Beyond Sacredphrenia

Sacredphrenia: one man’s attempt to save the world by covertly curing “schizophrenics” in droves, thereby liberating a vast amount of shamanic bandwidth that could be applied toward planetary healing. A gargantuan goal, positively lunatic in its ambition!

In all seriousness, though, was it a bit grandiose? Sure. But so are some of the greatest dreams. They beckon us with their earth-shattering possibility, inspiring us to get off the couch and get some real work done.

In this post, I will be sharing honestly where Sacredphrenia is at and where it’s headed. But first, I’d like to thank each of you who have supported me over the last three years since I first got this wild idea. In 2018, I made a self-portrait containing dozens of people who were instrumental to my healing journey. I could easily make a new self-portrait containing the dozens who have been instrumental to the journey of this unlikely project called Sacredphrenia. Without so many of you, it would not have enjoyed the relative success it has.

That being said, I also have to face some facts and to do so, I have to get painfully candid. For all its spiritual success, Sacredphrenia has never really flourished as a business. This is partly because the economic chaos of 2020 threw a wrench in all our plans, but a more telling reason is that I bit off more than I could chew, especially working with people individually. It has taken me a long time to admit, but the one-on-one coaching burned me out energetically and caused me to question if I should be taking on something so colossal in the first place, at least without more education, funding, and overall resourcing.

Have you ever seen that episode of Mr. Bean where he wakes up late for his dentist’s appointment and has to get ready inside his car on the way there? With a brick on the accelerator and foot on the steering wheel, he dresses himself in the backseat while surrounding traffic is whizzing by. In many ways, that’s what Sacredphrenia as a business felt like, as though I didn’t do quite enough preparation before getting on the freeway.

Don’t get me wrong, I know I’ve helped many people through my content and am very proud of the work I’ve done with certain people individually, a few of whom told me I saved their lives, which was the sweetest music to my ears. Some of the feedback I’ve received has warmed my heart more than just about anything I’ve ever experienced. Sacredphrenia has made a small ripple in our understanding of these extreme states of consciousness and I don’t for a second regret doing any of this. It has caused me to grow deeply as a thinker, writer, entrepreneur, mental health metaphysician, and overall person.

But at the end of the day, I simply need more credentials to do the kind of intense healing work I’ve envisioned, which is the whole reason I created Sacredphrenia in the first place. It might seem like a no-brainer to your average semi-rational person. Many would deem it irresponsible, if not unethical, to work with such a sensitive population without a “proper education.” I examined this for a long time before deciding to do so. I figured that because I had found the best medicine far away from the halls of psychiatry, because I had cured myself using methods that were so far off the official map, the less formal education I had, the better.

Yet some of the scenarios I encountered were simply beyond my pay grade. I spent the second half of 2020 informally educating myself in an attempt to fill in the educational gaps I thought were missing, but now I recognize an official education is necessary. If I really want to make an impact in this field, helping create the new model that makes the existing model obsolete, and thereby helping the greatest number of people who are suffering, I realize there is a need to engage with the institutions themselves, at least to some extent. And that requires having some academic standing. I dropped out of college sophomore year in the early rumblings of my mental breakdown.

In recent weeks, Spirit has made it clear to me that a doctorate in psychology may be in my future. I had a conversation with my dear friend and colleague, Graeson Howland, who encouraged me to go for the degree and “continue to engage sacredphrenics within this paradigm.” They were incredibly timely and supportive words. A few days later, Spirit gave me clear confirmation that this was sound advice worth considering. I can’t say when I might return to college but the prospect is exhilarating, if not somewhat daunting.

In the meantime, what am I to do with this modest platform I have built? Does Sacredphrenia as an idea and social movement and collection of social media accounts continue? I’m getting the message that it will continue, but it will be changing form so it can address a wider audience. The concept of sacredphrenia as a diagnosis disruptor and stigma buster isn’t going anywhere; it will always be one of the primary counterspells in my arsenal, but it is no longer the central concept this venture will likely be based around.

Instead, I wish to deepen into the “myth-maker” role that I believe is one of the healed sacredphrenic’s highest purposes, something that has been energizing me more than anything lately. With the world in such chaos and entire ecosystems on the verge of collapse, we need more sacred artists and activists to step forward and create the new myths that are going to inspire humanity to step over the evolutionary threshold.

As Seth Farber wrote in The Spiritual Gift of Madness, “During cultural revitalizations, new leaders emerge who put forward myths and symbols and enact dramatic rituals that mobilize the masses and resonate with the messianic-redemptive archetypes in the collective unconscious. It is my contention… that it is from the ranks of the mad (those who are today seen as ‘psychotic’) that such new leaders are most likely to emerge.”

So, there’s another dose of earth-shattering possibility for you to chew on. Or a bit of self-important grandiosity, depending on how you choose to look at it. Keep in mind having a robust ego is one of the characteristics I’ve been striving for after years of experiencing serious ego dissolution, one of the many challenges a sacredphrenic must face in their journey back to wholeness. For many of us recovering a strong sense of self, dreaming big is good medicine.

What about the online course I was creating? I still plan to release it, though it may be split into several individual courses and will likely be geared toward a more general audience. And yes, it will still touch on mental health topics, as I will continue being a spokesperson for the psychiatric sacred. I will never abandon my roots. I just may not become the Oprah of “schizophrenia,” at least not until I potentially get a graduate degree and am able to work with this population uninhibited by legal concerns and other psychological reservations.

I plan on taking a partial hiatus from social media for the next few months as I plan my next steps, which will likely include a rebrand and everything that goes along with that. I figured I would inform you, my dear followers, so you know what is happening. Though initially it might seem like a step back, I know this pivot is part of the larger design of my life, not to mention the life of this idea. It’s time for Sacredphrenia to undergo a transmutation, just like “schizophrenia” did.