Living a Magical Life in a Disenchanted World : A Conversation with Rebekah Berndt

‘The Crystal Ball,’ John William Waterhouse (1902).

Are you finding yourself discouraged by a lack of vitality in your spiritual life? Feeling despondent about the slow-motion (or sometimes fast-forwarding) maelstrom of our current social, cultural, political, and ecological world? Are you grateful that you’re no longer constrained by unhealthy religious superstition and guilt, but wish you could recapture the magic of a vibrant, wide-awake spirituality? Do you wish you could see God, Jesus, or angels through fresh eyes?

There are growing numbers of weary believers, wary ex-believers and so many in-between who are feeling into what Paul Ricœur and James Fowler call Second Naïveté, “retrieval of insights from ancient myth and symbolism after they have become unbelievable in light of critique” (source). There are many ways to arrive at this retrieval of insights, of course; I find it to be part of the Great Work I’m called to, today. And I’ve come to experience that there really is a ‘There’ there when it comes to the more subtle realms of perception that bridge — and relate to — our own. I’ve witnessed and experienced things that can’t be shoehorned into a reductive, materialist lens and I think many of you have, too. It’s worth us talking about.

And so I sit down with a leader in exploring (re)new(ed) frontiers of bold spiritual exploration, my longtime friend and colleague Rebekah Berndt. We talk about what it means to shed layers of religion that no longer serve, while having the courage to reclaim spiritual beliefs, practices, and community forms that do serve. We explore the future of faith, contemplative practice, and what it means to live an enchanted life in a disenchanted world. Rebekah shares her journey through a series of fruitful disenchantments: with conservative evangelicalism, progressive Christianity, the elevation of doubt and a curiosity about all things ‘pagan.’

Rebekah then shares the rich synthesis of Christian mysticism, practical animism, critical thinking traditions, magical practice, and angelic wisdom that nourish her today. Drawing on her unique background as both a critical care nurse and trained psychic, she offers grounded perspectives on death, healing, and cultivating authentic spiritual experience.

We cover ground in Rebekah’s journey that might resonate with you; arenas like:

🔷 Spiritual Evolution

• Formative experiences in the Emerging Church conversation
• Discovery of the sacred feminine via Mary Magdalene in Cynthia Bourgeault’s work
• Profound encounters with the Virgin Mary
• Integration of centering prayer and psychic development

🔷 Understanding Intuitive Development

• The role of meditation in expanding sensory awareness
• Learning to take radical responsibility for personal experience
• Importance of processing projection and emotional patterns
• Connection between trauma healing and intuitive opening

🔷 The Divine Feminine & Healing

• Relationship with the Virgin Mary as a healing presence
• Work with the Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACA) 12-step program
• Experiencing le Point Vierge – the pure, creative center within, a point of nothingness belonging to God
• Integration of mothering energy in spiritual development

🔷 Integrating Multiple Traditions

• Rediscovering the essence of Christ, the Marys, and (even) the apostle Paul through broader spiritual exploration
• Finding magic and mysticism within Christian tradition
• How Hekate led Rebekah back to Jesus

🔷 Working with Divine Presence

• Practices for developing spiritual sensitivity
• Relationship between personal will and divine guidance
• Making space for mystery and enchantment while retaining critical thinking and discernment

🔷 Angelic Connections

• Understanding (and contacting) your Holy Guardian Angel in Hermetic Christian practice
• Development of Archangel Astrology practice
• Integration of Hellenistic astrology with angelic guidance
• Working with planetary angels for personal development

Tune in here!

Book an Archangel Astrology Reading with Rebekah

Toward the end of our conversation, we talk about some remarkable experiences Rebekah has had with angels, encounters that led her to develop a unique 90-minute Archangel Astrology reading that combines astrological wisdom with angelic guidance. Using ancient Hellenistic techniques, she examines your natal chart to connect you with the planetary archangels that oversee your life’s purpose, intuitive path, and special gifts.

I realize that some of my readers, depending where you are on your faith deconstruction journey (and/or along Fowler’s Stages of Faith), might wrestle with our conversations about psychic phenomena,  magic, and the miraculous – having deconstructed harmful and at-times fantastical religion, you might even roll your eyes at the seeming outlandishness of it. What’s great is that Rebekah’s sessions are skeptic-friendly; in my experience I can bring all of myself to the reading and the exchange, including my layers of incredulity.

Sessions include:

• Full birth chart reading
• Key planetary angel guidance
• Current transit analysis
• Channeled messages
• Aura reading and energy healing as needed

To book a session, visit RebekahBerndt.com

Related posts:

From Fundamentalism to Magical Purpose: Rebekah Berndt on Healing the Christian Lineage Changing the World with Faith, Hope & Love: Ecology, Identity, Class & Solidarity in the Way of Jesus with Joerg Rieger! The Paradoxes of Ethical Mysticism: my conversation with Jay Michaelson The Cosmic Lens: Dr. Birgit Viertlböck on Healing Trauma & Evolving Consciousness