their usage of manipulative psychology techniques for induction of necessary states.
Esoteric compounds of world-known religions should be considered as a separate form of religious-mystic systems; they are characterized by smal er number of participants and absence of any proselytism tendencies (sometimes being completely unexposed), aimed at solution of participants’ inner tasks.
Occult-mystic systems occurred within the scope of non-confessional occultism and became widely spread in early XX-th century.
Th e diff erence between such systems and the religious-mystic ones lies in interpretation of untraditional states that are displayed by their followers, since such states are considered to be mostly not a result of supernatural interference but the eff ect of some people’ specifi c skil s or sophisticated abilities. As a rule, they acknowledge the existence of supernatural forces but such forces are usual y treated as impersonal notions. Th ere is abright example of such charismatic systems is —
the spiritualism. Th e session of table-lifting is always performed in a group of emotionally co-aff ected people.
A number of concepts connected with extrasensory perception, ufology and other similar attempts to work-out pseudo-scientifi c models that describe mystic experience or the world of supernatural, can be related to the occult-technocratic systems. Th e already mentioned ufologists — contactees who get into “telepathic” contact with the visi-tors belong to this very group.
Th e existence of psychedelic systems is linked to the drug-addicts and other al ied subcultures (the hippies, Bohemianism etc.). In systems of this kind that gradual y attain more and more religious features a major role is played by various psychedelic states. Th ere has even 84 Andrey G. Safronov. PSYCHOLOGICAL PRACTICES IN MYSTIC TRADITIONS: FROM ARCHAIC TO OUR DAYS
a deity emerged — the Jah — him beingthe patron of such “relaxed” states. An interesting fact here is that the charismatic compound of such systems is as much important as the narcotic one. A number of studies have shown that as a rule an individual who smokes marijuana for the fi rst timeshal not achieve an intense eff ect in case he does this beyond the specifi c initiating ritual and without preliminary “mind set” that characterizes its infl uence. And on the contrary, the persons who took placebo in scope of corresponding ritual managed to get into the ASC.
Th e structures that act according to the principles of multi-level marketing can be referred to as commercial charismatic structures.
Actual y, fetishization of sales object and states that are linked with it comes as an essential feature of such systems. For instance, here come the “intense improvement of one’s health” after Herbalife taking, dramatic increase of marketing participants’ income and “life effi ciency”, specifi c psychological states that are accelerated at “presentations”, and
“promotions” — rapturous presentations of system persons with higher-ranked status (by the way, such rituals are also peculiar of Pentecostalism and Christian charismatic churches).
In this way one can see that in the world of today there is no distinct line drawn between charismatic religions and non-religious charismatic systems. One can even speak about phenomenon of charismatic systems as a separate signifi cant occurrence in spiritual life of the society.
What are the reasons for such rapid spread of charismatic systems in our time? Th e reply can be found in the afore-mentioned man’s need of getting into altered states of consciousness that is satisfi ed to minor degree within the scope of old religions that have been already subjected to the process of routinization. Th e crisis of religiousity traditional forms is displayed in their formalization that results in the fact that they are no longer able to satisfy spiritual and emotional requirements of a man. Th e rituals of such system “lose their vigour“, i.e. stop producing structuration eff ect upon individual’s unconscious mind. Th e occurring vacuum becomes immediately fi lled in by newly arising charismatic systems that in their turn shall undergo the process of routinization in a due course of time, and so it goes.
Summing up the material of the present section, we can draw a con-PSYCHOLOGICAL PRACTICES IN MYSTIC TRADITIONS: FROM ARCHAIC TO OUR DAYS. Andrey G. Safronov 8 5
clusion that charismatic systems is a complex phenomenon that is not limited by religious life only, covering numerous elements of modern culture. Intensifi cation of charismatic tendencies’ role and multiplica-tion of corresponding systems becomes an essential feature of our time.
We can suppose that in future charismatic systems shal become a signifi cant social force, while their role it terms of scale shal be compared to the role of religions in the world of today.
86 Andrey G. Safronov. PSYCHOLOGICAL PRACTICES IN MYSTIC TRADITIONS: FROM ARCHAIC TO OUR DAYS
SUMMARY
1. Man’s ability of getting into altered states of consciousness is one of the most fundamental features of human psyche. Th e ASC experience forms many cultural aspects such as: cosmogonic concepts, philosophy, symbolism.
2. Each cultural tradition disposes of its own particular set of psychic states that make up one of cultural values.
3. Th e experience of altered states of consciousness makes up a basis for more complicated psychopractices, both deliberate and unconscious ones.
4. At least some of religion adherents should be able to get into ASC; this is an essential attribute of its existence since the experience of such states is the source of religious feelings and faith.
5. Th ere are special social institutes aimed at culturalization of ASC
experience and its integration into common-day life.
6. Th ere are the following schemesof such culturalization that have been fi gured out:integration, marginalization, sanctifi cation and pseudo-integration.
