Explore the historic importance of visionary experiences, the persecution of intuitives throughout history, and the role of numbness in modern society. Delve into the cultural perception of sensitivity and the humorous take on New Age beliefs. Examine the grift of spiritual capitalism and the misconception of empaths. Discover the intersection of science and spirit and the need for whole systems thinking and embracing diversity for progressivism.
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Quick takeaways
The clash between rural, animistic culture and larger civilizational institutions throughout history highlights the vilification and persecution of intuitives and visionary experiences.
Modernity, driven by the pursuit of control and rationality, has consistently demonized and pathologized intuitive practices, viewing sensitivity and visionary experiences as threats to the modern worldview.
The persecution of intuitives serves to maintain the numbness of civilization while paradoxically providing a fleeting sense of feeling and power through the act of burning those who feel too much.
Anchored spirituality is essential to provide context and communal accountability, preventing spiritual grift and unmoored experiences in the modern new age movement.
Deep dives
The centrality and normalcy of visionary experience in culture
Throughout history, visionary experiences have played a central role in shaping cultures and societies. Visionaries, who receive messages and insights through heightened perception, serve as living antennas of culture. Traditional cultures have provided ecologies for these visions to thrive, fostering intuitive and visionary individuals.
The clash between intuitive cultures and larger civilizational institutions
Joan of Arc's story highlights the clash between rural, animistic culture that honors visionary experiences and larger civilizational institutions that vilify and persecute the intuitive. This clash can be seen throughout history, with civilization demonizing and pathologizing mystic experiences, likely due to the unsettling nature of these experiences that challenge notions of control and agency.
The persecution of the intuitive by modernity
Modernity, driven by the pursuit of control and rationality, has consistently vilified and persecuted intuitives. This can be seen through the witch trials, rise of humanism, and restriction of intuitive practices. Sensitivity and visionary experiences are seen as threats to the modern worldview, and attempts to discredit and pathologize them persist to this day.
The connection between civilization and the persecution of the intuitive
The rise of civilization and the persecution of the intuitive are deeply intertwined. Civilization seeks to banish the mysterious, numb sensitivities, and prioritize human agency and control. The persecution of the intuitive serves to maintain the numbness of civilization, while paradoxically providing a fleeting sense of feeling and power through the act of burning those who feel too much.
The Importance of Ecological Wisdom and Anchored Spirituality
Anchored spirituality is essential as it allows visions and insights to have a context and be integrated within communities and bodies. True wisdom is not self-concerned and does not seek validation or attention. Wisdom traditions emphasize self-obliteration rather than reinforcing individual specialness. The modern new age movement often lacks context and communal accountability, leading to spiritual grift and unmoored spiritual experiences.
The Dangers of Ideologies and Fringe Discourses
Ideologies and fringe discourses can be dangerous when they become unanchored from communal accountability and deviate from lived experiences. These discourses can foster delusions of grandeur and ego inflation. The linguistic and spiritual terminology used to justify personal desires can obscure the true source of these desires. It is important to approach alternative discourses with humility and critical thinking.
The Intersection of Capitalism, Grift, and Spirituality
Spiritual grift and consumer capitalism have intertwined, commodifying spirituality and turning it into a market-driven industry. The larger grift lies in convincing people that they are incomplete and need constant self-improvement and validation. Grift can be found in various fields, including religion, science, medicine, politics, and academia. Capitalism, as the ultimate grift, has absorbed and co-opted spirituality, blurring the line between spiritual and materialistic pursuits.
Across the globe, the arrival of 'civilization' brought with it the persecution of the seer, the shaman, and the visionary. Why? Perhaps it is because civilization, with its narratives of individual agency and control, its relentless emphasis on forward progress, its commitment to the removal of mystery from daily life, and its encouragement of numbness over feeling, is fundamentally at odds with the seer's sensitivities and alignment to larger forces beyond human control. So modernity pushes the seer to the fringe — and once cast aside, seeing can veer into charlatanry and delusion. The rise of free market spirituality and New Age conspiracy is a result of the unmooring of the seer from traditional context. Yet what this points to isn't something 'wrong' with seeing or spirituality. It points to the need for context in a larger culture of disconnect and fragmentation, for slow learning and earned wisdom within a culture that always rushes things outwards. Dichotomized narratives that pit scientific rationalism against the spiritual, shamanic, or oracular ignore the central importance that spiritual movements play in culture. Visionary movements drive all aspects of culture, including scientific innovation. And ultimately — as science itself tells us — having a 'fringe' that sees things differently than the mainstream is absolutely essential to the growth of culture. So perhaps the modern-day seer must re-learn what it means to find anchor and context and earned wisdom, just as society must remember that the seer is vitally important. In a world of fragmentation and numbness, the seer comes to wake the culture up, to restore its sensitivities, and ultimately to drive culture forward. Featuring conversations with Sophie Strand and Healingfromhealing's Adam Aronovich and music by Peia, Marya Stark, Char Rothschild, and more. Listen on a good sound system!
