Journeys and Star Gazing

Sitting under a wide, cloud-streaked sky, it’s easy to see dragons protecting fair maidens—shapes forming and dissolving like ideas half-formed. This is soul searching, a turn of the dial hoping to find clarity amidst static. That’s why I’ve come here, to the quiet of the countryside, away from the city’s endless grind. Winter’s chill creeps in, but perhaps the soul thaws when freed from its corporate chains.

Still, the absurdity of it all strikes me. My 1960s stripes are showing, but that’s okay—it’s the 2020s now. What once felt raw, visceral, and alive has been packaged and sold back to us as curated content. Rebellion itself is now a lifestyle brand. You can buy a $60 band tee, a protest-themed candle, or an algorithmically curated playlist of “protest anthems.”

Sex sells, they say—cars, perfumes, ideologies, even people. The marketplace has commodified humanity itself. The icons of individuality—once untouchable, electrifying forces—have been domesticated and rebranded as influencers. These influencers don’t just sell products; they sell the illusion of a life you think you should be living. It’s a polished performance, a constant reminder that you’re incomplete.

Advertisers and influencers are the shadow magicians of our age. No, they don’t conjure fireballs or brew potions, but their craft is no less insidious. They convince us we lack something intrinsic, something we already possess, and then sell us fragments of our wholeness at a markup. They turn rebellion into product lines, package freedom in cans, and sell identity at a discount.

We’ve entered the era of the psychic supermarket. Neon lights, slick branding, and shiny apps promise “insight,” “transcendence,” “authenticity”—but all they deliver is distraction. The spiritual hunger that once drove revolutions now fuels workshops, weekend retreats, and life-coaching apps. Gurus with trademarks stamped on their third eyes sell “enlightenment,” but their products are more like chains than keys.

What does all this have to do with shadow magic? Everything. In the Renaissance, magicians were acknowledged as such. Rasputin helped bring down the Romanovs; today’s digital influencers and ad-tech sorcerers are just as powerful, spinning illusions that shape entire nations. Their methods are subtler now, cloaked in data analytics, viral trends, and algorithms optimized to hijack the soul. It’s not just conditioning—it’s enchantment.

Take rebellion, for instance. Once, it meant something. It had a pulse, a fight, a fire. Now, rebellion is a glossy ad campaign for sneakers or energy drinks. The ethos of “sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll” has become “sleaze, addiction, and mindless consumerism.” Even awakening itself has been commodified, sold back to us in mindfulness apps and wellness retreats. Choose the blue pill, and you stay plugged into a world of viral dances, curated feeds, and endless scrolling. Choose the red pill, and you wake up—only to realize that even enlightenment comes with a subscription fee.

Advertisers don’t just sell products—they sell people. The stars of the golden age of cinema have been replaced by viral TikTok influencers and Instagram idols. They are brands, and we consume them as eagerly as we consume their endorsements. The human soul has been commodified, packaged into likes, swipes, and carefully curated feeds. The smile of the influencer is a product, optimized by algorithms to sell us something—beauty, status, belonging, or just the faint promise of being seen.

And behind it all, the shadow magicians profit. They don’t just take our money—they take our attention, our dignity, and, worst of all, our sense of self. The tragedy isn’t in enjoying a good streaming series or the latest tech gadget; it’s in losing the capacity to see beyond them. We’ve traded pieces of our souls for branded personas, and the worst part is, we hardly even notice.

Yes, this is heavy stuff. It might sound extreme to say advertisers profit from souls, but consider it: they convince us to buy not just things, but meaning, identity, and purpose. They replace the shared wisdom of communities with synthetic substitutes—neatly packaged remedies for the emptiness they themselves create. Each product promises to fill a void, but the more we consume, the emptier we feel.

As we rise up the modern pyramid—a fusion of Instagram stories, YouTube ads, and AI-generated content—we witness a Tower of Babel built from distraction and desire. The shadow magicians have sold us illusions of ourselves, and in doing so, they’ve blinded us to what we already are. The battle isn’t just for our wallets—it’s for our souls.

But here’s the thing: the spell only works if we believe in it. We’re not powerless. What’s the way out? Maybe it’s as simple as returning to awareness. The images we cultivate in our minds shape the world we create. Will they be pyramids to ego, or bridges to collective responsibility? Love must move beyond the self—beyond the petty “me”—to embrace stewardship of our planet and its people.

The shadow magicians won’t stop. They’ll repackage even this message, selling “save the planet” kits with a monthly subscription fee. Awareness requires vigilance, a willingness to question even the noblest calls to action. The battle isn’t fought in boardrooms or markets—it’s fought within. It’s a fight to reclaim the soul from those who would sell it back to us in pieces.

So, here I scribble—seeking clarity, exorcising spells, and reclaiming the space I almost lost. Perhaps this is just an exorcism, a way to break the spell over me. But I hope it’s more than that. There is a battle going on—inner and outer. For too long, our eyes have been closed to the inner world, the world that contains the outer one like a Madonna and child. This psychic terrain is populated by forces—good and evil—and it’s up to us to choose sides.

The choice is simple: shadow magic or light, me or we, destruction or renewal. This time, let’s break the spell. And let’s get it right.