Introduction to the Symposium: Researching Music and Altered States in Healing Rituals and Culture

Music has been used in healing rituals since ancient times. Music has been played for people to induce altered states of consciousness (ASC), which alters the focus of attention, mood and type of thoughts about the world and the self (Aldridge & Fachner, 2006). There is an ongoing discussion whether music itself induces the changes or whether the setting and rituals connected to music induces ASC. A notable characteristic of many rituals is that they involve the expression of conflicting impulses or transitional states. Rituals provide the basis for a reframing of experience as generalized templates for social performance and provide an interactive form for interpreting the ongoing events of their life. Rituals are loaded with iconographic representations, use words and music as a content carrier of cultural symbols and therefore produce meaningful sequences of information that are processed individually corresponding to the biographic development and the personal meaning of health and illness targeted in such rituals.

This international symposium on music and altered states examines opportunities for using music-induced states of altered consciousness to promote physical and mental healing, treat substance dependence, and in spiritual and palliative care. The contributors describe the use of altered states and their therapeutic potential, providing examples from different cultures and clinical, therapeutic and spiritual settings.

Altered states of consciousness; transcendence; spirituality; Ethnomusictherapy; healing rituals; addiction