ede frecska the physiology of ritual trance

8/12/2019 Ede Frecska the Physiology of Ritual Trance

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Social Bonding in the Modulation of the Physiology of Ritual TranceAuthor(s): Ede Frecska and Zsuzsanna KulcsarSource: Ethos, Vol. 17, No. 1 (Mar., 1989), pp. 70-87Published by: Wiley on behalf of the American Anthropological AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/640305 .Accessed: 18/03/2014 12:16

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S o c i a l onding n th

odulation

th hysiology

o i t u a l T r a n c e

EDE FRECSKA and ZSUZSANNA KULCSAR

"FAITH ... QUENCHED THE VIOLENCE OF FIRE."(HEBREWS 11:34)

All traditional shamanic practices pursue the same end: to destroy"profane" sensibility.1 The monotonous chants, the endlessly re-peated refrains, the fatigue, the fasting, the dancing, the narcotics,and so forth, create a sensory condition that is wide open to the "su-pernatural." This is not only, of course, a matter of physiologicaltechniques: traditional ideology directs and imparts values to all

these efforts ntended to break the frame of profane sensibility. Whatis above all indispensable is the absolute belief of the subject in thespiritual universe that he desires to enter; nothing can be attainedwithout the "faith." (Eliade 1976:85)

Over the past decade it has become obvious on several levels thatsocial attachments are important to normal human development

EDE FRECSKA is Research Psychiatrist and Clinical Pharmacologist at the National Insti-tute of Nervous and Mental Diseases, Budapest, Hungary.

ZSUZSANNA KULCSAR is Professor of Psychology at the Lorand Eotvos University, Bu-dapest, Hungary.

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RITUAL TRANCE 71

and psychobiological functioning. Disruption of attachment maylead to psychological disturbances, physiological disorganization,

and ill health, while social bonding appears to be related to im-proved health and well-being. With a range of attachments, that is,early parent-infant relationships, subsequent peer interactions andlater intimate adult-adult bonds, Homo sapiens is clearly a socialanimal and develops and functions optimally in an environmentwhere such links are available. This is neither a new, nor a culture-specific phenomenon, since complex social attachments and rela-tionships are common to all cultures and eras, and appear to have

constituted a major factor in our species' evolutionary history (Reiteand Capitanio 1985).In this essay we examine from a psychobiological perspective

some of the characteristics of healing rituals, which are consideredas neurobiologically mediated, complex forms of attachment, andwhich result in a deep psychobiological synchrony between adults.

In the course of recent studies in psychological anthropology, aconsensus has emerged that the vast majority of ritual ceremoniesare primarily concerned with healing in a general sense because theyexert influence on well-being, heighten identity and enhance com-munity cohesion. In spite of the cultural diversity of therapeutic in-stitutions and practices, the fundamental healing principles show agood deal of cross-cultural uniformity. The basic factors are inher-ent in the healer-patient relationship and in cultural belief systems.These include:the world view shared

by patientsand

healers;the healers'

culturallyascribed ex-

traordinary powers; their labeling of the illness, designation of its cause, and selec-tion of therapeutic measures based upon these; the patients' expectancy and hope;and, of course, the overriding importance of suggestion and the placebo effect.[Prince 1982a:299]

Faith in protective others, in the healers themselves and/or intranscendental beings, is essential in healing practices. In this waythe healer is able to manipulate the reintegration of patients intotheir social

group,which also

playsa

significantrole in the

healingprocess. Ritual therapeutic experience relies on the patients' ownintrinsic healing forces by various altered states of consciousness(dreams, micro-psychoses, religious experiences, spirit possessionand trance states, for example), which healers have learned to ma-nipulate and control. However,One of the foremost dilemmas in ethnomedicine is understanding how it is that themanipulations of the shaman or healer actually influence the physiological state ofthe patient. [Moerman 1983:156]



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RITUAL TRANCE AND ENDOGENOUS OPIOIDS

