The "Sleepless Sleep" Hypnagogia – the Shamanic Trance-State

Max Ernst and Salvador Dali both used hypnagogic imagery in their paintings. Andreas Mavromatis in his book Hypnagogia, describes how Dali is said to have trained himself to doze in a chair with his elbow propped on a table and his chin resting on a spoon which was held in one hand. As he was on the verge of falling asleep, his chin would drop, dislodging the spoon and waking him, often in the middle of a hypnagogic dream, whose imagery he would then paint.

Edison used a similar strategy – whenever he had reached an impasse in his work he would take a cat-nap, holding steel balls in his hands. As he dozed, the balls would clatter into metal pans on the floor, waking him – often with the way forward clear in his mind.” [8]



The creative element attributed to the hypnagogic state is all the more evident – especially when writer on Shamanism, Mark Dunn later told me that the English mystical artist and magician, Austin Osman Spare (1886-1956) used the hypnagogic state to facilitate his own unique style of drawing which was often trance induced.

Going back to the book by Peter and Elizabeth Fenwick: what I found really interesting is this recorded account by an elderly gentleman named Stanley Melling, who began to have hypnagogic experiences in 1981:



‘I had experienced a small pale blue light in front of my head before going to sleep for a few weeks before this happened, then in front of my face, although my eyes were closed, came a full moon with dark clouds passing in front . . . I started to rise head first and go through the dark centre; this formed a tunnel and as I looked back I could see an eye and part of a face.

'I descended down the tunnel at a terrific rate, then I was travelling in the darkness of the night. I could see flickers of light passing me as you would if they were coal fires on a tip, then as I came to the ending of my journey the most beautiful light and scenery you could imagine . . . I am in some sort of transparent vehicle, which is slowly coming to a halt. I see a man in a white robe come in front of me, we do not speak, he has dark curly hair and beard. We have some kind of rapport through the eyes, and then I return to my bed . . . As all these things are happening you are aware, not through words, that someone has prepared the way and no harm will come to you . . .’ [9] (My Italics.)



This account shows us that this borderline state of consciousness creates a kind of black ‘void,’ a ‘blackhole,’ in our consciousness – the mental counterpart of the astronomical physical blackhole of astrophysics – through which we can be drawn into another level or dimension of the Self – or even another reality.

As Stanley says, he went through a dark centre.



This point of superimposition, regarding the dual opposite energies of our consciousness, and created by remaining conscious at the hypnagogic state and sustaining it, is really a ‘point of singularity’ in our consciousness created by the ‘cancelling out’ of the two energies. To us, it is like a “hole,” which is often projected out into our reality. In other words, a person will see or perceive a blackhole or even many holes in the surrounding physical reality, as if the same “hole” in one’s consciousness is being projected into one’s external reality.



Sometimes holes will seem to open up in the walls, floors and ceilings. One does not always experience this, as while in the hypnagogic state people will experience things in many different ways and according to how sustained or intense the superimposition of these opposite energies are at this point in his or her consciousness.



One will often stop short by being mesmerised by the images and sounds one is experiencing. One may use the hypnagogic state as a kind of “reservoir” of energy, information and inspiration – as people like Max Ernst, Salvador Dali, Austin Osman Spare and others have done.



If accessed regularly this “reservoir” of energy is potently powerful. It’s not surprising to learn that this state is central to all Magickal formulas – both black and white. One will also experience ‘Out of Body’ phenomena and will interact with these forms, as in a waking lucid dream. Such experiences are not “dreams” as such; they are as “real” and as “illusory” as waking reality – if not more real.



In the hypnagogic state, both the conscious and subconscious realms are cancelled out and united as one – which opens up a ‘channel’ and so the individual is accessing the energy and information pertaining to the other realities and dimensions that exist beyond that Neutral Point of the Self and to which others are generally unconscious. In effect one is tapping into the one’s own Unconscious and the Unconscious of the collective.



And again, if the hypnagogic state is sustained further by one remaining neutrally centred by not focusing on these sounds and visions, then sometimes a black “hole” or tunnel will be opened up within one’s consciousness through which one can “leap,” and it were, and this initiates a transformation.

