Catabasis

Referenced in 1 episode

Definition

A 'descent' narrative in which a living person journeys into the underworld or afterlife and returns. Tunney links an Irish catabatic tradition, dating to pre-Christian times, to visions of purgatory.

Related episodes

What Have We Lost? with James Tunney

New Thinking AllowedOct 23, 2026

Barrister, author and artist James Tunney joins Jeffrey Mishlove to argue that while the West has advanced technologically, it has regressed spiritually by discarding the medieval Catholic worldview of soul, spirit and a participatory cosmos. He traces this loss through Marxism, the X Club's 'imperial' scientism, modern psychology, and the Protestant Reformation, which he says closed off belief in purgatory, prayer for the dead and spirit interaction. Tunney suggests that near-death experiences and a Gen Z return to religion may signal a post-secular rebalancing, even as AI developers try to create a new god.

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