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[ link to www.freewebs.com] P A R A D I G M S H I F T
Gary Osborn
The "Sleepless Sleep"
Hypnagogia – the Shamanic Trance-State
(The Neutral Point in Consciousness)
Copyright © Gary Osborn 2003. All Rights Reserved.
On the cusp between wakefulness and sleep and as we make the transition from the waking state into the sleeping state, we pass through a kind of veil – what is technically known as the ‘Hypnagogic State.’ Again upon awakening, and as sleep recedes, we pass through the same veil known as the 'Hypnopompic State'.
Both terms – i.e., hypnagogic and hypnopompic – indicate the same state in consciousness.
The difference in terms allows us to make the distinction between one entering this state from waking consciousness into the sleeping state, (hypnagogic) and from the sleeping state into full waking consciousness. (hypnopompic.)
The reader may have noticed the same ‘picture’ emerging here as regards the two halves of a cycle and the same point which is crossed over twice. The ancients made the same connection in that the waking-sleeping cycle was the same as any and every other cycle – and realized that if true, then this ‘slower’ cycle was the one that could be used to access the ‘Eternal Now’ – the source-center of consciousness – and through psychic means.
I find it highly ironic that the hypnagogic state has actually been used to explain away all paranormal and mystical experiences; considered “delusional” and “hallucinatory experiences” – mainly because this altered state of consciousness (itself an unexplained enigma of the mind) is considered “hallucinatory.”
However, some researchers are now beginning to realise the deeper significance of this ‘borderline state,’ ‘half-dream state,’ or ‘twilight zone’ in consciousness.
In my own view, and out of all the altered states we can experience without the use of drugs or hallucinogens, I now consider hypnagogia to be the most fascinating.
Hypnagogic experiences have an almost magical quality about them and they cannot really be called 'dreams' as such: instead the hypnagogic state could be considered more a ‘Lucid’ dream – the state when we are becoming aware, or are aware that we are dreaming. One may easily slip into this state while dozing – especially if something like a sudden movement, contact or noise awakens the individual just enough to place him or her in this fine borderline state.
Sleep Paralysis
One explanation that sceptics and parapsychologists will use to explain away paranormal experiences such as the “bedroom invader,” the “old hag” syndrome and so-called “alien abduction” experiences, is the phenomenon called ‘Sleep Paralysis’ – which is a condition associated with the hypnagogic state.
When we dream, the body will sometimes become paralysed as if the system is defending itself against any irrational movement caused by our interaction within the dream – which of course could prove dangerous to the dreamer as well as the person the dreamer is sleeping with. It’s no wonder that we would feel paralysed, because the body is still protecting itself as it does when one is asleep and dreaming.
Now if while still in the dream we were to become more conscious (becoming lucid,) we will have entered the hypnagogic and at this point we are in fact awake and asleep at the same time. Put simply, the hypnagogic is a ‘quantum state’ of consciousness – a rare state of existence, a similar state in principle to a subatomic body like an electron or photon which can be both a particle and wave at the same time.
We can see then that it is being in the hypnagogic state that explains the “sleep paralysis” phenomenon, as one is “asleep” but also “awake” to feel paralysed – something we are not aware of when we are normally asleep.
This is simple to understand and I don’t know how anyone could have problems with this simple explanation. It was only later on that I understood the significance of this ‘borderline state’ of consciousness and how it was connected to the central theme of my own research work into the Kundalini phenomenon and the ‘void’ of eastern mysticism.
Hypnagogia:
The Brief ‘Unconscious’ Point in the Waking-Sleeping Cycle
We have already looked at cycles and all related wave phenomena as the ancients understood them, so its not difficult to see that the hypnagogic state is the ‘cut’ or ‘divide’ in the ‘waking-sleeping’ cycle – the fine cross-over point between the two halves of the cycle. One half of this cycle being the time when we are awake – usually during the day, and the other half being the time when we are asleep – usually during the night. First I will remind the reader of the conscious and subconscious cycle.
1. Objective-Conscious / Subjective-Subconscious Cycle. The Nodes would represent the ‘Unconscious’
Now I will show the comparisons this has with the ‘waking sleeping cycle:’
In terms of the binaries, the 'I' would represent the waking, objective half of the cycle, and the 'O', the sleeping, subjective half of the cycle.
