LA PETITE MORT: The Little Death Dream Portal
By Sarah Janes
“Poetry leads to the same place as all forms of eroticism — to the blending and fusion of separate objects. It leads us to eternity, it leads us to death, and through death to continuity. Poetry is eternity; the sun matched with the sea.”
― Georges Bataille, Erotism: Death and Sensuality
In the moments following orgasm, it is common to enter a transcendent state and experience a brief loss of self awareness. Romantically referred to as La Petite Mort — this can be an ideal portal to a lucid dream. This unique trance state has been tapped by prophetesses, seers and wise women for oracular insight since time immemorial.
Orgasm alters consciousness and acts as a powerful analgesic, it has been associated with the deactivation and activation of certain key brain regions. Some regions are responsible for modulating perception of our relationship with reality (feels like skewiffing time). In the deep sense of timeless peace that unfolds throughout our body post-orgasm, we are in a unique position to practice the art of lucid dreaming without falling asleep.
Depending on the individual and circumstance, one might experience significant activation of certain brain regions in the build-up to orgasm. If lots of mental fantasy is taking place — as is often the case with masturbation, there is an increase of activity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). The activation in the right angular gyrus and operculum is also significant in the comparison between build-up, orgasm and post-orgasm. The right angular gyrus has been implicated in altered states such as out of body experiences.
In one study, when subjects in a fMRI were brought to orgasm by their partners — the orgasmic state corresponded with activity in the left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) region of the PFC. This region is related to the feeling of letting go, pleasure and surrender. It indicates a release from self-reflection and referential thinking.
The rostral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is also activated during orgasm and this is a brain area associated with pain relief, emotional awareness and conflict resolution. Pain thresholds can increase over 100% during orgasm, likely as a result of activation of the dorsal raphe nucleus (releases serotonin) and the nucleus cuneiformis (major brainstem components that mediate endogenous analgesia). This is the neural signature of La Petite Mort.
You can learn to deepen and expand this experience into a dream. Use it as a way to enter a lucid dream without fully falling asleep (Wake Induced Lucid Dream — WILD technique). Go with the flow of your mind.
Sensorially, you may experience a floating sensation of being beyond or outside of your body. This state can also be used to induce an OBE. In which case you choose to go outside of your body rather than inside. You are in an extremely relaxed, somewhat fuzzy trance state. It is easier if you lie on your back. Imagine your body has turned to still water. Keep a gentle awareness of what is happening as you begin drifting through deeper and deeper levels of relaxation. Your senses may begin to overlap in a synaesthetic way. You may hear colourful snatches of music, doorbells, your name being called. You may feel the warmth of the sun upon your body. Take your awareness to the very edge of sleep.
This techinique can be an especially useful practice for lucid dreaming. In the dream realm, super-subtle, subconscious, multi-sensory perceptions of your inner world and immediate environment, converge to create elaborate visual dreamscapes. Hypnagogic imagery may appear more vivid. You may experience myoclonic jerks — the sensation of a sudden jolt that rouses you from trance. Myoclonic jerks are sometimes accompanied by a visual cue — such as tripping up the pavement in a hypnagogic reverie. Keep going, resist turning over, resist getting more comfortable and resist falling asleep proper. Eventually you will increase the period of time you can spend in hypnagogic visualisation and as dream scenes coagulate before your eyes, you will recognise how your intent and attention build dream worlds.
Become aware of the images coalescing in your mind’s eye. Allow yourself to travel through them, as if you are moving through a tunnel. Imagine yourself as Alice falling down the Rabbit Hole. Keep a gentle, softened gaze and be aware of keeping an onward motion. The mind seems to fall through inner space to arrive at a lucid dream destination. Movement keeps the dream momentum going. Do not focus too closely on any specific aspect of the visualisations until you are in a full dream.
Identify yourself with the element of water, running through the interconnected matrix of cells, vessels, veins and neurons. Recognise yourself electrifying the filaments that weave themselves together to create your physical manifestation on Earth. Follow the net of life, travel through the thread of your consciousness to its source, to the incandescent divine spark that merges you and Cosmos.
Images: Hedy Lamarr (Ekstase Ecstacy) 1933 Film.
Sarah Janes Website: www.themysteries.org
Next Dream Workshop: 19th June
