The State Of Trance

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31333, 1 April 1967, Page 4

The State Of Trance

Trances. By Stewart Wavell, Audrey Butt and Nina Epton. George Allen & Unwin. 253 pp. Bibliography. Index. Illustrated. When three people collaborate in writing a book some unevenness in style is almost inevitable, and this is the weakness of “Trances.” Stewart Wavell and Nina Epton are experienced writers with several books to their credit, while Audrey Butt, as an anthropologist who spent two years living with the Akawaio tribe in Guyana, has much specialised information to contribute. Their approaches to the study Of trance and its uses are naturally quite different and one turns from the rather scholarly prose of Miss. Butt to the more lively writing of the other two co-authors with something of a jolt The serious student may find Miss Epton and Mr Wavell too superficial in their approach, while the general reader may find Miss Butt too pedestrian. All three, however, have kept their observations well balanced between the credulous and the sceptical. The opposing attitudes between East and West to the state of trance are, perhaps, best summed up for the East by a Moroccan sheikh of Miss Epton’s acquaintance who said that “passions brought to their highest pitch are thereby purified," and for the West by Aldous Huxley, who is quoted as saying that “these acts are the consequences of crowd delirium and are performed in a state of frenzy.” From the examples given in this book it soon becomes obvious that trance, in the East and among primitive people, is most often used to cure sickness and not, as in the West, merely to make contact with those whb have died. Many people believe sickness is caused by members of the spirit world and that only by placation can they be persuaded to restore the invalid to health. The shaman of the Akawaio tribe, the nakaza of Japan and the Malayan pawang have in- common a role as mediator between the afflicted and the spirits. They achieve their trance state in various ' ways—by drinking and vomiting tobacco juice.

by chanting or by ritual dancing—but it is clear that, however it is achieved, their confrontation with the spirit world brings them great serenity of mind and spirit when they return to normal. Among the Akawaio tribe, and to a lesser extent among some of the Eastern countries, the general attitude, to the spirits is familiar but respectful, although Audrey Butt describes seances which are held “just for fun” and in these the audience exchange friendly and often ribald repartee with the spirits called down by the shaman. His position in the community is not only that of healer—he also advises in case of threats from neighbouring tribes and restores lost knowledge (through the help of the spirits) of forgotten customs in village life. Audrey Butt asked the shaman what the women of the tribe wore before the customary bead apron became available. No-one could remember, so the shaman asked the spirits at the next seance, and an elderly woman’s spirit said that they wore a fringe of cotton strings. In many communities throughout the world the state of trance is commonly achieved by children, and adults quite easily. Nina Epton says: “A Westerneducated Balinese told me that until he left for Europe he was able *to leap into the other world’ (of trance) in the space of 20 seconds. ‘Now,’ he said, *it takes me half an hour and even then I am not always sure of succeeding.”’ All three writers draw on their own experiences for their contributions to the book. Mr Wavell was born in Malaya and has travelled widely in the East, while Nina Epton has gathered her information from Japan, Bali and North Africa. Because of their genuine interest they were allowed to watch rites which ordinary travellers are not usually permitted to see, and they aisb describe some mystical experiences of their own.

The authors draw no conclusions from what they saw. That the trance states they witnessed were genuine seems beyond doubt, but whether the cures effected were the result of communion with spirits or happy coincidence the reader must decide for himself.