7. European culture of today tends to change its attitude to altered states of consciousness and even tries to institutionalize them.
8. Th e need of getting into altered states of consciousness that is not satisfi ed within the scope of classical European culture is also realized through a big number of emerging charismatic systems– a specifi c phenomenon that touches upon numerous elements of modern society.
Section III
SOCIO-CULTURAL
FUNCTIONS
OF RELIGIOUS
PSYCHOPRACTICES
3.1. SOCIAL CHARACTER
AND ITS ROLE IN CULTURE
The issue of interrelation between human personality and social tradition that this personality was being developed within was brought up to science ca. a century ago. The most significant results in this theme were received in scope of socio-cultural and psychological anthropology. The first of the mentioned sciences studied individual’s behaviour and mentality in order to use them to reconstruct general picture of social and cultural system that these individuals live in, while the second one — psychological anthropology — studied both culture and individual in a complex set, or better say, individual as a representative of some specific culture
[176, pg. 109–110].
We may say without exaggeration that from all psychological concepts it was the school of psychoanalysis and the works of its fol owers that performed the major infl uence onformation ofmethodology of psychological anthropology. Psychoanalysts of various school directions — like E. Fromm, W. Reich, Roheim, H. Sul ivan, E. Erikson, J.
Devereux — also turned to anthropology. Th e last one even established a separate scientifi c branch — the ethnopsychiatry [400, pg.11].
Psychoanalysis appeared to be really favourable for research studies of such kind. One of the main points of Freud’s concept was the one that civilization as it is turns individual into a neurotic-type person by establishing inner confl ict between nature and psyche’s social element.
As it was said by modern anthropologist Philip Bock: “From Freud’s 88 Andrey G. Safronov. PSYCHOLOGICAL PRACTICES IN MYSTIC TRADITIONS: FROM ARCHAIC TO OUR DAYS
point of view the culture relates to the society in the same wayas the neurosis does to the individual” [379, pg. 28].
From this very postulation made by Freud ethnologists draw a conclusion thatdiff erent practices of children upbringing applied by various nations result in generation of characteristic features that are proper to each separate folk group, since children who grow up within the same socio-cultural environment are subjected to similar psychological traumas that diff er from psychotraumas received by children from another socio-cultural environment. Th is idea was developed by fol owers of psychoanalytical school who were dealing with social and cultural application of psychoanalysis, fi rst of all by K. Horney and E. Fromm
[306; 335] who also pointed out at social y-induced neuroticism of individual of today. In their works they treated neuroticism as a consequence of society existence.
In scope of this approach Erich Fromm advanced his concept of
“social personality” or “social character” that was defi ned as a relatively conscious system of ideas, believes, mind-sets, values and feelings. Th e concept of “social personality” enabled for rather persuasive determination of a link between social y stipulated stereotypes and individual’s personal experience. It helped to demonstrate the way the individual-ly-unconscious and social y-axiological notions are crossed and come dependent on one another. Th is concept emerged as a variant of culture-centered approach. Stil , just like it often happens, polemic concerning the advanced concept caused its substantial misinterpretation.
Th e “social character” was no longer treated for the character that is appropriate within the culture, but for the one that is also required by this culture, this socio-cultural organization. In other words, this interpretation of “social character” includes all features that make individual feel himself comfortable within this society.
In this way it became possible to speak about specifi c form of homeostasis observed, that is:some peculiar forms of conventional neuroses enable society to stay in the very forms that it actual y exists in, that in its turn leads to formation of corresponding sociotype.
Th e mentioned sociotype formation is achieved through a number of social institutes, the most signifi cant of them being the upbringing system [120; 360]. Yet in reality the feasibilities of upbringing aimed at PSYCHOLOGICAL PRACTICES IN MYSTIC TRADITIONS: FROM ARCHAIC TO OUR DAYS. Andrey G. Safronov 8 9
culture re-transmitting are restricted due to two reasons. First of al , the only element of culture reproduced while upbringing is that acknowledged one, the one that is consciously comprehended by this culture. In fact, any educational system is grounded upon earlier refl ected system of spiritual and social values, mostly essential for this society, which it is trying to retranslate. Th is results in a number of problems, since it is not always that such refl ection bears authentic, true character. Th e acknowledged social and spiritual values are sometimes far from matching with the real ones. Almost every society teaches to individual not the things he should do in order to comply with social realities, but theimage it would prefer him to be. Th is problem is wel -known to practicing psychologists, for it is the problem of individual’s having a set of socially non-adaptive programs that are induced within the process of upbringing [21]. Here comes the paradox since real values of this society are re-transmitted as wel , but this is done at the non-verbal, unconscious level. Considerable divergences between apprehended and unconscious set of values can lead to the confl ict of values that shal result in anomie of social scale. A demonstrative sample of such confl ict was the Soviet Union in its last years, as it was shown by Hayek [301].
Another factorthat restrictsabilities of upbringing that is aimed at self-reproduction of culture is that each re-transmission always results in part of signi