The Eightfold Path to Altered States of Consciousness

NorthernShamanism: One of the differences between shamanic work and other sorts of energy work is that sooner of later, altered states of consciousness are required. This is partly because shamanic work is not only working with energy (like thaumaturgic magic) or with universal paths (like theurgic magic) but working with entities. In order to properly perceive and deal with the wights, you need to go into a state of consciousness that brings you closer to them.

The more dramatic and serious the work, the more extreme the altered state needs to be. Even people who are good at going into mild altered states - the sort who trance out easily - will sooner or later find that they need to go further and deeper if they take up shamanic work.

A large part of the "basic" shamanic training is learning how to control one's state of consciousness at will, whatever that takes. Fortunately, our ancestors spent thousands of years working out a wide and varied array of altered-state technologies; much of the research work has already been done for us. These techniques have been sorted into a system referred to as the "Eightfold Path", or eight groups of similar techniques...read more>>>...