In this link, Antero Alli, using the 8 circuit model of the mind, explains how one can become stuck or entranced by certain "circuits" of the mind . Drugs usually activate one or more specific circuits. From my own experience I can see that I experienced these trances when going hard on certain substances. 5th circuit trance when I was a wake and bake pothead, 7th circuit messianic complex trance when I used lots of LSD, Out-of-body addiction when I was a K-head, 1st circuit survival trance/opiate addiction, etc, etc....

This is a way of thinking about the brain and is not science. "The map is not the territory." But this model has helped me understand my own brain in a deeper way and I think others will find this insightful.

Trances of an 8 Circuit Brain

The book Antero wrote a few decades ago on this, titled "angel tech", was really fascinating and is worth a good read or two. I didn't really care for his newer book though to be honest..And when i had a chance to talk with him about the 8c brain model for a minute he seemed in some ways dismissive of anything that contradicted his thoughts on it, sadly

Oh, and if you haven't read Robert Anton Wilson's books cosmic trigger and prometheus rising, please do so now!

Those are essential reading to anyone interested in psychedelics, consciousness, reality, etc (i.e. everyone)

I second this recommendation!

I 3rd this and also add "Quantum Psychology", out of all his books it had the biggest impact on me, but maybe cause it was the 1st one that I read.

I +1 to all books mentioned they are all personal favorites.

Antero Alli's Angel Tech : A Modern Shaman's Guide to Reality Selection really furthers the ideas about the 8 circuits from Wilson and Leary nicely too.

the eight circuit model was leary's anecdotal contribution in his work, Exopsychology,
and is nearly identical to Plato's eight virtues theory.
they're interesting, but have nothing to do with pharmacology or neurochemistry,
which rely on tangible evidence.

Its more like a sort of metaphoric model of our constantly fluctuating experiential realities than it is an attempt to explain these states in pharmacological/neurochemical terms...So loosing sight of its usefulness and relevance because in your view it doesn't relate to one particular field of brain activity, one which you happen to be more keen on, is totally missing the point imo

Oldsoul- yea i forgot to mention that one. Great read!

different language, really. it's not so much an empirical model (most psychological theories aren't) as it is a thought
exercise; mapping different states of consciousness.
usefulness is something you derive from it or not, depending on
your interpretation/integration. Then again, I don't really find most
scientific articles particularly useful.

I finished reading Cosmic Trigger recently which talked quite a bit about Leary's 8 circuit model. It is very interesting but I did not find in that book what I am looking for which is a practical application of 'what to do with it'.

I am now reading Angel Tech (still in the first chapter) and it seems like it is trying to take the model and explain the 'what to do with it' part. I find this all very interesting and would like to take it past casual reading and into application to my life. That is where I seem to be stumbling.

I'm curious for those reading this thread, have any of you taken Leary/Wilson/Crowley/etc's work and been successful in application to your life? If so, please do share! Fascinating stuff imo!

Friken, Angel tech is good. I would also check out prometheus rising (one of my favorites), and quantum psychology by Wilson. Cosmic trigger is moreso a story of his experiences and thoughts and not as geared towards practical application as these other books are. Prometheus Rising in particular is all about the 8c brain model and is a mind blowing book. Each are filled with interesting exercises though

As for applying it to life, its fairly easy and you can make some big changes to how your brain works by following the info they outline on metta-programming through psychedelic experiences, once you get the general idea.

But a lot of the insights in these books are more like implicitly applicable in a sense. Since anything that provokes interesting thoughts and new ways of seeing and living in reality-tunnels will inherently influence your life in some way

+1 to all of universecannon's recommendations

Also after you finish Angel Tech [a personal favorite] Antero Alli wrote a workbook of exercises for each circuit, The 8 Circuit Brain, to go along with the reading of Angel Tech [worth a second read while you go through the exercises in the 2nd book] These exercises really helped me experience the circuits hands-on and allowed me to get into this model of the mind more easily, in order to enact self-change.

If you want some applicable stuff to regular life rather than life of the mind. Antero Alli's mentor, Christopher Hyatt, has alot of books I have found as useful, or more so, than Angel Tech

Good ones to start on from Hyatt are:

Undoing Yourself with Energized Meditation and Other Devices[free online] Undoing Yourself
Energized Hypnosis a non-book for Self Change
Hard Zen, Soft Heart
To Lie is Human, Not Getting Caught is Divine

And another book in the vein of these that was VERY useful for everyday life was,

Monsters and Magical Sticks: There's No Such Thing as Hypnosis?
-This book, by the leading hypnotist of the last century, shows you how throughout a normal day we are brought into and out of low (and deep) states of hypnosis. Shows you how to hypnotize people [not like a stage magician but through regular conversation] and avoid other people's hypnotic suggestions. Great for someone waking up through the psychedelic adventure.

Have fun.

Great suggestions, thanks. Hyatts books have been on my list for a long time but i had forgotten all about them for a while now