A lesson about trance (theta state)

[Korpo]

This happened the night before last night.

I had a vivid dream in the morning, like a computer game, ongoing, many changes of perspective, with a ninja as lead character. Invisibility spells, monsters, etc. That was clearly a dream, and I woke up afterward.

But during the night I had this kind of dream that is most likely happening in a teaching environment - like the "astral discussion group" I vaguely remember discussing energy work (which immediately woke me up waking the projection reflex). This time I think I was being instructed - I was told about tranceing.

I remember little, but what I remember I do because it struck me as odd. I remember the topic was thetawaves. On the scale from deep sleep to waking consciousness delta is most deep, then comes theta if I remember correctly. So I was told about thetawaves.

Then I found myself in a state like the coloured blobs you get before going to sleep. But this time the blobs formed into a circle with - IIRC - a hole in the middle. I don't know the significance of this. Does this induce the theta state? Does this happen to some when inducing theta from a waking consciousness? I don't know.

I just know I remembered afterward what was said on Centerpointe's introduction to Holosync: The meditator enters deeper into these states, and that the bringing on of the Theta state is a deepening of meditation, and finally in Delta everything starts to resolve on its own. So I guess I'm progressing, but I have not fully grasped what the dream meant - can I go deeper now or is this the clue I need to deeper?

I like these "dreams that are more than dreams". My recollection of them is hazy, but they carry great importance for me.

Oliver

[Korpo]

Google Search for "theta meditation circle":


Back to the genesis of the name ThetaWaves: research upon the base word Theta on Wikipedia (oh, Wikipedia, how I love thee, let me count the ways!) returns the following fascinating information:

Theta (uppercase Θ, lowercase θ) is the eighth letter of the Greek alphabet, derived from the Phoenician letter Teth. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 9. In its archaic form, theta was written as a cross within a circle, and later, as a line or point within a circle.

According to Porphyry of Tyros, the Egyptians used an X within a circle as a symbol of the soul; having a value of nine, it was used as a symbol for Ennead. Johannes Lydus says that the Egyptians used a symbol for Kosmos in the form of theta, with a fiery circle representing the world, and a snake spanning the middle representing Agathos Daimon (literally: good spirit).

The Egyptians also used the symbol of a point within a circle (, the sun disc) to represent the sun, which might be a possible origin of its use as the Sun's astrological glyph.(from: http://theta-wave.blogspot.com/2007_03_07_archive.html)

Maybe there was something inside the circle. Maybe the circle was broken.

Oliver

[Korpo]

I remember having sometimes seen a colored circle with a hole in it - not necessarily in meditation. One time I can recall it was in bright neon pink (aura / blob color).

Oliver

[Mystikal]

I often see the blobs form a ring, which shrinks into nothingness, followed by another forming around the edge of my vision and shrinking again, and so on... kind of like moving backwards through a tunnel. I also feel subtle waves of energy washing through my forehead/third eye area, possibly the front of my brain, in tune with the ring. But a still ring... I don't know about that.

P.S. Colored blobs? All I ever see are very faint, slightly yellowish ones...

[Korpo]

Hello, Mystikal. :)

I think that is just a visual cortex representation of brain waves. I see them every time I go into an alpha state light trance. Wavering, circl-ish lines that come from the back into my field of vision and vanish into the front. I had them as child, and with energy work I noticed them more often, for example when falling asleep or in trance.

My first near-OBE I had on my first encounter with the Focus 10 intro by Monroe. As the signal rose suddenly these waving circles sped by faster, and it was like I was lifted upward into them. I panicked. :?

The other waves I sometimes have, too. Also in trance energy work. Pulsations that spread through my inner vision field, with a sensation of expansion. Like a sudden "whoosh" and then they were gone - just recurring pulses. Those are nice.