2. Objective-Waking / Subjective-Sleeping Cycle. The Nodes would represent the Hypnagogic State
To me, what made this brief point in the cycle highly significant the more I looked into it, was the fact that again, like the nodes in the conscious/subconscious cycle, we are usually unconscious during the very moment when we pass from waking consciousness over to sleeping consciousness. In other words when we pass over from the positive, waking half of the cycle to the negative, sleeping half and also vice versa – i.e., from the negative to the positive – we are usually unconscious, and so most of us are not aware of the actual point when we fall asleep.
However if we were to simply remain conscious at the point of going to sleep, we would enter a different state of consciousness altogether, and it was this that attracted the ancients who utilised it, because it seemed a simple enough task to try and master.
During the very brief moment when we pass through the hypnagogic and hypnopompic veil, we could say that both halves of the waking-sleeping cycle – i.e., our experience of either being awake or asleep – are fused together as if superimposed.
Now if having remained aware and conscious at this point, then one will find that he or she is both awake and asleep at the same time, or neither – meaning that what the individual is experiencing, is a ‘Third State’ or ‘Third Zone’ in consciousness – which is closer to the actual source of our own consciousness and that of the collective.
Though many of us still haven’t grasped it as yet – all paranormal and mystical experiences are due to the hypnagogic state – being the ‘ekstasis’ trance-state of the shaman and the wished-for ‘void’ state of Eastern transcendental meditation.
In Gurdjieff’s esoteric system (the ‘Law of Three’) the hypnagogic state represents the ‘Third Force.’ It also represents the ‘Excluded Middle’ of Western Aristotelian logic – which is rather curious – if we happen to believe that there is a global conspiracy behind the suppression of higher knowledge.
Now looking again at the waking-sleeping cycle and noting that we are usually unconscious at the two crucial points within it – i.e., at the crossing point from waking to sleeping and from sleeping to waking – I could see that this was a perfect example of what I had discovered about our consciousness: that our consciousness is oscillating so many cycles per-second and that we are ‘unconscious’ at the two crucial points within each oscillating cycle – meaning that we are unconscious so many times a second – although we don’t notice this because the cycles are too rapid, as if flickering quickly like a cine-film.
I was also aware that this unconscious point is also reflected in all the cycles of phenomena that we experience. Furthermore, it would seem that we have to remain momentarily unconscious within these cycles to sustain the illusion of the reality we exist in and are experiencing, as if ‘blocking ourselves off’ from the creative-source of the potential energy (zero-point energy) with which we create the illusion.
My theory is that we become unconscious at the point where and when we are actually "tapping" this energy of the source to create our own reality around us and that become unconscious so that we don't "tap" too much of this energy/information. However if we were to remain conscious at this point then we would also be closer to the very source of our creations
Remaining conscious at this point would open up an inner “gateway” or ‘portal’ through which we could reach into other dimensions and realities – which brings us back to the ability of the shaman and his claims of visiting other worlds and other realms of existence. Through this “doorway” we would also be allowing more energy and information into our consciousness and into our reality – which would account for the paranormal and mystical experiences associated with this ‘twilight zone.’
Again, I would say that this is the state one has to be in to gather creative insight and experience psychic phenomena and a paranormal or mystical event – and again, based on accumulative evidence and the connections made so far, I would say that this ‘Middle’ or ‘Midpoint’ state of consciousness is the “gateway” into other worlds, other realms or parallel universes. A bold statement, I know, but after cross-referencing all the information at hand, including some in-depth analysis of the accounts given by Shaman from all around the world, this is the only logical conclusion one arrives at.
The ‘Hypnagogic State’ is often overlooked in people’s investigations into the paranormal and as a result it has been re-interpreted again and again with the result that there are now many different terms associated with this same state in consciousness. For instance, Hypnagogia is also known as the ‘Oz Factor’ – a term coined by paranormal investigator and writer, Jenny Randles.
Most people make the mistake of thinking that the hypnagogic state is something that only happens when we are in bed – only experienced at the point of passing from waking to sleeping. Most people do not realise that one can also enter into this state at anytime of the day.
Schizophrenia and other Mental Illnesses:
Are they related to Spontaneous Hypnagogia?
I would say that apart from lucid dreams, visions, out-of-body phenomena, creativity, insight, the shamanic trance state and all manner of paranormal and mystical experiences – mental disorders like schizophrenia and epilepsy also hinge on this borderline state in consciousness.
