“Pathology of the Sublime” from Problems on the Path of Return by Mark Stavish, M.A. in Vol 3 No 1 of Caduceus.

“While the four major existential fears of annihilation and death, responsibility and freedom, aloneness, and meaning, (Existential Psychotherapy, Yalom) are the fears most deeply rooted in the ego (Assiah/Malkooth) and can be said to be a result of the transient nature of the Elements from which it is created, these conflicts are not the result of internal instinctual strivings, or of encounters with our internalized images of significant adult authority figures during the infantile stage of our development (as in Freudian work), but with inescapable givens of our existence in the world.” [via]

Consider also:

  1. “‘Whoever acts like an angel makes a devil of himself.’ — Pascal.”
  2. “Emotionally, hypersensitivity may result and an over identification and sympathy with the world’s pain. The peaks and depths of human experience can become difficult to bear if not recognized as being part of humanities’ cycles of evolution. Hypersensitivity can also result in the belief of having ‘found it’ and being insensitive to the needs of others to find ‘it’ on their own.”
  3. “Abstraction, a pathology most common to the mystical, can result in a rejection of the physical world, and an inability to integrate spiritual experiences into mundane life.”
  4. “He also points out that intense mental stimulation from transpersonal contacts may result in insomnia, as well as delusions of knowing the answers to everything, often through complex associations, and correspondences.”
  5. “However, as Ferrucci states, journeys into the Inner Worlds are not without their own dangers, even into the higher ones. ‘Intense spiritual stimulation may bring inspirations, but may also penetrate directly into the lower conscious, where it throws light on and excites demons, instinctual energies, forgotten memories, and so on. These then tend to rise to consciousness, causing all sorts of trouble to the surprised conscious personality. When the demons are thus aroused, the contrast between different sides of our nature is felt with particular intensity.'”