Old ideas about mind and spirit, read with fresh eyes.
Hermeticism, New Thought and the research on consciousness, explained plainly. The classic texts, where the ideas came from, and how far the evidence reaches.
Latest articles
- New Thought
A Short History of the New Thought Movement
A short, balanced history of New Thought, from Phineas Quimby and Emma Curtis Hopkins to Unity, Religious Science and the self help books it later inspired.
- Foundations
Synchronicity: Carl Jung's Idea and How to Think About It Clearly
What Carl Jung meant by synchronicity, where the idea came from, what probability and psychology say about meaningful coincidences, and how to hold both views.
- Mind and Research
Reincarnation Research: The Ian Stevenson Case Studies and Their Critics
A fair look at Ian Stevenson's reincarnation case studies at the University of Virginia, what his method was, and the strongest criticisms of his work.
- Foundations
Why 3, 6 and 9 Keep Showing Up: A Short History of Number Symbolism
From the Pythagoreans to a viral Tesla quote not found in his writings, a short, careful history of why 3, 6 and 9 feel special and what is really going on.
- New Thought
Thoughts as Vibration: An Early New Thought Idea and How to Read It Today
What William Walker Atkinson meant in Thought Vibration (1906), why the idea caught on, what science says about thought, and how to read the book today.
- Practice
Meditation and Attention: What the Evidence Supports
What research actually shows about meditation and attention: the solid findings, the overhyped claims, the known risks, and how to practice it sensibly.
Sections
Foundations
Where to start: what spiritual science means, where its big ideas came from, and how to tell a meaningful pattern from a coincidence.
Hermeticism
The Hermetic tradition and its most popular modern text, The Kybalion: what the principles say, who wrote them, and how to read them today.
New Thought
The American movement that taught that thought shapes life, from Quimby and Atkinson to the law of attraction, with its claims and its critics.
Mind and Research
What scientists have actually found about consciousness, near-death experiences and reincarnation claims, including where the evidence runs out.
Practice
Concentration and meditation methods, old and new, with what the research says about what they can and cannot do.