What I mean with the pink blob and other blobs was that sometimes I saw something like an after-image arise, in the neon-pink color not untypical of an after-image / aura color. It was a circle with a hole in it, IIRC. Upon investigating such phenomena I often lost my calm or playful mood, and then such things vanish. Mild, playful interest seems to be a very good state to investigate such stuff. :)

Oliver

[CFTraveler]

(oh, Wikipedia, how I love thee, let me count the ways!) Geek. :P


I often see the blobs form a ring, which shrinks into nothingness, followed by another forming around the edge of my vision and shrinking again, and so on... kind of like moving backwards through a tunnel. I also feel subtle waves of energy washing through my forehead/third eye area, possibly the front of my brain, in tune with the ring. But a still ring... I don't know about that.

Wavering, circl-ish lines that come from the back into my field of vision and vanish into the front. I had them as child, and with energy work I noticed them more often, for example when falling asleep or in trance.

Those sound a lot like my 'recurring hypnagogics' as I call them (btw, they're not hypnagogics, but at the time I named them I didn't know any better) which is an image of a drop (4 or 5 by now) falling on a liquid field and waves forming around them. Tom theorized them as 'nectar' drops in meditation (don't remember which kind of cosmology).

[Korpo]

Nothing like that. Nothing like a drop about it. Maybe we don't see the same thing?

Just a form - closed like a circle, but not a circle. It comes into the field of vision from behind and shrinks into the field of vision at front. I had them as child, I have them now. They are bluish, IIRC.

I still think it is just what the visual cortex does to represent brain waves when starting to turn inward. Alpha is a pretty slow wave already. If accounting for the shift of time that happens in states of trance, seeing one per perceived second or less might be about right.

I have them pre-sleep. They don't look like anything but "electrical geometric forms", in auric colors.

Oliver

[CFTraveler]

I don't mean the 'same thing' - I meant in the sense that we both see a non-hypnagogic mobile shape (yours radiates inward, mine radiates outward) in moments of quiet (in the dark) meditation, and they are recurrent. Yours are 'yours' and mine are 'mine'. I have theorized that mine is some sort of physical thing I haven't found any reference to (except for Tom's info) and yours may be the same 'type' of 'manifestation', for lack of a better term.
Mine is in pink-on pink, like a picture negative. But come to think of it, I can see mine in the daytime now although when I first started seeing it I had to be in trance (or quiet for at least 10-20 minutes.)

[Korpo]

Mine come "from the back" and vanish out of sight in front of me.

Imagining going backwards through a tunnel is somewhat apt, with some glowing edges disappearing in front of you. They are closed circles, but their shapes waver and wrinkle up. I thought everybody has that.

Oliver

[Korpo]

Like this (attached image).



Oliver

[CFTraveler]

I sometimes get those but in deep trance and with a feeling of backwards movement. I use the movement ('go with it') to get out. But not lately. Actually not in a long, long time (about 3 months at least.)

[Korpo]

So, you ease out of yourself by sinking?

Oliver

[CFTraveler]

By sliding backwards. Only in that case, though. (Remember I do it in a chair)

[Mystikal]

Interesting that we all see similar things. I wonder why they're all in different colors...

I don't think they're a manifestation of alpha waves; an 8-12 Hz wave seems a bit too high frequency to be perceived as "once per second", even in trance. Hm... does anyone here know how these waves actually manifest in one's brain? Do they actually move through the brain, or is it more of a pulsing that happens everywhere at once? If the latter, they certainly wouldn't be perceived as a moving shape.

Now, they certainly could be a perception of some sort of wave moving through the brain, perhaps localized to somewhere in the visual processing area. But I'm afraid that whatever they are, they're probably different from the original thing Korpo asked about, and not helping him get an answer to that question (interesting as they may be!)... ^_^;

[Korpo]

The deeper I get into trance, the less meaningful time gets. When I don't have outside input like someone speaking in the physical world, I have nothing to measure time by. The more detached I am from such input (for example by headphones when doing Monroe tapes), the more skewed my perception of time becomes. Seconds can stretch into feeling like minutes with a Monroe tape in Focus 12 - the pause between words can seem exceedingly long.

