Spiritual Phenomena Research Articles

Renée R. Trilling, The Aesthetics of Nostalgia: Historical Representation in Old English VerseThe Aesthetics of Nostalgia: Historical Representation in Old English Verse. Renée R. Trilling. Toronto and Buffalo, NY: University of Toronto Press, 2009. Pp. ix+296.

<i>Renée R. Trilling</i>, The Aesthetics of Nostalgia: Historical Representation in Old English Verse<i>The Aesthetics of Nostalgia: Historical Representation in Old English Verse</i>. Renée R. Trilling. Toronto and Buffalo, NY: University of Toronto Press, 2009. Pp. ix+296.

Sleeping at Walden Pond: Thoreau, Abnormal Temporality, and the Modern Body

This essay explores Henry David Thoreau's Walden in relation to the history of sleep, considered as a medical, biological, social, and spiritual phenomenon. Attention to Thoreau's striving for “awakening” and “alertness” has veiled his running rhetoric of dormancy: scenes and tropes of sleeping, nodding off, sleepwalking, snoring, dreaming, napping, exhaustion, and catalepsy recur throughout the text, while factory bells, the shrieks of trains, cries of newsboys, and addiction to caffeine all perturb his slumber or that of his neighbors. The first three sections of this essay situate Thoreau's portrayal of a disrupted sleep-world in relation to the incursions of nineteenth-century patterns of labor and consumption, the spread of psychoactive substances and phenomena, and the rise of neurological science and psychiatry; a fourth considers his efforts to conceive alternative valuations of the sleep-waking continuum as a spiritual and bodily mandate. Using the lens of disability studies to link Thoreau's own private sleep disturbances to his broader critique of modernity, I argue that a reading of Walden can help uncover the origins of how sleep has become a problem in our contemporary world.

Zöllner’s Universe

The idea that space is not Euclidean by necessity, and that there are other kinds of “curved” spaces, diffused slowly to the physical and astronomical sciences. Until Einstein’s general theory of relativity, only a handful of astronomers contemplated a connection between non-Euclidean geometry and real space. One of them, the German astrophysicist Johann Carl Friedrich Zollner (1834–1882), suggested in 1872 a remarkable cosmological model describing a finite universe in closed space. I examine Zollner’s little-known contribution to cosmology and also his even more unorthodox speculations of a four-dimensional space including both physical and spiritual phenomena. I provide an overview of Zollner’s scientific work, of his status in the German scientific community, and of the controversies caused by his polemical style of science. Zollner’s cosmology was effectively forgotten, but there is no reason why it should remain an unwritten chapter in the history of science.

Exploring new horizons: the nexus of climate change, urban development and spirituality

Urbanisation and climate change pose major challenges for humankind in the twenty-first century. Climate change will also change contemporary approaches to urban development as to how planners envisage development thus raising profound professional, technical and ethical issues. This article uses ideas of the emerging field of meta-theoretical studies, which bring to the forefront the phenomenon of spirituality. Scholars in this field point out that the reality of progressing climate change touches on the very existential (spiritual) foundations of human beings, which are hitherto largely ignored. Therefore, spirituality is increasingly seen as an important dimension framing and underlying the notions of and responses to climate change. According to these arguments, this article discusses the nexus and relationship of urbanisation, climate change and development with spirituality by applying Ken Wilber's integral theory. It concludes with implications of this approach with respect to planning theory and practice, and planning professionals.

The Relevance of Mystical Spirituality in the Context of Today’s “Spirituality Phenomenon”

