Technologies of the Self: Ecstatic Trance Session - 2/5, 1:00 pm

Looking inward can uncover unexpected figures and uncharted landscapes.

While many shamanic practices are lost or inaccessible, if the basic format of our minds and brains is universal, doorways into the alternate reality and the non-conscious mind can be recreated and rediscovered.

The first in a series of five "Technologies of the Self" events, Susan Josephson will lead participants in an introduction to "ecstatic trance" through ritual body posture and sound. Susan's technique for calling the spirits is based on the work of her late mother, anthropologist and founder of a neo-shamanic new religious movement, Felicitas D. Goodman. (Her work lives on in an organized fashion in New Mexico at the Cuyamungue Institute <http://www.cuyamungueinstitute.com/> and in Germany at the Felicitas-Goodman Insitut <http://www.cuyamungue-institut.de/>, and in numerous books and articles.)

We will settle into two trance postures for the session. The first, the Singing Shaman, and the second a divining or metamorphosis posture, to be announced. Young adults welcome.

Susan Josephson is an artist, philosopher, and educator, currently residing in central Ohio.

***Instructions for participation: Please arrive on time, the door will be closed at 1:15 so that the session can begin without interruption. Fasting will enhance the experience, but at very least do not eat within 30 minutes prior to the session. Wear loose-fitting clothing and avoid wearing metal. In this folk tradition, metals on the body, excepting gold and silver, are believed to interfere with the experience.

***Facilitators are not expecting payment and all sessions are by donation. Please contribute to their visit and the rent and maintenance of the studio space with a small contribution.