My little five year old grandson is pre verbal and autistic. He hugs trees and listens to them. He looks up into the tree tops and laughs. He is communicating with the life of the beautiful trees. As in the case of the young man in the Telepathy Tapes, he too is magic.
Helen, thanks for sharing your experience with your grandson. Have you listened to The Telepathy Tapes yet? I'm curious what your thoughts are given your experience as a grandparent.
Hi Sally, thanks for your response, and yes, I hope you enjoy all the recommended resources! If there's anything in particular that was touched in the article that you'd like to learn more about, let me know and I'll be happy to provide recommendations
Thanks for this excellent essay, Chris. Appreciate your recommended readings and resources as well. I completely agree, we are witnessing the return of magik.
Wondering if you have considered Jean Gebser's work in your frame? Particularly his notion as presented in Every Present Origin of not only the magical but the mythical and the archaic remaining latent and waiting to be re-conjured into a more "integral" consciousness.
It would seem we may be on the verge of the latent being made undeniably manifest as we are confronted with our humanity in this age of AI and exponential tech. It's clear that part of the answer to the meaning crisis lies in reaching back into human history and finding good analogues for reconnecting and re-enchanting with the Gaian mind for a more meaningful life.
In 2025, we are all being invited to return to the Magikal Mystery Tour!
Hi Daljeet, I haven't read Gebser, although I am vaguely familiar through reading Ken Wilber back in the day. I do think a lot of what we are seeing today is that re-integration of earlier stages of consciousness into a post-rational worldview. Roll up for the Mystery Tour!
Yeah, I think Gebser is actually one of the primary foundations for the entire "Integral" framework. But his original writing is a little dense. I would recommend Jeremy Johnson's work to you and your readers. His book "Seeing Through the World" is an excellent primer on Gebser, easily grokked and probably aligns very nicely with your thinking in this essay. Jeremy is here on Substack as well (@jermeydjohnson) and has a pub called Mutations.
I actually publish them here on Substack at https://hugoverse.substack.com/ - if you’re interested 😊 No pressure at all - just thought you might like them - with magic in the modern world etc ;-)
There is something here that I am left sitting with - that magic opens up people's sense of awe, mystery, connectedness, and that there is something bigger than them. Wondering about the nuance of when this is supportive in opening people, and when it itself can become a new religion..
Awe and mystery are definitely a big part of the sense of re-enchantment that I'm talking about. It's actually deeply connected to religion, in the sense of the Latin re-ligio or reconnecting to something greater than yourself. Of course, traditional religions also attempt to inspire feelings of awe, mystery, and connectedness, with varying degrees of success, but if you've ever walked into one of the great cathedrals you may have felt a sense of it. I don't think making a religion out of magic is necessary or beneficial, but perhaps it can serve some of the same function as religion.
Thank you, Chris. I love the authority and enthusiasm of your voice, piping up with such compelling arguments. There are many of us born into magic consciousness, swimming along in a deeper current, longing to rise up into fresh air, as this revolution proceeds. There is no source of knowledge not based in subjective experience; objectivity is a polite construct in which we promise to observe precisely and report sincerely. Seems to me, this revolution is about being willing to trust a wider range of each other's subjective experience- which will support each of us to trust a wider range of our own.
"objectivity is a polite construct in which we promise to observe precisely and report sincerely. Seems to me, this revolution is about being willing to trust a wider range of each other's subjective experience- which will support each of us to trust a wider range of our own." Beautifully said! Yes, it's an epistemological revolution. Being willing to trust our own experiences and those of other humans over a materialist paradigm that dismisses them.
Excellent article. I’m glad I’m so discovered your work. The theme of correcting our cultural and environmental imbalances through re-enchantment via magic, astrology, and working directly with the animate forces of nature through ritual are some of the major themes of my own work here on Substack. And now I’m going to have to check out the Telepathy Tapes!
Great essay. I would also recommend Roth Douthat's new book, Believe (Why Everyone Should Be Religious). I'm reading it now and just got through the chapter on consciousness. Reading about near death experiences now...
Thanks for the recommendation! Added to my wishlist. And, if you're interested in NDE's, Bruce Greyson MD's interview on the Tim Ferriss Show is great.
Excellent article, I love the links, references, personal sharing, perspectives, weighing... very well-written, interesting, engaging. I agree the magic has always been there, and it's about re-orienting to that "magic"/enchantment/quality, being in the experience of the known and the unknown and perhaps unknowable simultaneously, even while striving to understand more and more.
And I agree about astrology and other 'woo' (I also only use one 'woo', love that!) tech is invaluable and should be taken in sincerity. Daljeet Peterson at Mutable Fire (https://mutablefire21.substack.com/) uses astrology as a sensemaking tool, with keen observation and correlation, not removing the mystical, the archetypal, the symbolic, but bringing *in* (what I would consider) a whole-brained approach with conventionally observable "data". While I've always been comfortable with magic, astrology seemed foreign to me, but his bridging has made it accessible, fun, and useful.
