Visionary Fiction speaks the language of the soul. It contains all the elements of modern storytelling yet there is a deeper layer, an archetypal level. This level invites a reader to personally undergo the mystical inner initiations that the book’s character experiences. Visionary Fiction (VF) not only entertains, it embeds esoteric wisdom and paranormal experiences in story. It is an ancient art of storytelling – but a fairly new genre in the publishing world.
Often relegated to the genre of Fantasy, Paranormal,
Metaphysical, or Spirituality, VF contains elements of all four.
But the story line is more concerned with how the character’s internal
experiences of paranormal events – such as visions, dreams, psychic phenomena,
past life remembrances, or forays into uncharted planes of existence – are the
unique catalysts for transformation. These types of non-linear occurrences run
parallel to our everyday conditioned reality. VF allows the
reader to glimpse a doorway into these alternate realities.
VF engages the reader in the worlds of the seen and unseen. It is a quest into the deeper mysteries of life - in story form.
VF engages the reader in the worlds of the seen and unseen. It is a quest into the deeper mysteries of life - in story form.
Our Current Reality
We live in a world that operates under an imbalanced
masculine-principle way of thinking. I am referring to the unhealthy attitude
that produces greed, war, violence, domination, authority outside ourselves,
and rational/linear thought to the exclusion of intuition and feelings. In
general, society demeans the feminine principle of nurturance, receptivity,
cooperation, emotions, our ‘sixth sense’ and intuition. I am not talking about
gender when I speak about the masculine and feminine principles, but, rather,
about ways of being and behaving. Both principles can act healthy or unhealthy;
helpful or hurtful. In other words, you could say there’s an excess of
unhealthy Yang, and a suppressed/restricted Yin. You need only examine the
degeneration of our cultural institutions – the banks, church, the politics –
to see that societal structures are crumbling under the effects of this
imbalance.
I find it interesting that many ancient spiritual systems,
such as the Hopi, Mayan, and Hindu, foretold a golden age. They predicted our
current era in history as the transition point into this evolution of
consciousness. As with all change, there is chaos and destruction before there
is regeneration. This is simply the way our world works. If these ancient
spiritual predictions are true, this explains the depth of turbulence we see
and feel around us.
The Relevance of Visionary Fiction in today’s world
Humankind longs for a new story. A regenerative and hope
filled rebirth. A world that joins the best that both the masculine and
feminine principles have to offer. In the union of heart and head, and with
wisdom, guardianship, and power that are infused with love, that golden age the
ancients predicted can arrive.
One time honored way to open up to this alchemical change and
explore humanity’s potential is through the vital act of storytelling.
VF can rouse humanity’s new story – through story. The mystical
encounters, paranormal abilities, and spiritual awakenings woven into VF provide the raw material for the transformation of not only the novel’s
characters, but for readers as well. The invitation is to apply the embedded
wisdom of the book into our own lives.
A version of this article first appeared in the Visionary Fiction Alliance blog August, 2012
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