Altered states ... a whole other world

Produced in 1980 and starring a young William Hurt in his film debut as a psycho-physiologist who explores altered consciousness, the plot takes you through a physical and hallucinatory journey through the history of human evolution.

It's based on the immersion-tank experiments of Dr. John Lilly in the 1970s.

The director, Ken Russell, used symbolic imagery and mind-blowing special effects to create a dazzling extravaganza that explores the uncharted regions of mind, body and spirit.

 Hurt's character is himself a guinea pig in his own altered-state experiments. Blair Brown plays his brilliant wife, devoted to bringing him back from the most altered state one can imagine.

The movie rocks you to the core, taking you through various hallucinagenic states, through the birth of the universe and back again.

Reaching altered states of consciousness

According to Wikipedia, an altered state of consciousness is any state that is significantly different from a normative waking (Beta brainwave) state. The expression describes induced changes in one's mental state.

A person can reach an altered state of consciousness accidentally through, for example, fever, sleep deprivation, starvation, oxygen deprivation, etc.

Altered states can also be induced through the use of sensory deprivation, an isolation tank or hypnosis, meditation or similar practices.

Additionally, they can be reached by using psychoactive drugs such as alcohol and opiates, or psychoactive plants and chemicals such as LSD, peyote, marijuana, mescaline, Salvia divinorum, psychedelic mushrooms and a variety of other substances.

 New ways reaching altered states have been introduced to the marketplace as neurotechnology advances. As we've discussed on previous pages of this site, using binaural beats or isochronic tones can entrain the brain to certain frequencies, lowering the brainwave pattern of the subject. Methods of reaching altered states, such as using mind machines, light-and-sound stimulation machines and products such as the Neuro-Programmer, are some of the methods used to reach various degrees of altered perception.

 One could say that dreams, especially lucid dreams, are an altered state of consciousness, as well.

Throughout man's history, altered states have been sought through ceremonial rituals in front of a fire, or listening to an ongoing pattern of beating drums or using psychtropic substances that brought about an altered awareness. These methods, too, would have brought about brainwave patterns of trance.