Now while keeping in mind the above, we shall go back to the ancient understanding of the hypnagogic state and how man first realized that the hypnagogic state could be used to access the source-centre of one’s own consciousness as well as the centre of the collective:



Most significant, is that the teachings of Jesus and other avatars throughout history were actually about communicating the importance of the hypnagogic state and the related ‘third eye’ – in that one’s experience of the hypnagogic state was considered to be the “door” or “gateway” into the “Kingdom” – being the source-centre of consciousness itself.



Jesus referred to himself as the “Door,” mainly because this was what his teachings were all about – in that through his teachings he was actually “pointing” towards this “door” and therefore embodied the principles associated with it, and so throughout this chapter, we are going to reveal the deeper significance of the hypnagogic state as expressed in our esoteric traditions.



As mentioned earlier, it was understood that if all cycles have this same point within them, then it was deemed possible that the only way to capture this ‘neutral point’ in the cycles, is by accessing this same point in the slower waking-sleeping cycle and again this was achieved by remaining consciously aware at the point of falling asleep and sustaining it.



By achieving this it was believed that at the same time we would have also captured the same point in every other cycle . . . the ‘Eternal Now’ – where all the energy and information that is measured and spread throughout the multiverse in space and time, is also fused together within a non-local, non-dimensional, zero ‘point of singularity.’



In terms of consciousness, this point of singularity is the source of our evolution and our evolution is actually leading us back to it. My own view is that on our way towards this ‘Source,’ our evolution dictates that we make the necessary connections that lead us to this ultimate conclusion and slowly, which is why at the moment we see only a fraction of the electromagnetic spectrum.



To conclude I shall now reveal how the Hypnagogic lies behind all our paranormal and mystical experiences.





The Hypnagogic State:

The Answer to Man’s Paranormal and Mystical Experiences



Hypnagogia seems to be the “master key” that can open the doors to this extra information and to other levels of consciousness; other dimensions of the self and alternate realities where maybe other intelligences dwell. Mastering and controlling the hypnagogic state is what makes a person a ‘magician’ in the real sense; someone who can override the slow course of man’s evolution and as we will see, to the ancients, hypnagogia was one’s experience of the ‘fifth element’ by which one is able to fuse energy and information back together so as to ‘consciously’ command it and manipulate its patterns.



In many ways, and through skilled application of the hypnagogic, one becomes the master of one’s own creation of reality.

Again the hypnagogic state is the real “Twilight Zone” – a state of consciousness where mind and matter – the mental (wave) realm of dreams and the material (particle) realm of everyday reality – are both superimposed as one energy.



Through my research into Kundalini I discovered that most of us are creating the patterns of our own reality ‘unconsciously’ and again, from that Eternal Now/centrepoint – which is why many of us feel that our lives are governed by chance and why we are blown “hither and thither” in the patterns we are actually creating ourselves.



All PK (psychokinetic) abilities and effects are due to this “twilight zone” in consciousness where the duality of mind and matter, wave and particle, yang and yin become fused as one.



All other psychic abilities and related psi-phenomena, that range from a ‘peak experience’ – (a term coined by Abram Maslow, and mentioned many times by author Colin Wilson) – to a ‘flash of insight’ to a ‘synchronicity;’ to ESP, Remote Viewing and then to Out of Body Experiences – right on up to mystical enlightenment experiences such as a Kundalini Awakening – are again due to the hypnagogic state – the experience depending on the intensity of one’s consciousness being sustained within the hypnagogic.



As we can see all these experiences are mostly based on the close union between one thing and another as if both are in synchrony – or coming closer to being in synchrony. For instance we will perceive the connection between things as in a ‘flash of insight.’



During a meaningful coincidence or ‘synchronicity’ – which is more experientially intense than mere insight – the same information in the ‘mind’ is reflected back at us from the ‘material’ world – again the result of this same fusion between mind and matter happening within one’s consciousness.



