#40 – Higher-up & Better-than: Origins of The Cult Persona
In another solo episode of the ‘cult’ure series, we take a deep-dive into childhood conditioning and explore how ‘family systems’ might shape susceptibility to influence. Candice shares a recent ah-hah around her ‘triggers’ and how allowing herself to feel has been helping her to step outside of culty indoctrination. Complacency is discussed, as the near enemy of mindfulness and as a roadblock to authentic self-awareness.
Inspired by the work of John Bradshaw, Candice shares how to tell the difference between healthy and toxic shame, and how the latter reinforces ‘the cult persona,’ and a tendency to act as if we are more or less than human. She then shares what it’s like living just outside of Sedona – a new-age mecca that wreaks of ‘cult’ural appropriation. Find out the history behind Sedona’s claim to fame – the energetic vortexes, and what the spiritual ego has to do with it all. Finally, be sure to stick around, because the episode wraps with the poignant (and anonymous) sharing of former Org members’ stories.
Purity culture is reality checked, orthorexia is defined, and a wake-up call is inspired by the work of courageous body-positive activists who are calling out the cults of ableism and anti-fat bias. There’s a lot packed into this episode; you may have to listen twice.
Referenced in this Episode:
- Unlocking Us with Brene Brown [podcast] — The Near and Far Enemies of Fierce Compassion, Parts 1 & 2
- Healing The Shame That Binds You, by John Bradshaw
- The Drama of The Gifted Child, by Alice Miller
- We Have to Stop Thinking of Being ‘Healthy’ as Being Morally Better [article], by Aubrey Gordon. Self Magazine.
- The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love, by Sonya Renee Taylor
The stories and opinions shared in this episode are based on personal experience and are not intended to malign any individual, group, or organization.
