“These days in our America, so many go about proclaiming ’empowerment,’ by which actually they mean ‘resentment,’ or ‘catering to resentment.’ To be empowered by eloquence and vision is what Emerson meant by self-reliance, and is the start of what I mean by ‘mere Gnosticism,’ where ‘mere’ takes its original meaning of ‘pure’ or ‘unmixed.’ To fall in love with great poetry when you are young is to be awakened to the self’s potential, in a way that has little to do, initially, with overt knowing. The self’s potential as power involves the self’s immortality, not as duration but as the awakening to knowledge of something in the self that cannot die,because it was never born. It is a curious sensation when a young person realizes that he or she is not altogether the child of that person’s natural parents. Freud reduces such a sensation to ‘the changeling fantasy,’ in which you imagine you are a fairy child, plucked away by adoptive parents who then masquerade as a natural mother and father. But is it only a fantasy to locate, in the self, a magical or occult element, older than any other component of of the self?” ~Harold Bloom
Empowerment
Empowerment is defined as sharing information, resources, and power with employees so they can do certain tasks better. I’m not sure if that is the same definition it had when Bloom wrote the quote above. In any case, I don’t see how he thinks that what most people mean by empowerment is actually resentment. However, he does have a point in that what it usually means is limited to material things. So when he says it is really more like what Emerson called “self-reliance,” he is saying that it is more correctly thought of as a spiritual thing rather than something given to us by other people. In other words, real empowerment comes from within ourselves, not from others. We may get advice from others, but it is only when we decide to accept that advice and act on it that we become empowered.
Loving Poetry
Mr. Bloom says that loving poetry when you are young is a kind of spiritual awakening. But which came first, the chicken or the egg? It may not be that loving poetry develops your spiritual self. Instead, it may be that you have a love of poetry because you already are spiritual. Or you might develop a love of poetry at the same time that you are developing your spiritual self. It is true, though, that the two often go together. And it isn’t limited to poetry. Spiritual people are attracted to all things of beauty and peace. Music, art, gardening, They are also attracted to things that deal with truth and justice rather than lies and misdirection. As Bloom says, they are “ empowered by eloquence and vision.”
Immortal Self
We do have an immortal self. That “Self” is not physical. As Jesus said, flesh cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The higher realms are those of spirit. Those spiritual realms are the only ones where immortality can exist. No matter how hard they try, medical research will never make the physical body immortal. When the planet itself is mortal, how can any being living on it be immortal?
Bloom adds that this immortal self cannot die because it was never born. Hose still clinging to the illusions of matter may have difficulty grasping that. They end up asking senseless questions on social media like, “Who gave birth to God?” or “How do you know if your soul is old or young?” No being gave birth to God because He was never born. He just is. Likewise, your soul was never born. It just is. It exists outside of time and space. Therefore, there are no old souls or young souls. Aging has nothing to do with souls.
Changeling Fantasy
If you think the changeling fantasy is dead, you don’t use social media very much. Or at least you don’t see what is posted on many spiritual groups. There you find a few who may claim to be children of fairies. More often, however, they claim other changeling concepts today. Some changelings believe they are not from earth, but come here from planet Asturias, or Perseid, or some other planet or star. Other changelings are star children from some unspecified star send to help the human race evolve. Others are simply called Indigo children, crystal children, or other new age names that have no connection to reality. Yes, there are special people, people who are destined for great spiritual development. But they are people who have humility, so you will rarely find them making egotistical claims of superiority.
As Bloom notes. These changing fantasies are just a means, on the part of such individuals who have usually had a partial awakening, a glimpse into the spiritual, to understand why they are different. But they are not from other planets or stars. A changeling is just as much an Earthling as anyone else. But they feel the awakening of their souls which are from heaven. Not a physical location at all, but a higher dimension of reality, a higher state of consciousness.
His doesn’t mean that we should make fun of those who have changeling fantasies. They are only trying to deal with something they don’t understand. One day they will all understand they are dealing with spiritual things and spiritual beings, and they are not aliens or Starseeds. Until then, just let them believe whatever comforts them.