THERE IS AN AWAKENING OF SPIRITUALITY in our times. We not only witness but also find ourselves being implicated in a phenomenon, that is, a significant increase of interest in pursuit of even while concept itself remains inadequately understood. (1) One commentator was even prompted to put forward this bold statement: turn to informs contemporary religious consciousness as turn to subject marked Enlightenment thought. (2) This describes a virtually global fact of human life today. The notion of spirituality provides people of our times with a comprehensive name for designating whatever they seek consciously in an awareness of reality of spirit. The world seems to be experiencing a return of human spiritual impulse. It manifests itself today in people's growing awareness of necessity of restoring and renewing one's life through greater interiority. However, there is a real sense of disorientation as well as excitement. People feel lost and do not know how to respond to spiritual impulses. Hence, now more than ever, people are coming to realize need for spiritual guidance. This calls for a mediating role of theology in a twofold task: historical and critical. On one hand, a turn to history is desired for sake of consulting well-tested and creative ways in which people in past lived their in particular historical, social, and religious contexts. This will help us understand better present situation with more clarity and offer us insights into authentic spiritual life. On other hand, a critical and theological consideration of is needed so as to channel people's spiritual impulses into a life project that would make genuine human flourishing possible. This article will make a contribution to this twofold theological response to exciting yet ambiguous situation of today's renewed interest in First, relying on several scholars of spirituality, I will sketch out meaning of phenomenon of and refer to some issues highlighted in contemporary discussions of topic. Second, with those issues in mind, I will turn to a particular vision of found in Flemish mystic Jan van Ruusbroec (1293-1381). By highlighting themes that have bearing on those issues, I will indicate value of Ruusbroec's vision as a resource for task of envisioning an authentic contemporary Finally, drawing upon Michel de Certeau's insights into mysticism (la mystique), I will attempt to locate essential and characteristic note of mysticism considered in relation to in its contemporary usage. I will end with a brief reflection on meaning of mysticism in human life. 1. Scenes and Issues of Contemporary Spirituality The notion of is of Christian origin. Historically speaking, concern with and discussion of was a Roman Catholic phenomenon. (3) In recent years, however, term's usage has been broadened. Now, notion includes non-Christian religious experience as well as experiences that seem unrelated to a religious approach to world. Although concept has retained a fairly defined meaning in context of Christian religion, its broader meaning now is anything but clear. (4) What are salient features of current phenomenon of spirituality? (5) It is instructive to note kinds of words that are circulated in various types of literature on spirituality: the soul, the spirit, the sacred, healing, wholeness, journey, integration, and like. These words are suggestive of existential needs felt by human hearts in contemporary world. They are indicative of interrelated dimensions of one reality that people today name spirituality. Spirituality, then, has to do with eruption of hunger or longing for sacred in our own times. …

Religion, Spirituality, and Cancer

It has often been noted that people with a severe illness endeavor to deepen their religious and spiritual practice and knowledge. It is generally accepted that spiritual and religious factors help sick people confront their suffering. The authors conducted a qualitative research on the role of religious and spiritual practices and knowledge among 10 cancer patients in Québec, Canada. Individual interviews focused on their illness experience confirmed that religion and spirituality can be present and contribute to coping when life is threatened. More precisely, the analyses of the place and use of these resources during the patient's illness showed that these resources contributed to an individual empowerment process that was undertaken in response to a biographic and existential disruption induced by the illness diagnosis. The sick people took advantage of religious and spiritual content in their quest for meaning and a cure, progressing from a stage of despair and powerlessness to a stage of hope, a critical analysis of the disease, and a better management and control of it and its evolution. This article describes how people suffering from cancer use and participate in religious and spiritual content. It demonstrates the contribution of this content to an individual empowerment process. The use of religion and spirituality constitutes a quest for self-mastery, an acquiring of power and control. We understand that religious and spiritual phenomena do not always prevent people from fighting against their suffering, limit their freedom, or systematically reduce people's viewpoints and worldviews.

The Lived Experiences of Midwives with Spirituality in Childbirth: Mana from Heaven

The purpose of this study was to describe the lived experiences of midwives who experienced the phenomenon of spirituality when they attended births. The research design was descriptive, using a transcendental phenomenological approach reflected in Moustakas' model. Purposive and snowball sampling were used to recruit the sample of 10 certified nurse-midwives. The major findings of this study consisted of 5 theme categories that revealed the essential structure of the midwives' lived experiences of spirituality during childbirth: belief in the existence of a higher power, the essence of spirituality, birth is spiritual, the essence of midwifery, and relationships. The midwives in the study experienced spirituality as an integral and essential component of childbirth. The midwives reported using elements of spirituality as instruments that helped them assist their clients through the process of pregnancy and birth. The midwives also revealed their dependence on spirituality and belief in a higher being who guided their lives and their calling to midwifery.

Scripture as a Spiritual Phenomenon: The Evidence of the 11Q "Psalms Scroll" Colophon

Abstract According to the colophon to the 1st-century Cave 11 Psalms Scroll, the psalmist David was a composing scribe endowed by the divine spirit. In the light of a pattern of legitimation by the divine spirit for social power well attested in the HB, we can discern how the colophon attributes divine efficacy for social power—hitherto exercised only through persons—to David's psalms as they resound in Israel's calendric communal cultic observances. The 11Q Psalms Scroll colophon provides early evidence for an enduring understanding of Scripture as a socially potent spiritual phenomenon that shapes the life of a religious community.

