The social effects of psychism: spiritual experience and the construction of privatized religion. From: Sociology of Religion | Date: September 22, 2004| Author: Laubach, Marty | COPYRIGHT 2004 Association for the Sociology of Religion. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

What is the relationship between spiritual experiences and privatized religion? This study defines spiritual experiences in terms of "psychism," or psychic intrusions in the stream of consciousness that are perceived by the actor as not originating within the "self." Intrusions interpreted as psychism are regarded by the actor as having the same facticity as empirical experience and are regarded as "proof" of an esoteric belief system. Psychism originated beliefs are therefore resistant to ...