I would also say that the distinctions made between all these seemingly different conditions, are really due to the degree to which one has consciously accessed this borderline state. I have discovered that spontaneous access of the hypnagogic without any understanding or knowledge of what it is or what is happening, can open up a “door” within the mind, which if “left unattended” can lead to the mental disorders described. These disorders are usually associated with one’s deepest fears of the ‘unknown’ which one is constantly being brought face-to-face with via spontaneous access of the hypnagogic state throughout the day. This of course is a delicate issue which I am only touching on here.
What must be understood, is that more often than not – if not all the time – hypnagogia is present during a paranormal or mystical experience – usually preceding such experiences, and, once we are aware of this, then a little research will tell us that many symptoms associated with schizophrenia – like hearing disembodied voices for instance – are also associated with one entering the hypnagogic state spontaneously and at anytime during the day.
This suggests that schizophrenics are people who will regularly enter into this state easily without knowing that they are actually doing this. All the symptoms associated with schizophrenia – as well as epilepsy, I might add – are due to this state which opens up a channel in the mind to other dimensions of the self and other influences – even “other intelligences” – not all benevolent. This conclusion is not considered by most psychologists because of its association with the occult – even though it is the simplest and most logical of all explanations.
I find it ironic that most people do not place much emphasis on the hypnagogic state and just refer to it as an “interesting quirk” in consciousness, even though an in-depth understanding of it, whereby one can see the connections it makes with other things, can give us many answers regarding paranormal and mystical phenomena and even the mysteries of the mind and consciousness itself.
History of the Hypnagogic State and Recent Views
The first recorded description of the Hypnagogic State comes from the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, who in the 4th century BC talked about the “the images and affections we experience when sinking into slumber.”
In the 3rd century AD, the Neo-Platonic philosopher, Lamblichus wrote of what he believed were a form of “God-sent” experiences; voices and lights that came to him in the “condition between waking and sleeping.”
As regards our more contemporary views, this borderline state in consciousness was first recognized in France in 1845 by J. G. F. Baillarger (1809–1890) and in Germany by W. Griesinger (1817–1869.) The technical, scientific term, ‘Hypnagogic’ was coined by the 19th century scholar and antiquarian Alfred L. F. Maury who studied this borderline state and named it “illusions hypnagogiques.” ‘Hypnagogic’ is made from the Greek words hypnos, (sleep) and agogeus meaning ‘guide,’ ‘conductor’ or ‘leader.’
Again, it was noted that the majority of us usually become unconscious during the hypagogic phase and don’t really experience anything strange or untoward, apart from our normal dreaming states – which for most of us are sketchy to say the least. However, researchers have noted that if one can become conscious during the hypnagogic state and sustain one’s conscious awareness there, then all kinds of things will happen.
It was some years later that parapsychologist, FWH Myers coined the term ‘Hypnopompic’ so that we could tell the difference between our going through the same state when we fall asleep and when we awaken. There really is no difference in the phenomena experienced in both these points in the waking-sleeping cycle, but Myers was careful to make a distinction so that researchers could note any differences that may occur in either the hypnagogic or the hypnopompic. The only difference observed by researchers was that hypnopompic phenomena was more common – meaning that in general people were able to enter this state more easily when waking-up than when falling asleep.
To give a general description of the Hypnagogic State so that we become more familiar with it, I would like to include here an overall description by Professor Emeritus Arthur J. Ellison who is the Vice-President of the British Society for Psychical Research:
‘Hypnagogic imagery occurs for many people just as they are on the way into sleep but before actually falling completely asleep: hypnopompic imagery can occur while they are waking up in the morning but before they are completely awake. A fair proportion of the population experience hypnagogic and hypnopompic imagery and a long paper about this subject appeared in the SPR Proceedings in the 1920s. Some people in that deeply relaxed state midway between waking and sleeping find that they are observing (with closed eyes) panoramic scenes around them. Sometimes they observe people apparently talking and see many different faces.
‘About one-third of people have these hypnagogic images on the way towards sleep. If they are in good health the images are usually happy, pleasant and very clear. In illness they sometimes become distorted and ugly or broken in pieces. People who are good at consciously visualizing a face or scene are no better than anyone else in regard to the appearance and clarity of hypnagogic imagery.
‘It is fairly common for the images to start with cloudy effects and then the clouds part, showing faces and scenes of the countryside. The faces are always vivid and living and in great detail: they are not just still pictures. In some cases the faces appear gradually bit by bit, perhaps the eyes first, followed by the teeth and nose and gradually the complete face. The eyes look at the percipient. Some people I believe not a large proportion – can produce images of this kind at will.’