So, it might be a perception of brain waves - only to be perceived because trance changes our perception of time sufficiently to perceive the also slowed brain waves. Then again it might be not. ;)

Oliver

[Mystikal]

In a deep enough trance, yes... but I see said moving ring in very light trance. Sometimes all I have to do is close my eyes for a minute, and I can still be plenty conscious of sounds and other external input. So I'm discounting any explanation that depends upon deep trance to make sense. ;p

[Korpo]

Good point. :? :D

Oliver

[sono]

Hi Korpo,

Just to mention I had a dream 2 nights ago about a "symbiotic psychic" (a man & woman who spoke through one another) who held my fingertips, along with a sort of metal "clip" to "check" my "streams" & "blood pressure"; I was told he injected "thanatos" into me, & the area around my eyes went mottled & blue-black. . . I assumed it meant "thanatos"/death & that I was to prepare for it, but now you mention a similar-sounding word, it could have been that. . . . strange that we both had the same TYPE of word in dreams.

(Sorry I have no insight to offer on your dream experiences, I think you yourself are one of the best dream-interpreters on the forum. . . .I don't trust my own interpretations yet)

PS I always see the turning "yin-yang" symbol when I meditate.

[Korpo]

PS I always see the turning "yin-yang" symbol when I meditate.

You seem to be a very visual meditator according to this and other posts of yours. :)


I assumed it meant "thanatos"/death & that I was to prepare for it, but now you mention a similar-sounding word, it could have been that. . . . strange that we both had the same TYPE of word in dreams.

I thought about "death", too, when you mentioned the word - ancient Greek in high school... ( <= geek ;) ) ... See this:


The Greek poet Hesiod established in his Theogony that Thanatos was a son of Nyx (Night) and Erebos (Darkness) and twin of Hypnos (Sleep). (from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanatos)

Night, darkness and sleep. Hmmm. Theta is a state of sleep or deep meditation. If you follow Maharshi about meditation it is "the razor's edge" - finding the states on the verge of wake and sleep (IIRC that is, I think it was Maharshi).


Thanatos has also been portrayed as a slumbering infant in the arms of his mother Nyx, or as a youth carrying a butterfly (the ancient Greek word "πσυχη" can mean soul, butterfly, or life, amongst other things ^ ) or a wreath of poppies (poppies were associated with Hypnos and Thanatos because of their hypnogogic traits and the eventual death engendered by overexposure to them).(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanatos)

Now there is something (emphasis by me). Hypnogogic properties - imagery! Remember your eyes. Also an association with soul. Remember - death is but a portal for a change, and there is an afterlife as well - it can even be visited.

German Wikipedia says Thanatos lives at the verge of day and night - between wake and sleep - just as does theta sleep.

And finally - transmission of thought, the communication of spirits, can carry multiple meanings, which allow for several interpretations into words. If you touch such a thought - I once did - you get a different interpretation every time as words are not enough to capture all of it. So "Thanatos" and "Theta" may be different aspects or facets of the same "transferred" thought. You translate these aspects out of the original message so you can think about them in an analytical manner. So if "Theta" feels right, too, then the message might be ambiguous, too.

Oliver

[Korpo]

PS -


To dream of your own death, indicates a transitional phase in your life. You are becoming more enlightened or spiritual. Alternatively, you are trying desperately to escape the demands of your daily life.(from: http://www.dreammoods.com/)

Enlightenment is also often associated with death of the ego or rebirth.

Alternatively it could also be an attunement to energies that help you perceive the afterlife more easily? Or deceased people / discarnates? I mean as a medium.

Oliver

[sono]

Yes, all of that rings very true - BTW I am not afraid of being dead, as I assume it'll be even better than trips out of the body!( But the PROCESS of sloughing off the mortal truffle does not appeal too much!) I rather guiltily look forward to it, though that sounds ungrateful for a body. . . .

And isn't it funny how Greek comes in handy in later life to (us) geeks?? Can't think of anything more insulting (to the ego) than being thought of as part of the "in crowd"!

Just thought that maybe one has very visual meditations becuae one is half blind in bodily life (contact lenses etc)

[Korpo]

I guess I have to disagree. I look at the world through glass bricks and my meditations are composed mostly of blackness. ;)

Oliver

[Shirley]

I also see those neon-colored rings. Appears, shrinks, disappears over and over again. I experience them in a light trance state. Don't know what it is but they are related with the brain waves. They are also followed by a change in the ringing/hiss sound in my ears.