Insight into the phenomenology of spiritual experiences of those with epilepsy offers a move away from current reductive explanations. This research will offer a voice for an often ignored and stigmatised group, aiming to understand their attribution of spirituality to experiences of auras. Connections with other altered states of consciousness will explore whether epileptic experiences of spirituality can be placed within a wider context of well-being and the human condition

King, Louise

Roe, Chris A

Roxburgh, Elizabeth C

English

University of Northampton's Research Explorer

Transpersonal perspectives of spiritual experiences in epilepsy

NECTAR

Proposed research methods Study 1 – qualitative  • Phenomenology as a starting point.  • Transpersonal  waking dream technique’ to  explore  personal auras(20). • Auto-ethnography as transpersonal research  method with the potential for  transformation  of self & subject(21). • Thematic analysis to interpret data. Study 2 – quantitative  • On-line survey to explore the incidence of spiritual experiences  in  epilepsy            • To record the nature  of common /typical experiences,  as well  as their interpretation.  • Range of   measures  including ontology, wellbeing, personality  & spirituality(22). • Respondents with epilepsy will include details of diagnosis, medication etc. • Analysis of thematic , personality &  descriptive variables to  interpret data. Study 3 -  qualitative  • In-depth semi-structured interviews of a small  number of purposively sampled  respondents  from study 2(23) • Aim is to explore the phenomenology of  spiritual experiences  & the interpretations and attributions given. • Participants will be experiential experts. • IPA analysis to interpret data(24). t    tit ti   t   -  lit ti   t    lit ti   Transpersonal perspectives of spiritual experiences in epilepsy  Summary Insight into the phenomenology of spiritual experiences of those with epilepsy offers a move  away from  current  reductive explanations.  This research will offer a voice   for an often ignored and stigmatised group, aiming to understand their attribution of spirituality  to experiences of auras. Connections with other altered states of consciousness will explore  whether epileptic experiences of spirituality can be placed within a  wider context of well-being and the human condition.  Louise King, Dept. of Psychology About epilepsy Epilepsy is one of the oldest &  most common neurological  conditions(1), affecting 50M  individuals globally(2) & c.600,000 in the UK(3). It  is identified by the presence of recurrent seizures, originating from excessive  abnormal electrical discharges in the brain(4).   For many, epilepsy involves  auras - unusual feelings and sensations, a dream like state early in the seizure(5), reported as having a very particular quality; a feeling, a cosmic-spirituality’(6).  The character &  intensity of  these feelings  is  particularly intense  & sometimes 'ecstatic’(7).   Epilepsy is still not properly understood & it has a long history of stigma(8).   Even in more enlightened times, its   symptoms often cause  alarm & fear for  observers.      Psychiatrists  often diagnose  open expressions of spirituality in epilepsy as  a particular type of  delusional psychotic  symptom, often of temporal lobe epilepsy(9). Neurology  reduces  spiritual phenomena in epilepsy to  anatomical locii, such as the temporal lobes(10) or personality syndromes(11), explaining the  emotional content by reference  to the limbic system  & amygdala.(12). (1) The Greeks called epilepsy ‘The Sacred Disease’  & it has long been associated with shamanism & the gods. (2) Suggestion has been made that  many mystical experiences are  temporal lobe epilepsy e.g. St Paul’s Damascene conversion (3) Before  modern \medication, epilepsy cures have ranged from herbalism, trepanning  & blood letting to  asylums  & ECT.  Purpose of the project 1. Obtain a deep and rich first-hand description of these experiences 2. Establish  whether they share more than a passing  resemblance with  other spiritual experiences  –  &  which characteristics they may share 3. Propose a revised view of the nature & range of  spiritual   experiences 1   EEG of  temporal lobe  epilepsy , source: eddybrain.wordpress.com/ (5) I will use personal diaries, dreams, photographs  & artefacts e.g. MRI scans  in a reflective personal narrative (6) Seeking to  understand how others experience epilepsy in their own way.  