Spiritual Emergence or Psychiatric Disorder?
The following is excerpted from "The Stormy Search for the Self" by Stanislav and Christina Grof. Please note, characteristics that are suggestive of a psychiatric disorder are shown in regular font...
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Mental Breakdown as Healing
"...85% of our clients (all diagnosed as severely schizophrenic) at the Diabasis center not only improved, with no medications, but most went on growing after leaving us."- John Weir PerryThe...
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The Inner Apocalypse
The Scream by Edvard Munch, 1893 © 1999 The Munch MuseumWhen the Dream Becomes Real...One morning as you look out the window, the city seems more ragged than usual. A nearby building appears to be on...
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In the Beginning...
"In the beginning all was the void and all was black. God saw this and said 'Let there be Light'. And there was." — The Book of Genesisclancycavnar.comsize>MetaphorIn order to understand the Black...
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Skeleton Woman [The Life/Death/Life Nature]
clancycavnar.comsize>- A Tale of the Inuit -She had done something of which her father disapproved, although no one any longer remembered what it was. But her father had dragged her to the cliffs...
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Visionary Experience in Myth & Ritual
... we are beginning to realize that we cannot fix on the outside what is broken deep within the human heart and psyche.- John O'DeaJohn Weir PerryThe initial disordered state that I am describing...
View ArticlePersonal Account: Spiritual Emergency
Contrary to popular misunderstanding the term "schizophrenia" does not refer to multiple personality syndrome. The Greek etymology of the word actually means "broken soul" or "broken heart".-- Michael...
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Treatment or Therapy?
There is one story and one story onlyThat will prove worth your telling,Whether as learned bard or gifted child;To it all lines or lesser gauds belongThat startle with their shiningSuch common stories...
View ArticleA Spirituality that Transforms
In a series of books (e.g., A Sociable God, Up from Eden, and The Eye of Spirit), I have tried to show that religion itself has always performed two very important, but very different, functions.One,...
View ArticlePsychosis & Ego Collapse
Q: Can you tell me what a psychotic break is? I can't seem to find any information about it. A: There are, at least to my way of thinking, several states of mind... "normal", meaning consistent over...
View ArticleGuidelines for Making it Through a Spiritual Emergency
Simplify your life: Make arrangements for childcare and time off work if necessary. Stock up on some basic groceries.Limit your use of all stimulants: caffeine, alcohol, drugs, etc. If you are on any...
View ArticleSpirituality & Trauma
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.- Kahlil GibranTraumatic experiences force victims to face issues lying outside the boundaries of personal and collective frames...
View ArticleForms of Spiritual Emergency
A spiritual emergency may include more than one of the following elements. My own contained components of nearly all of the following.Ego Death / Dark Night of the SoulKundalini AwakeningShamanic...
View ArticleDefining Spiritual Emergency
"Trust that which gives you meaning and accept it as your guide."-- Carl JungSpiritual emergence has been defined as "the movement of an individual to a more expanded way of being that involves...
View ArticleWhat's Wrong With You?
... He leaned forward and took one of her hands in his. "I'm worried about you, madame. Please tell me what's wrong. Should I be the least bit concerned you might be suicidal?""Oh no," she protested....
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Featured Quotes: Soul in Exile...
Anyone reading this blog will be aware that there are roughly 50 entries and each entry might have a number of links. To help highlight some of those words I'll be posting featured quotes here as the...
View ArticleFeatured Excerpts: Core Concepts in Transpersonal Psychology
Anyone reading this blog will be aware that there are roughly 50 entries and each entry might have a number of links. To help highlight some of those words I'll be posting featured quotes here as the...
View ArticleFeatured Excerpts: Kundalini Awakening
Anyone reading this blog will be aware that there are roughly 50 entries and each entry might have a number of links. To help highlight some of those words I'll be posting featured quotes here as the...
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The Shadow Knows...
Image SourceWithin Jungian psychology there is a concept known as The Shadow. Most of us encounter our own shadows in the form of projection. That is to say, we disown the characteristics and behaviors...
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The Wasteland
An excerpt from a poem which got stuck early in this process...I. THE BURIAL OF THE DEADAPRIL is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots...
View ArticleAugust, and Everything After
This was one of those songs that got stuck in my head long before August, and Everything After ever arrived...The Rain KingWhen I think of heavenDeliver me in a black-winged birdI think of flying ......
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The Process of Individuation - The Shadow
Image SourceWithin Jungian psychology there is a concept known as The Shadow. Most of us encounter our own shadows in the form of projection. That is to say, we disown the characteristics and behaviors...
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Ego Death
Death, ego deathBeyond this experience, all light disappears, all awareness ceases. There is no perception of anything; there is simply no experience. When the soul is completely concentrated on the...
View ArticleThe Tibetan Book of the Dead
The Tibetan Book of the Dead is pragmatically and existentially directed toward the "dead" who are still living, and not especially toward those who are clinically dead. To reveal this less obvious...
View ArticleGuidelines for Reading this Blog...
Most of the blogs I've seen are the equivalent of an online journal that discuss the joys and trials of one's daily existence or interests. You should know, this blog isn't organized on that principle....
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