Thanks Caroline.Perhaps one could approach such practices in terms of questions in epistemology and related disciplines in psychology -in this examining relationships between cognitive states before and after such a practice is undertaken and the question of what influences could have led to the change in one's cognitive state after the practice,thereby making the mental state of the researcher the subject of inquiry.
In anthropology,for example,
Marcus Lumby as a PhD student at Cambridge describes himself and his supervisor taking part in Ahahuasca or some other entheogen ritual and the student recording the experience of expansion of sensory awareness it gave him as part of his research into that practice.Perhaps the exploration of the various contexts through which intellectual knowledge has been reached by various people-from dreams-as in the story of Kekule's gaining insight into the structure of the benzene ring molecule through a dream- to sensory experiences like Archimede's eureka bath experience to Newton's apple story-would expand our understanding of the variety of ways to generate knowledge,leading,perhaps,to the development of sensitivity to a range of possible cognitive contexts,which could vary from person to person and from time to time with the same person,as part of schooling.A key issue being learning how to organize,analyze and present in intellectual term knowledge arrived at through any method.
Interestingly,University College,London,as part of their graduate student workshops once had a writer guide students on academic writing and he used guided meditation in that workshop.One student broke down in tears after the meditation because,if I remember well,the meditation had helped her gain insight on how to handle a difficult supervisor. Not an insight identical with a piece of knowledge one could place in a work but suggestive of the possibilities.
I first posted this account on the Yahoo group which emphasizes accounts of magical practice.I hope members of this group would not mind more of such disclosures.The PhD I am doing now emerges from an effort to develop,from an intellectual perspective,experiences I had in adapting Dion Fortune's concept of mind in nature to the landscape of the Nigerian city of Benin.
On 23 January 2010 02:51, Caroline Tully
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
In Pagan Reconstructionism you might call it “Unsubstantiated
Personal Gnosis”… But at least at my university that would not impress anyone.
But it would depend how it was presented. If it was presented as experimental, or
as an example of what people might have done when Spiritualism was all the
rage, it might not get pooh-poohed out of town.
From: Society for The
Academic Study of Magic [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of A Clanton
Sent: Saturday, 23 January 2010 10:48 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] USING MAGIC IN DOING ACADEMIC WORK
I'm not sure, however, how to
cite him as a source.
On Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 6:47 PM, A Clanton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
When writing a paper on Yeats (which I now use as a basis
for a lecture in my courses), I asked him for some insight into his poetry.
While I didn't use any particular ritual, I do feel this excursion into
spiritualism had positive results. And I believe the technique was particularly
apt, considering my subject. I'm considering contacting him again for help with
my dissertation. :)
