by Sydnee Chesley
Imagine a world where everything was divine. A place where gods dwelled in rivers and the sky, where trees could speak and impart wisdom, where animals could be messengers from the divine. This was the world of our ancestors (Sahlins, 2022). In pre-axial age cultures (the period before 900 BCE), individuals viewed the world through the lens of magic and meaning (Daniels, 2021). To them, the gods did not exist in a realm separate from earth because the earth itself was divine—a worldview that anthropologist Marshall Sahlins (2022) called immanent. In fact, to our ancient ancestors, there was no separation between individuals, divine gods, and cosmos at all. Divinity was woven into the very fabric of the universe. Ancient civilizations engaged with the world as if it were sacred, and many supernatural abilities (e.g., speaking with spirits or precognition) were considered normal.
One of the ways people still regularly engage with supernatural topics is through popular entertainment in the form of movies, books, and television shows. Through fiction, people give themselves permission to imagine a reality beyond duality and the physicality of flesh and bone.
Sadly, over the course of thousands of years, civilization has adopted a much less enchanted view of the world. We now live in the age of Cartesian dualism—a materialistic philosophy that argues mind and body are two separate and distinct things. Western society largely believes the divine to be the stuff of myths and fairytales (Critchlow, 2012). Society has disconnected so completely from a supernatural worldview that even entertaining the idea that gods or a divine cosmos could be real puts many into a state of extreme ontological shock (Mack, 2007). Ontological shock is when someone’s sense of reality is dramatically challenged to the point that their worldviews and philosophies about life may shift. Take John Mack, a psychiatrist and the head of Harvard’s psychiatry department, as an example (Motskin, 2023). After interviewing individuals who claimed to have been in contact with supernatural beings they called aliens, and documenting their experiences without writing them off as a psychiatric episode, Mack faced an incredible amount of backlash from the academic community. Harvard held a secret tribunal made of his peers in an attempt to fire and discredit Mack—though ultimately, Harvard was not successful. The academic community was so unwilling to even question their worldview that they would rather write off Mack and everyone he worked with as insane.
As a result of stripping the world of magic and meaning, nihilism seems to reign supreme in Western society. Religiosity in America is one indicator of this. Religious institutions seem to be failing to provide people with deep connection and meaning (Smith, 2020), as for the first time in American history, fewer than 50% of Americans claim to belong to a religious tradition (Jones, 2023). The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche predicted Western society was careening headfirst into this bleak state and he argued nihilism’s “corrosive effects would eventually destroy all moral, religious, and metaphysical convictions and precipitate the greatest crisis in human history” (Pratt, n.d.). By adopting a dualistic worldview and killing the idea of a sacred, divine cosmos, perhaps people have inadvertently been led to believe in nothing that they cannot physically measure in a lab. This materialistic philosophy has many potentially disastrous ramifications, such as increased loneliness—especially among younger generations (Cigna, 2018; Meshi & Ellithorpe, 2021; Teater et al., 2021)—or severe environmental abuses (Uhl, 2021). From academia to religion itself, it seems Western society at large has forgotten the divinely spiritual world our ancestors believed in.
However, the understanding of a divine worldview and expanded reality has not left us completely. One of the ways people still regularly engage with supernatural topics is through popular entertainment in the form of movies, books, and television shows. Through fiction, people give themselves permission to imagine a reality beyond duality and the physicality of flesh and bone. Miracles and seemingly impossible acts like traversing realities and catching glimpses of the future are commonplace in fictional worlds. While the ontological shock of reimagining reality can be incredibly disorienting for individuals in their day-to-day lives (Hunter, 2023), these ideas seem to be more acceptable in popular entertainment. This is possibly because we unconsciously agree to suspend our disbelief while engaging with popular entertainment, and thus, we feel more open and receptive to exploring an expanded view of reality.
It makes sense that entertainment is a way for modern society to connect with spirituality because, historically, stories were a way for the divine to speak to us (Campbell, 2008). This idea that creative works were inherently spiritual dates back centuries. For example, the ancient Greeks viewed all creative inspiration as a gift from the Muses (Gilbert, 2009). However, this idea continues in modern day through archetypal stories like the hero’s journey.
In 1949, Joseph Campbell (2008), an academic studying comparative mythology and religion, published The Hero with a Thousand Faces. In this book, Campbell documented his idea that underlying many mythological and archetypal fairytales was a universal story pattern. He called this universal story the hero’s journey, which is when a hero sets out into the wild unknown (the Departure), to defeat enemies and gather allies (the Initiation), to then return victorious with power and knowledge to share with others (the Return; Campbell, 2008; Vogler, 2007). To Campbell, the universal archetypes that make up the hero’s journey were not just the mark of an exciting story or the secret to blockbuster success, but were instead messages from a cosmic intelligence attempting to remind people of their inherent divinity. Ultimately, Campbell believed the creators channeling this cosmic intelligence became “magical helpers” that:
Help us along the heroic journey of our own lives . . . The artist is meant to put the objects of this world together in such a way that through them you will experience that light, that radiance which is the light of our consciousness and which all things both hide and, when properly looked upon, reveal. The hero’s journey is one of the universal patterns through which that radiance shows brightly. (Campbell, 2004, pp. 194–195)
Campbell’s idea of a spiritual hero’s journey must have resonated with people. While there are many different archetypal stories, the hero’s journey is arguably the most influential in Western entertainment as many of the most popular stories are based on this particular story structure (Vogler, 2007). For example, George Lucas has repeatedly credited the hero’s journey for being the foundation for the Star Wars trilogy, and Christopher Vogler, a Hollywood executive and screenwriter, used it as a guide when advising Disney on The Lion King. Both of these movies deal with a main character who leaves their old life behind to find friends and allies willing to help them defeat their respective villains. All the while, they deal with fate and cosmic forces beyond their comprehension.
