Well said. Cult thinking of any sort leads to a rigid mentality that severs itself from the richness of the world, trapping its victims in unrealities of various kinds.
Interestingly, this is unrelated, or nearly so, to specific beliefs. It is, rather, a stance towards belief.
Regarding cults, I often recall talking to serial Jehovah’s Witnesses and after a while, the common trait was that they always had to defer their answer to consulting someone higher or deeper in their web when they were confronted with a thought that went beyond their margin. Somewhere there may have been lurking the shared fear of outsiders, but this characteristic of deferring to an expert authority seemed a common feature. This resonates with your crusade against robots. The recent charade to “follow the science” was the march of the robots to follow Fauci, in favor of actual science that is always testing the hypothesis …and eschewing the traditional view, or pronouncement by self-proclaimed authority.
Apr 20, 2023·edited Apr 20, 2023Liked by Tessa Lena
I once had a brush with Scientology. I had a couple of conversations with one of their representatives. I came this close to being "audited." But it sounded like and looked like a cult. So I went no further. I decided instead to develop a moderate drinking problem. And by the way. A. A. is a cult.
Believing that one is powerless to give up a behavior or substance. Still another cult.
Smart phone users (or at least that clear majority "addicted" to the devices) - Yes, they're a cult.
another cult.
People who have ACCEPTED a psychiatric diagnosis or two or three of them. They're a cult.
i was going to stop with the simple observation that racism was invented by slave traders and conquistadors as a justification for genocide. we talk about cultural baggage, and inheritances of trauma, so that validates your ancestral theory. is it possible that there is also a slow leak from the akashic records?
Sometimes I output pain, and sometimes I get culty, I've been in some of them, radical atheism, radical scientism, radical anti-covidianism.
I try to learn from this.
We all fail, and it's best to be humble, to be honest about what's going on inside with the right people, so that we might outgrow the shackles of our current cult.
If someone can't listen, then let them be.
They may know more than you realize, and choosing to be in a cult is a decision that I cannot understand, but I've come to realize, it is not mine to make.
Well said Tessa. Awakening to what is really going on in the world and who is responsible for it takes some effort and time but the more difficult task is how to deal with it all once you are aware. And that is where your work is so valuable for me and I certainly do appreciate your efforts Tessa.
I found this message in a bottle that must've been floating in the ocean for decades, maybe even since before WWII. The message sounded like it came from someone in distress who was in hiding from some awful brutal repressive beasts. The message said: "Always be suspicious of any political ideology, or mass movement which asks you to abandon your critical thinking skills and your gut intuition; we were naive and didn't know...."
Apr 20, 2023·edited Apr 20, 2023Liked by Tessa Lena
Some people, who are unsure of themselves, anxious, feel a bit inadequate, can be readily sucked into cults by the big, affirming welcome into the family...
Then they get chores, and more chores, and have to pitch-in, of course...
In college I moved one friend out of an apartment with another friend in about 90 minutes one night.
They were both my friends from freshman year, and both had been my roommates, but one needed my help, and I understood.
Couldn’t agree more on your views about cults,you are a gem when it comes to intelligent,witty writing,a breath of fresh air in the very poor media landscape,much love and joy to you,thanks for your efforts 🙏
I'm in agreement ethnic prejudice is disgusting and I believe it stems from pride. Most ethnically prejudice folks are full of anger and dislike even those of their own ethnicity. As you stated it's a hatred for different beliefs at the core where they generally have no idea the traumas from their ethnic background could be possibly affecting them today. Thank you for leading with love.
Excellent observations. If you haven't read it, "The True Believer" by Eric Hoffer is an excellent short book on people's proclivity to join whatever "new thing" is out there. When I read it, I was shocked at how often in my life I had unknowingly, more or less, joined a "cult". NEVER AGAIN.
Any mass society is by definition a cult. What gives it the appearance of coherence? It certainly isn't Dunbar's Number. It isn't kumbaya sung around a campfire among a group of intimates. From Hammurabi's Code to the Holy Bible to the UN charter of this and that, a mass society can only cohere around a handful of narratives. Call them laws or doctrines or policies or edicts or protocols or regulations or whatever. That's how it works.
