Cornerstones

The word ‘patriarchy’ is mostly understood in simplistic terms. Patriarchies are societies where men rule, and women get bashed down. The problem with this view is that it clouds the extent to which such societies distort natural human functioning and wellbeing. The best-kept secret of patriarchy is that everything is toxic. We’ve been living in […]

What is sexual energy? It may seem like an odd question, an obvious question, even an unnecessary question. Yet it is the question that unlocks answers to some of life’s deepest mysteries. Sexual energy is high-octane, high-rev life energy colliding with the ‘red line’ of sexual shame. What is sexual energy? What is the energy […]

When I was young, living in southern Switzerland, we used to make long holiday drives through the Italian countryside. The smell of manure was a frequent presence. We used to crumple our noses and cry, ‘Il buon odore della campagna’—the good aroma of the countryside. Fast forward half a century. I now know that wincing […]

We tend to think of trauma as a psychological issue. Yet it’s an issue that’s very much rooted in the body. Research has shown a connection to chemicals produced by the fight-or-flight response. Here I’m going to explore the idea that generational trauma is a frozen fight-or-flight response inherited from one of our ancestors. Generational […]

In Trauma exists as a series of ripples, I describe the multiple, interconnected sources of trauma that may exist in our lives. I’ve broken down these sources into five key layers. In this article I’m going to focus on the fourth layer, racial trauma. Racial trauma is trauma that affects all people of colour, causing […]

In Trauma exists as a series of ripples, I describe the multiple, interconnected sources of trauma that may exist in our lives. I’ve broken down these sources into five key layers. In this article I’m going to focus on the middle layer, community trauma. Community trauma is trauma that affects an entire, specific community, such […]

For the past 6,000 years, ever since the dawn of patriarchy, humanity has been running on a specific psychological paradigm—the Patriarchal Operating System. What do I mean by ‘running’? I mean breathing, feeling, thinking, eating, working, loving, screwing and absolutely anything else we do, say, think or feel.  The Patriarchal Operating System affects every single aspect of all of […]

In What is the mother wound? I describe the way that the wound at the core of humanity causes six key separations (or fragmentations). Of these, however, there is only one that ensures the mother wound passes from one generation to the next: lack of emotional nurturing. Note that I specifically reference a lack of […]

We live in a world of growing crises, growing trauma, and growing anxiety. We’re desperately in need of solutions, a way of turning back the rising tide of emotional distress. It turns out that—surprise, surprise—nature has a win-win solution for this. It’s called the ‘orgasm reflex’. The “shambles” Studying schizophrenia in the 1960s, psychologist R.D. […]

In a lecture shortly after the end of World War II, German philosopher Martin Heidegger asserted that, “The dreadful has already happened”. I would like to borrow this phrase, as it’s a very succinct way of describing the significance of the mother wound to humanity, both past and present. The mother wound is the core […]