The conference entitled "Shamans and Endorphins" held inMontreal in 1980 proposed an internal defensive power to endor-phins (the body's endogenous opioids) and suggested that thetrance state might be the result of the mobilization of these sub-stances. To some extent healing practices are indeed aimed at trig-gering the release of endogenous opioid peptides. Austere conditionssuch as strict fasting and thirsting, forced strenuous exercise, seclu-sion, hyperstress with feelings of terror, inducing of pain, tempera-ture and kinetic stimulations, all known to produce altered states ofconsciousness, are used as treatment modalities in the rituals. Thesestressors are the best agents to elicit endogenous opioid release re-sulting in the well-known opiate effects such as analgesia, anxietyreduction, euphoria and amnesia (Jilek 1982a). Miraculous cures ofeven strictly somatic complaints might also be interpreted on thisbasis if we take into consideration the finding that some of the en-

dogenous opioid peptides increase immunocompetence (Morleyand Kay 1986; Teschemacher and Schweigerer 1985).This neurobiological interpretation of anthropologic observations

is supported by other findings concerning the physiological role ofendogenous opioid peptides in privation, in conservation or expend-iture of bodily resources and energy (Margules 1979), and in con-frontation with stress and pain especially in situations of helpless-ness (Maier 1986). Maier emphasized "uncontrollability"2 as amain factor in the opioid-inducing effect of pain. He has found thatthe opioid form of pain-induced analgesia occurred only if theshocks were inescapable, and suggested that the opioid system ismore activated when the organism learns that it has no control overaversive events to which it is being exposed. When an aversive sit-uation is behaviorally uncontrollable, pain and anxiety, as fight-flight signals, lose their adaptive value. Rather, it is adaptive to act

palliatively to repress the consequences of the stressful situation andconserve energy resources until a time when active behavioral cop-ing becomes possible. Margules (1979) argued that the activation ofendogenous opioid systems tends to function to conserve energy ina variety of emergency situations, and Maier (1986) added that de-creased pain sensitivity would make it easier to withdraw and con-serve energy in a painful situation. Therefore passive endurance ofpain or other stress is one of the most effective strategies for mobi-



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lizing endogenous opioids. The paradigm of "learned helplessness"as an opioid-dependent state was the first attempt to connect en-

dogenous opioid functions to complex psychological phenomena.Nevertheless, the question arises: How are the healer's role and

the patients' group participation involved in these neurobiologicalprocesses? Why can nothing be attained without the "faith," as it isemphasized by Eliade (1976)?

RITUAL TRANCE AND ATTACHMENT

Henry (1982) pointed out that ritual trance almost invariably oc-curs in a social context and that expectation is one of the main char-acteristics associated with trance induction. He characterized thosemost susceptible to enter trance as persons whose social positionpredisposes them to the experience: leaders of the community orpriests who are expected to provide an example or guidance. Othersare individuals participating for personal reasons, including thosefulfilling an obligation to a deity or those disadvantaged by illhealth, poverty or fear of evil spirits.

We would add that healing power is related to the fulfillment ofsocial expectations: it is a function of the participants' identificationwith the community. In other words, social attachments facilitatetrance.

ATTACHMENT AND ENDOGENOUS OPIOIDS

The clearest evidence for involvement of endogenous opioids insocial behavior derives from the pattern of emotional responses mostinfants exhibit when they are separated from their mothers. Infantsshow a predictable set of behaviors during separation. The initialanxious phase, that of "protest," begins almost immediately withdistress vocalization, searching activity and agitation. During thesucceeding phase of "despair" the infant's behavior suggests in-

creasing helplessness, characterized by retarded activity, reducedappetite, insomnia, hypo-responsiveness, and postural collapse(Bowlby 1969). Individual variability and species differences do oc-cur, but the broad outline and even some of the details are similarfor different species. The need for affiliation seems to be a primarydrive, its expression appears to require no previous learning, and itis likely that these reactions are direct manifestations of innateneural circuits. Presently there is a growing body of knowledge con-



