Exploring the marginalized history of intuitives and the monetization of visions in modern society. Discussing the fear and shame surrounding spiritual experiences in Western culture and the importance of honoring the past and considering the future. Highlighting the powerful visions of Crazy Horse and Joan of Arc and the role of visionaries in times of societal upheaval.
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Quick takeaways
Intuitive abilities, such as visions and premonitions, are prevalent and inherent to human culture across different societies and historical periods.
Visions and dialogues with the ancestors have traditionally played a central and pragmatic role in guiding cultures and societies.
Modernity's disconnection from ancestral wisdom has led to the marginalization and commodification of visionary experiences, hindering the role of seers as societal healers and wisdom conduits.
Deep dives
Visions and Premonitions are Common and Normal
Visions, premonitions, and intuitive abilities are common and inherent to human culture. People from various cultures and historical periods have reported experiencing precognition, dream experiences, and communication with unseen forces. The prevalence of these experiences is not limited to specific groups or marginalized individuals, but is a widespread phenomenon across different cultures and societies.
The Cultural Significance of Visions and Intuition
Visions, dreams, and dialogues with the ancestors play a central role in culture and societal decision-making. These practices are not considered supernatural or irrational in many traditional cultures, but are seen as essential and pragmatic aspects of existence. They provide guidance, insights, and a deep connection to the larger world of forces and beings. Visionaries and seers act as conduits, bridging humans and the larger ecology, and their visions shape the progress and direction of cultures.
The Fracture of the Intuitive in Modernity
Modernity's disconnection from ancestral wisdom and its pathologization of intuition have led to a fractured relationship with the visionary. The intuitive, removed from the support and accountability of traditional cultures, may struggle to find a place for their visions. This can result in the suppression and hiding of visions, leading to mental health struggles for individuals and a loss of cultural grounding. The unmooring of the seer from the fabric of culture and the monetization of intuitive gifts contributes to the marginalization and commodification of visionary experiences.
The Essential Role of the Seer in Culture
Despite the challenges faced by modern seers, the essential role they play in culture cannot be denied. The seer acts as a societal healer, awakening a numb world from its slumber, and serving as a conduit for ancestral knowledge and wisdom. The visions and insights of the seer guide cultural progress and anchor the culture to its past. Reviving the central role of the seer requires recognizing the pragmatic nature of visions, creating an ecology to support and foster them, and challenging societal aversions to dialogue with the deceased and envision a larger-than-human world.
Visions of the Future: A Normal and Necessary Human Experience
Visions of the future, commonly called premonitions, have been reported by individuals throughout recorded history and across different cultures. These experiences are not aberrations or unique to certain individuals, but rather a normal part of human life. Despite attempts to dismiss or ridicule them, people still consult oracles, read stars, and commune with the dead. The presence of these visionary experiences suggests that humans have an innate ability to receive forewarnings of threatening events and access future knowledge.
The Role of Dreams and Visions in Human Culture
Dreams and visions have played a significant role in shaping human history and cultures. In ancient civilizations, dreams were seen as prophetic messages, and individuals made consequential decisions based on dream interpretations. Indigenous cultures, like the Iroquois, valued dreams as a means of connecting with ancestral spirits and guiding their actions. The ability to leave oneself and enter the spirit world through dreams was considered essential for navigating life. Furthermore, visions poured through ruptures and were more prevalent in times of societal upheaval, often serving as wake-up calls to address societal wounds and inspire change. The presence of visionary experiences highlights the need to listen to the voices of seers and visionaries in order to understand and navigate the complexities of our world.
Across cultures and traditions, there have always been those that speak with the dead, hear voices, enter states of oracular trance, and receive visions of what is to come. Such sensitivity, traditionally, is common. It's common to have premonitions that come to pass, to have dream experiences that translate into day-to-day life, and to be in continual felt dialogue with ancestors, with the dead, and with a larger world of animate forces. For most of human history, the people that received such visions lived right at the center of culture. But what happens when the seer is ripped from the ecology in which they traditionally lived? The intuitive is cast out, othered, vilified, and pathologized. Cast aside, relegated to the margins of society, without the context that once held it, oracular seeing can veer into charlatanry and delusion. So these days visions — like everything else in the modern world — are immediately monetized, translated into marketable pop-spirituality and much of the mastery and depth of visionary tradition is lost. But what this points to isn’t something “wrong” with intuition or the practice of oracular vision — it points to something wrong with modernity’s relationship with it. The proclivity towards vilifying and pathologizing intuition on the one hand and claiming it as an exotic and monetizable gift useful for attracting internet followers on the other — all of this is a function of the othering of intuition in the modern world. Societally, we would do well to rediscover the central role of the seer. For if we lose our ability to learn from the visions of seers, we lose the feeling body of culture — the very thing that drives culture forward. Featuring music by Marya Stark, Char Rothschild, and Peia, and featuring discussions with author Frederick Smith, psychoanalyst Bernardo Malamut, and Sophie Strand, this multi-part episode series seeks to place the seer back in their rightful place at the center of culture. It is simultaneously a celebration of the gifts of the intuitive and a reminder that dreams and visions need an ecology of accountability in which to live and grow. Listen on a good sound system, at a time when you can devote your full attention.
