The use of hallucinogenic plants has throughout human history been used for religiouspurposes, in order to induce mystical states of mind, often interpreted as meeting with godsand spirits. In recent years, this practice has been taken up by people interested in theexploration of their psyche and spiritual side. This group of people, referred to as?psychonauts?, communicate with each other through internet based forum, where theyshare their experiences in so called ?trip reports?. The aim of this study was to see whatrole psychedelic drugs can play when used in a spiritual/religious context, and whetherthese sorts of mystical states of mind could tell us about more traditional mysticalexperiences.

This essay is an attempt to study some post-modern theological positions with regard to their growing interest in the use of mystical theology and mysticism in theological research in the academic post-modern world, and to see if the 19th century theologian Albert Schweitzer couldprove a resource for this understanding of mystical theology. This position is known in the essay as ?the mystical turn.?To present the background and understanding of this post-modern view of mystical theology the essay presents three theologians, namely: Andrew Louth, Mark A. McIntosh and Sarah Coakley.These three theologians argue for the use of a contemplative and transforming mysticism as a postmodern epistemology in relation to theological research, with growing concern of the status of theology in the secular and post-modern world. Having made clear the views of these three theologians the essay then presents Albert Schweitzer's view on the mysticism of Paul.

This essay aims at understanding the experience of the use of ayahuasca, and similarities and differences between interview protocols and socio-cultural identities. The work is based on field studies conducted in the Peruvian Andes, in the village of Pisac September to November 2009. What has emerged is that the experience does not seem to be dependent on cultural manifestations as much as it is dependent on general human cognition. Theories have been applied on an empirical phenomenological descriptive study. Various brain activities, along with mental mechanisms contribute to a deeper understanding of the findings in the descriptive analysis.It seems that the cultural differences, which I have classed as typological in the phenomenological study, mostly are expressions of meaning for the informants.

Animal art is one of the more mystical aspects of Scandinavian Iron Age culture. It has foremost been regarded in the light of art and style history. Interpretation has also ? mainly from the 1990s and onwards ? been made through iconographic analysis. But the problem here is that iconography requires textual analogy, something that the Scandinavian Iron Age lacks.The purpose of this paper is to lift some of the ?mystical fog? that engulfs the scandinavian animal art, by developing a method for interpretation of pre-historic images that evades the flaws in the iconographic method.

ThisthesisisananalysisofSt.JohnoftheCross?treatiseTheDarkNightoftheSoulfromanEasternOrthodoxperspective,focusingonelementsofclassicaltheologyofthéosisandliminalitywithinthetext.UsingVladimirLossky?sviewonOrthodoxmysticaltheologyaswellasritualtheoryandtheoriesofliminalityfromVictorTurnerandArnoldvanGennepthestudyexamineswhetherornotitispossibletospeakaboutthéosisinWesternmysticalteachingsandpractises,andifDarkNightcanbeviewedasanexampleofsuchateaching.Thisthesisthusseekstoanswertwomainquestions,namelywhetherStJohnoftheCross?treatisecanbesaidtobeanexampleofthéosistheologywritteninWesternform,andifthetrialsoftheDarkNightcanbesaidtobeaformofsocio-­?ontologicalprocessofchange,eitherpartiallyorcompletely.ThemethodusedintheworkisamodifiedversionofthetextualanalysisdescribedinCarl-­?HenricGrenholm?sbookAttförståreligion:metoderförteologiskforskning,focusingoncentralthemesandideas,andkeywordsrelatedtothéosis.ThetheoreticalperspectiveforthethesishasbeenbasedinEasternOrthodoxmysticaltheology,andthecentralaimhasbeentoofferaresponsetoVladimirLossky?scritiqueoftheWesternChurchashavingforgottenitsmysticalroots.KeyfindingsarethattheDarkNightasaprocesshasstrongelementsofbothliminalityandsocio-­?ontologicaltransformation,andthatthelanguageofSt.JohnisverysimilartothatofearlyOrthodoxtheologians,withclearapophaticterminology..

In some postmodern philosophy and theology, the view of God has returned to the centre of the discussion. God is seen as a living reality beyond human conception. Some of the contemporary philosophers even relate to the negative or apofatic theology. They often do this as a contrast to the positive theology. The view of God in postmodern theology and philosophy is beyond our rational knowledge.

