Johara Bellail
This presentation explores the concept of threshold during childbirth using two different frameworks, namely the anthropological framework of rites of passage (Van Gennep and Kertzer, 2019) and the transformation cycle in the field of sustainability (Seghezzi, 2012). It appears that a threshold is experienced during the liminal phase of birth that has particular characteristics and I enquire whether it shares some with what Seghezzi calls unio mystica. This inquiry resulted from microphenomenological interviews I conducted with three women about a moment during labour and childbirth that left a particular impression on them. Their detailed account of that moment hinted towards crossing a threshold into a non-ordinary state of consciousness (Grof, 2003) and experiencing something beyond them. I present a preliminary analysis of the interviews and explore how these findings relate to the new field of birth consciousness (Dahan, 2023) and the work of Prof. Torday in evolutionary medicine on nature’s consciousness (Torday, 2024).
Dahan, O. (2023) ‘Birthing as an experience of awe: Birthing consciousness and its long-term positive effects.’, Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 43(1), pp. 16–30. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1037/teo0000214.
Grof, S. (2003) ‘Implications of modern consciousness research for psychology: Holotropic experiences and their healing and heuristic potential.’, The Humanistic Psychologist, 31(2–3), pp. 50–85. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/08873267.2003.9986926.
Seghezzi, U. (2012) Das Wissen vom Wandel: die natürliche Struktur wirksamer Transformationsprozesse. 1. Auflage. Triesen: Van Eck Verlag (Reihe ‘Bewusst Sein’, Band 3).
Torday, J.S. (2024) ‘The holism of evolution as consciousness’, Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, 187, pp. 5–8. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2024.01.004.
Van Gennep, A. and Kertzer, D.I. (2019) The rites of passage. Second edition. Translated by M.B. Vizedom and G.L. Caffee. Chicago London: The University of Chicago Press.
Prof. Nick Peres
I will briefly contextualise my work at Torbay Hospital with the team working on innovative digital health care support and give an overview of some recent technical projects in the lab at Torbay (including an AI dog). In the second part I will present a recent 8 minute film which shows, among other things, how my Doctoral research has, in its afterlife, been integrated with the technical concerns of the lab with patient perspective and health care.
Vagab(o/u)nds Research 