# Transpersonal and Consciousness Studies [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transpersonal_psychology) ( 1960s–present ) ## Description Transpersonal experience, altered states, and consciousness studies, including survey data on paranormal encounters. Central concern: encountering the extra-ordinary — the strangely familiar, (un)usual experience — as a challenge to the boundaries of "ordinary" consciousness. ## Key Tags #transpersonal #consciousness-studies #altered-states ## Essential Works - [[Adventure of Self Discovery]] - Stanislav Grof's edited volume defining the field's core concept: transpersonal experience as "expansion of consciousness beyond the usual boundaries of the body-ego and beyond limitations of time and space" (p. 38) - Grof, Stanislav. *A Brief History of Transpersonal Psychology*. n.d. - Grof's own account of the field's founding as psychology's "fourth force" - Wilber, Ken. *The Atman Project*. n.d. - Foundational integral/transpersonal developmental model - Betancourt, Michael. "A Taxonomy of Abstract Form Using Studies of Synesthesia and Hallucinations." *Leonardo* 40, no. 1 (2007): 59–65. - Links altered-state/hallucinatory perception to abstract visual form ## Details Working notes: encountering the extra-ordinary; strangely familiar; (un)usual experiences. > In the ordinary or "normal" states of consciousness, we experience ourselves as existing within the boundaries of the physical body (the body image); our perception of the environment is restricted by the range of our sensory organs. Both our internal perception (interoception) and external perception (exteroception) are confined by the usual spatial and temporal boundaries... *transpersonal* experiences can be defined as experiential expansion, or extension of consciousness beyond the usual boundaries of the body-ego and beyond limitations of time and space. (Grof, [[Adventure of Self Discovery]], p. 38) ### Survey Data: 2022 YouGov Paranormal Encounters Poll Source: [2022 YouGov poll](https://today.yougov.com/society/articles/44141-paranormal-encounters-yougov-poll-october-12-2022?redirect_from=%2Ftopics%2Fsociety%2Farticles-reports%2F2022%2F10%2F20%2Fparanormal-encounters-yougov-poll-october-12-2022) of 1,000 US adult citizens — [crosstabs/tables](https://d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/crosstabs_Paranormal_Encounters.pdf) — [summary article](https://today.yougov.com/society/articles/44143-americans-describe-paranormal-encounters-poll?redirect_from=%2Ftopics%2Fsociety%2Farticles-reports%2F2022%2F10%2F20%2Famericans-describe-paranormal-encounters-poll). - **Paranormal Abilities** — - The ability to hear voices or sounds from spirits or ghosts - The ability to read minds - The ability to psychically see events in the future - The ability to psychically see events in the past - The ability to psychically see current events you are not physically present for - The ability to psychically sense others' emotions or auras - The ability to communicate with the dead - **Paranormal Experiences** - Seeing a spirit or ghost - Number of times encountered spirit or ghost - Identity of spirit or ghost: someone you personally knew (e.g. a deceased family member); someone you did not know personally; both - Good or evil spirit or ghost? - Seeing a demon - Seeing an angel - Feeling a presence or unknown energy - Hearing the voice of someone who wasn't there - Feeling an unexplained change in temperature - Smelling an unexplained odor - Hearing an unexplained sound or music - Seeing unexplained smoke - Seeing lights or other devices turn on or off without explanation - Seeing a door open or close without explanation - Seeing an object move without explanation - Seeing unexplained orbs of light - **Explanation for Paranormal Encounters** - Have a scientific explanation that you just aren't aware of - Be otherworldly or supernatural - Not sure - Lived in a haunted house ![[Pasted image 20231128160403 1 1.png]] ![[Pasted image 