The Clerical Syndrome
Living like a leaf in the Wind
The clerical syndrome is an accumulation of cultural, societal, and individual implications of the influence of Christian churches and the teachings of similar religious institutions, their dogmas, their interpretation of God and the Divine, the mechanisms of oppression of dissenters, sexuality, women and female spirituality, their wars and their moral absolutism, just to name a few.
It is important to understand and start healing the Clerical Syndrome. It has become deeply imprinted in our culture and society, with its multitude of artificial, manmade rules on how to live our lives, personal prohibitions and restrictions, accompanied by belief systems that stand in the way of our personal happiness, health, physical pleasures, spiritual development, the preservation of our environment and social peace.
The fear of punishment, a punitive deity or God, the fear of the devil and going to hell, play a central role, though very often at an unconscious level. This leads, among other things, to feelings of guilt, shame, life-denying attitudes and patterns, the rejection of one’s own body and its functions, of our sexuality and sensuality, or to a poverty mindset and blind obedience.
As a result, we have a deeply divided society; life has been managed in fixed hierarchical structures and has been seen as a competition, often characterised by fear of each other and mutual control.
Anyone who deviates from the herd culture runs the risk of being punished with disdain and exclusion.
The likewise perceived separation from nature, all its creatures, its cycles and natural laws, as if we were not part of it, as well as the inner separation of human beings from their divine essence, has ultimately created distrust, conflict, war and the destruction of our environment.
Patriarchal thinking has been deeply ingrained in our collective subconscious for several thousand years, but it is apparent that many people no longer want to accept the eternal story of their supposed guilt and shame, as well as the destruction of our planet, and instead want a life based on love, happiness, peace and freedom.
We are at the beginning of a new age in which patriarchal thinking is losing more and more of its influence.
Let’s start with rediscovering our true self, our divine nature and our essential needs. Let’s learn to accept, live and love them more and more and to really enjoy life here on earth. In doing so, it is important to find out the origin of the rules we have been following so far, who and what they have served; to appreciate that we have lived past ourselves and our needs.
However, let’s not judge ourselves for this, let’s not develop even more shame, but let’s treat ourselves with love and compassion.The impact of the Clerical Syndrome affects everyone and it is something that can be healed. The methods presented here all contribute to this.
“A good world needs knowledge, kindliness, and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering after the past, or a fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men.” (Betrand Russel)
