Table Of ContentABSTRACT
Title of dissertation: THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF BEING IN A
SACRED PLACE CONSTRUCTED AS AN ARCHETYPAL
CIRCLE
Mary J. (Jan) Carroll, Doctor of Philosophy, 2007
Dissertation directed by: Professor Francine H. Hultgren
Department of Education Policy and Leadership
The purpose of this study is to understand the meaning of women’s lived
experiences of major archetypes revealed through a “walk about” journey around the
directions of a sacred circle. Significant themes are opened up through hermeneutic
phenomenological methodology and developed using metaphorical language related to
the images that surfaced. Four women took part in several, in-depth, guided imagery
sessions with the researcher where they explored different directions of a sacred circle.
Their visions and interpretations of this experience, coupled with literary and philosophic
sources, further reveal the deeper meaning of a sacred experience and the power of this
extraordinary way of exploring women’s interior lives.
Multiple metaphors surfaced related to the explored archetypes which were the
warrior, divine child, goddess, sage, mother earth, father sky and center. The research
opens us to a deeper understanding of a “walk about” in circle by exploring such themes
as listening, interconnectedness, relationships, double belongingness, groundedness,
freedom, authenticity, justice, the body’s felt sense of being, discernment, attunement,
nowness, trust, reverence, the flesh, wilderness, balance, reversibility, intertwining,
crossing the chiasm, mirroring, mystical participation, reflection, comportment,
moodedness, and the nature of sitting between, to name a few.
Through the voices of these “walk about” women, the knowledge gathered
illuminates the elements of what it means to be in a sacred circle and face the powerful
archetypes that reside in different regions of the soul landscape. Through this research we
come to know an educational process that can serve to reshape women’s perceptions of
who they are in relation to their souls and a prayerful respect for self that can support
both their personal and spiritual growth.
This work is also a personal account of my lived experience of as researcher who
actually went on vision quest, used the archetypal circle of healing and wholeness, and
participated in Sun Dance to understand the phenomenon. My voice echoes the
participants’ experiences and themes. Each woman’s nature and soul becomes elevated
by having taken a “walk about” in an archetypal circle.
THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF BEING IN A SACRED PLACE
CONSTRUCTED AS AN ARCHETYPAL CIRCLE
Mary J. (Jan) Carroll
Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the
University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
2007
Advisory Committee:
Dr. Francine Hultgren, Advisor and Chair
Dr. Gloria Carpeneto
Dr. Susan Komives
Dr. Jing Lin
Dr. Magie Neal
©Copyright by
Mary J. (Jan) Carroll
2007
DEDICATION
I dedicate this work to my dear friends, Peggy Parks and Maggie Neal. Their
support and belief in the topic made this work possible.
I dedicate it to Francine Hultgren whose tireless editing and advising polished the
writing into what you now read.
To my husband, John, whose nature and character constantly inspire me to new
growth, I give thanks for your quiet presence and caring support.
To Henry Neisi, “Wild Goose,” for his wisdom stories and the opportunity to
observe Sun Dance Ceremony at Eagle Voice Center.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My sincere appreciation goes to my committee members: Francine Hultgren,
Gloria Carpeneto, Susan Komives, Jing Lin, and Maggie Neal. Their supportive and
insightful comments helped shape this effort into a scholarly work.
I also want to acknowledge the assistance and support of the women who
participated in this study. They made this work possible by agreeing to learn a new way
of listening to their souls and by their courage to reveal their experiences. I am grateful
for their sharing and their affirmation that this is a meaningful experience.
I want to acknowledge my love and appreciation for my parents and sons who
shaped my soul and had a part in making this study a reality.
I would like to thank the following individuals and publishers for giving me
permission to use their copyrighted materials:
HarperCollins Publishers for reprint permission of excerpts from Heidegger, M. (1962).
Being and time (J. Macquarrie & E. Robinson, Trans.). San Francisco: Harper Collins
Publishers. (Originally work published 1926)
Harper Collins Publishers for reprint permission of excerpts from Heidegger, M. (1971).
Poetry, language, thought (A. Hofstadter, Trans.). New York: Harper & Row.
Harper Collins Publishers for reprint permission of excerpts from Moore, T. (1994). Care
of the soul: A guide for cultivating depth and sacredness in everyday life. New York:
Harper Perennial.
HarperCollins Publishers for reprint permission of excerpt from Morgan, M. (1994).
Mutant message down under. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.
Indiana University Press for reprint permission of excerpts from pages xii, 27, 36, 55-56,
61-62, 91, 102-104, 113, 177, 194, 219, 234, 253, 308-309 in Casey, E. S. (1993).
Getting back into place: Toward a renewed understanding of the place-world.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
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Jelaluddin Rumi’s poems, The food sack, Unfold your own myth, The center of the fire,
Two kinds of intelligence and excerpts from Only breath, in Barks, C. (1997). The
essential Rumi (C. Barks, J. Moyne, A. J. Arberry, & R.Nicholson, Trans.). Edison, NJ:
Castle Books. Reprint permission granted by C. Barks at Maypop Books.
Jelaluddin Rumi’s poem, The real work, in Barks, C. & Green, M. (1997). The
illuminated Rumi (C. Barks, Trans. & M. Green, Illustrator.). New York: Broadway
Books. Reprint permission granted by Random House, Inc.
Jon Progoff for reprint permission to quote the entrance meditation, The center point
within me, from Progoff, I. (1980). The Practice of Process Meditation: The Intensive
Journal® Way to Spiritual Experience. New York: Dialogue House Library.
