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"The gravitational field of the Stone breaks life into its parts, into revelation."
-Peter Makem

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The Mera Material says:

"Trance was a secret accomplished only if you had an "activated" Follower-spirit that would help you. If you did, it was a matter of using the earth itself, water, air, and finally a hissing noise to achieve the trance, before the Drum was (in theory) used. You had to undergo the "spiral motion" symbolically (and sometimes actually), cleansing yourself, to become pure enough for the trance. Shamans began by bathing in sacred waters, or by first going and lying on the ground itself, or kneeling, and placing their palms down on the ground, and becoming very aware of the immensity of the power of the Land, of the Earth Mother....

... The shaman began by taking sacred plants (at times) from the ground and earth, and then "feeling" the ground and its power and immensity, and getting their Follower spirits to bring that power into their bodies. When they felt not only empowered but "changed" inside, they then let water run over their foreheads to cleanse themselves, (the forehead was seen as the place where the fire or awareness principle interacted with the "earth and water and wind" to produce knowledge or consciousness).

After they had "passed through" the earth and water, they used their breath to bring wind into them to a higher level, strong breathing to re-harmonize their inner power and prepare for the final stage: hissing. They made hissing noises with their breath and teeth, long and drawn out, to mimic the spirit of snakes or serpents. Serpents were seen as the spiritual Followers of the Fire Goddess, because when fire hit water, it hissed like a serpent, and heated stones or metals did the same. Also, fire hissed within wood it was burning. The hissing was not only "speaking with the serpent's voice", but also an invocation of the fire within, the spirit. The hissing shook the entire web of life, just as the drumbeat did, strongly rippled it, as did chants or any other sound made by the Shaman. This is how spirits like followers were "called", and other works of power done.

At any rate, by the point of focus on hissing, the shaman was near a trance, in which the drum could begin and carry them the rest of the way, if the Binder willed them to be so carried...

...This four-stage purification and build-up to trance was needed before they could enter sacred places... Beyond drums, rattles or repetitious chanting could be used to make trance states, but they weren't as powerful as drums. Rattles especially were thought to be good at driving away evil spirits, and "Getting the attention" of other spirits."


ANALYSIS

"Trance was a secret accomplished only if you had an "activated" Follower-spirit that would help you. If you did, it was a matter of using the earth itself, water, air, and finally a hissing noise to achieve the trance, before the Drum was (in theory) used. You had to undergo the "spiral motion" symbolically (and sometimes actually), cleansing yourself, to become pure enough for the trance."


To begin with, the material says that you have to have your "Familiar" or "Helping" spirit identified and operating within your awareness. This "follower" is the "key" to the whole system.

After that, you use the four elements to "go to the center" of the spiral, purifying and empowering yourself with each one in turn, starting with earth, till you reach the purity of fire. This has the same inner affect on you as the dead going into the spiral, and gradually being purified of the inner essence of the elements after they are dead, till they reach the Mother in her most pure and mysterious form, themselves purified, leaving only the mysterious aspect of the self- the spirit/fire that is the seat of our "awareness". It is no coincidence that when we are pure, then the "Fire Mother" or the purest form of the Source-Mother of Great Grandmother of us all is revealed; that by the time we have "gone inward" that far, we are inescapably and certainly in her "presence". This is because she is always present. The "mixture" of the elements and our binding to them prevents us often from experiencing it directly.

When this part of the Mera material says "You had to undergo the "spiral motion" symbolically (and sometimes actually), cleansing yourself, to become pure enough for the trance", it means what it says- you symbolically undergo the spiral motion just by kneeling on the earth and doing the "immensity of the land" realization/meditation exercise, followed by the bathing of the forehead with water, followed by the "strong breathing" or "restoring wind" exercise, followed lastly by the most powerful- the Hissing. You are, one by one, in order from most coarse to most subtle, integrating and empowering with the elements, till you reach the subtle core of fire, with the hiss.

But you can add a literal element to this- an "actual" element of the spiral motion- by drawing a spiral on the ground and literally walking into it, stopping early in it to kneel and do the earth portion of the trance-technique, then going further in and reaching a place where you put a pot or cup or vessel of water, and bathing the forehead, then going in further (all this motion should be counterclockwise, btw) and stopping and doing the "strong breathing" and finally reaching the center where you should have a candle or a fire going, and hissing till your trance is powerful.

From this point, you can begin drumming, and into deeper reaches of trance.


The Material goes further to give a hint on the hissing portion of the trance induction. It says:

"The hissing shook the entire web of life, just as the drumbeat did, strongly rippled it, as did chants or any other sound made by the Shaman. This is how spirits like followers were "called", and other works of power done."


This is important. While you hiss, you have to feel and experience the web of life, extending from your body and touching every thing in the world, really shaking and vibrating. Your words shake it and vibrate it too. This is a key to a deeper experience.

Earlier in the material, in part II, it says:

"Because the Binder is the ultimate source of both the world/cosmos and every inhabitant of the world, including the entire range of unseen spiritual beings and even the living reality of "inanimate" objects, she is the force that acts as the uniter of all things; all things in the world are spiritually, deeply, and meaningfully connected. All living beings and spirits are also connected physically, their bodies being composed of the same elements, and their spirits being the same pure phenomenon, which was actually a fire. There is a real "spiritual ecology" implied in Mera's worldview, and the "Binder" literally also acts as a binding agent for the web of life and spirit, which is omnipresent. What happens in one corner of this web of life does "ripple out" and affect the whole, inescapably. This is how shamanic "power" or "magic" can affect the world, how spirits can affect the world, and so forth."


And this, being one of the central elements of Mera's worldview and of this shamanic system in general, should never be forgotten.

Personally, before I even begin the trance induction (which is a purification as much as an induction) I always call up my familiar or my follower, and wait till I feel him strongly. By the time I am laying my hand on the ground to "recieve" the power and the vision of the immensity of the Land, I can feel him strongly in my chest. I call him using the same techniques that I repeat later in the four-fold purification; I relax and steadily breathe, and I hiss, to shake the web of life and "get his attention". Sometimes I rattle, or drum, or whistle, or just call for him over and over, from a relaxed and aware state, shaking the threads, till I feel him. Then I start.



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