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cerning brain mechanisms that sustain the social motive. The ap-proach of Panksepp, Herman, Vilberg, Bishop, and Deeskinazi

(1980) to this problem emphasizes the analogy between social sep-aration symptoms and the biphasic syndrome subsequent to with-drawal from narcotics (lacrimation, irritability, agitation, and veg-etative disturbances as an initial response, followed by lethargy, in-somnia, and anorexia). According to these authors, withdrawal dis-tress, whether opiate or social, manifests itself physiologicallythrough common response systems. The degree of symptom overlapbetween the two processes suggests that both may arise from a com-mon neurobiological substrate. Considering the similar dynamic ofopiate addiction and affiliative social interaction3 (both are char-acterized by the development of powerful dependencies and inten-sified by punishment), brain opioid systems should be reasonablecandidates for providing neurochemical mediation of social bond-ing. For the evolutionary minded it comes as no surprise that ahigher order behavioral process such as social attachment (whose

major elective advantage is to enhance survival) should have arisenfrom elementary brain structures (which subserve a compatiblefunction), in this case from the opioid system (which mediates de-fense mechanisms).

These lines of inference suggested the notion that endogenousopioids might be involved in primary social affiliation. The idea hasbeen evaluated experimentally in infant animals: opioid agonists de-creased while opioid antagonists selectively increased the signs ofdistress caused by social deprivation as well as other indices of thesocial motive (Fabre-Nys, Meller, and Keverne 1982; Newby-Schmidt and Norton 1981; Panksepp, Herman, Conner, Bishop,and Scott 1978). An abundance of further corroborative evidence for

opioid control of social processes has been presented by other lab-oratories. Morphine effects on social proximity (Plonsky and Free-man 1982) and play (Beatty and Costello 1982) have been reported,

and naloxone has been found to disrupt schooling behavior in fish(Kavaliers 1981). Social isolation has been shown to modify brain

opiate receptor densities (Bonnet, Miller, and Simon 1976) and toincrease voluntary opiate consumption (Alexander, Coambs, and

Hadaway 1978). Utilizing substractive auto-radiography, Pank-

sepp and Bishop (1981) have demonstrated that brain opioid sys-tems are quite active in the presence of social stimuli, namely duringthe normal course of play.



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While little data is still available regarding the maternal side ofattachment, Panksepp, Siviy, and Normansell (1985) suggest that

the elevated plasma opioid activity observed during pregnancy(Csontos, Rust, Hollt, Mahr, Kromer, and Teschemacher 1979)and parturition (Facchinetti, Centini, Parrini, Petraglia, D'Antona,Cosmi, and Genazzani 1982) might facilitate the subsequent bond-ing process. It seems that the hormonal levels at the time of partu-rition are critical in determining the attachment of mother to infant.Once this attachment has occurred, it persists for an important partof the life cycle. To a less dramatic degree the same occurs in hu-mans. Of course, we must be very careful in attempting to generalizeacross vast phylogenetic distance; nonetheless, we know that evo-lution tends to be conservative, using what is available and addingnew features in new species, but retaining much of the old. Klausand Kennell ( 1981) have shown that if a mother must defer the fon-

dling of her newborn baby for hours or even days, it is harder forher to become attached and devoted to it. Such is not the case if she

is allowed to care for it within minutes of birth. The precise circum-stances, especially the elevated endogenous opioid levels at the mo-ment of delivery, are important factors in her later behavior.

On the one hand, opioids affect social emotions and, on the other,loss of social bonds has a biphasic effect on opiate-dependent anal-gesia. Brief periods of isolation increase pain sensitivity in infants,while concurrently diminishing the analgesic efficacy of morphine.These indicate a deficit in socially generated endogenous opioids.Conversely, when infants are isolated for prolonged periods, stress-related opioid peptides are induced and responsivity to morphineincreases (Alleva, Caprioli, and Laviola 1986).

