Transpersonal anthropology

{Transpsy}} Transpersonal anthropology is a subdiscipline of cultural anthropology. It studies the relationship between altered states of consciousness and culture.

As with transpersonal psychology, the field is much concerned with altered states of consciousness (ASC) and transpersonal experience. However, the field differs from mainstream transpersonal psychology in taking more cognizance of cross-cultural issues -- for instance, the roles of myth, ritual, diet, and texts in evoking and interpreting extraordinary experiences (Young and Goulet 1994).

Topics such as ASC in the traditional teachings of indigenous people, shamanism and ASC, ASC in response to ingestion of traditional hallucinogenetic herbs, etc., may be of interest to transpersonal anthropologists. Also, the role of culture in laying the foundations for, in evoking, in cultivating or thwarting, and in interpreting ASC is seen as fundamental to understanding the incidence and function of transpersonal experiences among the planet's many and varied societies.

History
Shepperd (2006) has noted how transpersonal anthropology can be said to have began in the USA in the 1970s. She refers to the work of one of the leaders of the discipline, Charles D. Laughlin, and also to works by Al-Issa (1995) and Edith Turner (1996), wife of the anthropologist Victor Turner. Shepperd explains how Edith Turner's interpretations of her husband's field studies among the Ndembu in Zambia can be interpreted as belonging to transpersonal anthropology, insofar as her interpretations of their healing rituals were transpersonal.

Al-Issa's work
Al-Issa's (1995) paper dealt with hallucinations, and the cultural aspects of them. Here, Al-Issa notes how not all cultures have negative views on hallucinations. Cross-cultural differences are noted by Al-Issa in sensory modalities most commonly encountered in hallucinations.

Visual hallucinations appear to be common in some African communities, whereas in a culture such as the United Kingdom hearing voices appears to be more common. This is certainly the case for patients diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Related Sites

 * Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness


 * Journal entitled Anthropology of Consciousness