Ritual Opening and Individual Transformation: Rites of Passage at Esalen

Ritual manipulation of emotion can result in “psychic opening,” a state in which the individual's defenses are suddenly lowered. An individual in this state is vulnerable and suggestible, and major shifts in his psychic configurations can occur. When ritualized psychic opening exists as a part of a cultural event‐pattern for the purpose of inducing psychobehavioral transformation in individuals, the process can be considered as a type of rite of passage. An encounter/Gestalt workshop at Esalen Institute is discussed as an example of this process. The data show that the group setting itself has many liminal characteristics.