Background: Delirium is a common condition among elderly patients who are being treated in a hospital environment. However, a large number of patients are wrongly diagnosed. The highest risk categories to develop delirium are elderly people and postoperative patients. By understanding the patients´ experiences the nurse can formulate the care to make it easier for the patient. Aim: The aim of the literature review was to illuminate elderly patients´ experiences of delirium in connection with a hospital visit.

AimThe aim of this study is to examine students' previous experiences of stay in the nature and their experiences of nature in the context of teaching situations in friluftsliv at GIH. It also aims to elucidate how the teaching of friluftsliv at GIH affects their former interpretation about nature. The questions of the study are: What past experiences of stay in the nature elucidate GIH-students? Have the students approach to nature changed according to the education? If yes ? how? What affects students' perception of nature? MethodTo answer the questions, a quantitative approach (questionnaire survey) and qualitative methods (interview study) was used. The qualitative method is based on phenomenology and hermeneutics.

The purpose of this thesis is to study if there are any relations between the perceptions of a fear appeal message in relation to the individual experiences of the area. Furthermore to give a general view over research made on fear appeals. The research is made in a qualitative approach were the case study is used. Interviews were used to get relevant information from the chosen respondents. The results if the thesis indicates that there is a relation depending on individual experiences during the perception of a fear appeal message.

Background: Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is a complex condition with high mortality. AN has increased within the last fifty years and it?s associated with considerable suffering.Aim: To describe women?s experiences of AN.Method: This study was made as a systematic literature review. Articles were searched in Chinal, PubMed and PsycINFO. Eleven articles were used.

The Internet is a constant source of information about the world and has contributed to the globalization of texts and pictures. A part in the tourists process of consumption involves looking at pictures and read about places that create an image of places that they have never been to. Websites are therefore important as a first impression and it is here that places are being represented. Places are created on the Internet and the Australian outback is an example of this. The study is interesting because it can be used to understand the relationship between people and places.

Asthma is one of the most common diseases among children. The aim of this study was, through a literature review, describing children's experience of living with asthma and show how negative experiences can be turned into positive ones, by the nurse's work. Results showed that many of the children with asthma experienced respiratory- and chestproblems, tiredness, panic, fear, anger, frustration, discomfort, irritation and anxiety. Children felt most restricted in physical activity's. Education used to enhance children's experiences included relaxation, imaginary exercises and confidence training.

The purpose of this study is to shine a light at the Swedish americans impressions and attitudes against the American society from the perspective of modernization and cultural attributes. This, with a reference frame of the deeply politically rooted European conception of America as a threat to the cultural well being, and as a thriving materialistic and progress bound constitution.The result shows that the attitudes against America in the descriptions were not all comparable with the conception that was conducted in Europe. However, the experiences altered whereas the study attends two different periods of time. The experiences differenced due to the growing exposure to cultural diversity and a modernization that grew faster in America than anywhere in the world. Not to mention the change of experiences and expectations that was with brought from a changing atmosphere in Sweden.

Background: Research shows that the nurse?s presence has a great significance for the relationship between patient and nurse. By this, the nurse can gain a greater understanding for the patient?s situation and thus have an opportunity to influence the patient?s health processes.Problem: Today?s focus on the technology and lack of time in healthcare can create a stress which can make it more difficult for the nurse to prove presence to the patient.Aim: To describe patients? experiences of the nurse?s presence in healthcare.Method: A qualitative approach, where Evans descriptive synthesis has been used. Eleven previously published qualitative, caring science, articles has been used in the synthesis.Results: The synthesis revealed two themes.

The aim of this study is to examine ways of writing experiences of the strange and different, experiences of the other in his or her otherness and experiences of suffering. The study focuses possibilities and limits for the writing of these experiences and aims at finding a tangible way of writing literature. Part of the aim of this study is to elaborate a proposal for a way of writing experiences of the strange and different, experiences of the other in his or her otherness and experiences of suffering.    The material for the study consists of three different approaches to literature, in which theories on literature or analyses of literary works are presented. This material is initially analysed in separate analyses in which conceptions, strategies and methods for writing experiences of the strange and different, the other and suffering are identified. Secondly, the material is analysed in a comparative analysis, aimed at finding similarities and differences between the approaches but above all to let the approaches supplement and challenge each other.