Reflection on spiritual performance in celebrating our story of 100 years of Transpersonal Psychology at the 10th Annual Section Conference 2007

A personal reflective account of attending the 10th Annual Section Conference of the Transpersonal Psychology Section, focusing on Jessica Bockler's workshop about 100 years of transpersonal psychology. Using Gibb's six-stage model embedded within Kolb's learning cycle, the author draws out common threads in transpersonal aspects that resonate across diverse practices including arts, drama, film, performance, songs, fiction, and poetry. The reflection discovers that social and asocial intentions from participating in ritual performance may be symbolically represented as vertical and horizontal orientations within the learning cycle. The conclusion reflects further on surprises encountered during the analysis.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This paper represents a reflective account that is based on my personal experience from attending the 10th Annual Section Conference of the Transpersonal Psychology Section. In particular, the reflection has singled out Jessica Bockler’s workshop – Celebrating Our Story ... 100 Years of Transpersonal Psychology – as a significant moment in space for exploration. In doing so, some common threads in transpersonal aspects were drawn out that have resonance in other realms of diverse practices including arts, drama, film, performance, songs, fiction and poetry. Using multi- and interdisciplinary approaches, a framework of reflection was developed by adopting and embedding Gibb’s (1988) six-stage model within Kolb’s (1984) learning cycle. Through the reflective practice, it was discovered that the social and asocial intentions developed from participating in the ritual performance may be symbolically represented as vertical and horizontal orientations within the learning cycle respectively. Finally the conclusion has provided further reflection on the analysis of surprises.