La dinámica cultural de una sociedad mediante los procesos de constitución y desintegración del territorio benedictino fluminense (1590–1922)

Thanks to Edith Stein’s phenomenology, philosophy (including philosophy of culture) cannot be perceived as a static knowledge, unconnected with other fields of life and science. Based on such an assumption, research on cultural dynamics associated with functioning of the Benedictine order, which is presented in this article, has been divided according to three theoretical problems. One of them is the appearance of Benedictines (the first ones in Brazil) in Rio de Janeiro state, treated not only in literal, physical sense, but also as a spiritual phenomenon. The next part focuses on territorial borders – the area belonging to the order and connected with its functioning. It describes donations which contributed to the creation of cohesive area of the order’s properties as well as its activity. The last aspect that enables depiction of Benedictines’ presence in a social as well as territorial and cultural context is existence and functioning of the house of slaves (la casa de esclavos benedictina fluminense). What is particularly worth describing in this respect is a specific relationship between “a master” and “a slave” (señor y siervo) and an opportunity for individual development of some slaves in accordance with their interests, as was the case of a master of painting, Antonio Teles, or organists, Matias (known only by his first name) and José Campistas. Without emphasizing a relationship between human actions and the area of a social group’s activity, it would be impossible to point at the contribution of an institution to the heritage of the region to which it belonged. Dynamic presence of the order is illustrated with photos of São Bento church as well as a Benedictine monastery in Rio de Janeiro, being one of the most distinguished monuments of the metropolis, which is not only the evidence of bygone splendour, but also a centre of present Benedictine activity

The challenges of traveling a psychospiritual path in today's postmodern western world.

Although the category "Religious or Spiritual Problem" (Code V62.89) was incorporated into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for mental health professional in 1994, it has taken until 2012 for a conference or training to take place designed to help therapists and social workers understand how best to address such issues. In this article I describe my personal experience and my professional experience as a psychotherapist with religious and spiritual phenomena. I offer my view of what it means to be spiritual, including the role of worldviews and my conceptualization of a three-stage path of spiritual development.

Structural Anthropology as a Transcendental Philosophy

&lt;div&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are at least three kinds of structure we find in Islamic socio-cultural phenomena. First is the binary oppositional structure, which has two kinds of variations : hierarchical and non-hierarchical. Second is the threefold structure which has three kinds of variations, the hierarchical, the non-hierarchical and the triangle, third is the fivefold structure.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Those structures are neither material nor spiritual. They are above the material, the behavioral, as well as the spiritual phenomena, but they are manifested, expressed in material, behavioral and spiritual phenomena. They are thus the transcendental structures in Islam. Are those structures universal ? Can we find them in other religions? To answer these questions we need to analyze data from other religions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

Collaborating around the tabletop

In romantic visions of yesteryear, the idyllic nuclear family gathered around the kitchen table to share a bountiful dinner meal or the extended family came together around the dining-room table for a traditional holiday feast. These were occasions for lively and significant discussions, where consequential decisions emerged or were proclaimed and in which traditions were enacted and passed on. In such conversations, memorable interchanges took place spontaneously, without generally being planned or even in contrast to intentions brought to the table. How did the physical and social setting of the occasion open up a space across the tabletop in which discourses could form of their own volition? How did things come to word, which none of the participants had in mind beforehand or would have come up with on their own? Several years ago in the introduction to an issue of this journal (Stahl 2007), we imagined a group of people meeting around a primordial tribal fire (see Fig. 1). They discussed the dialectical relationship between the fire as a spiritual phenomenon and the individual logs that contributed to its continuing existence. Participants in the discussion exchanged questions and perspectives, building a multi-vocal network of utterances that reflected the complexity of the relationship. The discussion of the emergence of the tribal fire from the burning logs served as a metaphor for the problem of the relationship of group cognition to individual thinking. The questions and reflections of the tribal members mirrored theories influential in CSCL research, from mental models to distributed cognition, activity theory, and actor-network theory. The articles in that issue of the journal exemplified various positions within CSCL analogous to those in the mythical discourse of the tribe. Conversation around the fire was paradigmatic of oral society. The answering of questions and the relating of narratives were knowledge-disseminating and knowledgebuilding mechanisms for unmediated verbal interaction. In literate society, texts like professional journals can open analogous “spaces” in which knowledge can be built and archived for communities such as research fields. In the digital age, technologies like wikis can play a similar role, at least in theory. Imagine a mature Wikipedia page that presents a fairly coherent view, with a subtle intertwining of numerous thematic threads. Assume that the page has grown through a Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (2011) 6:485–490 DOI 10.1007/s11412-011-9135-7

