Experiences of Divine Bliss, Anger and Evil during the Pandemic

Non-ordinary Experiences during Lockdown

Bibliographic Data

ID3072202
AuthorsB E Schmidt (0000-0002-7175-7057, University of Wales Trinity Saint David), Kate Stockly (0000-0001-5707-7103, Center for Mind and Culture in Boston, USA)
Year2024
Volume39
Issue3
Publication date2024-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociedade e Estado (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0102-6992 • E-ISSN: 1980-5462
PublisherFapUNIFESP (SciELO) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1590/s0102-6992-20243903e53575
OpenAlexW4404698295
SCIELO_PIDS0102-69922024000300801
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited21

This article illustrates the complexity of non-ordinary experiences during the pandemic, highlighting accounts of three different types of experiences: encounters with divine bliss, anger, and evil. The focus is on four narrative accounts of non-ordinary experiences that were submitted by email in response to a wider research project about religious, spiritual, and otherwise non-ordinary experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. The following sections discuss the distinction between experiences perceived as ordinary and non-ordinary and the impact of non-ordinary experiences on wellbeing during lockdown-sometimes as positive meaning-making experiences that contribute to people's ability to cope with the lockdown and the devastation of the pandemic, and other times expressive of stress and fear, often further exacerbated by silence about the experience. The article then contextualizes approaches to studying these experiences within the academic study of religion and spiritual experiences. Anthropologists have long understood non-ordinary experiences, along with their context-dependent interpretations, as reflective of cultural meaning-making processes

Anger · BLISS · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) · Criminology · Epistemology · Pandemic · Sociology · Computer Science · Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion · Medicine · Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs · Philosophy · Psychedelics and Drug Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology

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