Additionally, it is not just through a story’s structure that the divine shows up in entertainment. Many supernatural elements and tropes are regularly found in fiction. In fact, the more mind-bending and fantastical, the more popular the story.
Additionally, it is not just through a story’s structure that the divine shows up in entertainment. Many supernatural elements and tropes are regularly found in fiction. In fact, the more mind-bending and fantastical, the more popular the story. One example of a common reality bending trope in popular entertainment is a near death experience (NDE). An NDE is when an individual who is brought back to life from near-death or death reports having experienced a number of sensations during that time, such as: a) consciousness leaving the body and seeing their body below them, b) seeing a dark tunnel, c) seeing a bright white light, d) feelings of intense and overwhelming love and acceptance, e) speaking with loved ones or guides, f) meeting deities, g) having a life review, and h) deciding to return to life (Hunter, 2023; Liester, 2013; Moody, 1989). These individuals often come back changed or different from who they were before. For example, some receive intuitive knowledge during the experience, are blessed with feelings of interconnectedness and peace, or experience the miraculous healing of an injury or disease (Liester, 2013; Moorjani, 2012). While academia and many in society still find themselves skeptical about NDE accounts (Blackmore, 1996), many writers and creators of fiction have incorporated NDEs into their stories.
For example, during the climax of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, [spoiler ahead] the antagonist Lord Voldemort kills the hero, Harry Potter (Rowling, 2007). To Harry’s surprise, after dying he finds himself awake in a King’s Cross train station that is devoid of color and filled with a misty white substance. He wanders and, eventually, he meets Professor Dumbledore—his mentor who died a year earlier. After discussing some of the regrets they each have about their lives, Dumbledore explains that the train station is a liminal, transitory space between the living and the dead. He tells Harry that he must decide if he wants to ride a train onward into the unknown or return to his loved ones on earth. Ultimately, Harry decides he wants to go back to Hogwarts and help his friends win the final battle against Voldemort. He returns to the living as the Master of Death—which is a title given to the one who has obtained full power over the Resurrection Stone, Invisibility Cloak, and Elder Wand. With this power Harry defeats Lord Voldemort.
The popular fantasy writer, Sarah J. Maas (2020), also includes a NDE in the climax of her book Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood [spoiler ahead]. During the final battle against the villainous Asteri rulers of her world, heroine Bryce Quinlan initiates the Drop, which is a perilous rite of passage that takes an individual to the very limits of their existence. If Bryce manages to survive the metaphysical journey, she would be awarded with the full potential of her powers and ascend to immortality. With her body left behind in the physical world, Bryce’s soul eventually lands in complete darkness, and she starts to succumb to the exhaustion of her task. However, at the moment she plans to give up, Bryce hears the voice of Danika—her best friend that was violently murdered a few years prior. Danika encourages her to not give up, says she loves her, and that she wants Bryce to live a long and happy life. Bryce feels renewed from this encounter and decides to begin the ascent back to the living world. As she aims for the bright light of the physical world above her, she feels an otherworldly presence giving her strength to carry on. Bryce believes this presence was Danika. After Bryce successfully completes the Drop, she gains access to her powers and uses them to defeat the Asteri.
Both scenes from Harry Potter and Crescent City bear a strong resemblance to the records from those who have experienced a NDE (Hunter, 2023; Maas, 2020; Rowling, 2007). They are also both absolutely pivotal scenes in their respective books, as they appear in the climax directly before or during the final battle. While these books are set in worlds filled with fantasy and magic, these NDEs are decidedly spiritual experiences for both Harry and Bryce that change them, and the trajectory of their lives, forever.
I find it interesting that, despite how many people claim NDEs or other supernatural tropes are not real (Blackmore, 1996; Hunter, 2023), these story elements helped create some of the most popular pieces of entertainment in history. For example, the Harry Potter series is the best-selling book series of all time, with approximately 600 million copies sold as of 2023 (Talbot, 2023). Sarah J. Maas’ books have also received critical acclaim and international popularity as they have been translated into 38 languages, sold millions of copies, and currently hold eight of the top 20 spaces on Amazon’s Most Sold Books of the Week list (Amazon, 2024; ThriftBooks, n.d.). These creators frequently use supernatural or spiritual elements in their stories, so why do people have such resistance to engaging with these topics outside of fiction?
I believe Joseph Campbell (2008) was right when he said stories resonate with something deep inside ourselves that whispers there is an expanded and divine reality just beyond our physical senses. Our ancient ancestors believed in an immanent world where everything had meaning and reality was not limited to only what we could see (Critchlow, 2012; Sahlins, 2022), but somewhere in history we decided these ideas could only exist in fiction. We cut ourselves off from the divine, interconnected web that weaves the cosmos together—and yet we wonder why we are so lonely. So, perhaps we turn to fiction to fill the void that grows every day we go without connecting to something deeper than the physical world. Stories filled with supernatural tropes, like NDEs, are popular because they allow society to, just for a moment, immerse themselves in a reality so much grander and interconnected than they could possibly imagine. These supernatural and spiritual topics have the potential to fill people with wonder and awe in a time where nihilism runs rampant. I think deep down humanity wants to return to a life full of magic and meaning, because if everything is divinely connected then it means we are not so terribly alone in this world.
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In this issue of Mindfield, the contributors examine the theme of “Dark Tourism and Legend Tripping.” In his first column as PA President, Gerhard Mayer suggests that despite declining institutional support, parapsychology remains a vital and evolving field grounded in tradition, renewed by qualitative research, global perspectives, and emerging consciousness studies. Leo Ruickbie details how academic …
