Trance-Portation: Learning to Navigate the Inner World
by Diana L. Paxson
(find out more about her at the Hrafnar site, and her Seidh site.)
Weiser Books, 2009
My current favorite for learning basic trance and meditation skills. While Thea Sabin’s Wicca for Beginners covers some of these topics, Diana Paxson goes into much greater depth.
The book begins with a discussion of what trance and changes in consciousness are, and what they can be used for, and a self-evaluation to help the reader figure out what they know, and what they’d like to learn (and why.) The book then moves into covering a variety of skills: entering a trance state, centering and grounding, relaxation techniques, navigating inner spaces, working with inner guides or spirits, and then goes more deeply into a range of more complex techniques. The end of the book includes ideas and help for people wanting to work through the book with others, and for those who might be teaching.
Unlike many books, which focus on visual learners and experiences, she spends extensive time talking about different kinds of learning styles and multiple intelligences, as well as giving examples of practices from different Pagan religions and approaches. She is also careful and thoughtful about giving safety, troubleshooting, and other tips that help create the most useful and productive experiences.
Things I love about this book:
- Can be adapted to a wide range of Pagan religious practices.
- Lots of sensory options for people who are not visual learners.
- Is a book that will grow with the reader: there’s rich material here to return to.
- Excellent troubleshooting advice, when something doesn’t go as planned.
- Wide variety of tools and approaches.
- She tested the material both with classes she taught, and then asked other people to teach and refine the suggestions using her material. This adds breadth and depth to the tools.
Things to be aware of:
- You will need some kind of other foundational book in your own path of choice in order to make the best use out of some suggestions. (For example, she mentions that one can cast a circle as a protective measure, but does not provide details on how.)
- Some of the practices she describes are definitely not for beginners – they have risks or likely problems if you don’t have a solid foundation. Follow her sequence, and don’t skip steps: only move on to the next set of skills once you’ve got experience with the previous ones.
- She focuses on particular pantheons: her own background is with the Norse pantheon, and she discusses adaptations for Celtic and Greek-focused practice. If you’re working with other deities or cosmologies, you’ll need to do further research and adaptation.
- Her practice is based on Norse and Northern European practice, but developed in a different direction in some areas than common Asatru practice.
Other resources:
You can read the introduction and first chapter online at one of her websites.