Healing Through Prayer

A qualitative study using a semistructured interview process explored the experience of being healed through prayer in 20 participants from several Protestant Christian faith traditions. Five cluster themes and their subthemes were identified, such as Spirituality and Suffering (subthemes of Purpose of Suffering and Spiritual Meaning of Suffering); The Healing Experience (subthemes of Problems that Were Healed, Incomplete Healings or Recurrences, and Healing of Friends and Family Members); The Connecting Network of Prayer (subthemes of Connection to God, Connection to Others, Meaning of Prayer, Methods of Prayer, and Unanswered Prayer); Spiritual Transformation of Prayer (subthemes of Changed Lives and Sense of Purpose); and Spiritual Phenomena (subthemes of Sense of God's Presence, Use of Complementary and Alternative Practices, and Mysterious Phenomena).

Lyons, Sherrie Lynne: Species, Serpents, Spirits, and Skulls: Science at the Margins in the Victorian Age

Sherrie Lyons is Assistant Professor at the Center for Distance Learning of Empire State College, State University of New York and the author of Thomas Henry Huxley: The Evolution of a Scientist. How to distinguish science from pseudoscience is an important question that continues to challenge academics and the lay public and this book provides us with an interesting look at examples of ‘‘science at the margins’’ from the nineteenth century. Lyons notes in the Preface: ‘‘...most people are woefully ignorant of what distinguishes science from other types of knowledge and they lack any sense of the historical development of scientific ideas.’’ She goes onto say: ‘‘Often yesterday’s heresy is today’s science (and conversely today’s pseudoscience is yesterday’s science).’’ (p. xi) The examples of pseudoscience, or ‘‘marginal’’ science using the term she prefers, that Lyons uses are sea serpents, spiritualism, and phrenology, and these are compared with Darwin’s theory of evolution of species. Each of the three marginal science topics attracted widespread attention among the lay public and even among some scientists, but they remained at the margins of scientific respectability, unlike evolutionary theory which eventually became the unifying theory for all of biology. In just over 200 pages the reader is presented with historical facts from the Victorian Age of the nineteenth century and arguments that are used to show the complex relationship between science and society. Lyons suggests the Victorian period should be called the age of ‘‘contradictions’’ rather than the age of science because so many people in Victorian society were convinced of the reality of spiritual phenomena while at the same time hoping that science would transform society into a better place. Mixing the supernatural world of spirits with the material world of science was apparently quite easy for most lay people and some scientists as well. We see this in the modern age in the U.S. where a large majority of people say they respect and value science while at the same time claiming belief in the supernatural world of religion.

'Du bist selben eyn himmel.' Textualization and Transformation in the Life of Dorothea von Montau

This article examines the way in which the German Life of Dorothea reflects on its own status as the textualization of the protagonist's mystical experiences. After considering the presentation of Dorothea's interaction with Johannes Marienwerder and Johannes Reyman, the article proceeds to examine the ways in which Dorothea's spiritual career is modelled on that of John the Evangelist in relation to mystical rapture and transformation. However, it will also be argued that the text separates the mystical and the authorial roles of John, mapping the former onto Dorothea, and the latter onto the confessor, in such a way that the two individuals jointly constitute a spiritual phenomenon analogous to that of the beloved disciple. This serves to thematize the communicative difficulties inherent in a partnership in which textualization takes place at several removes from the mystical experience itself.

&lt;b&gt;Lições da ayahuasca na AEUDV pernambucana&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;DOI: 10.5007/1984-8951.2010v11n98p525

The direction of this comunication is related to emergent spiritual phenomena on ayahuasca sessions in the Associacao Espiritualista Uniao do Vegetal , a schismatic udevista from Pernambuco state located in the city of Riacho das Almas . To this end, we will seek to understand how the participants are conected with the Superior Astral , considering the direct correlation between spirit and matter in a complementary and not reduced dualism, with a doctrinary referencial on principles of Master Jose Gabriel da Costa , founder of the Uniao do Vegetal. The dialogues and interviews conducted with some followers allow us to grasp the manifestation of religious ecstasy, as well as the routes to be followed before the received information in Ayahuasca rites, knowed as a drink teacher that often test your pupils through contact with that spiritual reality .

