Epiphany as the Key to a World of Lucid Possibilities

A sudden realization, a breakage of homogeneity in current thought patterns, the upgrade of an individual´s internal system: all these could be considered as descriptions of the happening known as an epiphany. In secular culture, epiphany is considered something similar to a strong sudden inspiration, the upcoming of a (both consciously and unconsciously) long-sought-after answer that can be of extreme relevance not only to the individual but to his environment as a whole. It is, after all, a sudden generous charge of information input directed towards a particular person. The nature of this information, be it scientific, humanistic, or theological, is not of the common type but rather a rare jewel. It usually seems to be something that escapes the current collective train of thought, be it in a sense of direction or speed. If the twist happens to be in a sense of direction, then the epiphany could lead the individual to become a social outcast and, in some situations, could even endanger his life, a common occurrence in all who navigate the waters of counterculture. Joan of Arc is a good, though maybe a little extreme, example of this. Such extreme cases are more common in less secular environments where the epiphanic experience contradicts deeply enrooted social dogmas or religious doctrines. If, on the other hand, the nature of this input happens to be in a sense of speed rather than direction, there is less chance of an idiosyncratic clash from happening. In this latter example, whatever informational input that is given will contribute to further the advance of the current system in a smoother fashion. The individual will, therefore, encounter approval rather than opposition from his peers, and hence, epiphany becomes a passage rite towards elevated praise rather than shunning.

Regardless, however, of particular circumstances, we should examine the phenomenon of epiphany in regard to the doors it opens when it comes to individual consciousness. Some regard life as being essentially tragic, mainly due to the feeling of “thrownness” that permeates the life of a newborn. The newborn doesn’t choose the starting level of difficulty in his life. He doesn’t choose his parents, his country or much less his cultural conditionings. He is just thrown towards a world where he will encounter all these and more and adaptation is key to survival. His life is, to a great extent, homogenous and predictive. But then, with the coming of age, and if he happens to be among the “chosen” ones, comes the epiphany, a sudden realization of something that wasn’t taught to him directly by his peers or even socially expected for him to learn. To elucidate what triggers such a phenomenon would be a titanic task. Whether it is an internal genetic disposition or something that is stimulated by a specific set of outer circumstances would, nonetheless, give plenty of room for debate. Defenders of a more deterministic approach claim that there is a genetic predisposition, while others think it can be externally activated in various ways, for instance, actively searching for such experience through the use of entheogenic substances.

What we can be certain of, however, is that the individual will not be the same person after foregoing such a process. An inner transformation occurs, and a new world of possibilities is bestowed upon him. Whether it was a sought-after experience or an involuntary happening, he will not be the same after it. But how likely is an epiphany to occur given our current circumstances? Is there a place for the uncommon in a world where post-industrial standardization is the norm? “Ask, and shall it be given you; seek and ye shall find,” Matthew 7:7. Taking this biblical verse as a reference, it wouldn’t be too risky to say that he who encounters epiphany may have been looking for it in a subconscious or conscious level, whereas the specific conditions in which it is given would come off as secondary. If this statement is true, then the conditions necessary for having an epiphany vary more from individual to individual than from era to era. It is, however, still important to examine the place epiphany holds in our current state of affairs. Let us first examine the Zeitgeist (also known as the spirit of the time) offered by modernity in a broad sense. Modernity offers romance in a short-term, quick satisfaction model. Sex is no longer a sacrament, and wars are no longer seen as holy (at least in modern, secularized societies). If all the elements we find in the 3D world are ephemeral manifestations of an emanation from nothing, then only nothingness and its infinite emptiness are the only sources of depth. It is especially common for the modern artist to look forward to a creatio ex nihilo, a creation from nothing, with a relative sense of disregard for what came before him. The weight of history becomes, with the upcoming of modernity, lighter and lighter, and so does the importance of tradition. Will this current state of affairs offer the individual enough freedom to make epiphany a more common incident, or does the lack of objective inherent meaning and solid life guidance models annihilate the capacity for escaping the mundane dread of existence? I, optimistically, believe it’s the former.

The existential void in modernity leads to a crisis, which leads the individual towards a search for meaning. Every search leads to a finding, and it wouldn’t be strange to assume that many of these findings may be of the special type, of the type that seems to burst violently into the individual´s conscience, in other words, epiphanies. What happens after that is similar to the opening of the Pandora box: a limitless amount of possibilities seemingly appears out of nowhere. Whatever thought pattern he was aligned to prior to the epiphanic experience dissolves and is born anew as a fresh set of ideas, theories, and attitudes toward life.

As mentioned before, whether the environment is receptive towards that is, in most occasions, a matter of luck. An epiphany could be considered similar to flipping a coin, but instead of heads or tails, we have social praise or condemnation. In our current state of affairs and with the advance of civil rights, the stakes are, however, not that high. It is not uncommon nowadays for someone to receive such a burst of inspiration, to have an enlightened vision and then turn it into art, philosophy, a manifesto, or scientific discovery and, in a matter of minutes, upload it to the collective consciousness depot known as the internet so it can be accessed by billions of people worldwide. Anyone confident enough regarding his vision can become a guru or a coach and, eventually, gain thousands or even millions of followers worldwide.

