Transpersonal Functions of Masks in NohKiDo

Abstract

This article discusses the transpersonal functions of masks in ritual and in drama therapy as expressed in the creative path of NohKiDo. NohKiDo, whose main components include the Prism of Consciousness (Personal, Transpersonal, and Universal), the Rainbow Method, Action Meditation techniques (masked meditation, etc.), and Therapeutic Noh Theater, is a therapeu- tic system developed by the author through the redefinition and interpretation of a set of transpersonal concepts based on Zeami’s (one of the founders of Noh) original Noh formulation for Therapeutic Noh Theater. The most significant concepts of Ma (heightened energy through stillness and silence), Mushin-no-kan (transpersonal projection), Ichu no kei (projective imagination), and Riken no ken (transpersonal mirroring) pertain especially to the transpersonal functions of masks. The main aim of a Therapeutic Noh Theater performance is to heighten the conscious- ness of its actors, as well as the members of its audience, to a transpersonal level; a Therapeutic Noh Theater performance of Born from Good Angel’s Tears is discussed as an example. The creative path of NohKiDo is introduced here as a lifelong journey to the spiritual, within and without, via masks, the arts, and creativity.