what methods he evolved for putting himself into a state of dissociation or trance for the purpose of having such experiences.
Reference has been made (Chapter II, p. 129) to the fact that he seems to have accidentally stumbled on something similar to the old yoga technique of breath-control as a means of inducing such states, although at the time he was not conscious of doing so.
As early as 1744, however, in his so-called dream diary, he notes that he can produce certain effects by holding his breath, or varying the rhythm, and soon he was deliberately resorting to such practices. He says in his Spiritual Diary, "My respiration was so formed by the Lord that I could respire inwardly for a considerable time, without the aid of external air . . . in order that I may be with spirits and speak with them." 3
Reviewing the matter, he explained that this "tacit," or partly inhibited, breathing was not a new thing with him. "I was first accustomed thus to respire in my early childhood, when saying my morning and evening prayers, and occasionally afterwards, when exploring the harmonies of the lungs and heart, and especially when deeply engaged in writing the works that have been published [his Economy of the Animal Kingdom, etc.] . . .
"I was thus during many years from the period of childhood introduced into such respirations, especially by means of absorbing speculations in which the breathing seems to become quiescent, as otherwise the intense study of truth is scarcely possible. Afterwards, when heaven was opened to me, and I was enabled to converse with spirits, I sometimes scarcely breathed by inspiration at all for the space of a short hour, and merely drew in enough air to keep up the process of thinking . . .
"I have also again and again observed that when I was passing away into a state of sleep [here he undoubtedly means trance] my respiration was almost taken away, so that I would awake and catch my breath. When I observe nothing of the kind, I continue to write and think, and am not aware of my respiration being arrested, unless I reflect upon it. This I may say has happened in instances innumerable. Nor was I at such times able to observe the various changes because I did not reflect upon them." 4
This seems to be a description of the lightly entranced state of consciousness he was in while doing his automatic writing, which