This could lead to the notion that religious fervor is far from extinguished and, if anything, has become disseminated and separated into small groups. The speed of life is increasing, terabytes of information travel at full throttle, and the individual is constantly stimulated, but among this sea of information, he finds very little to call his own. It is under these conditions that he needs to differentiate himself from the rest of the flock. He is looking for something, and many alternatives are given to him, but none to his satisfaction. This is definitely an ideal breeding ground for epiphanic experiences. Creatio ex nihilo occurs: seemingly out of nowhere, a new operative system is born inside him. If he doesn’t find a good way to channel such energy, his mental health could face danger. A big new input of rare information just lying stuck in his head would harm him from the inside. To let it out or not is, in part, a matter of courage, though this also depends on the nature of the epiphany he just had and also if the sharing of such information could create much distress among his peers. Some restrain themselves from expressing what they have seen due to fear of social rejection. A number of reasons could lead to this spiral of self-doubt. Maybe the realization is not that original after all, maybe he just accessed a particularly uncommon place of human consciousness that has been visited before. If this happens to be true, his excitement wouldn’t be justified. One could go as far as to say that maybe his epiphany is not even such but merely a personal delusion fueled by repressed trauma or wishful thinking.

It is due to this level of uncertainty that epiphany can be the cause of much distress. No one wants to make a fool of himself or break the weave of consensus reality without thinking about the consequences. Plus, one cannot be certain about the benefits of such temerity until the newly received input has been shared with the world. Can there be, therefore, a strong case for epiphany? Absolutely. To deny one´s epiphany is not only to deny an opportunity for self-knowledge and self-challenge but also to deny the spontaneous course of progress itself. Spontaneous is the keyword here since, after all, epiphany is probably the most spontaneous of happenings, contrary to the predictable mundanity proper of mechanical reasoning. Through escaping the realm of the predictable, the individual becomes untraceable and, therefore, free from external conditionings. He is forced, in the midst of this violent input of data, to find new life meanings for himself (or at least regarding a specific branch of life, science, and spirituality being the most common). It wouldn’t be too accurate to state that the experience of epiphany has forced him to be free since free will is given as an innate condition, but more that it made him conscious of his inherent freedom for giving things meaning.

It is in these circumstances that chaos becomes more evident; the chances of crisis are high, and so it is not uncommon for such a potentially tormented genius to undergo a dark night of the soul. William Blake said that in order for a tree to reach the sky, its branches need to be rooted in the hellish underworld. But what is this “hell” he talked about? Chaos, uncertainty, lack of sense of direction, unsafety. The relatively safe haven of consensual reality, of assumed thought patterns, of rigid mental structures, starts to fall apart. The individual has to rebuild his path towards lucidity from scratch. This entire process is similar to a return to home, comparable to Odysseus’ return trip to Ithaca. In this metaphor, home would be the state of lucidity, of balance, of clarity of thought. The epiphanic experience has demolished all signs of stability and replaced it all with a deep existential crisis in which the individual questions both his understanding of reality as well as his place in it. He knows that, in order to survive this, his new re-making of the world has to be even more solid than the world he left behind. This, needless to say, is no easy task, yet it is totally worth it. First, it is a matter of survival: not being able to correctly process this life-marking experience could lead to a shattering of his identity and a loss of position among his peers.

In other words, it is not like he has much chance. Second, the possibility of obtaining some form of glory is enticing, to say the least. If the epiphanic experience can be transmuted into a useful and comprehensible idea, concept, or art form for his peers, then the reward would be high. These two reasons are another way of describing the social appraisal versus social condemnation model expressed above. What is important to note, however, is that due to the spontaneous and unpredictable nature of the epiphanic experiences, the individual doesn’t have much chance regarding the fact that he has to face this high stakes, high reward model. The tools an individual can use to face this challenge are more generous nowadays than some centuries ago. This is due to the fact that access, not only to information but to worldwide communication, is becoming more fluid each year that passes by. A person can now share this unexpected streak of information, this spontaneous epiphanic vision, with other people worldwide. On the other hand, with the right use of search mechanisms, he can build new life-changing, consciousness-transforming connections. This leads to the notion that, even if his new vision is contrary to his particular cultural weather, there is still an escape route for the individual to share this intimate experience and get feedback in return. Social isolation can, therefore, be avoided if the right tools are used.

What we can make of all this is that epiphany understood as a consciousness-transforming process, takes a great deal of courage to face, as well as a rigorous testing of the individual´s mental stability. It is important for those who undergo such a process to look for the right tools and the right people to make their path both less lonely and less dangerous. If the individual keeps his eyes on the prize, this is, the possibility of sharing and structuralizing brand new informational and experiential input in a comprehensible manner, then chances are he will be up for a quite productive, transcendent, and satisfactory lifetime.