Table 1
Seeing is Believing: Summary of Themes with Example Quotes.
| SUB-THEME | EXAMPLE QUOTE |
|---|---|
| THEME: EXPERIENCING TRANSCENDENCE | |
| Profound personal experiences are transformative | “I’ve also experienced my soul leaving my body… I’ve experienced that. I know that it’s a thing.” (Yvonne) |
| Meaningful ‘coincidences’ suggest cosmic purpose | “I’ve also had…, quite incredible coincidences… I can’t really explain other than we are all connected and the thing that connects us is love or consciousness.” (Thomas) |
| Psychoactive drugs are experienced as opening the mind | “Doing them [drugs] with my brother, I definitely felt that there was more of a connection between nature, science, human. It kind of opened up my brain a little bit more than what I really perceived was originally there.” (Victor) |
| Actively developing spirituality through diverse practices | “I use [glossolalia] kind of like as a mantra, to kind of keep my monkey mind from wandering if I’m trying to focus on something or if I’m, you know, involved in some kind of meditation or some kind of healing practice…” (Thomas) |
| THEME: CONSTRUCTING A PERSONAL SPIRITUALITY | |
| Rejecting dogmatic religious authorities | “There’s a really good message in Christianity but it got taken over by a horrible power-hungry patriarchal bollocks… they used it as this massive control system.” (Yvonne) |
| Trusting themselves and their experiences | “Seeing is believing. Unless I can see it, I don’t really, don’t really believe it. But I do have faith: faith in myself and faith in humanity.” (Victor) |
| Finding value in humanity | “We appreciate the value of life and where and what goes on around us and… are very aware that it can change in a heartbeat for a multitude of reasons…” (Samantha) |