Publication details
Alternatívna spiritualita a vyrovnávanie sa s neobvyklými zážitkami
| Title in English | Alternative spirituality and coping with unusual experiences |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2024 |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | This dissertation aims to analyze the practical meanings of alternative spirituality in coping with the critical life situation of the unexpected intrusion of unusual mental and physical experiences into ordinary everyday life. Such unusual experiences varied in form and consisted, for example, of hearing voices, visions, various unusual bodily sensations, or abrupt emotional changes. The interpretation of such experiences was often very uncertain. They could be seen as a physical problem, a mental illness, or a spiritual experience. Such extraordinary experiences usually mark a turning point in a person's life. To cope with such crises, people mobilize all available resources. One of these resources is usually the various concepts and techniques drawn from the well of alternative spirituality. Through my research on the role of alternative spirituality in coping with unusual experiences, I seek to contribute to the exploration of the practical meanings of alternative spirituality in the context of everyday life. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the place of alternative spirituality in the lives of people experiencing a specific life crisis, I asked people who have experienced such a crisis to retell their life stories. Based on the information from these interviews, I then describe and analyze the process of coping with unusual experiences and the role that alternative spirituality plays in it. After a theoretical and methodological introduction, I describe in general terms the nature of the lived crisis. I then discuss the convoluted paths that communication partners take in their search for answers to the lived crisis. I describe their contact with allopathic medicine and classical psychiatry. They were often the first stops on the difficult journey of coping with unusual experiences. The remedies of allopathic medicine and classical psychiatry did not usually bring my communication partners a complete resolution to a difficult life situation. That is also why they then looked for sources of help in various symbolic worlds and practices of alternative spirituality. I focus on these in the following part of the thesis, in which I analyze the reasons for inclination towards them and their place in coping with unusual experiences. |
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