Red Flags
I was gifted with a few great books this Christmas, with subjects ranging from herbal alchemy, to ceremony, and even a little bit of hoodoo. I couldn’t have been more pleased. One of the books that fascinated me is called “Becoming Supernatural” and I began to dive into reading it soon after receiving it. A few pages into the introduction, a few red flags started to wave in my mind. It looked like the book had a streak of pseudoscience. Now, this doesn’t still my interest in the book. It looks like it also contains some factual material that will yield a deeper understanding on how our brains work in the realm of the spooky, as well as some interesting meditations that the author claims had some amazing positive effects on those who have tried them. I’ll slog through some “fake news” to glean some truth (while using it as a way to practice my critical thinking skills, pointing out what I believe to be bunk, and why).
This brings me to the topic of the blog today. There are some easy to find red flags in spiritual thinking and literature that can at least make one stop and try to figure out if the thinking or literature will actually serve to help you or take your money. I thought that I might share a few of them today.
Name Dropping Quantum Theory
Quantum mechanics became the darling of the New Age scene as it seems to do the impossible, such as light acting differently due to observation, or particles pulling seemingly improbable shenanigans that don’t quite jive with our understanding of physics. The problem arises when one looks closely at the experiments that help create some of the quantum weirdness out there. The correlation between quantum mechanics and the New Age movement is usually born from a misunderstanding of what is actually happening, or trying to create false equivelency between everyday life and the actions of particles on the atomic level.
Because of this, any work in the spiritual realm that readily drops how quantum mechanics proves that it is more of a science makes me jumpy at best. It can be from a misunderstanding of quantum physics (not many of us really understand it, myself included). It is the predatory spiritual movements that really get my goat, though. The ones that drop the word quantum in their practice, and use it as a way to sell it to the masses as scientific spirituality. Either way, beware of the “Q” word in spiritual practices. It may just be an honest misunderstanding, or it may be a way to fool you.
The Hard Sell
True stories of how a practice changed the life of someone is useful anecdotal evidence when we try to tackle subjects outside the widely accepted world view. It can also be a selling point for a product. If you feel like someone is leading up to asking you for money, it might be wise to take a step back and check out the intentions of the book or person trying to sell a “spiritual product.”
I know. This comes from a guy that charges for sessions, and tries to sell items of spiritual significance online. It may be shocking, but I don’t do this for the money. I like to be paid for my time. I like to have enough wealth in my life for food, home, and a little fun. That's not why I do what I do. I do this work because I am passionate about it, and I feel that, in a way, I’m supposed to. There is a line where people start putting the money’s importance before the importance of how our practice helps others and the world, though. It’s a difficult balance in this line of work, but there are people out there who are very blatant about what they’re in this for. If you feel like someone is pushing a product more than the work, you might want to pause and get a better feel for who you’re working with. A few other things to look out for in this would be promises of instant results, lots of spiritual power and wisdom accrued in a weekend workshop, claims that their product is the only way to enlightenment, promising abilities and wisdom that the promiser does not/cannot display, and other general signs of sleaziness.
The White Savior
This is a little specific to cultural traditions, and not a problem that I’ve noticed in “Becoming Supernatural.” It is a problem in spiritual literature, and I figured I would address it. This is a trope that could easily be found in a handful of 90s books on shamanism or Native Traditions. The story is about how a culture gifted their secrets to some white person from California to save their tradition, and share (read: sell) this wisdom with other well off folks. This is kind of tied into the hard sell (there might even be a little bit of quantum name dropping) as it usually leads to some kind of plan to make lots of money off of those looking for lost cultural connection.
While I’m not suggesting that cultural wisdom cannot be gifted to those outside of said culture, and taught by an outsider (with permission where applicable), I find that those folks who practice real cultural tradition that they weren’t necessarily born into don’t see themselves as the savior of that culture. They are sharing what was given to them to share.
So, when an author comes out of the woodwork claiming fantastical things (*cough *cough* Lynn Andrews *cough* Carlos Casteneda) that they learned from a culture that had kept it previously secret, it’s a good sign to at least research the culture they claim to represent. Is it in line with what the culture openly shares? Do they have open backing from people in that culture? Does it actually reference a culture, or is it vague (marketing as “Native American,” “African,” or “Celtic” wisdom) without specific groups or regions (such as Abenaki, Ethiopian, or Welsh)?
Okay. This is something that one could write a book about. I’ll leave it at these three today, but I imagine I’ll revisit this topic in a later blog post. I’ll leave you with the suggestions of source checking and research.
On another note, you may have noticed that I have posted my blog on Saturday instead of Friday for the past few weeks. Friday seems to be an inopportune day to get a blog out. Henceforth, my blog day will be Saturday!
Also, if there is any questions you have, or a subject you’d like me to approach on my blog, please let me know! I’d love to take suggestions.
May your week be beautiful
-The Green Mountain Mage