Abstract:
It is inevitable that at some time in the life of an individual he or she will come face to face with loss in one or all of its forms. It is suggested here that these profound encounters open an individual to a heightening of consciousness which allows access to parts of the psyche less influenced by rational thought and more closely allied to numinous and symbolic experience. For example, Stanislav and Christina Grof (1990) suggest that encounters with loss and death are pivotal to the process of self-actualisation and “an integral component of most spiritual emergencies” (57). Consequently, these experiences can allow access to what William James (1901-2, Lecture XVII) has called “available states of consciousness” that “add a supersensuous meaning to the ordinary outward data of consciousness”. In many traditions understanding of and access to these available states of consciousness continue to be a significant part of cultural and spiritual development. To consider these critical links between loss, transformation and states of consciousness this article will explore the permeability of boundaries between consensus reality and the transpersonal dimensions of experience exposed by William Shakespeare in his play Hamlet (Dover Wilson, 1972). Central to this is the character of Hamlet, described by Harold Bloom (1998) as having ‘an ever-growing inner self, the dream of infinite consciousness’ (416). It is hypothesised that Hamlet’s soliloquies disclose the playwright’s “spiritual emergency”, a terrifying psychic journey and extraordinary transformational conclusion. In order to manage and integrate his mourning over the death of his son Hamnet, William Shakespeare uses the making of Hamlet to re-conceive and externalize an inner representation of his dead son. On one level, this public portrayal of the lost object of his affection enables Shakespeare to accept the reality of his loss and repositions him to address a number of universal questions that arise from this change in relationship. However, at a deeper level it is proposed that the playwright’s personal loss caused him to experience a transformed or non-ordinary state of consciousness, termed by Grof and Grof (1989) as a “spiritual emergency”. In summary, Shakespeare’s experience of loss precipitates engagement with other available states of consciousness which causes a crisis of inner transformation which leads to his personality rebirth and healing. Thus Shakespeare’s experience of psycho-spiritual transformation shapes the content of Hamlet and his deceased son, Hamnet, gives intentional substance to the play’s principle character.