Shamanic-like Journeying and Psi: II. Mental Boundaries, Phenomenology, and the Picture-Identification Task

Storm and Rock (2009a) argued that it would be worthwhile investigating psi-conducive treatments other than the Ganzfeld. We thus proposed our imagery cultivation model. To test our model, Storm and Rock (2009b) randomly assigned non-shaman participants (N = 108) to one of two conditions: (1) a control condition (n = 53) consisting of sitting quietly with eyes open; or (2) a treatment condition (n = 55) involving shamanic-like journeying instructions followed by 15 minutes of monotonous drumming (8 bps). Participants described verbally, and then ranked, a randomly-selected concealed line-drawing held during the condition. The direct hit rate was significant, 34.5% (P_MCE = 25%) in the shamanic-like condition, but the hit rate for the control condition was at chance, 22.6%. In the present study, we hypothesised that direct hits correlates with Mental Boundaries (Rawlings, 2001-2002; Boundary Questionnaire Short Form) and subjective experience (Pekala, 1991; Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory). We also investigated differences between conditions and 'thin' vs. 'thick' Mental Boundary participants regarding subjective experience. Direct hits did not correlate significantly with Mental Boundaries, but correlated significantly with PCI major dimension, Internal Dialogue, for the shamanic-like group, but not the control group. Significant differences between the shamanic-like and control groups were found on three PCI major dimensions (higher Negative Affect, Altered Experience, and Imagery in the shamanic-like group) and four minor dimensions (higher Anger, Body Image, Perception, and Meaning in the shamaniclike group). Significant differences between 'thin' and 'thick' Mental Boundaries were found on two PCI major dimensions (lower Negative Affect and higher Volitional Control in thin Mental Boundaries), but not on minor dimensions. Our findings suggest that subjective experience can be changed using a shamanic-like journeying treatment, and aspects of these changes may be psi-conducive.