In summary, opioids alleviate separation distress and separationmodulates opioid analgesia. This reciprocal relationship suggeststhe following ideas. Modulation of distress vocalization by endoge-nous opioids is a mechanism that could be selected for phylogenet-

ically. The infant that does not respond vigorously at the time ofinitial separation reduces the probability of maternal detection. Theconverse strategy is also dangerous; whether in isolation or in thenest, the infant that does not temper its level of vocalization in-creases the likelihood of falling victim to a predator (Kehoe andBlass 1986). Endogenous opioids modulate the range: on the oneside, as stress hormones they exert a calming effect in circumstancesof prolonged separation and, on the other, as reward transmitters



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they help to elaborate the positive affective state of social comfort inmaternal reunion (Panksepp et al. 1985). These effects are most

likely mediated by different neurobiological processes at differentneuroanatomical sites.

Although many brain areas surely contribute dimensions to socialbehavior, it is tempting to suppose that the affect of social comfortand the other pleasurable qualities of social interactions are me-diated by the enkephalins of the ventral tegmental area, which isknown to participate in self-stimulation reward and where the pos-itive incentive effects of opiate drugs are most pronounced. Alter-natively, the negative symptoms, that is, the signs of discomfort, aremediated by those structures that are involved in physical depen-dence to drugs (for example, periventricular gray matter) wherewithdrawal symptoms can be precipitated in addicts (Wei, Loh, and

Way 1973). Distress vocalization control circuitry is concentratedin this part of the brain (Herman and Panksepp 1981). The pow-erful stress opioid, beta-endorphin, may quell separation distress at

this area. Of course, strict analytical separation of such functionscould be misleading because, in the functioning organism variouslimbs of the opioid system are activated at the same time. Fromstudies on complex brain organization of social behavior so far itappears that the integrity of three cortical areas-the orbital frontalcortex, the temporal pole, and the amygdala-is crucial to themaintenance of affiliative interactions and social bonds. It is strikingthat these areas have the highest density of opioid receptors (mu

type) and are precisely the same as those involved in processingmultimodal sensory information. These areas also play a role in se-lective attention, and even perform top-hierarchical physiologicalregulation (Steklis and Kling 1985). This latter function strongly in-dicates that attachment may influence core biological functions.

ATTACHMENTS AS REGULATORS

Hofer and his colleagues have tried to identify the specific pro-cesses within the mother-infant relationship that were withdrawnby separation. They have reported a comprehensive and systematicseries of findings on the multiple roles of the mother in regulatingthe physiology of the infant (Hofer 1981). From their work the in-fant's homeostatic system appears to be relatively "open" and bio-logical regulation is delegated in part to the mother. Body temper-ature, blood circulation, oxygen consumption, sleep patterns, activ-



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ity levels, growth, and immunocompetence all depend on maternalfactors such as milk and body warmth as well as tactile, vestibular

and olfactory stimulation. The separation symptoms seem to resultfrom withdrawal of these hidden regulators. For instance, metabol-ically significant biochemical effects of maternal deprivation in in-fant rats can be ameliorated with a highly specific form of briskstroking that may mimic components of normal maternal behavior(Butler, Suskind, and Schanberg 1978; Evoniuk, Kuhn, and Schan-berg 1979).

However, separation reactions are not limited to infants. They oc-cur at all ages. In adult bereavement, for example, there are changesin the cardiovascular, endocrine, and immunologic systems, as wellas disturbances in body temperature and sleep, muscular strengthand body weight. According to Hofer, the features of maternal stim-ulation that structure the mammalian infants' organization becomeincreasingly complex during development (and are thus more diffi-cult to identify). Separation effects that are attributable to the loss

of simple sensorimotor stimuli for young organisms are mediated byincreasingly complex configurations of stimuli in older ones inwhich such mediation appears increasingly social.

