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Walking In Two Worlds: Living An Animistic Spiritual Worldview In The Western United States, Joanne Dorpat Halverson

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

An abundance of culturally derived ideological influences inform our lives. The dominant culture exerts a powerful influence on understandings of reality. For some people, their spiritual way of being in the world deviates from cultural norms. In this qualitative study I sought to understand the lived experience of people who hold an animistic spiritual worldview and yet function well within society. They walk in two worlds. The research design employed both phenomenological and heuristic methods. To understand the socio-cultural-historical context of the study a lengthy background was provided. Six individuals who self-identified as adhering to animistic spirituality living on the …