How do people feel during extreme collective rituals? Despite longstanding speculation, few studies have attempted to quantify ritual experiences. Using a novel pre/post design, we quantified physiological fluctuations (heart rates) and self-reported affective states from a collective fire-walking ritual in a Mauritian Hindu community. Specifically, we compared changes in levels of happiness, f...

The user’s experience of his or her interaction with a product is becoming an increasingly important aspect of product design. In the ‘experience economy’, experiential factors have become major discriminants affecting the success of new products. Industry is well aware of this, and likewise design schools are adjusting their curricula to better train their students to take into account factors...

Cognitive theories of religious experience, while helpful in explaining some aspects of spirit possession, do not provide a means of accounting for the experience of mediums whose ordinary selves are ‘absent’ during possession rituals. Using the late nineteenthcentury medium, Mrs Piper, as a case study, I argue that hypnosis provides a means of inducing involuntary experiences similar to those ...

Retrospectives are structured rituals for reviewing projects and are used as a forum to reflect upon performance, learn from experiences and assess strengths and weaknesses in projects. This research is designed to identify and validate the significance of performing retrospectives within organizations. Popular knowledge indicates that holding retrospective rituals produces a host of benefits i...

The Kambô ritual consists of various types of skin scarification and subsequent application of Phyllomedusa bicolor secretion to the fresh wounds. In Europe, the ritual of Kambô is becoming more popular, but its use can lead to serious multiple organ damage, sometimes life-threatening. Our manuscript shows a patient with toxic liver damage probably associated with the Kambô ritual.

Universals of shamanism reflect innate brain processes and representational systems and fundamental aspects of consciousness. Shamanic universals involve psychophysiological dynamics of altered states of consciousness (ASCs) and visionary experiences, metaphoric representations produced through integration of innate representational modules, and rituals that produce psychophysiological healing ...

This article works with theory of ritual in order to begin addressing a series of questions raised by Brazilian spirit possession rituals (in Kardecism and Umbanda). Four contributions to theory of ritual highlight relevant conceptual issues: Humphrey and Laidlaw on non-intentionality; Bloch on deference; Houseman and Severi on social relations; and Kapferer on virtuality. Strawson’s philosophi...

Collective rituals are biologically ancient and culturally pervasive, yet few studies have quantified their effects on participants. We assessed two plausible models from qualitative anthropology: ritual empathy predicts affective convergence among all ritual participants irrespective of ritual role; rite-of-passage predicts emotional differences, specifically that ritual initiates will express...

Objective. There is mounting evidence that more elaborate treatment rituals trigger larger nonspecific effects. The reasons for this remain unclear. In a pilot field study, we investigated the role of psychophysiological changes during a touch-based healing ritual for improvements in subjective well-being. Methods. Heart rate, respiratory rate, and skin conductance levels (SCL) were continuousl...