We know that two locations in space and time can be superimposed within one’s consciousness by both spontaneous and voluntarily-induced ESP and Remote Viewing experiences. Again, PK, where we are able to influence matter with our mind and “bend it like a spoon” is again due to this fusion in consciousness, as both mind and matter become one energy. Out of Body Experiences, where we are able to ‘bi-locate’ – i.e., be in two places at the same time – are again triggered by one’s sustainment in the hypnagogic state . . . as is the enlightenment experience associated with Kundalini.



Again, intense sustainment of the hypnagogic state can trigger a Kundalini Awakening in which (according to many accounts) an individual seems to have experienced all the energy and information pertaining to the whole universe or multiverse fused at a point within the centre of his or her consciousness.



To summarize:



We could say that during the climax of that enlightening experience, one is actually capturing the ‘Eternal Now,’ and in so doing, he or she will experience the same ‘proto-centre’ of creation which seeded the universe in the so-called “Big Bang.”



So then, it can be established that in terms of our circadian, waking-sleeping, rhythms and cycles – and all periodical systems – the ‘hypnagogic state’ is the crossover point between the positive-peak and negative-dip halves of a cycle – and vice-versa.



Again, this is the quantum state of consciousness where mind and matter – being the (wave) mental realm of dreams and the (particle) material realm of everyday reality – are both superimposed as one energy.



Ancient man observed the cycles of the heavens and of nature and realised that the most favorable time to enter into the hypnagogic state – so as to access the centre of the collective consciousness – was the moment when an eclipse of the Sun or Moon took place.





Transition Point

After some research, we came to the conclusion that this hypnagogic, neutral point in consciousness is the ‘transition point’ that exists between all the parallel realities that we often theorised about and is the point that connects them all. But it is also the point that exists between the two realms of one reality – i.e., the opposites – and it seemed that there are many perceptive levels to these illusory opposites in our reality and that they are all related to the levels of consciousness in one dimension.

In other words, there are several levels of energy, intelligence, perception, and experience in one dimension and one reality, and all these levels are connected by this same ‘transition point.’ Which means that not only does the shaman use this ‘transition point’ to “jump” from one reality to another or from one dimension to another as we will see later, but all of us use it to jump from one level of consciousness to another in our reality – i.e., from one level of energy, intelligence, perception and experience, to another. We repeat this again in the hope that the meaning of this is clear: This ‘transition point’ is also used in our personal evolution to jump from one level of awareness to another while in a reality.

‘Transition Point’ would be the right term to use in the context of using this void or point to leap from one level of consciousness to another level within one reality, because the word transition is also related to the following words:



Alteration, Change, Changeover, Conversion, Development, Evolution, Flux, Metamorphosis, Metastasis, Passage, Passing, Progression, Shift, Transit, Transmutation and Transformation.



The meaning of all these words is obvious, so the term ‘transition point’ in relation to the change in levels of consciousness in one reality is quite definitive.

As an aside, most words that begin with ‘Trans’ are interesting – especially once we begin to delve into the nature of this ‘void,’ ‘transition point,’ or neutral point that exists at the centre of our consciousness. ‘Trans’ means ‘to cross,’ ‘go through,’ ‘go beyond,’ and ‘go across to the other side.’



Trance, Tranquil, Transcend, Transfigure, Transfix, Transfer, Transform, Transient, Transit, Transitory, Translate, Transmission, Transmigration, Transmogrify, Transmute, Transparent, Transpire, Transplant, Transport and Transpose.



We can see that these words relate to that ‘neutral midpoint’ in our consciousness and that one can actually use these words to describe the aspects of its very nature.

This ‘midpoint’ is also the point of creativity . . .

Anyone looking at their own child can see that he or she is a ‘being’ that was able to enter our reality through the “gateway” opened by the fusion of opposites – i.e., the father and mother in the act of coitus. A birth is considered a miracle. The offspring is the embodiment of the ‘third force.’ Why then should it be considered impossible that a shaman, after having fused together the masculine and feminine principles in himself, is able to utilise that point of fusion – the ‘third force’ in consciousness so as to access and enter an alternate reality or dimension of existence?

