Week 5 - Religious Experiences & Rituals

Religious Experience

An encounter with supernatural beings experienced as reality, which may involve an altered state of consciousness.

Does not need to be under voluntary contrl

Spiritual Experience

More idiosyncratic, not necessarily tied to organized religion

Subjectivity in interpretation

No clear consensus on what is/isn’t

Who is most likely to have a religious/spiritual experience? Describe evidence

There is no clear consensus, an event may be characterized as such by a group of people but not by others.

What my seem like a spiritual/religious experience to one person may be interpreted as anomalous/weird by another (DSM cautionary note)

Porosity

Porosity: Boundary between “mind” and “world” is permeable

Less common in secular cultures

Absorption

”Losing oneself” in sensory or imagined events

More individual than cultural difference

Rituals

Rigid, formal, repetitive physical actions that can pave the way for religious/spiritual experiences but do not always result in them.

Functions of Rituals

regulate emotions, goals, and social connections

Serpent-Handling

A practice in some Holiness sects justified by religious texts, demonstrating obedience to God through the handling of serpents.

Entheogens

Substances, such as psychedelics, that can facilitate religious experiences and are incorporated in certain faith rituals.

Positive Emotions and Spiritual Experiences

Certain positive emotions, such as awe, can increase receptivity to religious and spiritual experiences.

Cultural Models of the Mind

Cultural frameworks that shape how individuals interpret and engage with spiritual experiences.