Northwestern University Press for reprint permission of excerpt from page 130 in
Husserl, E. (1970). The crisis of European sciences and transcendental Phenomenology:
An introduction to Phenomenological Philosophy. (D. Carr, Trans.). Evanston:
Northwestern University Press. (Original work published 1938)
Northwestern University Press for reprint permission of excerpts from Merleau-Ponty, M.
(1968). The visible and the invisible (C. Lefort, Ed.; A. Lingis, Trans.). Evanston:
Northwestern University Press. (Original work published 1948)
Paulist Press, Inc. for reprint permission of excerpts from pages 74-75 in Savary, L. M.,
Berne, P. H., & Williams, S. K. (1984). Dreams and spiritual growth: A Judeo-Christian
way of dreamwork. New York: Paulist Press.
Random House for reprint permission of excerpts from pages 228-230 in Bear Heart &
Larkin, M. (1998). The wind is my mother: The life and teachings of a Native American
shaman. New York: Berkley Books.
Random House for reprint permission of excerpts from five pages in Pinkola Estes, C.
(1992). Women who run with the wolves: Myths and stories of the wild woman archetype.
New York: Ballantine Books.
Random House for reprint permission of excerpts from pages 215 & 236 in Singer, J.
(1994). Boundaries of the soul: The practice of Jung’s psychology. NewYork:
Doubleday. Originally published in 1972.
Random House for reprint permission of excerpts from pages 89 & 162 in Campbell, J.
(1988). The power of myth with Bill Moyers (B. S. Flowers, Ed.). New York: Doubleday.
Simon & Schuster for reprint permission of excerpts from Lame Deer, J., & Erdoes, R.
(1972). Lame Deer: Seeker of visions. New York: Pocket Books.
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Simon & Schuster for reprint permission of excerpts from one page in Mehl-Madrona, L.
(1998). Coyote medicine: Lessons from Native American healing. New York: Simon &
Schuster.
Suny Press for reprint permission of excerpts from van Manen, M. (1990). Researching
lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. Western, Ontario:
The Althouse Press.
University of Oklahoma Press for reprint permission of excerpts from Brown, J. E. (Ed.).
(1980). The sacred pipe: Black Elk’s account of the seven rites of the Oglala Sioux. New
York: Penquin Books.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter I: BECOMING WHOLE: THE ARCHETYPE OF THE CIRCLE 1
A “Walk About” Journey 1
Genesis of a “Walk About” 2
Being Thrown Off-Balance: My Experience of
Traditional Medicine 3
Being Called Home: Dying, the Return to Center 5
Medicine circle and the mandala 6
Mandala circles 9
Archetypes 9
The Black Mandala: Entering into Relationship with
Embodied Pain 10
Taking Time to Regroup While Wondering 12
Notions of dis-ease 13
Symbol immersion 14
A “Walk About “With the Chalice Symbol 15
East: The Place of Eagle Power 15
South: The Power of Mouse, Coyote, or the “Divine Child” 17
West: The Power of Bear and Intuition 19
North: The Power of the Sage and the Buffalo 20
Center: The Great Mystery and The Transcendent Function 21
Uncovering Inner Depths of Being: Confirming Truth 22
Reflecting Back 24
Projecting Forward 25
Hermeneutic Phenomenology 26
Van Manen’s Framework for Phenomenological Research 26
Pre-understandings Held by the Researcher 27
Organization of the Journey 28
Chapter II: UNFOLDING THE NATURE OF BEING IN A SACRED 32
PLACE
Becoming Djang 32
Packing a Dilly Bag 33
Body Ear Sense(ing) 35
Mindful Attention to the Silence of Being 41
Digging Deep to Reveal Buried Memories 50
Experiences of Being in a Sacred Place 58
Lama Govinda 58
Black Elk 63
Lame Deer 67
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The Nature of the Presence of an Embodied Guide 70
Intuitive Discernment 71
Essence Stones: Song-lines of a “Walk About” 73
Philosophers’ Stones 74
Chapter III: ENGAGING THE HERMENEUTIC PROCESS:
THINKING IN THE ROUND 75
Preparation and Calling to the Circle 76
Hermeneutic Phenomenology 77
Questioning the Text of Lived Experience 80
The World of Lived Experience 83
Naming and Calling a Sacred Place into Being:
The Act of Implacement 84
Constructing a Dwelling: Implacement of the Sacred 86
Fourfold Construction: Dwelling in the Primal 87
The Fourfold as Embodied Implacement 88
Mythical Origins of the Fourfold 89
Movement on a “Walk About:” Rounding the Archetypal Circle 91
Hermeneutic Round Dance: Movement About the Archetypal Circle 94
Turning to the Nature of Lived Experience: 94
Becoming a Body Ear
Investigating Experience as We Live It:
Unfolding the Nature of Sacredness 95
Reflecting on Essential Themes: Sharp, Mindful Attention 100
The Art of Writing and Rewriting:
Reflecting with a Mirror Mind 104
Strong and Oriented Relation to the Phenomenon:
Staying in the Fire 107
Life World Essentials As Guides to Reflection 108
Spaciality 108
Corporeality 109
Temporality 109
Communality 109
The Role of Silence 110
Epistomological Silence 110
Ontological Silence 110
Balancing the Research Context by Considering
Parts and Whole: Tactful Caring 111
Connection, Communication and Gifting in an Archetypal Circle 111
Flesh to Flesh: Intertwining and the Chaism 112
Mystical Participation 117
The Gifting of Being by the Archetype of All Being at Center 121
Gifting a Treasure 122
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