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Somafera: the body wild.

  
 
Less searchable M0rd4nt
13:35 / 18.08.07
Been meaning to start a thread on this for a while.

"Somafera" is a Greek-Latin portmanteau word coined to refer to a broad group of ecstatic ritual practices. From the Somafera website:

"Somafera... is the art and science of altering the body's physiological state to enhance its functioning in certain ways... there is a long history the world over of practices developed to trigger this sort of change in physiology, and control it. And because these practices mostly developed before the scientific revolution, they are largely described from a personal, subjective (rather than impersonal, objective) point of view. They are described in terms of spirituality, and of effecting a physical change via changing the state of one's spirit. (And this pre-scientific point of view is why the practices are largely ignored in today's world.) Some of these practices are mostly religious in their focus, such as the maenadism of ancient Greece and the isawiyya of the ancient Middle East. Others (the more common varieties) are combat oriented, and are a form of internal martial art, such as the berserkergang of the Norse, the heroic feats of the Celts, and the boxers of the Chinese Boxer Rebellion."

So basically what you have here is a sort of physiological/magicoreligious syndrome--a collection of characteristic symptoms appearing across various cultures and historical periods, including:

Unusual increases in strength and endurance, and in some cases agility.

Ability to resist pain.

Ability to resist physical injury.

Ability to resist poisons and intoxicants (as when someone possessed by a spirit drinks potentially lethal quantities of alcohol but has no ill-effects afterwards).

In some cases, an apparent loss of conscious control over ones actions to some degree (as in running amok).

This is something I've been nibbling round the edge of for a couple of years now. I stumbled across the site by accident after reading some of the site owner's NT writings. I was struck by the potential of this kind of work--"somafera" as a kind of low-tech transhumanism, if you will. The small number of practitioners I've met (online and IRL) treat this partly a martial art but also as a spiritual discipline--a way of getting closer to your Gods or spirits.

I'd be very interested in getting input from people here regarding this: risks, benefits, related activity across various traditions, etc.
 
 
Mako is a hungry fish
19:52 / 18.08.07
I usually practice something similar when I go to nightclubs and dance, especially if I get bored, whereby I attempt to match my moves with (what I perceive to be) the nature of elements such as fire and water, or the flow of ambient auric energy through the crowd, or states of consciousness, shades of colour, or whatever happens to impress itself upon me as wanting to play.

It makes for some wicked dance moves and some amazing highs that don't require drugs - I notice that if I am on drugs, alcohol, nicotine, speed, e, or coke, that my ability to maintain focus is greatly enhanced, sometimes to the point of a major reduction of their effects, though they do return once I stop dancing and the energetic high wears off.

Endurance is definately a positive as well, both physical and mental - without such practices I can dance for hours up until the point where I get bored, with them I only really stop when the club closes or I feel the need to meditate on the sensations of being in the peaceful state of being that arises from such an active state.

I wouldn't go so far as to credit the ability to resist physical injury from such a practice however - it's interesting that the site mentions the Boxer Rebellion in this context, as it reminds me of stories where they believed themselves invincible to bullets because of Taoist magic talismans, which is spoken of eloquently here: -

Almost any type of chi kung can develop a shield to withstand physical force. But it is not true to say that it can stand any physical force no matter its velocity. After about a year of training, the practitioner can withstand punches or kicks from ordinary people. After a few years, he may withstand weapon attacks. But even a master cannot withstand a shot from a pistol.

Question 3
This was also a goal (or rather illusion?) of I He Chuan (Boxer's Rebellion) to be able to train invulnerability toward bullets. Many Chinese secret societies have been known to try and achieve such powers including the White Lotus Sect, Triad Society, and Small Red Lantern Society. I feel they are all illusioned, but what do you say? Are such powers actually possible?

Answer 3
Yes, they were illusioned. And they committed a serious mistake in combat, namely they under- estimated their enemies. They had no idea how tremendously powerful gun shot bullets were. I even doubt whether their shielding force could withstand arrows -- with bullets they simply had no chance.
 
 
Less searchable M0rd4nt
09:12 / 19.08.07
I wouldn't go so far as to credit the ability to resist physical injury from such a practice however

Hehe. I would, because I've witnessed it in others and experienced it myself. I do heat-resistance as part of my devotions. Basically I whip myself up into a lather using some of the techniques described on the site--in my case that's mostly chanting, ecstatic dancing, and holding physical postures that put stress on the body. Then I start playing with hot things. To begin with I'll hold my hand over a candle-flame, gradually moving it closer as I get mor elevated, or use s bundle of lit joss sticks tapped against a hand or limb. After a while, the endorphins kick in and you can take more and more heat. Pain registers in a completely different way. My biggest accomplishment has been snatching a lit fragment of charcoal out of the incense burner on the floor with my fingers and transfering it to another container on a high shelf. Anyone preparing a response which refers to the specific heat capacity of wood can STFU until they've tried it themselves, okay? It's not the specific heat capacity of the charcoal coz I've tried this when I wasn't elevated enough and it burnt like a bastard.

I'd happily attribute the abscence of pain to the body's own endorphins kicking in and anesthatising me, but the interesting part is that I don't just throw off the pain--I throw off the damage, too. Not only do I not recieve injury in the same way, but existing superficial injuries are healed. The first time I did the charcoal thing, previous attempts had burnt my fingertips to the point where the skin was red and blisters were starting to appear, but these had all gone at the end of the session. There was no pain even when I came back to myself.

If I'm doing the work regularly, I sometimes throw off damage at other times. I've caught myself absent-mindedly flipping slices of frying tofu in the pan with my fingers, dipping my hand into a bubbling pot of ramen noodles to fish out an escaped flavour sachet, and most recently throwing off what could have been a nasty scald when I spilled boiling espresso coffee over my fingers. Doesn't always happen, of course--most of the time I burn like everyone else. Wouldn't want to rely on it, but it does work.

The other thign I've noticed is that I've started to throw off minor and superficial cuts at times. This has been a bit of a PITA because it tends to happen during devotions, natch, and usually when I'm trying to let blood. There are times when I literally seem not to bleed, at least without a lot of effort. Cuts sustained at these times also heal faster than you'd expect.

So yeah, the damage resistance is definately for real based on my experience, and my limited observations of others in an elevated state. Wouldn't want to take my chances against a bullet though.
 
  
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