Unpublished Research on the Work of Shepherds of spirits
SMRA Research Line Two
Much early material is not ready to become a paper immediately. As Shepherds of spirits engage in discernment, pastoral formation, accompaniment, and record submission concerning possessing unclean spirits, they may accumulate long-term and continuous first-hand records. SMRA works with them to organize these records as unpublished research material.
Research focus
This line attends to points of contact and tension between the work of Shepherds of spirits and established psychology and psychiatry:
- longitudinal records of the identity, condition, and changing behavior attributed to possessing unclean spirits;
- process material involving the host, the possessing unclean spirit, and mutual pastoral fellowship;
- temporal associations among prayer, pastoral formation, accompaniment, and psychological phenomena;
- first-hand witness concerning a purgatory-like state, a near-heavenly state, judgment, and consequence;
- areas where conventional psychological accounts and Spirit Medicine accounts overlap, conflict, or remain unresolved.
Collaboration with Shepherds of spirits
Shepherds of spirits are responsible for discernment, accompaniment, and record submission in their pastoral setting. SMRA Research Members are responsible for record structure, coding, timelines, material comparison, and organizing research questions. Neither replaces the other: a Shepherd does not become a researcher merely by serving, and a researcher does not replace a Shepherd.
These materials serve understanding and accumulation before publication. Only after sustained organization, cross-comparison, and appropriate selection might some material enter publishable research or a formal study design.
Goal
This line preserves material that has not entered academic papers but may shape future research. It ensures that Spirit Medicine does not depend on a one-time exemplar alone, but also has process material that can be revisited, compared, and interpreted anew over time.