Hofer concluded that independent self-regulation may be limitedeven in adulthood, and homeostatic regulatory mechanisms remainunder environmental control at least to a certain degree. Social in-teractions with "significant others" may continue to play an impor-tant role in the everyday regulation of biological systems throughoutlife and, at least in primates, they help to set internal clocks. Biolog-ical rhythms, in others words, are under social entrainment (Hofer1984). It has been postulated that the properties of biological pace-makers would be affected by opioid peptides and this interaction hasbeen shown in rodents (Meck and Church 1984). The notion hasemerged that indeed one, if not the major, component of attachmentis the promotion of psychobiological synchrony between attached

organisms, and such synchrony between participants' rhythms is es-sential for the integrated functioning of these individuals (Reite andCapitanio 1985). Also, although this synchrony is evident mostclearly in mother-infant interactions, it seems to persist through life(Field 1985).

Human relationships are conducted originally at the sensorimo-tor level, but in the course of ontogeny the role of internal represen-tations becomes prominent, and symbolic signs or mental images



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may take the place of actual persons. Thus, it seems possible thatthe regulating influence of important social relationships upon bio-

logical systems may be transduced not only by the sensorimotor andtemporal patterning of the actual transactions, but also through theinternal experiences of the relationship as it is carried out in themind of the subject involved (Hofer 1984). "Identification" is a suit-able term for labeling the complex process of internalization of socialrelationships that can maintain the psychobiological synchronymentioned above.

EXPERIENCE OF IDENTITY AND ENDOGENOUSOPIOIDS

The conclusion that can be drawn from Panksepp's (Panksepp etal. 1980) concept and findings is that social (first of all maternal)induction of endogenous opioid activity serves as the basis for theexperience of trust, whose roots lie in the anticipation of social re-ward. This early experience receives representation at the cognitivelevel, and plays a fundamental role in the subject's worldview. Early(and thus more directly mediated) positive social experiences estab-lish identity and, in an appropriate cultural milieu, determine reli-gious beliefs such as faith in an internalized, omnipotent, protectiveother.

The social connotation of endogenous opioid release may arisewhen these substances are mobilized in another way, for example,

in hyperstress, in confrontation with stress and pain,in

situationsof

helplessness or in the multimodal instance of trance. The same hap-pens in the case of the "omnipotence maneuver" (Prince 1982b) innear-death experiences when the threatened and helpless individualsuddenly experiences a feeling of passive resignation to death ac-companied by tranquillity, and the dissolution of loneliness with asense of the presence of a protective other. The subject links theseexperiences with the idea of supernatural intervention and desig-

nates it as the "grace of God," or attributes it to spiritual powers,depending on cultural belief systems.

On the other hand, endogenous opioid mobilization may moreeasily occur in response to a real person who is regarded as protec-tive and omnipotent, since this situation involves a regressive, sym-biotic form of attachment and closely resembles the early ontoge-netic situation. We postulate this type of social attachment, which

applies in particular to ritual experiences.



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In summary, we propose that the social connotations and acti-vation of the endogenous opioid system become cross-conditioned

during early ontogenesis, so that later in life whenever the opioidsystem is activated by stress and pain, social connotations couldarise together with the paradoxically occurring euphoric states and,vice versa, opioid-mediated euphoric and trans-like states are en-hanced by social affiliation (Kulcsar, Frecska, and Varga 1987).The need for and the possibility of identification are interwoven ata psychobiological level: regression promotes endogenous opioidmediation while endogenous opioids mediate affiliation, and helpdepersonalization by loss of ego boundaries.

IMPLICATIONS FOR RITUAL EXPERIENCE

On the basis of this long survey it seems plausible that the expe-rience of social identity (that is, the experience of being affiliated)has a mobilizing effect on endogenous opioids and, conversely, rit-ually induced endogenous opioid activity supports social identity.

Thus we interpret Henry's remarks concerning trance suscepti-bility as follows. Leaders or priests, whom onlookers and partici-pants expect to set an example and provide guidance, may have anintensive sense of duty, thus a better ability to experience groupidentity. Those participating for personal reasons, especially thosefulfilling an obligation, commit themselves to the deity who is a sym-bol of their group's social conscience and this kind of identity ex-

perience helps them to enter an altered state of consciousness. In thecase of disadvantaged, helpless individuals who suffer from diseases,privation and fears of losses, their "uncontrollable" distress gener-ates endogenous opioids (vide supra) as an internal mechanism thatenhances identification and trance.

