By Katya Sedgwick
Monday, July 08, 2019
Presume every single one of my semi-urban middle-class,
middle-aged female neighbors does yoga. Enter Marianne Williamson.
In addition to being a Democratic presidential contender,
Williamson is some sort of a failed actress who was big in Los Angeles in the
1980s—not as an actress, but as a New Age guru. She is an author of several
best-sellers on the topic of “metaphysics,” and she’s been on “Oprah” countless
times. She officiated an Elizabeth Taylor wedding, remains popular with
Hollywood celebrities, and is endorsed by former presidential contender Dennis
Kucinich.
A charismatic cult leader, Williamson advises her
followers to forego science-based Western medicine in favor of spiritual
healing: “God is BIG, swine flu SMALL,” the metaphysician instructed her
followers in April 2009. “See every cell of your body filled with divine light.
Pour God’s love on our immune systems. Truth protects.”
Whatever that “truth” might be, it apparently underlies
mundane political realities: “Just beneath the surface, this isn’t politics
it’s black magic. Entirely a psychic battle. Use your shield of Virtue and your
sword of Truth.” Close your eyes, and follow Marianne’s lead. She’ll beam you
up: “Your body is merely your space station from whence you beam your love to
the universe. Don’t just relate to the station; relate to the beams.”
After the celebrity cult leader debuted at the
presidential debates, Republicans began donating money to her campaign with the
goal of keeping her show on the road. Yet, considering that Williamson herself
drew parallels between herself and Trump’s rise, conservatives should be
careful what they wish for.
Policy Is a Sideshow
Here
Not bothering with details like policy positions (who
cares? It’s all black magic anyway!), Williamson presented her candidacy as a
big-picture alternative to Trump. She spoke of “metaphysics of love” to counter
Trump’s “hate” and explained that Trump didn’t win with policy proposals; he
won by saying “make America great again.” Her flakiness might be a turn off for
the wonks who watch presidential debates that early in an election campaign,
but did we not see the handmade “LOVE TRUMPS HATE” signs in our neighbors’
front yards?
In fact, when sitting members of Congress proclaim that
“no human being is illegal,” I strongly suspect that they are fully compliant
with “metaphysics of love.” The statement allows for no middle ground and
eschews any attempt at logic.
Far from being a one-off weirdo, Williamson stands for a
growing constituency of Americans: urban, somewhat educated, mostly female,
youngish, a-religious and spiritually hungry. Ridicule is a normal gut reaction
to the high priestess of New Age’s debut on the national political stage, but I
think we might be forgetting, for instance, the goats on yoga mats at beer
gardens for Yom Kippur. Or the fact that “psychic services” are a $2 billion
industry, and that perfectly mainstream department stores now sell “wellness”
products.
There is also a growing number of witches in this country
today—a trend that reflects the decline of certain religious denominations in
combination with spiritual yearning. Contemporary occult practices can be
traced back to the 1960s counterculture, but they only picked up in the recent
decade.
This kind of pseudo-religiosity often comes with
political baggage. There is such a thing as #magicresistance, or wiccans
casting “mass spells” on Trump online. Occultists, whose ranks include
celebrities like Lana Del Rey, regularly stage ceremonies to hex Trump and
various Trump-connected figures, such as the Supreme Court Justice Brett
Kavanaugh. Twenty years ago they’d have been laughed out of a pretentious night
club for such antics, but it appears that contemporary twenty-something hipster
urbanites participating in such ceremonies are, for the most part, serious
about their paganism.
How the Young Became
Enamored of Pseudoscience
If half of young adults think astrology is a real science,
it’s probably because the education system has failed them. Maybe lay off the
global warming saturation of K-12 curriculum. In humanities, too, it would be
nice to return to the western canon because the literature contained in it is
infinitely more meaningful that whatever can be divined from Tarot cards. These
people are not trading the Judeo-Christian intellectual tradition for crystals,
because they have no idea what the Judeo-Christian tradition is.
In the 1990s, Camille Paglia wrote about New Age mysticism.
Given her fascination with the low-brow, Paglia was rather non-judgmental about
the trend, condemning only the turn to self-help that she observed in
occultism. Everyone who loves Paglia also hates her some of the time, and this
is one of these times I find it difficult not to hate the firebrand cultural
critic, since contemporary witchcraft practices are such shallow garbage.
Paglia noted that most practitioners of New Age are women
and gay men, which I think remains true. There is a self-conscious feminist
dimension to neo-paganism—the drive to get past both the patriarchal
monotheistic religions and the cool logic of science, back to the goddess
worship.
The kind of feminism Williamson offers might just have a
future within the progressive movement. The metaphysician shared the debate
stage with several women. These women have all risen, as instructed, through
the ranks of established institutions. Yet their career path leaves many lefty
women feeling conflicted.
These women are asked to “lean in” into their jobs so
that one day a woman can become a president, inspiring our daughters… to lean
in some more. Yet most occupations are kind of boring, and ordinary women are
ill-advised to sacrifice family time on the altar of employment. They know it,
too. On this level alone, the women aspiring for Democratic nomination are not
very relatable.
Williamson stands out among these women: she is her own
person, a cult leader. Most of her followers are female; many are young. There
is a demographic of suburban swing voters that she may appeal to. She can
perhaps peel away some nutty right-wingers (Alex Jones pushes the same wellness
catalog as Gwyneth Paltrow). It might not be Williamson who hijacks the
Democratic Party for the voodooists; it might be with someone like her who will
show up in the near future. The demographics, a burgeoning millennial pagan
movement, might just be the progressives’ destiny.
Of course, women are just as capable of reason as men,
and not every middle-aged mom enrolls in yoga classes to experience universal
consciousness. In fact, most do it under the impression that it will help
reduce their weight. And, certainly, the country as a whole is not at all like
Santa Cruz, California. Yet, I’m sure there are plenty of true believers in
places like Austin, Texas, to whom a progressive heathen cult leader may
appeal.
Left-leaning outlets, interestingly, published soft-glow
features of Williamson. Allowing a charismatic cult leader into the debates
must be very embarrassing for the party of science, so somebody in the major
media has to run interference. On the other hand, the puff piece writers might
be genuinely enamored of Williamson. Another Age of Aquarius might just be
coming.
“Humanity needs a mental shower: we need to wash off all
prejudices of the 20th Century and stand naked beneath the waters of eternal
Truths,” Williamson once proclaimed. She’s sort of right about the 20th
century. But, considering that the worst atrocities of the last century have
been perpetrated by pagan regimes, I shudder to think of what folks who share
Williamson’s views ultimately might be cooking up for us.
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