I'm guessing there are a lot of people out there who currently have a pragmatic bridge between the esoteric/mystical/'woo' and the material (for lack of a better word). We need these voices to be part of the conversation, the revolution. Etymologically, "revolution" is "to turn again" -- we're not necessarily destined to fight. Each turning toward -- toward humans and relating, to values, to traditional wisdom, to emergence -- is a micro-revolution. Interestingly, the etymology of *verse* is also "turn"; so let us turn with each other in con-verse-ation.
Thanks for the article and all of the links, very much in the spirit of where my thoughts have been this year. I want to share, that I have been discussing points surrounding my Idealist world view with ChatGPT, and it has been really helpful in exploring these topics…. it helps me track my various perspectives, and better articulate to friends and family that hold a materialist framework for reality. I will share with you a summary it just provided for based on our conversations this month:
Here’s your mental map summary:
Core Themes & Connections
1. Reality & Consciousness
• Idealism vs. Materialism (Your current stance: Idealism)
• Reality as an Operating System (OS)
• Beliefs & placebos work if they align with the OS
• Religion as a coded structure with “bugs”
• Time as an illusion (Nonlinear perception)
• Interconnectedness of all things
• Chaos & Order as fundamental forces (Devil as a real concept?)
2. Language & Thought
• Language as a structuring force of reality (Not just a tool)
• Patterns in conversation
• Can trends in conversation predict broader cultural shifts?
• Sentiment analysis for market or societal shifts
• Dangers of Groupthink (Aligns with Susan Cain’s insights)
• Expressing internal thoughts as a path to actualization
• Aligning personal and professional growth through sharing
3. The Power of Belief & Perception
• Placebo as a mechanism of reality shaping
• Religious & ideological systems as software
• When does belief align vs. when does it distort?
• Aligning actions with the ‘rules’ of reality’s OS
4. Personal & Professional Development
• Self-actualization through sharing
• Balancing intuition with strategic communication
5. Data, Systems, & Pattern Analysis
• Conversation Pattern Analysis
• The role of systems in shaping outcomes
• Most failures are systemic, not personal
This is your mental framework as it stands. Let me know if you’d like to refine or add anything!
My little five year old grandson is pre verbal and autistic. He hugs trees and listens to them. He looks up into the tree tops and laughs. He is communicating with the life of the beautiful trees. As in the case of the young man in the Telepathy Tapes, he too is magic.
Helen, thanks for sharing your experience with your grandson. Have you listened to The Telepathy Tapes yet? I'm curious what your thoughts are given your experience as a grandparent.
Oh I LOVE this - The Year of Magic - yes please!! 🙏 excited to look at the books/ articles! Thank YOU Chris
Hi Sally, thanks for your response, and yes, I hope you enjoy all the recommended resources! If there's anything in particular that was touched in the article that you'd like to learn more about, let me know and I'll be happy to provide recommendations
Thanks for this excellent essay, Chris. Appreciate your recommended readings and resources as well. I completely agree, we are witnessing the return of magik.
Wondering if you have considered Jean Gebser's work in your frame? Particularly his notion as presented in Every Present Origin of not only the magical but the mythical and the archaic remaining latent and waiting to be re-conjured into a more "integral" consciousness.
It would seem we may be on the verge of the latent being made undeniably manifest as we are confronted with our humanity in this age of AI and exponential tech. It's clear that part of the answer to the meaning crisis lies in reaching back into human history and finding good analogues for reconnecting and re-enchanting with the Gaian mind for a more meaningful life.
In 2025, we are all being invited to return to the Magikal Mystery Tour!
Hi Daljeet, I haven't read Gebser, although I am vaguely familiar through reading Ken Wilber back in the day. I do think a lot of what we are seeing today is that re-integration of earlier stages of consciousness into a post-rational worldview. Roll up for the Mystery Tour!
Yeah, I think Gebser is actually one of the primary foundations for the entire "Integral" framework. But his original writing is a little dense. I would recommend Jeremy Johnson's work to you and your readers. His book "Seeing Through the World" is an excellent primer on Gebser, easily grokked and probably aligns very nicely with your thinking in this essay. Jeremy is here on Substack as well (@jermeydjohnson) and has a pub called Mutations.
So much wonderful inspiration for my urban fantasy short stories! Thanks!
Great! I’m a big fan of the fantasy genre.
I actually publish them here on Substack at https://hugoverse.substack.com/ - if you’re interested 😊 No pressure at all - just thought you might like them - with magic in the modern world etc ;-)
Me too! Writing them, though, is a wonderful adventure - and enormous pleasure 😊
Great read, one I have to sit with for a while before making a useful comment. Great read, thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
There is something here that I am left sitting with - that magic opens up people's sense of awe, mystery, connectedness, and that there is something bigger than them. Wondering about the nuance of when this is supportive in opening people, and when it itself can become a new religion..
