I spend my days in Austin managing marketing campaigns, but my weekends and past years were spent backpacking through ashrams in India, monasteries in the Himalayas, and retreat centers across Southeast Asia. What I’ve noticed is a stark contrast. Traditional spaces thrived on shared silence and humble practice. Modern online “spiritual communities” thrive on engagement metrics, gatekeeping, and performative enlightenment. It’s textbook group polarization fueled by confirmation bias. People only follow teachers who validate their existing worldview, which isolates them from genuine growth.

Tarot captures this perfectly. When a community hits its breaking point, it mirrors The Tower—sudden upheaval, illusions shattering, and the painful but necessary destruction of false structures. Too many 2026 groups are clinging to digital validation (The Devil’s bondage), mistaking algorithmic likes for spiritual progress. Real practice requires stepping back, embracing The Hermit. You don’t need a Discord server full of gurus telling you who to be. You need solitude, self-inquiry, and the courage to question everything, including your own spiritual identity.

The challenge in 2026 isn’t finding a community; it’s learning when to leave one. If a group demands blind loyalty or monetizes your transformation, it’s a cult dynamic, not a sanctuary. Psychology calls this coercive control disguised as spiritual guidance. Tarot calls it The Devil.

So here’s my blunt take: spiritual communities are fracturing because we’ve confused connection with validation. How are you navigating this shift? Are you seeing more burnout, gatekeeping, or commercialization in the spaces you follow? Let’s talk strategy, not platitudes.