Apr 21, 2023·edited Apr 21, 2023Liked by Tessa Lena
Dear Tessa, another beautifully written Substack essay. I think we just have to accept that all gained knowledge begins indeed with “individual personal experience.” And that all of us shape our own reality-bubble, our (ancestral) wounds included. To me, the world we might head towards is the one coming straight out of computer gaming for boys. And or the ones J.K.Rowlings brought to life in Harry Potter. Sometimes I think too many people game and Harry Potter became too much part of our imaginary world and so these fantasy worlds too moulded the world we are at right now. Because Thought Become Things. I also find the global 'oldfashioned-greedy-paternalistic-old-men-cult-world we live in now misses an important element: an end vision, a well defined definition of the world they see for themselves. I do find the satanism visual and ideological language boring and frankly utterly stupid. Esthetically it is hollow, unlayered and uninteresting. What do the elites want in the end, when all of us are killed, shot, starved? And the rest of us 'enslaved'. Enslaved for the purpose of what? I mean, we won't have any jobs anymore - robots - will do it, so enslaved to do what? And what kind of life will they live when all the rest is gone? Which kind of buildings will they live in, what kind of architecture, which kind of architect do they like? What kind of leisure will be included in their lives when all is conquered and killed? Hugging a genetically modified tree? What's the point in modifying a tree anyway? Will it make them happier when the tree is modified? How will they relate to each other, these elites, when all is gone? How will they deal with each other? Will they give hugs to each other and display respect and love? What is the ultimate endgame here? Sex and joy for life? The whole thing seems a joke to me, all of it! But I do think that us, we, the people can learn lessons here; We have to do what they don't do: we have to start to define in detail the world WE WANT TO LIVE IN. And to do that we first have to stop feeling we are victims. (This last one helps me personally a lot to get myself through the days).
Well said. Cult thinking of any sort leads to a rigid mentality that severs itself from the richness of the world, trapping its victims in unrealities of various kinds.
Interestingly, this is unrelated, or nearly so, to specific beliefs. It is, rather, a stance towards belief.
Tessa,
Regarding cults, I often recall talking to serial Jehovah’s Witnesses and after a while, the common trait was that they always had to defer their answer to consulting someone higher or deeper in their web when they were confronted with a thought that went beyond their margin. Somewhere there may have been lurking the shared fear of outsiders, but this characteristic of deferring to an expert authority seemed a common feature. This resonates with your crusade against robots. The recent charade to “follow the science” was the march of the robots to follow Fauci, in favor of actual science that is always testing the hypothesis …and eschewing the traditional view, or pronouncement by self-proclaimed authority.
I once had a brush with Scientology. I had a couple of conversations with one of their representatives. I came this close to being "audited." But it sounded like and looked like a cult. So I went no further. I decided instead to develop a moderate drinking problem. And by the way. A. A. is a cult.
Believing that one is powerless to give up a behavior or substance. Still another cult.
Smart phone users (or at least that clear majority "addicted" to the devices) - Yes, they're a cult.
another cult.
People who have ACCEPTED a psychiatric diagnosis or two or three of them. They're a cult.
Yes, you may be right, Tessa.
“ I certainly don’t owe anybody a lobotomy. ”
❤️✊🏾
i was going to stop with the simple observation that racism was invented by slave traders and conquistadors as a justification for genocide. we talk about cultural baggage, and inheritances of trauma, so that validates your ancestral theory. is it possible that there is also a slow leak from the akashic records?
I try to absorb pain and return love.
Sometimes I get overwhelmed by the shadows.
Sometimes I output pain, and sometimes I get culty, I've been in some of them, radical atheism, radical scientism, radical anti-covidianism.
I try to learn from this.
We all fail, and it's best to be humble, to be honest about what's going on inside with the right people, so that we might outgrow the shackles of our current cult.
If someone can't listen, then let them be.