‘ . . . A most generally observed feature of the hypnagogic imagery is its endless and multitudinous variety. Landscapes are the commonest images for adults, followed by scenes with moving figures and inanimate objects. Landscapes are not seen at all by children. In cases of delirium and insanity the images are of animals, corpses, processions of the dead, devils and ghosts. Sometimes the scenery is changing rapidly and as if observed from a train. Often the images tend to take a circular form and very rarely they are seen as though from the back of the head. They are always bathed in the brightest and clearest light; they are occasionally in black and white but more usually in bright colours and with a rather strange luminosity.
‘It is interesting to note that they seem not to be memories: many hypnagogic imagers have said that they have no memory of ever having seen the images before. In the case of one imager he describes a number of young women passing in his images and said that they looked towards him and passed on. Then one of them spoke and the voice, clear, soft and distinct said, ‘He isn’t asleep.’
‘Hearing is rather rarer than seeing in these images, but smell is even rarer and sensation more so. Music is rarer than voices. Where the images come from is not clear at all and there are various theories. Some people think that they are scenes from earlier incarnations.
'Occasionally the images seem to be telepathic and some premonitory. Approximately fifteen per cent of people can perceive (but not necessarily every time) images in a crystal while in apparently normal waking consciousness. Such crystal images are very similar to hypnagogic images.’ [1] (My Italics.)
Ellison then goes on to describe his own experiments with the hypnagogic state, (too long to repeat here) but what he says afterwards is very interesting:
‘An interesting feature of all these images was that they remained visible only so long as I gazed at them without thought. The moment I attempted to reason about them or describe them to myself with the aim or remembering more clearly, they flicked off instantly.’ [2] (My Italics.)
As Ellison says, the images remain visible and become more detailed as long as one observes these images without thought.
From what I have since learned about the hypnagogic state, we would say that one has to sustain a balance of mind, which is one of high neutral indifference – no emotion – meaning that one observes what’s going on without the analytical, critical and discriminating faculties getting in the way of what one is observing.
In other words, one neither accepts nor rejects . . . one remains calm and Neutral.
This is how one sustains conscious awareness at this ‘Midpoint’ in the cycles thereby capturing it. Though not impossible, this is still very difficult to achieve, and is like trying to stand still on a very fine tightrope – or more difficult still, trying to stand on a ball floating on water.
Again, by remaining in a neutral state, one’s mind is in-between the opposites and has superimposed them together – which is one’s natural location for the hypnagogic state. By the full attention of one’s energies at this point, one is also fusing all energy together here, and one must negate all thought to be able to sustain this balance of energies.
It is thought – as in a ‘line of thought’ that creates the pendulum swing between the opposites.
This cyclical swing between one thing and another actually creates the void of unconsciousness that divides and separates all energy. The void of unconsciousness is where we should be ‘conscious’ therefore uniting the energy again and bringing everything back into that point within us.
The practice of meditation is really one’s attempt to access the Trance State, which again, is another term for the Hypnagogic State.
The negation of all thought and feeling is important in meditation, and of course the word ‘Meditate,’ begins with medi – which is associated with the word middle . . .to be ‘centred’ or ‘in-between’ two states. Again, it is this point in-between the waking-sleeping cycle where we usually become unconsciousness.
And again our ‘waking-sleeping’ cycle, which is more-or-less synchronised with the ‘day-night’ cycle, is the same as the ‘thought-feeling’ cycle, or the ‘objective-subjective’ cycle, or the ‘conscious-subconscious’ cycle of the mind – but at a much slower frequency – taking 24 hours to complete.
For all those researchers of the paranormal who are still looking for answers as to how a person is able to perceive and experience anomalous phenomena, and access more information about the true ‘malleable’ nature of his or her reality . . . what must be acknowledged before all else is this:
The ‘Hypnagogic State’ is the “key” that can open the doors to the paranormal and the mystical. It seems that once we understand what is actually going on during the hypnagogic state – i.e., the ‘mechanism’ behind it – then we will probably find all the answers we are looking for concerning the paranormal, the mystical, altered states of consciousness, creativity and man’s spiritual evolution.
I am not alone on this assumption.
