Essays — Erraticus

Fire Best Medicine Pandemic COVID Wildfires California

Fire Is the Best Medicine

September 23, 2020September 23, 2020 Charlie Deist 0 Comments Chaos, Environmentalism, Medicine, Nature, Pandemic 11 min read

Just as apocalypse means revelation, so can fire be medicine and poison. “Fire medicine” confers benefits on individuals and communities.

Natural Mysticism and Its Dangerous Allure Erraticus Ecstatic Experience William Blake

("The Lovers Whirlwind" by William Blake,1824-27)

Essays Religion

Natural Mysticism and Its Dangerous Allure

September 14, 2020September 14, 2020 Willis Renuart 0 Comments Ecstatic Experience, Mysticism, Transcendence 13 min read

Natural mysticism focuses on awakening us from our ego-bound ordinary life to a universal oneness. But it comes with many dangers.

Essays Science & Tech

Sentience, Not Consciousness, Is Key to the Cosmos

August 26, 2020August 28, 2020 Michael Jawer 0 Comments Consciousness, Essential Reading, Panpsychism 17 min read

If the universe is conducive to sentience rather than consciousness, then a scientific model for some even more fascinating phenomena emerges.

Pragmatic Truth Existentialsim Pragmatism William James Henri Bergson Jean-Paul Sartre

Essays Featured Philosophy

The Pragmatic Truth of Existentialism

August 24, 2020August 28, 2020 Donovan Irven 0 Comments Essential Reading, Existentialism, Henri Bergson, Jean-Paul Sartre, Pragmatism, Truth, William James 16 min read

With culture wars focusing more on the nature of truth, the time is ripe to consider the connection between pragmatism and existentialism.

Loneliness in Nature and Threshold Places Erraticus Emerson Thoreau

(Derek Parsons)

Essays Philosophy

Alone in One of Nature’s Threshold Places

July 1, 2020August 28, 2020 Derek Parsons 0 Comments Essential Reading, Henry David Thoreau, Nature, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Romanticism, Transcendence 9 min read

The most fortifying experiences in nature are often found in lonely, transitional zones. But what is the reality of these threshold places?

Power One Idea William James Pragmatism John Kaag Sick Souls Healthy Minds Erraticus

(Jeffrey Howard)

Essays Featured Philosophy

The Power of One Idea

June 24, 2020June 26, 2020 Jeffrey Howard 2 Comments Emotional Well-being, Essential Reading, Pragmatism, William James 16 min read

William James offers a way to evaluate the fruitfulness of ideas by tethering them to the common ground of lived experience.

Treading Lightly in Thin Places Thin Lines Erraticus John Ablett Spiritual Emergencies Breathing Through

("Landscape with Charon Crossing the River Styx" by Joachim Patinier)

Essays Religion

Treading Lightly in Thin Places

May 20, 2020May 27, 2020 John Ablett 0 Comments Ecstatic Experience, Essential Reading, Psychedelics, Transcendence 9 min read

A former barefoot guru explores the difficulty in articulating the experience of a spiritual emergency amid societal upheavals.

Letters to You Melanie Han Erraticus Korean American Identity

(Jeffrey Howard)

Essays Society & Culture

Letters to You

May 7, 2020May 7, 2020 Melanie Han 0 Comments Family, Identity, Racism 7 min read

In this epistolary, Melanie Han reflects on her experiences with racism, intergenerational family dynamics, and tensions surrounding identity.

Existentialism in Children's Film Erraticus Jean-Paul Sartre Batman Begins Lego Movie Babe

(Jeffrey Howard)

Arts Essays

Existentialism in Children’s Film

May 6, 2020August 29, 2020 Matthew Downhour 0 Comments Essential Reading, Existentialism, Film 11 min read

Children’s films tend to emphasize the role of destiny or chance, but existential themes can be found in a few that highlight the importance of agency and defining the meaning of one’s own life.

Sacred-Scientific Psychedelic Future Erraticus Nicholas Mccay Emre Ozturk

(Emre Öztürk)

Essays Science & Tech

Our Sacred-Scientific, Psychedelic Future

April 27, 2020May 27, 2020 Nicholas McCay 0 Comments Emotional Well-being, Essential Reading, Mental Health, Psychedelics, Transcendence 10 min read

Fears halted research on psychotropic compounds in the 60s. The Second Psychedelic Renaissance is now validating their psychological benefits.

Hope in the time of corona COVID-19 Melanie Han Erraticus

(Lei Jiang)

Essays Society & Culture

‘Corona, Corona’: In the Cycle of Grief

April 23, 2020April 24, 2020 Melanie Han 0 Comments Emotions, Family, Racism, Travel 13 min read

Finding herself abroad during the early days of corona, a traveler recounts the uncertainties and grief that followed her home.

All the lonely people atomized generation atomization crisis loneliness erraticus

(Michal Pechardo)

Essays Society & Culture

All the Lonely People: The Atomized Generation

March 11, 2020August 29, 2020 Willow Liana 1 Comment Atomization, Community, Essential Reading, Place 11 min read

We’re not only facing a crisis of loneliness but we’re atomized. Our systems seem designed to further undermine social fabric and place.

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