THE JOURNAL OF ASTROSOCIOLOGY VOLUME 1

unable to put things back into a familiar conceptual framework” (Space, Science and SpiritualityProject). These definitions of the experiences of astronauts, coupled with phenomenological andthematic analyses of such, indicate they underwent perspectival change, overwhelming feelingsof humility, awe and wonder, and a sense of external unity and contentment.Definitions of “awe” and “wonder” were taken from surveys on astronauts’ experiencesin space, which describes that they experienced perspectival change. For example, beforetraveling to space, Apollo 14 Astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell had settled on the idea that everyplanet, star, and object in the cosmos was distinct and separate. However, when he arrived inspace, he felt something, though schematization was not possible. He felt the Sun, the Earth, andhis relationship to them all, without boundaries and distinctions. He described what he felt as an“ecstasy of unity” (Carrano, 2009, p. 279). After returning to Earth, Mitchell would consulttheologians, philosophers, and scientists in order to explain what he had encountered in space.He even went on to found the Noetic Institute so that he could bestow his experiences upon otherpeople in hope of benefiting society (Mitchell & Williams, 1996).V. UnificationOne may describe this sense of unification with the universe as somethingincomprehensible and sublime. It certainly cannot fit into any existing framework, as nondualismis a primordial, organic consciousness without subject or object (Katz, 2007, p. 3-14).Moreover, attempting to categorize a sense of unity into a theoretical framework requiresrecognition of an object, which implies a duality between the object and the subject. After all, theargument here is that the search for unification results from a sense of separation brought aboutby dualist ideologies and binary modes of thinking. This “ecstasy of unity” runs parallel to whatAbraham Maslow (1976, p. 6-16) deemed ‘peak experiences’. These are mystical experiences ofegoless amalgamation with the world. They are experiences of wholeness and integration inwhich the individual existed effortlessly in the here and now.Both these peak experiences and experiences of unity are comparable to ideas inherent inEast Asian religions such as Confucianism and ideas such as Zen. These experiences of unityhold no definitions of the world or distinctions between us and the cosmos, and assumedlyneither do feelings of enchantment, as its adversary, i.e., disenchantment, is a consequence ofrationalization. In Ideas and Opinions, Einstein wrote that “The true value of a human being isdetermined by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self”(Einstein, 1954, p. 12). Therefore, one may view enchantment through unification as anabandonment of one’s identity, self, and ego, and as an appreciation of a unified existence.A notion incredibly similar to the ‘ecstasy of unity’ is the concept of the ‘OverviewEffect’, which is a term formulated by Frank White (1987) in his book The Overview Effect –Space Exploration and Human Evolution. White’s interest lies with the experiences astronautsencounter when looking upon the Earth from space, which has been described as a cognitive shiftin one’s awareness (White, 1987). Astronauts have claimed that during this time, the conflictsthat divide our society vanish, boundaries disappear, and there is an inherent urge to create aunified planetary existence. They also claim to possess a new appreciation for the preciousnessand size of our planet and a will to protect this ‘pale blue dot’ (Sagan, 1994) becomes clear andcritical.© 2015 Astrosociology Research Institute87