20231128160427 1 1.png]] ![[Pasted image 20231128160454 1 1.png]] ### Key Theorists - Stanislav Grof - founder of transpersonal psychology and perinatal-matrix theory; editor of [[Adventure of Self Discovery]] - [[Michael Betancourt]] - applies synesthesia/hallucination research to abstract visual form ### Exemplary Practitioners %% none yet %% ### Related Concepts - [[Transpersonal and psychedelic cinema]] - shares the theoretical grounding in transpersonal psychology and much of its bibliography - [[Transpersonal Systems]] - shares interest in esoteric/mythological systems as maps of nonordinary experience - [[Symbolism, Theology, and Occultism]] - shares concern with the occult and religious symbolism as frameworks for unusual experience - [[Affirmative Posthumanism]] - shares Spinner's work on spiritualism as a case of nonstandard subjectivity ### Creative and Technical Practices %% none yet %% ### Associated Movements or Institutions %% none yet %% ## References ### Primary Sources Bibliography [[Adventure of Self Discovery]] Grof, Stanislav. *A Brief History of Transpersonal Psychology*. n.d. Grof, Stanislav, ed. *The Adventure of Self-Discovery*. SUNY Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology. State University of New York Press, 1988. "Psychology of the Future - Lessons from Modern Consciousness Research - Grof." n.d. Wilber, Ken. *The Atman Project*. n.d. ### Secondary Sources Bibliography Bauduin, Tessel M. "The Time of Slumbers: Psychic Automatism and Surrealist Research." In *Surrealism and the Occult: Occultism and Western Esotericism in the Work and Movement of André Breton*. Amsterdam University Press, n.d. Berenbaum, Howard. "Peculiar/Unusual Perceptions and Beliefs and Covariation Detection." *Journal of Experimental Psychopathology* 7, no. 1 (2016): 41–48. [https://doi.org/10.5127/jep.039813](https://doi.org/10.5127/jep.039813). Betancourt, Michael. "A Taxonomy of Abstract Form Using Studies of Synesthesia and Hallucinations." *Leonardo* 40, no. 1 (2007): 59–65. Charles, Debbie. *An Exploration into the Role of Transpersonal Psychology within Existing Film Theory*. n.d. Coleman, Elle P., Rodney J. Croft, and Emma Barkus. "The Profile of Unusual Beliefs Associated with Metacognitive Thinking and Attributional Styles." *PsyCh Journal* 11, no. 3 (2022): 296–309. [https://doi.org/10.1002/pchj.528](https://doi.org/10.1002/pchj.528). Coleman, Naomi. "How Do Members of New Religious Movements Manage Beliefs Others Might Find Unusual? A Grounded Theory." PhD thesis, University of East London, 2009. [https://repository.uel.ac.uk/item/863w2](https://repository.uel.ac.uk/item/863w2). Coles, Steven. *An Alternative to Challenging Unusual Beliefs*. n.d. Collins, Francesca E. "Very Superstitious: Dissociation, Control and Unusual Beliefs." *Australian Psychological Society (APS) Annual Conference 2007*, 2007, 98–102. [https://www.academia.edu/download/37531460/Very_superstitious.pdf](https://www.academia.edu/download/37531460/Very_superstitious.pdf). Cooper, Linn F., and Milton H. Erickson. *Time Distortion in Hypnosis*. n.d. Cromarty, Paul, and Robert Dudley. "Understanding Paranoia and Unusual Beliefs." In *Back to Life*, ed. D. Turkington et al., 2009, 35–60. David-Neel, Madame Alexandra. *Magic and Mystery in Tibet*. Courier Corporation, 2012. Douglas-Bailey, Maggie. "Positive Aspects of Psychosis: Enhanced Spirituality and Creativity." In *Back to Life, Back to Normality 2*. Cambridge University Press, 2018. [https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316410523.005](https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316410523.005). "Framework: Interpreting Mediums' Discourses as Unconscious Communications." n.d. Gaylinn, Daniel L. *Reflections on Transpersonal Media: An Emerging Movement*. n.d. "Gendered Haunts: The Rhetorical and Material Culture of the Late Nineteenth-Century Spirit Cabinet." *Aries* 12, no. 2 (2012): 221–35. [https://doi.org/10.1163/156798912X645890](https://doi.org/10.1163/156798912X645890). Green, Nile. "The