Simply Puzzled
July 22nd, 2007, 04:09 AM
This is a good alternative to drugs for journeying that requires very little equipment. It has been an important fixture in many societies as a way of inducing trance. Often these involved multiple days, but you can cut it down to a couple of hours and still get good results. In sensory deprivation, one is cutting out as many possible sensory inputs, until you start to go a little "stir-crazy." Your brain starts latching onto anything it sees, amplifying your astral senses.
Assuming you don't have a few thousand dollars to invest in a special float tank, a bath tub makes a reasonable substitute. The best is in a small full bathroom with no windows. You can simply stuff a towel under the door, turn off the lights, and create an almost zero light environment. If you have windows, you need to invest in good black-out curtains. Merely having a dim room isn't going to cut it. If you can see your hand when it is held a couple inches from your face after having a few minutes for your eyes to acclimate to the dark, you have too much light in the room and need to cut more out. There should be no difference between having your eyes open and closed.
When you draw the bath (preferably before the lights go out), you should make it as hot as you can possibly stand. There are two reasons for this: a) you're going to be lying in it for a while, and you don't want to have to interrupt a journey to run some more hot water b) the hot water will increase your blood flow which aids in achieving trance. The room should be warm, and you can run a space heater beforehand, but you want to have as little noise as possible, and a space heater is only going to be distraction. You can wear earplugs if you want to further block out noise.
Now comes the fun part. You want to sit in the tub and just relax. Get comfortable, and try to move as little as possible. It's going to be really boring, but that's sort of the point. All you can really do is wait it out until finally (I usually get results within about an hour or so) you start getting visions. I find that they start out slow and gradually increase until I'm having a full-blown journey. Have fun and don't talk to any strange power animals offering you candy.
Assuming you don't have a few thousand dollars to invest in a special float tank, a bath tub makes a reasonable substitute. The best is in a small full bathroom with no windows. You can simply stuff a towel under the door, turn off the lights, and create an almost zero light environment. If you have windows, you need to invest in good black-out curtains. Merely having a dim room isn't going to cut it. If you can see your hand when it is held a couple inches from your face after having a few minutes for your eyes to acclimate to the dark, you have too much light in the room and need to cut more out. There should be no difference between having your eyes open and closed.
When you draw the bath (preferably before the lights go out), you should make it as hot as you can possibly stand. There are two reasons for this: a) you're going to be lying in it for a while, and you don't want to have to interrupt a journey to run some more hot water b) the hot water will increase your blood flow which aids in achieving trance. The room should be warm, and you can run a space heater beforehand, but you want to have as little noise as possible, and a space heater is only going to be distraction. You can wear earplugs if you want to further block out noise.
Now comes the fun part. You want to sit in the tub and just relax. Get comfortable, and try to move as little as possible. It's going to be really boring, but that's sort of the point. All you can really do is wait it out until finally (I usually get results within about an hour or so) you start getting visions. I find that they start out slow and gradually increase until I'm having a full-blown journey. Have fun and don't talk to any strange power animals offering you candy.