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01-10-2014 | Psychological Exploration

The Subjective Experience of Using Ignatian Meditation by Male and Female South African University Students: An Exploratory Study

Authors: Helen Efthimiadis-Keith, Graham Lindegger

Published in: Journal of Religion and Health | Issue 5/2014

Abstract

This study is set out to examine the subjective experience of using the Ignatian method of meditation to reflect on and pray through Ruth 2. A group of male and female Theology students from the University of KwaZulu-Natal were invited to reflect upon/pray through Ruth 2 using Ignatian meditation. Following this exercise, participants were invited to participate in a focus group in which they shared their experience of this exercise, focusing particularly on some of the gendered aspects of the experience. The transcribed focus group material was subjected to a critical thematic analysis, in order to identify which core aspects of the experience of using this method of meditation and reflection were responsible for the reported subjective experiences. The analysis also included a comparison of the experience for men and women participating in this exercise, and the differential effect of various aspects of the exercise on men and women.

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This study is the first of a series of studies (to be launched in the second half of 2013), which will attempt to describe the subjective psychological effects experienced by male and female students who will be asked to pray through the whole of Ruth, Esther, Susannah, and selected texts from Judith using Ignatian meditation. See 5.3 for more details.

Personal transformation may broadly be defined as follows: “a dynamic, uniquely individualized process of expanding consciousness, whereby individuals become critically aware of old and new self-views and choose to integrate these views into a new self-definition” (Wade 1998, p. 713).

“Ruth” (italicized) refers to the book, whereas “Ruth” (unitalicized) refers to the character by the same name, unless followed by a number, in which case it refers to a chapter and/or verses in Ruth. The same distinction applies to other Biblical books, which carry a character’s name in their title.

In terms of the study of the Bible, explication may be compared to what is consciously known about a biblical text/theme/image, whereas amplification finds positive resonances with intertextual approaches. Due to its preliminary nature, however, and the fact that it did not set out to conduct a Jungian analysis per se, this study used neither explication nor amplification. Rather, it utilized active imagination in the form of its Christian corollary, Ignatian meditation.

“All three techniques [explication, amplification, and active imagination] are dependent on the fantasy principle: the conviction that fantasy is logically prior to reality, that the psyche, or the imagination, constructs reality, and that the image says what it means and means what it says” (Adams 2004, p. 16, his italics).

Secluded meditations of different lengths are also available, such as the eight-day retreat to be held in the Bluff in May 2013 (Rakoczy 2013, personal communication with the first author).

The original study aimed at investigating the subjective psychological effects of the exercise on UKZN students and staff. Given the fact that only students responded (4.2), the aims have been restated accordingly.

Regrettably, the researchers could not obtain reliable statistics regarding the gender composition of the School’s postgraduate students and staff at the time of submitting this paper for publication. They would like to thank Ms Catherine Murugan for assisting them with e-mailing the School’s postgraduate component, and Prof. Sue Rakoczy for assisting them with approaching the students in the “Psychology and Spirituality” module.

Three of the other eight students indicated that they would not be able to attend/did not attend the focus group discussions as a result of clashes with a test or unforeseen personal circumstances. It is not clear why the remaining five did not attend at this point.

The forms are available upon request from the first author.

A revised form of “Women, Jung and the Old Testament,” by the title “Women, Jung, and the Hebrew Bible: An evaluation of Jungian Hebrew Bible interpretation by way of the book of Ruth,” has been accepted for publication in Biblical Interpretation. At this stage, it is uncertain when it will be published.

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Title: The Subjective Experience of Using Ignatian Meditation by Male and Female South African University Students: An Exploratory Study
Authors: Helen Efthimiadis-Keith
Graham Lindegger
Publication date: 01-10-2014
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of Religion and Health / Issue 5/2014
Print ISSN: 0022-4197
Electronic ISSN: 1573-6571
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-013-9764-4

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The Subjective Experience of Using Ignatian Meditation by Male and Female South African University Students: An Exploratory Study

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