They may know more than you realize, and choosing to be in a cult is a decision that I cannot understand, but I've come to realize, it is not mine to make.
Well said Tessa. Awakening to what is really going on in the world and who is responsible for it takes some effort and time but the more difficult task is how to deal with it all once you are aware. And that is where your work is so valuable for me and I certainly do appreciate your efforts Tessa.
I found this message in a bottle that must've been floating in the ocean for decades, maybe even since before WWII. The message sounded like it came from someone in distress who was in hiding from some awful brutal repressive beasts. The message said: "Always be suspicious of any political ideology, or mass movement which asks you to abandon your critical thinking skills and your gut intuition; we were naive and didn't know...."
Yeah, we should all be so motivated. Love all your work and offerings Tessa. Gratefully.
Some people, who are unsure of themselves, anxious, feel a bit inadequate, can be readily sucked into cults by the big, affirming welcome into the family...
Then they get chores, and more chores, and have to pitch-in, of course...
In college I moved one friend out of an apartment with another friend in about 90 minutes one night.
They were both my friends from freshman year, and both had been my roommates, but one needed my help, and I understood.
Couldn’t agree more on your views about cults,you are a gem when it comes to intelligent,witty writing,a breath of fresh air in the very poor media landscape,much love and joy to you,thanks for your efforts 🙏
I'm in agreement ethnic prejudice is disgusting and I believe it stems from pride. Most ethnically prejudice folks are full of anger and dislike even those of their own ethnicity. As you stated it's a hatred for different beliefs at the core where they generally have no idea the traumas from their ethnic background could be possibly affecting them today. Thank you for leading with love.
Even the globalists are a cult and the stuff they believe in would make you sick to your stomach.
Excellent observations. If you haven't read it, "The True Believer" by Eric Hoffer is an excellent short book on people's proclivity to join whatever "new thing" is out there. When I read it, I was shocked at how often in my life I had unknowingly, more or less, joined a "cult". NEVER AGAIN.
Any mass society is by definition a cult. What gives it the appearance of coherence? It certainly isn't Dunbar's Number. It isn't kumbaya sung around a campfire among a group of intimates. From Hammurabi's Code to the Holy Bible to the UN charter of this and that, a mass society can only cohere around a handful of narratives. Call them laws or doctrines or policies or edicts or protocols or regulations or whatever. That's how it works.
Dear Tessa, another beautifully written Substack essay. I think we just have to accept that all gained knowledge begins indeed with “individual personal experience.” And that all of us shape our own reality-bubble, our (ancestral) wounds included. To me, the world we might head towards is the one coming straight out of computer gaming for boys. And or the ones J.K.Rowlings brought to life in Harry Potter. Sometimes I think too many people game and Harry Potter became too much part of our imaginary world and so these fantasy worlds too moulded the world we are at right now. Because Thought Become Things. I also find the global 'oldfashioned-greedy-paternalistic-old-men-cult-world we live in now misses an important element: an end vision, a well defined definition of the world they see for themselves. I do find the satanism visual and ideological language boring and frankly utterly stupid. Esthetically it is hollow, unlayered and uninteresting. What do the elites want in the end, when all of us are killed, shot, starved? And the rest of us 'enslaved'. Enslaved for the purpose of what? I mean, we won't have any jobs anymore - robots - will do it, so enslaved to do what? And what kind of life will they live when all the rest is gone? Which kind of buildings will they live in, what kind of architecture, which kind of architect do they like? What kind of leisure will be included in their lives when all is conquered and killed? Hugging a genetically modified tree? What's the point in modifying a tree anyway? Will it make them happier when the tree is modified? How will they relate to each other, these elites, when all is gone? How will they deal with each other? Will they give hugs to each other and display respect and love? What is the ultimate endgame here? Sex and joy for life? The whole thing seems a joke to me, all of it! But I do think that us, we, the people can learn lessons here; We have to do what they don't do: we have to start to define in detail the world WE WANT TO LIVE IN. And to do that we first have to stop feeling we are victims. (This last one helps me personally a lot to get myself through the days).