As mentioned, the Trance state, of the shaman – another name for the hypnagogic state – is also related to this ‘midpoint’ of consciousness.

Tranquillity is a word that can be associated with this ‘midpoint’ as the point is really the peaceful ‘calm centre’ within the “cyclone storms” of illusory dimensions and realities.

Through that ‘midpoint’ it was believed that we Transcend to another level of consciousness – i.e., energy, intelligence, perception and experience.

We also Transfigure – like the ‘Shining Ones’ who are also known as the ‘Transfigured Ones’ – Transfer, Transform, Translate, Transmit, Transplant and Transport ourselves – (Mark would say, we transfer the “information streams” of ourselves) – through that point in our consciousness.

We are Transfixed by that point because one’s physical body is often held, hypnotised, and paralysed when one accesses that point consciously.

Transmigration means to pass into another body via the soul – which means that we have to move through that point to pass into another “cyclone” or body of energy.

Transmogrify means to change completely into a bizarre form – i.e., “shapeshift” – one of the supposed abilities of the shaman. It was believed that one can use that ‘transition point’ to do this.

Transmute is a word often used in Alchemy. The Alchemist transmutes (transforms) one thing into another: he alters and changes the form and properties of nature. He uses that same neutral or ‘transition point’ in himself to alter the forms of things. And he does this via the same transition point that also exists in the things he is trying to change.

One is Transposed to another level of consciousness or Transposed to another reality – or even another reality in another dimension.

The ‘void,’ ‘transition point’ or ‘Neutral Point’ is something that is also Transient, (fleeting; not permanent) and Transitory, (momentary, brief, not lasting long) as regards our normal unconscious perception of it in the cycles.

And it is Transparent because it lets light or energy pass through it without any distortion. Energy or light only becomes distorted when it is outside and around that point and manifesting as matter – i.e., the “cyclones” of illusory phenomenalised worlds, realms, realities and dimensions.

If ‘Light,’ ‘Energy,’ and ‘Consciousness’ are the same thing, then the moment it manifests outside its centre as the illusory cyclone of activity (physical and mental reality) around its centre, it becomes machine-like.

Consciousness will act like an algorithm machine once it manifests as a dimension, a reality or as a separate individualised entity in a reality. In other words consciousness will act like a machine when it becomes divided in two, and as we said our reality is made up of ‘two realms’ (mind and matter) which we will look at again in a moment. Now why does consciousness act like a machine once it becomes divided?



Algorithmic Consciousness

An ‘algorithm’ is really a systematic mathematical procedure that produces – in a finite number of steps – the answer to a question or problem.

Now the emphasis here is on the sequential ‘steps.’ The algorithmic system of calculation is really a linear system that takes an estimable or computable number of steps to reach its goal. This looks very much like how our linear thought processes work . . . but insight is something different . . . insight is immediate.

Insight has nothing to do with our normal state of algorithmic consciousness which acts like a machine. Insight is related to the point between the two alternating energies. In other words insight comes with the fusion of opposites; Insight is the manifestation of connection.

The awakening of consciousness begins with insight. With the attainment of insight, one can immediately make connections between any of the facets regarding the two energies that are usually perceived as divided by the normal alternating, algorithmic state of consciousness. The reason why a person during the normal algorithmic state of consciousness perceives everything as divided is because the individual’s consciousness itself is divided. To arrive at an answer to a problem, the divided consciousness has to make slow, calculated, ‘linear’ steps by consulting the properties of each of its divided energies that are always alternating with each other.

The true answer to a problem can never be found by the normal algorithmic state of consciousness (which has its focus on either one of the two opposites) because the answer it finally comes up with will always rest on a division of the truth. This is why our reality is sensed by many of us to be an illusion – because in itself . . . our reality is the result of this division of the truth.

Again, one reality is made up of two alternating realities I call realms – i.e. the realms of mind and matter, and we shall remind the reader that these two realms also go together to create a cycle of activity. In other words they are both expressed as the two halves of a cycle and our reality is made up of many repeating cycles that are active at different scales and different frequencies . . .



