A great introduction into the realm of trance. According to Wier, trance covers a much wider spectrum than the cliché of ritual ecstatic trance, and definitely has more to do with our daily thought processes : people go in and out of multiple trances a day, most of them without even noticing it. The central thesis in Wier's book is that outside influence changes our destiny by altering the way we perceive or process information; trance techniques are being extensively used by salesman, artists, politicians, cult leaders... When practised willingly with loving compassion, it can be a powerful source of healing, inspiration and self-realization. When practised in secrecy, for selfish purposes and hidden agendas, trance can lead victims into delusion, illness and addictions of all kind. The author refers to this as "Trance Abuse".

The main goal of this book is to promote "trance awareness" on a personal level, through the practice of meditation which is presented as a specific kind of trance. Dennis Wier strongly invites readers to create their own experiments and proof: which is one of the greatest strength of his approach.

One of the key features of the Trance Model, developed in detail in a previous book, is that repetition always results in the disabling of some cognitive functions such as critical judgment and short term memory. Different kinds of trance can be skilfully created using various features of the Trance Model and many of these features are examined throughout the book.

Addiction is described as a special kind of trance, and the trance model could lead to therapeutic approaches. The chapter on invasive trance deserves full attention since it describes techniques, some of them already operating, which allow influencing people on a mass scale in a very invasive and often un-noticeable way. Ethics is thus a central point to be considered when using trance techniques.

A full chapter is dedicated to ecstatic trance, which corresponds to what many people are referring to when using the word trance. Wier asks very smart questions such as “what is so disturbing to social order about the ecstatic trance and what is its evolutionary function?”.

Modern humans and especially western people have been separated from mother Nature and their divine nature. In that regard, trance appears not less that an alchemical process, a great tool for self-transformation.

The book is generally well-written and organized. The first sections can seem a bit long and repetitive but they then appear necessary for the good understanding of the authors point. Moreover he himself makes subtle use of some of the techniques he describes, especially repetition and it definitely helps to understand quicker and better integrate. Each section features some practical exercises and a series of questions, encouraging the reader to cognitively link what he has just read with his everyday life. I find this book unique and innovative; it provides a very good summary of the topic. It makes a lot of sense in the light of frameworks such as Grof's transpersonal approach or Tononi's information integration theory of consciousness. Promising research directions, fundamental as well as applied are pointed out and urgently need to be carried out.

I really recommend this book which is relevant for a very wide spectrum of readers. I think the original background of the author contributes a lot to its intelligibility. More than a book, this is a practical manual to change your destiny: you can learn to detect when and how you are getting "entranced" by the external world and you can train to navigate and influence the inner realm on your way of love and compassion.

Do you believe that trance is a magical state reserved only for mediums, hypnotists, and occultists? If so, think again. Dennis Wier's latest book, The Way of Trance, provides genuine insight into the natural and pervasiveness of trance in modern life. While I enjoyed Dennis's previous book, Trance: from magic to technology, it contained a little too much mathematics for me to recommend it to people without a deep interest in trance, that is those who wanted to scratch beneath the surface and look at the structure and mechanics. While the Trance Model is still central to Dennis's concepts and analysis of trance it has been wisely separated out into a book of its own, allowing The Way of Trance to focus on plain language and easily understood concepts relating to trance. This makes the current work very much a user’s manual while still retaining the in-depth look at various types of trance.

While reading the book I felt as though I was on a journey of Self discovery once again. I found it easy to reflect on and discover the various trance processes within my own life. This leads to an awareness of how trance abuse can subtly (or not so subtly) be used against you, and for the benefit of others such as advertisers, employers, and governments.

Dennis states that the book is not to "aspire to provide definitive and rigid answers about a complex subject; rather, it is a 'way of trance'..." and that the purpose of the book is "to illuminate aspects of trance which deserve especially serious and critical attention." I believe Dennis has succeeded in producing a work that gives enough overview and insight to allow the exploration by anyone interested in trance, including practitioners and teachers of meditation and hypnosis, and it certainly draws attention to very important aspects of trance which are mostly unnoticed by the majority of people.

To me, one of the important aspects of studying trance is to lower the risk to oneself of trance abuse, that is "trances which are created by others against our will." Trance abuse also has important implications for anyone working with clients who may be susceptible to suggestibility, or more directly those working as therapists and hypnotists. It is interesting to consider whether we ourselves, or people that we know, purposely or unconsciously make use of trance to take advantage of others in various situations.

I actually don't want to elaborate too much on some of the core insights that Dennis discusses, as I believe the book is best read for oneself. Suffice it to say Dennis has some good arguments about the fundamental nature of trance and its effects on our personal reality, and how the manipulation or terminating of trances is able to affect our destiny. This is important information for anyone interested in Self growth practices, whether or not they've ever considered trance to be present in their life or not.

The book has chapters covering meditation, hypnosis, addiction, charisma, invasive trance, ecstasy and magic, with additional chapters on ethics and advance trance. The topics are explored in-depth but in easily understood terms, with plenty of examples which I’m sure most people will be able to relate to. Each chapter concludes with sample exercises and some questions for those who seek to know more. This creates a very practical book that goes beyond being merely informative, and provides the basis for extended study.

I recommend this book for anyone interested in Self growth, not just those interested in or working with meditation and hypnosis.