Look, I get the appeal. Sitting in the hills away from the Lisbon grind, trying to actually look inward? That’s beautiful. But there’s this toxic streak in retreat culture that treats walking away like a moral failure. It’s like we’re all supposed to endure whatever protocol the teacher prescribes, no matter how misaligned it is with our actual wiring. I dropped out of university years ago for the exact same reason - institutional structures that demand conformity over comprehension don’t work for everyone. Self-education taught me that. Crowley’s whole mystique always felt like spiritual hazing to me anyway - all rigid dogma disguised as rebellion, demanding you suffer to prove you're worthy. I've never bought into that.

As a research assistant, I’ve seen how raw data gets twisted to fit a predetermined narrative, and spiritual protocols are no different. Alan Watts used to say that chasing spiritual experiences is just another form of greed. I’ve been reading a lot of Carl Jung lately, too, and his writings on the psyche’s natural rhythms really clicked for me. The ego doesn’t need to be beaten into submission. Sometimes the healthiest move is just stepping back. In the tarot, you’d call this Four of Swords