A few sources I've found helpful on the question of phenomenology of
experience, which seems to be where this thread is going:
David J. Hufford, _The Terror that Comes in the Night: An
Experience-Centered Study of Supernatural Assault Traditions (University
of Pennsylvania Press, 1982)
____________, "Beings Without Bodies: an Experience-Centered Theory of
Belief in Spirits," in _Out of the Ordinary: Folklore and the
Supernatural_, ed. by Barbara Walker (Logan, UT: Utah State University
Press, 1995)
Andrew Newberg and Eugene V. D'Aquili, _Why God Won't Go Away_ (sorry I
don't have a complete citation for this one right here)
Though coming from radically different perspectives (Hufford is an MD
and a folklorist; D'Aquili and Newberg are neurologists), both
approaches examine the allegedly ineffable spiritual, mystical or
"supernatural" experience as a phenomenon that can be documented and
understood from a scholarly perspective, taking the experience seriously
without necessarily adhering to the belief.
Best,
Sabina
Al Billings wrote:
> Mark wrote:
>
>
>> You can measure variables like EEG changes, heart
>> rate, and other biological metrics, as well as
>> cognitive and affective changes via projective
>> psychological tests post ritual. That said, it doesn't
>> give you a direct understanding of the nature of a
>> person's internal experience.
>
>
> True and those would be interesting things to measure, say, an Adeptus
> Minor ceremony depending on what you were going to do with the data. I
> believe that the technology is limited currently which is why they use
> it on monks holding very still and meditating. :-)
>
> Al
>
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