Cameron Allan McKean
Cameron is a writer, editor and underwater anthropologist in Melbourne, Australia. After a decade in Tokyo working as an arts journalist, he began doctoral studies at Deakin University involving fieldwork with scientists and divers at coral reefs in the Pacific Ocean. Cameron is a former books and culture editor for The Japan Times, and a past contributor to CNN, ArtAsiaPacific, Dwell, Apartamento, and art-agenda.
Edited by Cameron Allan McKean
Mental health across cultures
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Why a Sufi approach to healing mental illness is so powerful
In Sufi shrines, rituals offer sufferers a path beyond the fear and isolation of their mental distress
by Bhrigupati Singh
Music
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How to discover new music
In a musical rut? Whatever your age or existing tastes, you can find surprise and enjoyment beyond the streaming algorithms
by James Hadfield
Sacred places
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Paganism is a potent force in Ireland’s conservation movement
Long-held beliefs in an ‘Otherworld’ inhabited by wrathful fairies are now driving a resurgence in Irish eco-activism
by Juju Lane
Rituals and celebrations
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More radical and practical than Stoicism – discover Shugendō
As they train for their own deaths, Japan’s mountain priests develop a form of acceptance that goes beyond the Stoics
by Tim Bunting
Change and self-development
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Personal transformation can start with a whisper, not a bang
To understand personal transformation, we should listen to the incessant whispers in our stream of consciousness
by Jennifer Windt
Transcendent experience
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Your consciousness has been completely transformed. Now what?
Awakening experiences are spiritual states often believed to unlock life’s mysteries – but sacred knowledge comes at a cost
by Kevin Berryman
Play
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A game is not a game without a special kind of conflict
From 5,000-year-old boardgames to last year’s video-game blockbusters, all games feature a kind of collaborative conflict
by Eric Zimmerman
Psychedelic-assisted therapy
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If you want psychedelic healing, your ego may need to die
What do we know about the role of ‘ego death’ and other transformative experiences in psychedelic therapies?
by Natasha Mason, Athena Demertzi & Johannes G Ramaekers
Values and beliefs
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Do you have a duty to tell people they’re wrong about carrots?
How to decide whether you should correct someone’s false beliefs about carrots, vaccines and South American dictators
by Giulia Terzian & M Inés Corbalán
Work and vocation
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Kafka warned us: surveillance turns the watched into watchers
Surveillance changes us in powerful ways, as Franz Kafka warned. Neither the watched nor their watcher escapes unscathed
by George Alliger
Emotion regulation
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Heartbreak is more than a metaphor. Are you at risk?
Heartbreak is more than a metaphor, but not everyone is at risk. Why does it kill some and spare others?
by Sian Harding
Meaning and the good life
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The immortalists have got it wrong – here’s why we need death
The immortalists say beating death will lead to peace. But what if mortality is our bittersweet path to love and harmony?
by Susan Cain