A Revolution in Waiting

November 8, 2019

It has accumulated so much collective baggage from more than a century of misunderstanding that it does little other than shock and unnerve most people.

It conjures up images of deranged psychopaths, of madmen shouting gobbledgygook on street corners, yet nothing of the beauty or the wisdom inherent in the condition when allowed to unfold in an unrepressed manner, tempered with the right treatment.

We sweep it under the rug. There's a palpable sense of shame embedded within the word itself. It's a topic our culture refuses to have a real conversation about.

Those who receive the devastating diagnosis are forced to keep it secret or risk living with the stigma forever hovering over them like a sign that reads, "Avoid me as there's a slim chance I might be dangerous,” thereby increasing the social isolation of those who desperately need meaningful connection.

The fascinating thing, what I have come to learn during my decade-long healing journey, is that buried within this traumatizing word, this extreme state of consciousness, is an absolutely golden possibility, a revolution in waiting.

You see, psychosis leads to a kind of higher consciousness if allowed to run its course. Indigenous societies knew this. Certain alternative psychiatrists know this. Those who have been through the fire of what I call “sacredphrenia,” this process of transmuting madness into mysticism, know this on a cellular level.

I now find myself compelled to begin sharing the good news that such transformation, such healing, is possible. Better yet, it is not only possible, it is actually necessary if our society has any hope of healing. I believe one reason our culture is so sick is that these transformations aren’t happening often enough. As a result, we are suffering from a severe lack of shamans or spiritual leaders.

We’ve got to start turning these people on like faucets, so that more spiritual wisdom can start streaming into this world.

There’s precious little time to waste.

Inkblot art by dule964 via Adobe Stock.