LE3 .A278 1998

1998

Sumarah, John

Acadia University

Master of Education

Masters

Counselling

Education

This study examines various phenomenological events associated with a sense of knowing, the process that leads to them, and the interpretation given them by the informants. These events include but are not limited to psychic events (intuition, insight, experiences of fore knowledge or deja-vu), conversion experiences, and mystical experience including visions. Research on phenomenological experiences is limited and has been guided by a predominantly skeptic agenda. Psychic events, usually associated with paranormal manifestations and relegated to the field of parapsychology, continues to be associated with attributive models of psychopathology. While conversion and mystical experiences have a more positive connotation within the confines of faith community, the study of Hermeneutics and Depth Psychology, they have received little attention from a developmental perspective. This research examines these events in the context of both psychological and spiritual development on the premise that psychic, conversion and mystical experiences are the product of natural creative processes inherent to the human experience, an active component of psychological functioning and development, and an integral part of our growth toward our higher goal, our quest towards Transcendence. Structure for understanding the process involved in each experience is provided in the four stage model of spiritual growth (Peck, 1987, ch.5). Results are communicated both in terms of the informant's own understanding and in light of the existing theories. The research concludes with implications for counselling and recommendations for further research.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:3042