Why "Spiritwatch"?
The name "Spiritwatch" was actually coined by Jane Bosveld, a science journalist, who co-wrote "Control Your Dreams" with me. I use it here to speak to the theme of this site which is a watchfulness focused on experiences of a spiritual nature. This watchfulness is in many of the papers a function of the scientific method but not always. Sometimes it exemplifies the watchfulness of the observer either from a cultural perspective, see especially the papers on Natives, or from the perspective of the "witness".
The "spirit" part of the title is a more quickly recognized term for those experiences which seem to extend or transcend our individual lives. This is more formally called the transpersonal perspective which is also an emerging area of inquiry in psychology. Roger Walsh and Francis Vaughn, editors of the classic book on Transpersonal Psychology, "Paths Beyond Ego: The Transpersonal Vision", define the transpersonal experience, upon which transpersonal psychology is based, as:
* experiences in which the sense of identity or self extends beyond (trans) the individual or personal to encompass wider aspects of humankind, life, psyche, and cosmos (p. 3).
By creating this site I hope to create a place where a open dialogue about these experience which is also informed and critical can take place. By the term "critical" I do not mean critical in the sense of negative or oppositional. Rather I take these experiences very seriously as they have shaped not only my personal life but also my professional life so that when I am discussing them or trying to make sense of my experiences, it is important to me that the experience be utterly genuine. That is, I have come to recognize that it is important for me to fully embrace all the possible components of the experience both as explanatory vehicles as well as expressions of their complexity.
Jayne Gackenbach, Ph.D.