Chapter 16: Charismatic/Altered States

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Chapter 16: Charismatic/Altered States

Charismatic usually refers to being possessed or controlled by the Holy Spirit and is associated with the Pentecostal churches and with Charismatic Roman Catholics, Charismatic Anglicans, and some charismatic members of other churches. A common demonstration of being charismatic is speaking in tongues (glossolalia), using words not part of usual languages.

It provides an example of an altered state, a state when the person in that state experiences the world in a much different way than usual. It seems to have been a critical part of the early Christian communities, or at least in the memory or experience of the community with the author who named himself as Luke. This is indicated by the stories in the Book of Acts about converts speaking in tongues and in the Pentecost story in Luke. When Paul wrote of being in the seventh heaven, it sounded like an altered state experience.

Neile Donald Walsch in his book, “Communication with God” describes writing to God and having God guide his hand in providing a reply. This would be a mild example of an altered state, one I have experienced.

When David brought the Ark to Jerusalem, his behaviour of dancing wildly, perhaps naked, suggests he was in an altered state at the time. When Moses spoke with God, those might have been altered state moments.

Several religions, primarily rural, agricultural or hunter gatherer religions, included mind altering substances such as alcohol and peyote to include altered states in their ceremonies.

Meditation helps some people achieve an altered state. Many people find listening to the right kind of music for them takes them into an altered state, usually peaceful with a strong sense of belonging or connection. For them, long musical pieces are an important part of worship.

Extreme fatigue or a lack of oxygen, such in a long run, can induce an altered state which helps some runners induce a spiritual experience. Altered states are found in many kinds of non-religious, non-spiritual experiences not included here.

Altered states associated with faith provide some people with experiences that are important to them. They tend to make faith experiences more intense than most faith experiences, and very satisfying to those who have them. Experiencing an altered state does not provide proof to anyone else of any reality outside of oneself.
 
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An outburst of emotional energy or the pits of an underlying thought if the perspective is from the otherside ... alter layered mine set?

There are some that believe the psyche is like an onion and can induce tears! Often denied by those denying serious items ... thus Exclusion Theory creeps ...
 
I wonder if the lack of comments mean this chapter was well written or had no connection with the few people who looked at it.
 
I think it doesn't resonate with the WASP sorta religion you'd find in Canada - lots of UCC, Anglicans, a few right wing but Canadian sorta denoms. Canadians, maybe a little less reserved than the English, don't generally do emotional religions.

I have had, in my sixty or so years thus far, four experiences that I cannot explain as other than mystical. They have always been totally personal, and so no witness other than my own.
 
I think where I have problems is when people expect their mystic experiences and altered states of consciousness to prove their faith or inform that of others. These are highly individual, subjective experiences that are most likely entirely internal to the person experiencing them in both cause and effect. It is fine to share them because others might have similar experiences or a faith that accepts these things and we can all learn things from each other's experiences. But there is often a sense, esp. when a Charismatic evangelical type writes or talks about their experiences, that we are to accept their faith on the strength of their experience, as if their mystical experience is some kind of objective evidence, which it is not. My faith is informed by my experience, not some evangelical preacher or writer who saw God in an NDE or had a vision of Christ while meditating in the desert. Maybe those will be helpful to me, but they are not something that will convince me. To change something foundational like my faith, I need a direct personal experience.
 
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