Awe and mystery are definitely a big part of the sense of re-enchantment that I'm talking about. It's actually deeply connected to religion, in the sense of the Latin re-ligio or reconnecting to something greater than yourself. Of course, traditional religions also attempt to inspire feelings of awe, mystery, and connectedness, with varying degrees of success, but if you've ever walked into one of the great cathedrals you may have felt a sense of it. I don't think making a religion out of magic is necessary or beneficial, but perhaps it can serve some of the same function as religion.
Thank you, Chris. I love the authority and enthusiasm of your voice, piping up with such compelling arguments. There are many of us born into magic consciousness, swimming along in a deeper current, longing to rise up into fresh air, as this revolution proceeds. There is no source of knowledge not based in subjective experience; objectivity is a polite construct in which we promise to observe precisely and report sincerely. Seems to me, this revolution is about being willing to trust a wider range of each other's subjective experience- which will support each of us to trust a wider range of our own.
"objectivity is a polite construct in which we promise to observe precisely and report sincerely. Seems to me, this revolution is about being willing to trust a wider range of each other's subjective experience- which will support each of us to trust a wider range of our own." Beautifully said! Yes, it's an epistemological revolution. Being willing to trust our own experiences and those of other humans over a materialist paradigm that dismisses them.
Excellent article. I’m glad I’m so discovered your work. The theme of correcting our cultural and environmental imbalances through re-enchantment via magic, astrology, and working directly with the animate forces of nature through ritual are some of the major themes of my own work here on Substack. And now I’m going to have to check out the Telepathy Tapes!
Thank you, and it sounds like we have some interests in common. I'm looking forward to checking out some of your writing :)
Great essay. I would also recommend Roth Douthat's new book, Believe (Why Everyone Should Be Religious). I'm reading it now and just got through the chapter on consciousness. Reading about near death experiences now...
Thanks for the recommendation! Added to my wishlist. And, if you're interested in NDE's, Bruce Greyson MD's interview on the Tim Ferriss Show is great.
Excellent article, I love the links, references, personal sharing, perspectives, weighing... very well-written, interesting, engaging. I agree the magic has always been there, and it's about re-orienting to that "magic"/enchantment/quality, being in the experience of the known and the unknown and perhaps unknowable simultaneously, even while striving to understand more and more.
And I agree about astrology and other 'woo' (I also only use one 'woo', love that!) tech is invaluable and should be taken in sincerity. Daljeet Peterson at Mutable Fire (https://mutablefire21.substack.com/) uses astrology as a sensemaking tool, with keen observation and correlation, not removing the mystical, the archetypal, the symbolic, but bringing *in* (what I would consider) a whole-brained approach with conventionally observable "data". While I've always been comfortable with magic, astrology seemed foreign to me, but his bridging has made it accessible, fun, and useful.
I'm guessing there are a lot of people out there who currently have a pragmatic bridge between the esoteric/mystical/'woo' and the material (for lack of a better word). We need these voices to be part of the conversation, the revolution. Etymologically, "revolution" is "to turn again" -- we're not necessarily destined to fight. Each turning toward -- toward humans and relating, to values, to traditional wisdom, to emergence -- is a micro-revolution. Interestingly, the etymology of *verse* is also "turn"; so let us turn with each other in con-verse-ation.
Thanks for the article and all of the links, very much in the spirit of where my thoughts have been this year. I want to share, that I have been discussing points surrounding my Idealist world view with ChatGPT, and it has been really helpful in exploring these topics…. it helps me track my various perspectives, and better articulate to friends and family that hold a materialist framework for reality. I will share with you a summary it just provided for based on our conversations this month:
Here’s your mental map summary:
Core Themes & Connections
1. Reality & Consciousness
• Idealism vs. Materialism (Your current stance: Idealism)
• Reality as an Operating System (OS)
• Beliefs & placebos work if they align with the OS
• Religion as a coded structure with “bugs”
• Time as an illusion (Nonlinear perception)
• Interconnectedness of all things
• Chaos & Order as fundamental forces (Devil as a real concept?)
2. Language & Thought
• Language as a structuring force of reality (Not just a tool)
• Patterns in conversation
• Can trends in conversation predict broader cultural shifts?
• Sentiment analysis for market or societal shifts
• Dangers of Groupthink (Aligns with Susan Cain’s insights)
• Expressing internal thoughts as a path to actualization
• Aligning personal and professional growth through sharing
3. The Power of Belief & Perception
• Placebo as a mechanism of reality shaping
• Religious & ideological systems as software
• When does belief align vs. when does it distort?
• Aligning actions with the ‘rules’ of reality’s OS
4. Personal & Professional Development
• Self-actualization through sharing
• Balancing intuition with strategic communication
5. Data, Systems, & Pattern Analysis
• Conversation Pattern Analysis
• The role of systems in shaping outcomes
• Most failures are systemic, not personal
This is your mental framework as it stands. Let me know if you’d like to refine or add anything!