Let us consider now a condition described by Jilek (1982b) as"spirit illness" among the American West Coast Indians. This con-dition is in many respects analogous to the initiatory sickness of Si-berian shamans. In this illness-like state subjects suffer anorexia, in-somnia, weakness and emaciation, and experience hallucinatory orillusional perceptions of a psychogenic type. According to Hofer:

Evidence from the studies on sensory deprivation and chronobiology indicate thatwe are surprisingly dependent on the level and patterns of stimulation in our every-day lives for maintaining and regulating the complex organization of our mentaland physical functioning. We are not directly aware of the role that this stimulationplays until it becomes insufficient or its patterning is radically changed. Then, we



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notice that our concentration and attention are impaired, our perception is some-what distorted, we do not sleep well, our appetite is reduced . . . and we are pe-riodically overcome with fatigue. In its extreme form, we feel that we are fallingapart mentally. We see and hear things that are not there. [1984:191]

The similarities between these symptoms and the symptoms of"spirit illness" are striking. One could interpret this as the subjects'suffering from the withdrawal of patterns of community ritual stim-ulations that had been exerting a hidden regulating action on theparticipants' mind and on their physiological function, and what is

more, subjects had become addicted to the opioid effect of trancestate. It was the essence of traditional "spirit illness" that sufferingbecame actually a reward and was anticipated by those who hadpreviously sought spirit power individually. This ailment was nomore than a strictly seasonal, highly stereotyped, goal-directed, ri-tualized pathomorphic (illness-like but not pathologic) prelude tothe public experience of this power in the winter dance ceremonial

(Jilek 1982b). From our psychobiological perspective, their symp-toms seem to manifest an avid desire for socially induced endoge-nous opioids and are due to the lack of transactions and experiencesgained in regular ceremonials. Differential seasonal patterns of op-iate responsivity, with a graver abstinence syndrome in the fall, arenot unknown phenomena in pharmacology (Beckman, Llados-Eck-man, Stanton, and Adler 1982). Moreover, circannual variations inthe concentrations of endorphins and opioid receptors have also

been observed with highest levels occurring in the winter (De-Ceballos and DeFelipe 1984; Von Knorring, Almay, Johansson,Terenius, and Wahlstrom 1982). These phenomena presumablyserve as the basis of greater reward mentioned above. There is a cir-cadian variation of opioid responsiveness as well, with the greatestsensitivity late in the evening (Frecska, Arato, Banki, Bagdy, Per-enyi, and Fekete 1987), a typical time for many shamanic activities(Winkelman 1986).

"Anomic" depression is a chronic dysphoric state with a similarsymptom pattern, accompanied with a sense of rootlessness and cul-tural alienation common to adolescent West Coast Indians as a con-sequence of deculturation and perplexed identity. This syndromeessentially corresponds to "spirit illness" and approximates West-ern "neurotic/reactive" depression, and is a foundation for under-standing the high rates of alcoholism, suicide, violent death, and the

adjustment problems among native youth. These disorders are often



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refractory to Western therapeutic approaches but responsive tohealing ceremonials through personality depatterning and reorien-

tation in altered states of consciousness. The task of initiation is nolonger only to provide entrance into a ceremonial but to overcome,by obtainding a new identity, the sickness and faulty behavior con-tracted by exposure to an alien culture (Jilek 1982b). The ancestralnames are revived, the traditional "others" are internalized andconditioned to the endogenous opioid flush of trance which has po-tent rewarding effect. In this way ancestors become "significant"and plant cultural values.

