Mystical Poetry and Imagination: Inspiring Transpersonal Awareness of Spiritual Freedom

The author describes the philosophical and empirical aspects of an intuitive inquiry that explored 24 individuals’ (ages 30-80) mental images and creative expression in response to selected mystical poetry through a three-step procedure named Imaginal Resonance. Participants’ imaginal encounters with the poems inspired transpersonal awareness of spiritual freedom—a participatory, co-creative experience of self-awareness beyond personal concerns. Intuitive examination of the data and a hermeneutic analysis uncovered participants’ symbolic expressions of qualities such as awakening, personal development, introversion, expansion, connection, and liberation. Imaginal resonance facilitated a temporary glimpse of spiritual freedom, which was soon hindered by reasoning, questioning, commentary, comparison, anticipation, and judgment of the imagery and the experience as a whole. While the memory of the creative imagery lingered, the immediate experience of spiritual freedom diminished considerably with the return to discursive thought

Transforming Self and Others Through Research: Transpersonal Research Methods and Skills for the Human Sciences and Humanities

N

Introduction to the Special Topic Section on Arts and Consciousness

N