Hypnagogia is basically a ‘third state’ or ‘third zone’ of consciousness – the real “twilight zone,” (between waking-day-light and sleeping-night-darkness) in that it is both these states and neither – being paradoxical, and again, somewhat akin to neutrality. This state would therefore represent that point in all the cycles from the microcosm to the macrocosm. This is the ‘third state’ that David Loye believes is responsible for what he calls the ‘forecasting mind’ (precognition) – although he does not mention the hypnagogic state. Again, in the waking-sleeping cycle this point is the fusion of both the conscious (objective-awake-state) and the subconscious (subjective-sleeping-semi-conscious-state.)



How the Shaman Utilizes the Hypnagogic State

We would say that conscious control of the Hypnagogic State is the key to personally altering or distorting the laws of one’s reality to a lesser or greater degree. We would also state that this is the state that epileptics and also schizophrenics will easily and spontaneously enter into during the day, and some researchers and writers are now beginning to note this connection.

Although, again, not acknowledging any connection with the hypnagogic state, Psychologist, Stanislav Grof, calls this ‘third state’ or ‘in-between-zone’ the “Holotropic Realm,” and as the following quote shows, even psychoanalyst, Carl Jung and physicist, Werner Heisenburg had also identified and acknowledged the existence of this ‘midpoint’ in consciousness.



“Jung hypothesized that there existed a realm of being between the physical and the psychical, what Wolf calls the ‘third reality,’ located ‘between the earthly mundane and the completely abstract world of concepts.’

‘Others – among them Islamic scholar Henri Corbin, psychologist Kenneth Ring, folklorist Peter Rojcewicz, and physicist Werner Heisenburg – have referred to this third reality as the ‘Middle Realm’ or ‘Imaginal Realm.’ ‘The Imaginal Realm is real,’ Wolf asserts, ‘but not physical, and as such it is not unlike Jung’s notion of the psychoid archetype and a related alchemical idea he calls the unus mundus (one world.) It is a place where psyche and nature manifest with a dual aspect not resolving itself into either of its two aspects.”[4]



What is being said here, is that a paranormal event or mystical experience, is neither purely a physical nor a psychical manifestation . . . It is generated by a superimposition of the two – resulting in a “middle realm” or “third reality.”

In other words, and as we said in Chapter 4 and have been saying all along, the paranormal or mystical experiences are being generated by the ‘fusion’ of both worlds of mind (psychical-female) and matter (physical-male.)

This can only mean that this ‘fusion’ is happening all the time in one’s own consciousness at the point where these two opposites (the gender-related realms of mind and matter) become one. But again we are unconscious at this point.

So, the trick is to remain or become conscious at this point, and if one can do this, then it would be logical to assume that the individual then has enough ‘gathered’ energy via this fusion in consciousness, to experience something beyond the normal parameters of consensus reality – i.e., possibly “other worlds” and “dimensions” that exist above and beyond the physical laws of our reality and what some would call its frequency bandwidth.

However if one is not aware of this process and is in the habit of being unconscious at the crucial point, then he or she will have no indication of it, and will not believe that such a “gateway” in consciousness exists – even though there is much support for it in all the literature given to paranormal and mystical experience. What we are describing may seem impossible, but it’s the only way we can really grasp what is going on in such experiences and understand what the enlightenment experience – via which it is said, one experiences God – really is and what it could be.

The following comes from what we have learned by cross-referencing the information we have found in many different and diverse areas of research.



Using meditation to enter into the hypnagogic state consciously, the shaman sustains his conscious focus at this point and holds it – he “holds the line.” The shaman is really utilising the bardo – the intermediate point between the two opposites; the same crucial point in the oscillating cycles of his own consciousness.

This is the neutral point or Alpha-Omega point – where one cycle ends (death) and the other begins (birth) and where the positive and negative phases of the cycle cross at the halfway point. And so the focal element, (the ‘I’) of the shaman’s mind, homes-in – or “zooms-in” on this ‘transient’ and ‘fleeting’ point in the cycle – a point which we are all unaware of in normal everyday consciousness, and mainly because we are momentarily unconscious during it – and he captures it consciously.