Moerman (1979) regarded ritual healing as a version of a thera-peutic procedure that he called "symbolic healing." In an outlinefor the universal structure of symbolic healing Dow proposed itsstages as follows:

(1) a generalized cultural mythic world is established by universalizing the expe-riences of healers, initiates, or prophets, or by otherwise generalizing emotional ex-periences. (2) A healer persuades the patient that it is possible to define the pa-tient's relationship to a particularized part of the mythic world, and makes the def-inition, (3) The healer attaches the patient's emotions to transactional symbols inthis particularized mythic world. (4) The healer manipulates the transactionalsymbols to assist the transaction of emotion. [1986:66]

Dow considers emotions as generalized media that link the psychicsphere and the somatic system. By means of emotions transactionalsymbols may generate a curing effect. He definitely states that thesocial environment acts by symbolic transfer not solely on the mind

but on the biological system of patients. The opioid way of socialbonding and its conditioning to cognitive structures may explain hisstatements. For example, due to the strong reinforcing effect ofopioid release in the trance of initiation ceremony, the culturally de-termined "transactional symbols" receive their emotional value, the"mythic world" is established and the cross-conditioning betweencognitive and endocrine spheres takes place. In this manner culturalnorms are effectively transferred.

In addition to the role of modulation, social relationships can be-come regulators of trance states in community healing ceremonialswith "boiling energy" among the Kalahari Kung (Katz 1982a).The transformation of consciousness is also at the core of their ex-perience of healing. This transformation, which comes only after apainful transition accompanied by sweating into an altered state ofconsciousness, brings on a sense of relatedness between a spiritualhealing power (that is, culturally connoted endogenous recuperative



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mechanisms), the healers and their community. Critical to this tran-sition is the control and regulation of the healing power, a process

whose physiological and behavioral components merge, leading toa deep psychobiological synchrony. The healers serve as a mediumto channel healing from the community back to the community.Their spiritual strengths are drawn from the public, and the com-munity in turn benefits from the battles healers carry on with themalevolent ghosts of ancestors and with their own inner fears. Thenet effect is a body of protective "spiritual energy" endlessly recy-cled from healer to community and back in a process that extendsdeep into the past and represents a whirling, reciprocal kind of iden-tification. Healers experience trance more intensely and share itwith the members of the community. The singing, clapping and rub-bing of the participants helps to regulate the depth of the trance,keeping dynamic balance between its risks and benefits (Katz1982b). For example, the experience of pain in their trance is a hom-eostatic process controlled by others but we assume that the same

holds true for body temperature as well. Katz writes:The dance fire is one of the specific elements used in the regulation of n/um.4 Thereis n/um n the fire, and the Kung work with the fire to help heat up the dancer's nlum. The singers will rub coals in their hands before they work on a dancer who hasfallen in kia.5 Dancers will go to the fire, walk in it, put their heads in it, pick upcoals and rub them over their hands and body. But it is not just the fire's heat that

helps dancer's n/um boil. Healers use the same word (da'a) to describe both thecentral dance fire and the fire within their own bodies that heats up the n/um. The

fire also helps the dancer toward kia because it adds its own n/um to the dancer'sn/um. This makes the fire an especially strong stimulant for kia. [1982b:358]

Relevant to this ethnographical description is the neurobiologicalfinding that ambient temperature and the body's water content dohave a strong influence on endorphin release during strenuous ex-ercise, with hot and dehydrated conditions producing the greatestincrease, followed by hot and euhydrated conditions (Kelso, Her-

bert, Gwazdauskas, Goss, and Hess, 1984).It is striking how sweat is the critical element of their healing. Assweat first pours out of the healer, it is the visible expression of "boil-ing energy," a sign of trance. The Kung believe that human sweatgenerated during the medicine dance trances has a powerful thera-peutic effect. Trancers rub the sweat from their skin onto the bodyof the person being healed and upon others to protect them fromillness.



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In the following section we shall attempt to provide an explana-tion for this therapeutic tradition.

RITUAL EXPERIENCE AND EXOGENOUS OPIOIDS

It seems that below both the symbolic level of identification andthe psychophysiological level of sensorimotor stimulation there liesa core biological level of social contacts.

