Part of the Casswiki article series Channeling and channeled material
Altered States of Consciousness is a classic anthology edited by psychologist Charles T. Tart, first published in 1969, which became widely used text in allowing the areas of altered states and transpersonal psychology to become elements of modern psychology. This book is a collection of readings about the altered states of consciousness.
There has been a number of debates, ranging from psychologists to philosophers, from scientists to theologists, from shamans to neuroscienctists, over the concept of “consciousness” for decades. However, the “consciousness” is usually defined as a state of awareness or perception of one’s surroundings and one’s own state of mind - of being conscious.
Here we have a different concept that is related: altered states of consciousness (ASC), which Tart has defines as “qualitative shift in his pattern of mental functioning, that is, he feels not just a quantitative shift (more or less alert, more or less visual imagery, sharper or duller, etc.), but also that some quality or qualities of his mental processes are different”.[1] This usually means that a person would experience a different perception in space-time or distortion of one’s visual perception or dissolution of one’s sense of self.
This book explores the concept of ASC and covers the effects of drugs, meditation, hypnosis, and dreams. These essays are written by a number of well-known figures, including William James, Arthur C. Hastings, Milton H. Erickson, Wolfgang Luthe, and even includes four essays by Dr. Tart himself. This book, consisted of 650+ pages, goes on for thirty-five chapters with eight sections. These sections focus on a general discussion on ASC, hypnagogic state, dreams, meditation, hypnosis, psychedelic drugs (both minor and major), and the psycho-physiology of ASC.
Since this is considered to be out of date by a few decades, this comprehensive survey is still considered to be a fascinating study on altered states of consciousness, and these pages are backed by credible sources and references.
See also
- Charles T. Tart
- Channeling and channeled material
References
- ↑ Tart, Charles T. Altered States of Consciousness: Revised Edition, p. 1. New York: Harper, 1990.