Although transpersonal psychologies of self realization emphasize individual
development, earlier shamanic traditions also showed a central societal aspect and group based
consciousness. Indeed, many have understood the transpersonal movement as developing
towards an abstract globalized neo-shamanism. That altered states of consciousness, whether
as integrative realizations of the numinous or as dissociative “hypnoid” states, could be felt
and shared collectively was a familiar concept to the first generation of sociologists, who saw
all consciousness as social and dialogic in form. Durkheim, in particular, foresaw a globalized
spirituality of the future, his “cult of man,” in which modern individuation would progress
to the point where all we would have in common for the collective representations of
spiritual awareness would be our shared sense of human beingness. This view foreshadowed
De Chardin, and is presented explicitly or implicitly in Jung, Gurdjieff, Heidegger, Maslow,
and Almaas. The implications of a societal, collective face of transpersonalism for a future
planetary spirituality are pursued in terms of both a global ecological consciousness and
the potential transpersonal significance of SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence)