Global Occult: An Introduction." *History of Religions* 54, no. 4 (2015): 383–93. [https://doi.org/10.1086/680176](https://doi.org/10.1086/680176). Hagen, Kurtis. "Conspiracy Theorists and Monological Belief Systems." *Argumenta* 3, no. 2 (2017): 1–24. [https://doi.org/10.23811/57.arg2017.hag](https://doi.org/10.23811/57.arg2017.hag). Harper, David. "Rethinking Paranoia and Distressing and Disruptive Unusual Beliefs." *Humane Alternatives to the Psychiatric Model* 2 (2022): 116–42. Jorgensen, Danny L. "The Esoteric Community: An Ethnographic Investigation of the Cultic Milieu." *Urban Life* 10, no. 4 (1982): 383–407. [https://doi.org/10.1177/089124168201000402](https://doi.org/10.1177/089124168201000402). Kackar, Hayal, M.S. Ed., and Thomas B. Roberts. *Fight Club and the Basic Perinatal Matrices: A Movie Analysis Via a Grofian Frame*. n.d. Kaplan, Mark Allan. *Resources for Further Inquiry into Transpersonal Dimensions of the Cinema*. n.d. Klausen, Espen, and Richard H. Passman. "Pretend Companions (Imaginary Playmates): The Emergence of a Field." *The Journal of Genetic Psychology* 167, no. 4 (2007): 349–64. [https://doi.org/10.3200/GNTP.167.4.349-364](https://doi.org/10.3200/GNTP.167.4.349-364). Klisanin, Dana. *Transpersonal Artistry: Designing Evolutionary Guidance Media*. n.d. "Kootte-JournalMindBehavior-1990." n.d. Lechler, Suzannah. *Unusual Experiences, Beliefs and Paranoia: Exploring the Relationship with Shame Memories and Compassion*. n.d. Littlefield, Charles Wentworth. *The Beginning and Way of Life...*. n.d. Louchakova, Olga. "Ontopoiesis and Spiritual Emergence: Bridging Tymieniecka's Phenomenology of Life and Transpersonal Psychology." In *Phenomenology of Life from the Animal Soul to the Human Mind*, ed. Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka, vol. 94. Analecta Husserliana. Springer Netherlands, 2006. [https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5182-1_4](https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5182-1_4). Monroe, John. 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"The Real Secret of Superman's Identity." *Children's Literature* 5, no. 1 (1976): 117–29. [https://doi.org/10.1353/chl.0.0705](https://doi.org/10.1353/chl.0.0705). Semetsky, Inna. "7. The Visual Semiotics of Tarot Images: A Sociocultural Perspective." In *Visual Communication*, ed. David Machin. De Gruyter, 2014. [https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110255492.173](https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110255492.173). Sharps, Matthew J., Justin Matthews, and Janet Asten. "Cognition and Belief in Paranormal Phenomena: Gestalt/Feature-Intensive Processing Theory and Tendencies Toward ADHD, Depression, and Dissociation." *The Journal of Psychology* 140, no. 6 (2006): 579–90. [https://doi.org/10.3200/JRLP.140.6.579-590](https://doi.org/10.3200/JRLP.140.6.579-590). Silverberg, Robert. *Drug Themes in Science Fiction. National Institute on Drug Abuse Research Issues 9*. ERIC, 1974. [https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED112299](https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED112299). Spinner, Codee Ann. *Resonant Spirits: Spiritualism, Music, and Community in Lily Dale, NY (1848-1920)*. n.d. Taylor, Julia. "Exploring Experiences of Unusual Beliefs." PhD thesis, University of Liverpool, 2018. [https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/3022864/1/201071316_JAN2018.pdf](https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/3022864/1/201071316_JAN2018.pdf). "The Mattering Instinct: Religion, Humanism." n.d. Thompson, Rachel Leah. *The Automatic Hand: Spiritualism, Psychoanalysis, Surrealism*. n.d. "TRANSPERSONAL MEDIA - Editor's Note." n.d. Turkington, Douglas, and Helen M. Spencer. *Back to Life, Back to Normality: CBT Informed Recovery for Families with Relatives with Schizophrenia and Other Psychoses*. 1st ed. University Press, 2018. "Unusual Beliefs Stabilization Pack." n.d.