Auras & other altered states of consciousness (ASC) ASC  for the non-epileptic can arise from a variety of circumstances(13):  • spiritual practice  -  meditation,     • shamanism, visions(14) • psychoactive substances(15) ASC, spirituality in  epileptic auras  & ego-death may  share more than  superficial similarities(18). This suggests an alternative account of their connection – where  spirituality  is understood  in a transpersonal context –  concerning  experiences that  transcend  the  personal(19). • recovery from substance addiction(16) • mystical experiences(17) References: (1) Fenwick, P. & Fenwick, E. (1996). Living with epilepsy. A guide to taking control. London: Bloomsbury  Publishing Plc. (2) Joint Epilepsy Council (2011). Epilepsy prevalence, incidence and other statistics. Retrieved from http://www.jointepilepsycouncil.org.uk;  (3) National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), (2002). National clinical audit of epilepsy-related death. London: NICE (4) World Health Organisation. (2014). Retrieved from www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs999/en (5) Schachter, S. C. (Ed.). (2008). Epilepsy in our words: personal accounts of living with seizures. Oxford University Press. (6) Dolgoff‐Kaspar, R., Ettinger, A. B., Golub, S. A., Perrine, K., Harden, C., & Croll, S. D. (2011). Numinous‐like auras and spirituality in persons with partial seizures. Epilepsia, 52(3), 640-644. (7) Åsheim Hansen, B., & Brodtkorb, E. (2003). Partial epilepsy with “ecstatic” seizures. Epilepsy & Behavior, 4(6), 667-673. (8) Temkin, O. (1994). The falling sickness: a history of epilepsy from the Greeks to the beginnings of modern neurology. JHU Press. (9) Devinsky, O., & Lai, G. (2008). Spirituality and religion in epilepsy. Epilepsy & Behavior, 12(4), 636-643. (10) Persinger, M. A., & Makarec, K. (1993). Complex partial epileptic signs as a continuum from normals to epileptics: normative data and clinical populations. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 49(1), 33-45. (11) Trimble, M., & Freeman, A. (2006). An investigation of religiosity and the Gastaut–Geschwind syndrome in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. Epilepsy & behavior, 9(3), 407-414. (12) Ramachandran, V. S., & Blakslee, S. (1999). God and the Limbic System. Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind. New York: William Morrow. (13) Walsh, R. N., & Vaughan, F. E. (Eds.). (1980). Beyond ego: Transpersonal dimensions in psychology. Los Angeles: JP Tarcher. (14) de Rios, M. D., & Winkelman, M. (1989). Shamanism and altered states of consciousness: An introduction. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 21(1), 1-7. (15) Grof, S. (1975). Realms of the human unconscious: Observations from LSD research. New York: Viking Press. (16) Wilson, W. G., & Wilson, B. (2003). BILL W. Santiago-Verlag. (17) Alister Hardy Religious Experience Archive, University of Wales, Lampter (18) Tart, C. T. (1975). Science, state of consciousness, and spiritual experiences: The need for    state-specific sciences. In C. Tart (Ed.), Transpersonal psychologies (9-58). New York: Harper & Row. (19) Worthington, E. L., Hook, J. N., Davis, D. E., & McDaniel, M. A. (2011). Religion and spirituality. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 67(2), 204-214. (20) Hamilton, N. (2014). Awakening Through Dreams: The Journey Through the Inner Landscape. Karnac Books. (21) Daniels, M. (2005). Shadow, self, spirit: Essays in transpersonal psychology. Imprint Academic. (22) MacDonald, D. A. (2000). Spirituality: Description, measurement, and relation to the five factor model of personality. Journal of personality, 68(1), 153-197. (23) Smith, J. A., Flowers, P., & Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative phenomenological analysis: Theory, method and research. Sage. (24) Hefferon, K., & Gil-Rodriguez, E. (2011). Interpretative phenomenological analysis. Psychologist, 24 (10), 756-759. Images: (1) The Aztec goddess Tlazolteotl, From the Codex Vaticanus B, Vatican Library, Rome; (2) Conversion on the Way to Damascus, Caravaggio, 1601; (3) Epilepticus sic curabitur ('The way to cure an epileptic') Sloane Manuscript, collection of medical manuscripts, end of the 12th century - British Museum, London;  (4) Kwahkwah'kwah shaman Hamatsa secret society  in trance, Edward Curtis, 1914; (5) MRI scan of my brain, National Centre for Epilpesy, Chalfont St Latimer, 2014; (6) Networks piece from ‘Beyond Seizures’ print series. Facilitated by London Brain Project, 2014 (4) Electromagnetic transcranial stimulator or so-called ‘God helmet’ developed by Persinger & colleagues to measure temporal lobe activity and spiritual experiences for those with & without epilepsy (4) Connections with ASC have so  far been limited to shamanism 

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Transpersonal perspectives of spiritual experiences in epilepsy

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