Hypnosis and Trance-Modernity

This chapter discusses Trance-Modernity as a way of thinking and living derived from Transmodernity. Trance, being a quale-consciousness process, becomes a main reference for personal integration and social ideals. If human beings are simultaneously unified and multiple, trance is a central practice to promote dialogue and integration concerning multiple voices inhabiting human self, and multiple dimensions of social world. The chapter is illustrated by a general case study of a woman who tried to deny her spiritual experiences but could not reject her spiritual Ethos. It is also permeated by Ethnopsychology, a central reference of dialogue with traditional knowledge. The February Man, an Erickson case study, AI, and the metaverse are also discussed. The chapter is developed through two main axis, being the first the discussion concerning Rebirth and Ethos, through which multiple senses of belonging from our lives compose a contemplative attitude towards reality, which is prominent for control and results. This axis is inspired mainly by Krenak’s idea that life is not useful, but a cosmic dance. The second axis—the self and the world—is a notion of reality that is mainly inhabited by firstness, implicating an ontological dimension highlighted by traditional knowledge, the integrity of the self, and the relationship between service and collectiveness.