The rise of "woo" culture?

[Anonymous]

What is going on with the "energy," "aura," "medium," "tarot," and "manifesting" posters?! This used to be something that at-least-minimally educated people would be ashamed to mention out loud. I'm understanding this as a loss of buy-in to logic, reason, and reality. What's your take?

[Anonymous]

Our society overemphasizes the importance of science and too easily discounts the unseen mysteries of life.

I am all for any practice that engages people spiritually, leads them to strengthen their intuition and to recognize their connection to the universe/the divine.

In other words, I don’t think this is a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our society overemphasizes the importance of science and too easily discounts the unseen mysteries of life.

I am all for any practice that engages people spiritually, leads them to strengthen their intuition and to recognize their connection to the universe/the divine.

In other words, I don’t think this is a problem.

Actually it is interesting that you mention spirituality. Is this another consequence of the demise of traditional religion? People are redirecting the same impulses toward these spiritualizing fads?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our society overemphasizes the importance of science and too easily discounts the unseen mysteries of life.

I am all for any practice that engages people spiritually, leads them to strengthen their intuition and to recognize their connection to the universe/the divine.

In other words, I don’t think this is a problem.

Actually it is interesting that you mention spirituality. Is this another consequence of the demise of traditional religion? People are redirecting the same impulses toward these spiritualizing fads?

Religion =/= spirituality. I don’t believe what you’ve mentioned to be fads, either, just marginalized practices that are becoming popular.

I can see you have little respect or regard for these practices, which is fine, but why does what other people do bother you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our society overemphasizes the importance of science and too easily discounts the unseen mysteries of life.

I am all for any practice that engages people spiritually, leads them to strengthen their intuition and to recognize their connection to the universe/the divine.

In other words, I don’t think this is a problem.

Actually it is interesting that you mention spirituality. Is this another consequence of the demise of traditional religion? People are redirecting the same impulses toward these spiritualizing fads?

Religion =/= spirituality. I don’t believe what you’ve mentioned to be fads, either, just marginalized practices that are becoming popular.

I can see you have little respect or regard for these practices, which is fine, but why does what other people do bother you?

Because they become easy pickings for charlatans.

[Anonymous]

Decline of organized religion in the West, and especially the US.

People are turning to Burning Man, yoga, reiki, and alternative forms of spiritual practice/quasi-spiritual communities to fill the void and find their “tribe.”

[Anonymous]

The rise? This stuff is hardly new.

[Anonymous]

I knew people into this 30 years ago.

[Anonymous]

The young ‘uns are into crystals, tarot cards, astrology, incense and herbal tea because they learned about them on TikTok. How’s that for spiritual?

[Anonymous]

I am a very logical person who believes in science. But I enjoy tarot and am open to some of the other ideas you list. I think you misunderstand how people engage with these ideas.

First of all, tarot isn't really "woo-woo". I guess there are people who think of it as fortune telling, but no one I know. It's more like therapy, but with a creative bent. The idea is that you pull cards and they have these broad meanings, and you use those meanings to think about your own life. I don't think if I pull a card it means something is going to happen to me. It's more like, I'll pull a card and then read the description in my book and use those ideas to meditate on something I've been thinking about or struggling with. If an idea doesn't make sense logically in my life, I just reject it. It's like a springboard for self-reflection. Part of the enjoyment of tarot is that the cards are visually pleasing and there is ritual in doing it that can feel comforting. But there's no "woo" for me -- I'm not telling my future, I'm not making things happen, I'm not communicating with anything mystical. It's just a different form of self-examination and I can use it to help myself clarify thoughts or make decisions. That's how most other people I know use it too.

Similarly, while I don't believe in the idea that people can see auras or that they have specific colors or something, I do think different people have different "energies", meaning just their general vibe. Some people are uptight, others relaxed. Some people are intense, others less so. Some competitive, some collaborative. And I can sense these things by being around them, even if they don't tell me all of this. Likely I am collecting information from nonverbal cues (and some verbal cues) and my brain is using context and prior knowledge to draw conclusions. It's intuitive, but not illogical. And I think I can trust these intuitive insights to a great extent even though I can't perfectly unpack how they are made.

I don't believe that crystals have special powers. They are pretty though and I enjoy collecting pretty rocks and crystals to look at just because. I think that my environment can impact my mood (essentially, Feng shui) and I pay attention to how thing impact my senses. Again, this is not baseless gobbledygook -- it has a basis in science and in my own lived experience.

Being logical does not mean being limited or rejecting things because you are unfamiliar with them. I try to stay open to new ideas because I don't know everything and neither do you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I knew people into this 30 years ago.

+1, I haven’t noticed an uptic or a downturn

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The young ‘uns are into crystals, tarot cards, astrology, incense and herbal tea because they learned about them on TikTok. How’s that for spiritual?

I’m 45 and have been practicing spirituality since I was 20. I also believe in science. I read tarot as a way of gaining insight into my psyche and to help me be more self aware. The more you understand and know yourself, the less you are likely to judge others for their choice bc you can understand where they are coming from, even if you are on different paths.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I knew people into this 30 years ago.

It’s much more visible and mainstreamed compared to 30 years ago. I mean, just look at the number of yoga studios & practitioners in 1992 vs 2022.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is going on with the "energy," "aura," "medium," "tarot," and "manifesting" posters?! This used to be something that at-least-minimally educated people would be ashamed to mention out loud. I'm understanding this as a loss of buy-in to logic, reason, and reality. What's your take?

Cultures all over the world have beliefs far different than yours. We will all be dead soon.

[Anonymous]

Well, I do like to read about gaelic and wiccan customs, not modern, mostly from ages past. And I have a collectible deck of tarot cards, made by a famous artist and based on a work of science fiction.

Lots of people have a fascination for such things. But from there to saying they develop faith... no.

It's just a way to distract from inflation, nuclear risk, WWIII with Russia or China or both, out of control climate catastrophies... the usual dumb shenanigans Homo Sapiens gets into.