The most comprehensive written work on the subject of the hypnagogic state is Hypnagogia by Andreas Mavromatis, 1987, who says: “Most, if not all, of the conditions of creativity are present in hypnagogia.” [3] Another researcher, Dr. Thomas Budzynski (1991) writes:
‘The Twilight State (i.e. hypnagogic state) is important because it represents a state of mind which facilitates creative associations and the assimilation of certain types of information, both verbal and imaginal, without the usual critical screening which is operative during the waking, fully conscious state.’ [4]
In his book, Beyond the Occult, Colin Wilson makes these comments about Mavromatis and his work on the Hypnagogic State:
‘As far as Mavromatis was concerned this established beyond all doubt that hypnagogic states encourage telepathy . . .’
‘ . . . Now this is an immensely exciting conclusion, for it suggests that deliberately-induced hypnogogia might be the open sesame to the whole field of the paranormal.’
‘ . . . If as Mavromatis believes, the hypnagogic experience is a kind of gateway into the world of paranormal powers, it could well be the breakthrough that psychical research has been hoping for since the 1880s.’ [5] (My Italics.)
Yes, “deliberately-induced hypnagogia” does seem to be the “open sesame to the whole field of the paranormal,” and it is through experimenting with the hypnagogic state, that one can also induce the ‘energy phenomenon.’ known as Kundalini.
This supports our view that the hypnagogic state really is the “gateway” into the worlds of the paranormal and also the mystical. We would say that one’s experimentation with the hypnagogic state seems to be a very important step regarding the awakening of one’s psychic abilities, mystical experiences – and can even trigger the on-going evolutionary leaps that often lead a person towards higher levels of consciousness.
Looking at Jenny Randle’s collection of ‘Oz factor’ cases, it really does seem as though one’s experience of the hypnagogic state is the “gap,” “hole” or “doorway” out of our reality and into another – a “doorway” created by the merging of the two opposites and therefore the merging of one reality with another.
Moreover, the hypnagogic state seems to be the point of fusion and superimposition – i.e., the Neutral Point – regarding the two energies ‘positive’ and ‘negative,’ and also the two realms or ‘experiential’ halves of our reality – being the ‘physical’ and ‘psychical’ or the ‘material’ and ‘mental.’ It seems that some other intelligence or even “aliens” or “beings” from another dimension or reality, are able to come through the fragile ‘join’ which exists between these two realms in our consciousness.
When these two realms are superimposed within our consciousness, it creates a kind of vacuum; a “hole,” “portal,” or “doorway” through which one’s consciousness can exit, and return and through which other “beings” from the realms of consciousness can enter and exit. We recently came across this account from a book by Whitley Strieber and his wife Anne, which gives another example that the hypnagogic state acts as a kind of inter-dimensional “doorway”:
‘I laid in bed, facing the wall, somewhere in between the state of waking and sleeping. [An obvious reference to the Hypnagogic State] Suddenly, as I stared at the wall it opened up and this big dog walked soundlessly into the room. It resembled a gray-hound in form, but had reddish brown fur.’
‘ . . . The wall remained open and soon people clothed in something resembling monks’ white robes with cowls covering their features came silently through and surrounded my bed.’ [6]
Again, the “hole” or “w’hole” we create in our consciousness by sustaining our awareness at the hypnagogic point, also seems to be the ‘jump-gate’ through which we can access other (higher) levels of our own consciousness, and retrieve more information – the ultimate experience being the bright-white light explosion in the head associated with the Kundalini Awakening.
An excellent book that highlights this state of consciousness is The Hidden Door: Understanding and Controlling Dreams, by Peter and Elizabeth Fenwick.
Let’s look at some of the things the Fenwicks say about this zone of consciousness – especially in regard to people using it as a “doorway” in the mind to access other levels of one’s own consciousness – not only for creativity, but also for more information about the surrounding reality:
“Recent evidence suggests that brain activity may be different at this level of consciousness, making it in some way an especially creative zone of experience. In some way the hypnagogic state is very comparable to the experience of entering a flotation tank. [A flotation tank is a sensory deprivation device in which one will cut off all senses and float in complete darkness so as to go into the internal world of the mind. This is very important in that my theory is that the sarcophagus in the King’s Chamber actually acted as a sensory deprivation tank.
“ . . . Seekers after ecstasy have discovered that the flotation tank may be a short cut to Nirvana – they say they are different when they emerge, much more relaxed and tranquil.” [7]
“ . . . These ‘waking dreams’ have provided inspiration for numerous creative artists. Charles Dickens is said to have had the inspiration for many of his characters and stories in a state of hypnagogia.
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