The Esoteric Experience
The AHS Chesterfield Group
The AHS Chesterfield Group is a local group of the Alister Hardy Society (AHS) which can be found online at: www.alisterhardysociety.org
In 1969 Sir Alister Hardy FRS, a marine biologist, established the Religious Experience Research Unit (now Centre) in Oxford. The purpose of the RERC was to collect accounts of religious or spiritual experiences from members of the public. This was done by asking people to submit written accounts of such experiences in response to 'the Hardy question':
'Have you ever been aware of or influenced by a presence or power, whether you call it God or not, which is different from your everyday self?'
Examples of experiences include dramatic types such as Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) and mystical experiences but also more everyday types such as a sense of presence or the inter-connectedness and meaningfulness of life. They are often referred to as 'religious', 'spiritual', 'transcendental', 'psychic','exceptional', or 'peak' experiences. The RERC is now home to an archive of over 6000 accounts of religious and spiritual experiences.
The Alister Hardy Society was founded in 1994 to support the work of the RERC and to diseminate the centre's research findings to any interested parties. In 2002 the RERC relocated to the University of Wales, Lampeter. Membership of the Society provides access to the AHS library and the bi-annual newsletter De Numine. The second series of occasional papers is also available for purchase from the Centre.
The AHS Chesterfield Group:
Meetings of the group usually take place on the first Friday of each month at approximately 7:30pm. Meetings are currently held at Whittington Moor, Chesterfield. Please contact me for details of the venue and how to find it. The current programme is available on this website and I welcome suggestions for talks and videos.
To receive a monthly newsletter containing updates about the AHS Chesterfield Group programme and new items on The Esoteric Experience website, please subscribe to my newsletter.
The video below is of John Franklin, the current Secretary of the AHS, being interviewed about the work of the RERC and the Society. He also gives an account of his own religious experience which nicely illustrates one type of the kind of experiences in question.
In 1969 Sir Alister Hardy FRS, a marine biologist, established the Religious Experience Research Unit (now Centre) in Oxford. The purpose of the RERC was to collect accounts of religious or spiritual experiences from members of the public. This was done by asking people to submit written accounts of such experiences in response to 'the Hardy question':
'Have you ever been aware of or influenced by a presence or power, whether you call it God or not, which is different from your everyday self?'
Examples of experiences include dramatic types such as Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) and mystical experiences but also more everyday types such as a sense of presence or the inter-connectedness and meaningfulness of life. They are often referred to as 'religious', 'spiritual', 'transcendental', 'psychic','exceptional', or 'peak' experiences. The RERC is now home to an archive of over 6000 accounts of religious and spiritual experiences.
The Alister Hardy Society was founded in 1994 to support the work of the RERC and to diseminate the centre's research findings to any interested parties. In 2002 the RERC relocated to the University of Wales, Lampeter. Membership of the Society provides access to the AHS library and the bi-annual newsletter De Numine. The second series of occasional papers is also available for purchase from the Centre.
The AHS Chesterfield Group:
- is a local group of the Alister Hardy Society,
- exists to provide an informal yet academic forum for discussion of religious or spiritual experiences,
- is open to anyone from any background.
Meetings of the group usually take place on the first Friday of each month at approximately 7:30pm. Meetings are currently held at Whittington Moor, Chesterfield. Please contact me for details of the venue and how to find it. The current programme is available on this website and I welcome suggestions for talks and videos.
To receive a monthly newsletter containing updates about the AHS Chesterfield Group programme and new items on The Esoteric Experience website, please subscribe to my newsletter.
The video below is of John Franklin, the current Secretary of the AHS, being interviewed about the work of the RERC and the Society. He also gives an account of his own religious experience which nicely illustrates one type of the kind of experiences in question.
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AHS Religious Experience Resources
1965, The Living Stream by Alister Hardy. 1966, The Divine Flame by Alister Hardy. 1975, The Spiritual Nature of Man by Alister Hardy. 1979, The Biology of God by Alister Hardy. 1984, Darwin and the Spirit of Man by Alister Hardy. 2006, Exploration into Spirit: A History of the RERC & AHS by John Franklin. 2008, An Introduction to Religious & Spiritual Experience by Marianne Rankin (former Chair of the AHS) www.alisterhardysociety.org |
