Floating (psychological phenomenon)
- Floating (psychological phenomenon)
Floating, in a psychological context, means slipping (back) into altered states of mind. People who leave a cult or sect that emphasizes chanting, meditation, monotonous singing etc. in order to reach a trance-like state (such as Hare Krishna) often experience momentarily slipping back into such a state. This experience can be very disconcerting.
An ex-cult member describes it like this:
"Weeks after I left, I would suddenly feel spacy and hear the cult leader saying, 'You'll always come back. You are one with us. You can never separate.' I'd forget where I was, that I'm out now; I'd feel his presence and hear his voice. I got so frightened once that I slapped my face to make it stop."
References
* From Margaret Singer: [http://www.factnet.org/Margaret_Thaler_Singer/Coming_out_of_the_cults.html Coming out of the Cults] , Psychology Today, January 1979.
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