Max Weber – The disenchantment of modern life.
He believed that since the Enlightenment, science and reason had eroded the sway of religion, spirituality, superstition and magic such that transcendent values had become increasingly unavailable to many, especially in secular cultures, which modern Australia has become. He argued that through reason the world had become transparent and demystified, and hence disenchanted.
For Weber the disenchantment of the world was the alienating and undesirable flip side of scientific progress.
Interestingly he borrowed from Hinduism and described the world as a great enchanted garden, all too easily uprooted and disturbed by science and reason as we humans lose our ability to see nature as an inherently meaningful order. Or in other words the loss of animism – seeing all of nature including humans as alive, interconnected and part of the whole – leads to anomie, loss of meaning, depersonalization and the objectification and abuse of nature with all its environmental consequences.
One of the core tenets of our mental health is that self-love.
That’s what psychedelics and entheogens does, they help you see how to unconditionally love yourself.
It’s only in that unconditional self-love, that then you’re able to truly be able to unconditionally love others. And what better way to work on your mental health than to have an experience like that?
Early results indicate that psychedelic therapy has the potential to fundamentally reshape how we think about and treat not only mental illness but a host of other conditions as well.
Beyond mental illness and pain-related diseases, psychedelics have the potential to treat any disease where new neural pathways might improve function.
Interest in and openness to psychedelics as medicine are increasing daily as the media’s narrative has changed and promising research on their benefits continues to grow.