The ability to move from the ordinary into an altered state of consciousness is one of the most valuable skills in both magic and religion. From the ceremonial magician to the shaman, using trance work to explore inner realms is essential to the magical process of healing, transcendence, and wisdom desired throughout diverse occult and spiritual traditions. TrancePortation offers a comprehensive and multispirited way to enter the inner realm. Blending the modern world with the ancient arts, TrancePortation's first three chapters, Travel Planning, Crossing the Threshold, and Getting Started, offer preparatory suggestions including meditations and relaxations, breathing, warding, shifting gears, and returning. Drawing on examples from varied traditions, from Western Mystery to Native American, Ancient Celtic to Eastern Mysticism, and peppered with folk lore and tales from popular science fiction stories, TrancePortation explores spiritual journey work extensively, offering readers the chance to find their own ways into the inner realm, encounter their own guides and fellow travelers, and create divine relationships with the deities and gods and goddesses that they meet. " TrancePortation belongs on every Pagan and occultist's bookshelf; it's destined to become a classic of the field. Diana Paxson's downtoearth style speaks directly to real people with real problems--racing thoughts, distractibility, oversensitivity--and lets them know that they, too, can achieve trance states that will enrich their spiritual lives." --Deborah Lipp, author of The Study of Witchcraft and The Way of Four ― Reviews "In TrancePortation , Diana Paxson has written a travel guide for trance and out of body experiences that will be a great help to anyone seeking to navigate the complex worlds that lie both within and beyond our internal landscapes." --Michelle Belanger, author of Psychic Vampire Codex and Psychic Dreamwalking ― Reviews "Diana Paxson has penned another great work. If you were a newborn to the world of the spirits, you can take her hand and she will teach you how to walk the paths of other realms. You will feel totally taken care of, all mishaps have been exposed and diminished, and only the safest ways to trance travel are in this book. She is a virtuoso of the practical yet totally blended into the mystical. A rare, rare find." --Zsuzsanna Budapest, founder of Dianic Wicca and author of Holy Book of Women's Mysteries ― Reviews "This book is beautifully written and filled with both wisdom and practical advice. It should interest all practitioners of the Craft and help anyone who is having difficulty with things such as astral projection or trance magick." --Eileen Holland, author of The Wicca Handbook ― Reviews Diana L. Paxson has been teaching classes and leading rituals on trance work for more than twenty years. She is the coauthor, along with Marion Zimmer Bradley, of Priestess of Avalon and has continued the immensely popular Mists of Avalon series on her own. Trance-Portation Learning to Navigate the Inner World By DIANA L. PAXSON Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC Copyright © 2008 Diana L. Paxson All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-57863-405-7 Contents IntroductionChapter One * Travel PlanningChapter Two * Crossing the ThresholdChapter Three * Getting StartedChapter Four * Trance-PerceptionsChapter Five * There and Back AgainChapter Six * Native GuidesChapter Seven * Getting Along in the CultureChapter Eight * Mapping the Inner WorldsChapter Nine * Fellow TravelersChapter Ten * DestinationsChapter Eleven * Your Place or Mine?Chapter Twelve * Going Nowhere, Being EverywhereChapter Thirteen * Road HazardsAppendix I * Notes for the Tour GuidesAppendix II * Guidance SystemsAppendix III * Journeys to Find AlliesBibliographyAbout the Author CHAPTER 1 Travel Planning A journey of a thousand miles must begin witha single step. Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching We are about to begin a journey. Some parts of it will be easy, filled with thedelight of discovery. You will speed along and wonder why you never found thisroad before. At other times, you may hit roadblocks or detours and wonder if youwill ever get where you want to go. Do not lose heart. As Robert Louis Stevensononce put it: "To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the truesuccess is to labor" (1881). With time and patience, you will find that the roaditself is as interesting as its end, and the things that you learn along the wayare as rewarding as those you hoped to gain when you began. The road may lead ever on and on, but, unlike Bilbo, a sensible traveler doesnot dash out the door with no more than a pocket handkerchief. Before you canrange freely through all the worlds, you must have at least a basicunderstanding of the geography. As you set out to explore, you must have arealistic understanding of your resources and abilities. To make progress, you will need to work through all the chapters and exerc