Elder Jamaicans: Spiritual and Numinous Influences in Lived Experiences During Colonialism

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to give voice to a population that is rarely heard from, they are, the Jamaican elders. This research further set out to record the lived experiences of the elders during the colonialism (1928-1962) period and determine how the role of spirituality, religion, and the numinous shaped their lives. The ecosystem is scrutinized, for it provides the reciprocal tending of souls—the earth’s soul and the human soul. Jung (1933/2001) proposed that during the second half of one’s life, one need not “educate” one’s “conscious will” but rather understand the meaning and purpose of one’s life and “learn to experience … [one’s] inner being” (p. 72). He stated that at this stage of life, social desirability is no longer a goal; instead, one looks at life as a “way of working out one’s development and thus befitting” oneself (p. 72), hence, reaching the state of individuation. Through the narratives of the Jamaican elders, this study highlights the depth psychological threads of the dreams, psych, religion, synchronicity, archetypes, and the numinous, to name a few, that provide resiliency, strength, purpose, and well-being throughout the elders’ lives.