When capturing it, and after sustaining it for a time, the experience is one of everything then collapsing and reducing into this point. As his mind and its whole content reduces into it, the shaman goes through the “tunnel experience” – as described in many contemporary Near-Death Experience accounts.

This “black tunnel” is the vortex of his mind; in effect, his mind collapses into itself or “implodes” like a star being reduced down to a blackhole (see Figure 41 below) or like a piece of coal being compressed into a diamond as expressed earlier – which he sees as the “light at the end of the tunnel.” These are all metaphors for this internal experience.

It is at this point that the shaman will sometimes experience his own ‘dismemberment’ in accordance with his deepest and darkest fears which he is now confronting.

In effect, what is really happening is that his consciousness is being “broken down” and ‘dissolved’ – like the dissolution stage in alchemy, so as to be renewed – resulting in a brand new pattern. (To discover more about how the different phases of these internal experiences compare with the stages of alchemy, see Chapter 18. Inner Alchemy.)

In brief, the “black tunnel” or “blackhole” being experienced reflects the shaman’s own ‘unconsciousness’ of the source at its centre – which is why the source of this experience is also called the ‘void’ – meaning, ‘blank’ – it being compared to an ‘empty vacuum.’

The ancient Maya in South America called this void, the ‘Black Transformer,’ as it was believed that in going through it one becomes ‘transformed’ reborn.

This again stems from the knowledge that the energy/information in all waves and cyclical phenomena goes through this point continuously during every oscillation. It was known that this point creates the wave – i.e., creating the next wave in the sequence – and so on and so on. (Again see quote on page 58.)

However, and this is important: If the two divisions of our mind are fusing together at this point and going through this point continuously and unconsciously, then the patterns will largely remain the same, with only small changes made to the flickering or fluctuating patterns. And again certain patterns will repeat. So then, it was believed that if one’s mind could go through this point ‘consciously,’ it would therefore create a drastic transformation in the individual, and this transformation also extends to what one experiences – which could be “another reality” altogether.

It is also known that the adept shaman claims that he can control his internal creations, and at will can visit any particular reality or world of his choice and extract the information he needs.

And so the question here is – how does he actually do this or believe he does this? Well the following may provide some insight.


Copyright © Gary Osborn. 2006. All Rights Reserved.

lokks interesting but long I'll have to read another time when I have more time

thanks for posting it op

Trance dancing is awesome! I trance dance to "professor trance" cd's on a regular basis.

Here's another great page on the state of "sleepless sleep":

[link to www.swamij.com]

It isn't a state that is easily experienced. It takes a little practice. Took me about 2 months of daily practice to enter this state for more than a few seconds.

Terence McKenna - Dreaming Awake at The End of Time [mp3]
[link to www.plantshaman.com]

I experience this state quite often. It mostly happens after I've gotten too much exercise or sunlight.

It's pretty amazing as intense imagery is seen, but you're not asleep. Every time it happens, I have to wonder where all these amazing images are coming from.

Unfortunately, if you're absorbed into rigid, western, reductionist constructs, you'll see this as little more than crap going on in your head.

excellent post, i have the hemi-sync lucid dreaming dvd series (audio files) by monroe. The first one 90mins gets you into this state. It is awesome you can lie there totally aware and listen to yourself snore.

i would recommend the series to anybody who want to practice lucid dreaming, freely available on a torrent site near you :)

Anyone got a link to mp3s that aren't torrent please?

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they are .flac files and 2.49 GB
3 x 90 mins
1 x 8 hours

the 1st 3 are guided with noise to 'align' your brain waves and the last is just the noises. There is a name for it but i can't remember, (i'm pissed watching a re-run of the grand prix)

it is called hemi-sync lucid dreaming and available on demonoid

sorry i can't help more

That's great, cheers!

Hey, thanks for the recommendation!

And thanks for this incredible article OP. Long, but well worth the read