MetaTheurgy with Kevin Cann

Jan 9, 2026

In this engaging discussion, Kevin Cann, founder of Platonic Surrealism and contributor to Jeffrey Kripal's work, delves into meta-theurgy, an evolution of ancient practices designed to enhance consciousness and agency. He critiques postmodern despair and advocates for transformative rituals that promote healing and meaning in everyday life. Notably, Cann shares insights on wonderworking, UFO summoning, and the interplay of free will and determinism, shedding light on how individuals can navigate their spiritual journeys amidst a fragmented existence.

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ADVICE

Turn Daily Actions Into Rituals

Treat daily life as ritual by using nonverbal contemplations and focused awareness during normal activities.
Perform Platonic Surrealism practices anytime—shower, commute, or parenting—to build a steady inner ritual.

INSIGHT

Practices To Counter Postmodern Despair

Metatheurgy aims to alleviate postmodern despair by giving people simple practices to recover agency and meaning.
Kevin emphasizes healing inner life rather than promising instant fixes to systemic problems.

ANECDOTE

Esalen Workshop That Touched People

Kevin describes an Esalen weekend where his workshop produced hugging, crying, and reported healing experiences.
He acknowledges limits: he couldn't prove paranormal phenomena or solve complex medical issues in four hours.

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MetaTheurgy with Kevin Cann

Kevin Cann is a contributor to Jeffrey Kripal’s book How to Think Impossibly. He is a high-functioning autistic individual whose perspectives inform his philosophical work. Cann is the originator of a worldview he calls Platonic Surrealism.

Kevin Cann explores MetaTheurgy as an expansion of ancient theurgy, reframing ritual, consciousness, and wonderworking through the contemporary lens of his system, Platonic Surrealism. He explains how human beings function as interfaces between awareness, potentiality, monadic consciousness, and the physical world, offering practical methods to restore agency in a postmodern culture marked by alienation. Cann also discusses how ritual, transcendence, and expanded states of mind can foster healing, meaning, and participation in a larger cosmic process.

00:00:01 Introduction: metatheurgy and expanded awareness
00:01:42 Origins, Platonic surrealism, and, ancient theurgy
00:03:48 Wonderworking, UFO summoning, and, altered states
00:07:03 Metamodern, moving beyond postmodern despair
00:12:02 Rituals, daily practices, and, reframing life
00:15:12 Healing, empowerment, and, suffering in modern life
00:29:47 Wonderworking, personal transformation as the core
00:33:21 Freewill, determinism, and, feedback loops
00:44:06 Human beings, monads, souls, and, plasma symbiosis
01:08:53 Conclusion

New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in “parapsychology” ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). He is also the Grand Prize winner of the 2021 Bigelow Institute essay competition regarding the best evidence for survival of human consciousness after permanent bodily death. He is Co-Director of Parapsychology Education at the California Institute for Human Science.

(Recorded on December 9, 2025)

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