Videos of People In Trance States

A large collection of links to videos of people in trance states. Above, practitioners of the African-origin spiritual tradition of Candomblé, in Brazil.

[#1 posted by anthonyjaycorman, June 19, 2009 9:21 AM]

I find this fascinating. I went to a terriero, Casa Branca, in Salvador in 1999. Several of the participants attained what this posting calls a trance state, and it was persistent and clearly no act. Is there any science about the underlying neurophysiology?

[#2 posted by Boba Fett Diop, June 19, 2009 9:21 AM]

A classic example of trance captured on film is Jean Rouch's Les Maitres Fous, which describes the reconfiguration of the trappings of colonial authority by practitioners of the Hauka movement.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32hkIwutxf8

And a slightly different version of Orisha worship:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAV3bOJaQuY

[#3 posted by nck wntrhltr, June 19, 2009 11:28 AM]

BoingBoing often puts me into a trance state.

[#4 posted by nanuq, June 19, 2009 12:03 PM]

Of course, there's no way to tell whether these people are really in a trance state or whether they're simply playing the role that's expected of them. It's a lot like those very public demonstrations of religious fervour or stage hypnosis.

[#5 posted by pinknoiz, June 19, 2009 1:43 PM]

In the San Francisco area you can study candomblé drumming and dancing with Mestre Jorge Alabê. For example, there is a dance class tomorrow, 6/20, at the World Dance Center on San Pablo Ave. in Berkeley.

[#6 posted by avraamov, June 19, 2009 1:48 PM]

it's a bit dry, but Gilbert Rouget's 'Music and Trance' does a pretty thorough job examining what's going on with some of these ceremonies.

[#7 posted by Anonymous, June 19, 2009 9:32 PM]

This is a good reason why the south of Brazil doesn't mix with the north of the country. Fortunately this practice is considered exotic even by most Brazilians.

[#8 posted by Anonymous, June 20, 2009 1:51 AM]

Re: "Videos of people in trance states:"

Yes, candomble worhshippers do slip into trances, but I don't think the video that BB posted has any of that.

I'm no Candomblé expert, but I'm pretty sure that once people slip into a trance, they don't look like they're dancing in a controlled, human way; that's just dancing, in this case dancing for and of a specific Orixá (deity.)

People who've received an Orixá seem like they are no longer in conscious control of their bodies... That's why they it's called a possession trance! They might start shaking, convulsing, eyes roll up, maybe some whooping, etc. Like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwrbjZ3YnGo&feature=PlayList&p=B4116A11DECCC83C&index=0&playnext=1

Speaking of, the pai de santo (?) in the macumba (presumably, my guess based on the rhythm) video above looks like a younger, slenderer Jorge Alabé!

[#9 posted by Keeper of the Lantern, June 20, 2009 8:50 AM]

You may laugh but in the US similar African-origin trance states are kinda common, even outside New Orleans.

A lot of the more charismatic Christian groups actually practice forms of worship that almost certainly have roots in ancient and even pagan African ritual. And why not? Christianity in the US was greatly influences by the slaves. If you've ever seen a Pentacostal church service where people "swung from the chandeliers" (figuratively) then you'll know what I mean.

Think about the snake handlers: Is it possible that this practice only recently (ie, last couple of hundred years) picked up a thin verneer of Christianity? And no doubt they seek to feel the infusion of the Holy Spirit by entering into a spiritual state by handling the snakes.

So I love seeing stuff like this.

[#10 posted by Takuan, June 20, 2009 9:10 AM]

was just thinking about that, Keeper. The best explanation for the remarkable lack of general awareness of the existence of ecstatic trance state religious practices in a traditionally homogeneous
population would be that part of the religious memeplex that forbids knowledge of alternatives to reduce "shopping around" or worse, comparison which reveals it's ALL silly. That's why you don't see people wearing their lodge hats in public.

[#11 posted by Anonymous, June 20, 2009 5:49 PM]

i for my self think all this "getting into trance" and the higher transcendetal-mumbo-jumbo is a little bit overrated.
especially, when one tries to understand the real background of such states as described as "trance".

Two years ago at: http://www.festival-gnaoua.net/
you could actually experience something like "trance" just by standing in the crowd and smoking a lot of their stuff, that they are famous for.

The same thing can be said about dancing at a party till late in the morning and you didn't realize the time passed by, but it was so important, to keep on dancing... :)

Being in trance is nothing you can force, you just have to ride it :)

[#12 posted by Anonymous, June 22, 2009 1:21 AM]

Anonymus @ 7: Seriously? This doesn't seem like something you should shun half a country for. It looks mostly like people dancing to music. It's one of the least weird religious traditions I've ever seen, actually.

And the one @ 11: The word "trance" doesn't imply anything other than some kind of altered state of mind, so far as I can tell. Getting into a "trance" through mind-altering drugs is a just as legitimate use of the word as entering a "trance" through a religious experience. "Mumbo-jumbo" has nothing to do with it.

Please excuse the excessive quotation marks.

[#13 posted by braziliantwist2, July 10, 2009 9:36 AM]

I'm seeking a place to worship macumba, if any in the San Francisco bay area? Please contact me.