The Chromatic Communion: A Christocentric Phenomenology of Inter-spiritual Sociality and Celestial Communion
Mark Edward Chard
Knowledge Commons (Lakehead University) September 19, 2026 DOI: 10.17613/jnfp0-77866 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Autoethnographic case study Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | The author, in a lifelong twin bond |
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Key findings | Argues that post-mortem sociality, understood through a Christocentric lens, operates as refracted chromatic light functioning as a linguistic medium and as 'eschatological hospitality,' in which spirits yield communicative space to one another. Proposes that heavenly interaction constitutes an eternal perichoresis, a non-competitive matrix of mutual deference forming the Communion of Saints, dependent on the Lumen Gloriae and the Lordship of Christ. |
Abstract
Western eschatology often depicts the afterlife as either static contemplation or undifferentiated union with the Divine, leaving the social mechanics of disembodied interaction undertheorized. Using an autoethnographic case study anchored in a lifelong twin bond, this paper investigates post-mortem sociality through a strictly Christocentric lens. Drawing on experiential data of communication mediated via chromatic light, the study analyzes refracted light as a linguistic medium among heavenly entities, and 'eschatological hospitality,' in which a spirit yields communicative space to other witnesses. These interactions depend radically upon the Lumen Gloriae and the Lordship of Christ. Read through Johannine light theology and Pauline ecclesiology, heavenly interaction is an eternal perichoresis: a non-competitive matrix of mutual deference constituting the Communion of Saints.
In the evidence
This study is part of the evidence base for a synthesis in the library. Here is how each one recorded it.
-
Argues through a Christocentric lens that post-mortem sociality operates as refracted chromatic light serving as a linguistic medium and as eschatological hospitality, constituting an eternal perichoresis.
Synthesized
Comparable studies
Other case reports and case series on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| How does it feel to lack a sense of boundaries? A case study of a long-term mindfulness meditator. A single long-term mindfulness practitioner (S) with 40 years of practice in... | 2015 | Qualitative case study | n = 1 |
| An extended case study on the phenomenology of sequence-space synesthesia Single adult with sequence-space synesthesia | 2014 | Phenomenological case study | n = 1 |
| "I can't tell whether it's my hand": a pilot study of the neurophenomenology of body representation during the rubber hand illusion in trauma-related disorders. Individuals with the dissociative subtype of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) | 2016 | Case series | n = 3 |
| Neurophenomenology of an Altered State of Consciousness: An fMRI Case Study. A single research participant with self-proclaimed ecstatic Kundalini meditative... | 2016 | Case study | n = 1 |
| Multimodal neurophenomenology of advanced concentration absorption meditation: An intensively sampled case study of Jhana. One advanced meditator with over 23,000 hours of meditation practice | 2024 | Case study | n = 1 |