Aphenomenological Study of Spontaneous Spiritual and Paranormal Experiences in a 21st-Century Sample of Normal People

Abstract

Summary.-This paper presents a phenomenological study using the methodology of Woodard's phenomenological and perceptual research. This method examines individuals' internal meanings during spontaneous spiritual and paranormal experiences, as described from their point of view. A group of 40 adults was phenomenologically interviewed after they responded to a newspaper announcement in New Hampshire asking for volunteers who had had spiritual and paranormal experiences. Using the method, Six Individual Situated Structures and a General Structure were identified and examined. Nine major themes were explicated during the participants' spontaneous experiencing: unexpectedness, contrariness to belief, certainty, contradictory experiencing, language as a barrier to expression, external influences, internal dialogue, evil as separateness, and some social psychological influences. Several themes observed in hypnotic experiencing, such as the characteristics of the Adequate Personality in Perceptual Psychology, are interpreted and discussed. This research illustrates how subjective experience can be adequately researched in a qualitative manner outside the confines of the laboratory setting. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further research are given.

Discussing the Supernatural in Contemporary Finland: Discourses, Genres, and Forums

“…Even though researchers have found a strong correlation between paranormal beliefs and extraordinary experiences (e.g. Pechey & Halligan 2012), the latter occur also among those who have no such beliefs (Woodard 2012). Especially for people with a secular worldview, finding a meaningful and reasonable explanation is a challenge and may require changing one's worldview and rejecting the publicly legitimate expectations.…”