Work currently going on has made it clear that the skin as thelargest organ of the body directly exposed to the environment is notmerely a package. Rather, it is a blotter, a transmittal device, wherea great deal of interaction between the inside and outside of the bodygoes on, even on the humoral level. In addition to its digestive func-tion, the same goes for the gut as well. Identical bioactive peptidessecreted by the cells of the so-called "diffuse neuroendocrine sys-tem" (Margules 1981) in the brain, gut and skin suggest this trans-mittal role.

It is thus tempting to speculate that concomitantly with the ini-tiation of trance (when n/um begins to boil and to induce kia) sweatglands secrete extra opioid peptides or substances enhancing the

opioid effect, acting endogenously in trancers, modifying thermo-

regulation, supporting energy expenditure, stimulating alteration ofconsciousness, and being able to penetrate the skin, thus acting ex-

ogenously as well. It can be assumed that in other participants ofthe healing ritual they prevent hyperthermia and affect immuno-

competence. Opioids released during proximity to companions areknown to decrease hyperthermia (Frohm and Wallnau 1983) but todate such a paracrine feedback role of the sweat glands in thermo-

regulation has not yet been established.However, the idea of exogenously acting opioid peptides is not

uncommon in neuropharmacology. There is new evidence thatopioid substances such as casomorphin, morphiceptin and gliadin

from dietary sources escape digestion and are capable of gettingthrough gastrointestinal bounds, entering the circulation and pass-ing the blood-brain barrier, thus exerting an opioid effect both pe-ripherally and centrally (Brantl, Teschemacher, Blasig, Henschen,and Lottspeich 1981). These so-called exorphins, or exogenousopioid peptides, may have functional relevance for the homeostasisand behavior of infants (Panksepp, Normansell, Siviy, Rossi, andZolovick 1984).



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The phenomenon of placentophagia indicates that such an effectis not limited solely to infants but exists in adults, at least at the

subhuman level. Ingestion of the placenta dramatically enhancesanalgesia that results from increased opioid level in labor. It is likelythat the placenta contains or stimulates the release of a substancethat enhances the effect of opioids already in the system (Kristal,Thompson, and Grishkat 1985). The advantage of an opioid facili-tator is clear for the parturient and for attachment bonds.

We are of course aware that several points of this paper are clearlyspeculative in nature. However, we think it is necessary to try to seewhat the latest results of psychobiology can tell us that might get usto look at human questions in a new way. Ethnological and psycho-biological data have to be linked up in order to arrive at a holistictheory of human behavior.

SUMMARY

In this essay we examined some phenomena of community ritu-als, especially healing ceremonials, which are considered as neuro-biologically mediated, complex forms of attachment. Recent studiesin medical anthropology have pointed out that the ritual therapeuticexperience relies on the patients' own healing processes by means ofvarious altered states of consciousness that healers are able to con-trol. Ritual trance invariably occurs in social context and the heal-er's personality and the expectation of community are profoundly

involved in the induction of altered states of consciousness. Trancestate is regarded as a result of the mobilization of endogenous opioidpeptides, as an outcome of the release of an organism's defensivesubstances in face of the stress of ceremonial. On the other hand,there is a growing body of evidence that opioid mechanisms are in-volved in social behavior as well, especially in symbiotic bonds. Itis suggested that this is the neurobiological reason that attachmentfacilitates trance induction. The homeostatic role of social relation-

ships as physiological regulators is also discussed.

NOTES

Acknowledgments. e want to thank Jolan Haraszti, Mihaly Hoppal, Zoltan Kovecses,Maria Kristof, and Klara Majoros for their comments and assistance in preparing this man-

uscript.'This paper was presented in part at the 2nd World Congress of Neuroscience, August 16-

21, 1987, Budapest, Hungary.



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2It deserves mentioning hat "uncontrollability" s a typical condition n early childhoodand in near-death situations.

3Affiliative social interactions are those behaviors that promote the development of andthat serve o maintain ocial bonds between ndividuals Steklis nd Kling 1985). In this pa-per we discuss hese kinds of social nteractions nder he concept of "attachment."

4healing power5trance

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