Instant hagiography emerges around a cultic figure. — Katie Griggs, a.k.a. “Guru Jagat” died on Sunday. According to her followers, the 41 year-old celebrity yoga teacher and co-founder of the RA MA Institute in Venice, California, died of pulmonary embolism following ankle surgery. The first thing to say is that she was a human being, a daughter, a…

Yogis are enraged by an article on vaccination as an act of nonviolence — On July 14th, Yoga Journal, the flagship English publication for the $88bn global yoga industry, published “Getting Vaxxed Was My Act of Ahimsa”, an essay by Denver-based columnist Wolf Terry. “Ahimsa” is a Sanskrit term that goes back millennia in Indian yoga literature. It’s usually understood to mean “non-harming”, or…

“I’m not giving medical advice,” Oprah SuperSoul leader says to 258K Instagram followers — In an October 25th story posted to Instagram and Facebook, Canadian self-help author Danielle LaPorte touted the benefits of nebulizing essential oils with water — and hydrogen peroxide — for respiratory health and for “doubling down” on immune system strength. LaPorte is a former Body Shop marketing executive who became…

Keep it simple. Frame bad news with good. Create something to work with. — Text of a Conspirituality Podcast Bonus episode. I’m father to two inquisitive children, boys, 5 and turning 9. They hear me in the study on Zoom or the phone interviewing people. They hear their parents discussing the news of the world, and conspirituality. They ask questions about what they hear. …

How did slack journalism and New Age earnestness help a monster globalize? — Trigger warning: physical assault, rape, institutional betrayal, spiritual abuse. First of a projected series. For more on this story, plus audio clips, download episode 72 of Conspirituality Podcast. Subscribe at: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher. João Teixeira de Faria — mugshot above — is a former alleged Brazilian Spiritist…

After waves of abuse revelations, the better questions are: What are they? Where do they come from? Do we need them? — Over the years that I’ve published on abusive yoga and Buddhism cults in the globalization period, I’ve received a steady flow of comments, DMs, and emails that ask two questions: Are there any healthy spiritual communities out there? Is there such a thing as a legitimate spiritual teacher?

COVID-like illness intensifies egocentrism of “free birth” influencer. — Updated 9.27.21 While members of the Disinformation Dozen pull in millions per year with crude torrents of meme-based COVID denialist propaganda, “free birth” coach Yolande Norris-Clark focuses on elevating the artistry and distilling the philosophy of this anti-social movement. With a modest 44K followers on Instagram and 2600 on Telegram…

Shunning nihilism and Twitter, a millennial activist pulls climate literature back from the brink — Note: My interview with Daniel Sherrell is up now at Conspirituality Podcast. For me, reading Daniel Sherrell’s Warmth: Coming of Age at the End of Our World was like getting caught in a summer downpour. Within a few pages I gave up on keeping dry, and checking my phone. I…

Absorb the wisdom. Ditch the emotional exploitation and neoliberal apathy. — Updated from October, 2019. If you’re keeping track of climate news and not in a state of dissociation, despondency, or despair, you have found a secret I hope you can share with the world. But if you do feel these things, and you have access to therapy but it hasn’t…