How menstrual shame affects birth

In Western, industrialised culture, menstruation and birth are commonly seen as unstable, pathological processes requiring medical control. Girls learn to see menstruation as shameful and secretive. Menarche is a nodal event around which girls' beliefs and attitudes to being female are organised. The perception of menstruation as a liability has foundational implications for future female experiences, particularly birth. Other cultures have recognised menstruation and birth as spiritual phenomena, with menarche and childbirth experienced as powerful initiatory processes. My PhD research explored the links between cultural attitudes to menstruation and spirituality, and women's experiences of birth. My feminist perspective recognised the power imbalances, patriarchal controls and structural inequities that oppress women in their intimate body experiences. Menstrual shame was identified as a core patriarchal organising principle that inculcates and perpetuates male dominance and female subordination. Engendering the perception of female physiology - and thus womanhood - as inherently flawed, menstrual shame was a key factor that predisposed women to approach birth feeling fearful, disempowered and vulnerable to intervention. However, my research also unearthed a counter-cultural group of women who had transformed their relationship with both menstruation and birth. Redesignating menstruation as a spiritual phenomenon enabled these women to dismantle their menstrual shame, connect with their female spirituality and give birth fearlessly and powerfully. For others, the profound spirituality of birth transformed their understanding of menstruation. Contrary to cultural norms, both menstruation and birth can be sacred female experiences which are sources of authority and empowerment.

Can “sense of presence” experiences in bereavement be conceptualised as spiritual phenomena?

This article explores the possibility of conceptualising the frequently occurring experience of “sensing the presence of the deceased” in bereavement as a spiritual phenomenon and examines how such a conceptualisation can be related to two recent perspectives in the field of bereavement research, “continuing bonds” and “meaning-making.” It is argued that “sense of presence” experiences are expressions of the continuing relationship with the deceased that can be spiritually understood but that pose various challenges for their meaningful integration into the bereaved person's worldview or meaning structures–something that may need to be more explicitly incorporated into current theoretical frameworks. It is suggested that these experiences can be the catalyst for “post-traumatic growth” through a socially mediated and interactive narrative exploration and that this has important implications for bereavement counselling and therapy.

Myth, Globalization, and Mestizaje in New Age Andean Religion: TheIntic Churincuna(Children of the Sun) of Urubamba, Peru

This paper examines the religiously syncretic and culturally hybrid phenomenon of New Age spirituality among urban mestizos in the Cusco region of Peru, primarily through ethnographic analysis of the Urubamba-based Intic Churincuna (Children of the Sun) religious group, along with its rituals and texts. Similar to many New Age Andean contexts, the group's cosmology combines an emphasis on the primordial nature of the Andes with an account of benign settlement and colonization. While arguably repressing the trauma of conquest and perpetuating racialized hegemonies, New Age Andean cosmology constructs a mythic-historical, nationalist narrative and a postcolonial subjectivity that allows urban Andean mestizos to ground their identities in indigeneity and colonization simultaneously as well as position themselves relative to contemporary contexts of globalization.

The meaning of spirituality and spiritual care among the Hong Kong Chinese terminally ill

This paper is a report of a study conducted to explore the phenomenon of spirituality and spiritual care among terminally ill Chinese patients. Meeting a patient's spiritual needs is a fundamental part of holistic nursing care. In the Western literature, spirituality is related to connectedness, faith, and hope. Contemporary scholars in the West suggest that spirituality is a broader term than religion. Phenomenological interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of 15 terminally ill Chinese patients in 2007. Participants found the term spirituality an abstract concept and described it as a unique personal belief which gives strength and relates to meaning of life. Spirituality is integrated with the body and mind and is a multidimensional concept. The acceptance of death as a process in life and 'letting go' leads to serenity and peace of mind. Other important themes include how the meaning of life is derived through relationships and connectedness, self-reflection of responsibilities, and obligations fulfilled. Inner spiritual well-being is attained from having faith and knowing possibilities in life and after death. Participants did not expect nurses to provide spiritual care, but when quality interpersonal care was given it gave them strength and spiritually supportive. If healthcare professionals can provide a compassionate and loving environment that facilitates acceptance and hope, the spiritual life of patients is enhanced. For dying individuals to experience love and for them to be understood as valuable even when no longer economically productive are both experiences of healing.