“There is something strange in the American air,” starts out a recent column in The New York Times.

“Not long ago, Tucker Carlson spoke publicly of waking in bed with blood on him — and claw marks, he said, on his sides and shoulder — after what he described as an attack by a demon, or at least by something unseen. Clergy, Catholic and Orthodox, weighed in. One Orthodox priest suggested that Carlson’s Episcopalian background had left him without the spiritual armor such events require.

“Then came another oddity: Gregg Phillips, now associated with FEMA’s response-and-recovery operations, said he had once been transported — somehow, against his will — to a Waffle House fifty miles away in Rome, Georgia. The New York Times went looking for witnesses at the town’s Waffle Houses. No one remembered him.”

Okay, there’s that.

The Times, of course, is exquisitely secular. Another way of saying that as a product of Rationalism and Scientism.

But interesting it is that even the august newspaper, despite the worldliness, has caught scent of what is wafting in the wind.

Suddenly, vast numbers of people who in recent decades–indeed in the last century–would have given supernaturalism no truck are suddenly believers.

Reason: the mainstream media, which was so exclusionary of such “nonsense,” no longer rules the roost. It has been significantly replaced, in most quarters, by YouTube, other venues of podcasters, and social media.

Now, when something mysterious occurs–an alleged miracle, visions, strange aerial phenomena, hauntings–word gets out, often documented by the now-countless cell cameras out there and ready to upload as text messages, emails, or TikTok.

No longer is public discourse ruled by three networks, PBS, and national or local radio stations and newspapers.

Many of those–including most recently CBS radio–no longer exist. Instead, ouila: the internet.

This replacement of mainstream media has caused its share of problems, including blatant falsity, scams, and over-credulity (careful with “deep-dive” podcasters who really dive deeply not at all, and love use of the f-word, which mainstream media for the most part still forbids).

But it also has been like a veil, and often spiritual blinders, lifting.

As they say these days:

 

 

It’s a good development.

The unleashing of supernatural reports has led to many, especially the young, taking note of actual demonism. And that has caused them to reconsider Christianity, which many thought was nearing extinction but is now a big deal for Generations X and Z.

Tucker Carlson chatting about an attack by a dark force! Endless feeds of paranormal reports! Charismatic preachers behind large Shure microphones!

As the columnist for The Times–which itself now allow a certain element of belief to be written about positively–put it, “Meanwhile, in a far more orthodox but no less striking development, Catholic churches this Easter welcomed some of the largest convert classes in many years. Eastern Orthodox parishes, too, are reporting remarkable growth, especially among young men. One Antiochian Orthodox priest said he had never seen anything like it in the history of Orthodoxy in America.

“All of this unfolds against a national atmosphere that has become, in a word, uncanny. The solid world seems less solid. The old explanations seem thinner. We see humanoid robots on White House carpets. We hear former intelligence officials speak under oath of crashed UFOs, reverse-engineered craft, and recovered ‘nonhuman biologics.’ We watch as technology, official secrecy, spiritual hunger, and cultural exhaustion blend into a strange mist.

“The result is a kind of re-enchantment.”

That’s a word one has to use caution around. “Enchantment.” Spirituality is one thing–Bible Christianity–but enchantment often trends toward the occult.

So with the “thumbs-up” comes:

Pew reported in 2024 that nearly a third of Americans consult astrology, tarot, or fortune tellers at least once a year. “What was once dismissed as occult, superstitious, or eccentric has drifted toward the mainstream.

For many Americans, life is no longer dictated by economics, psychology, and politics. The young now recognize manipulation from beyond the veil. The consensus once established by institutional gatekeepers has been fractured if not shattered.

That agreement has fractured.

“Woohoo!” “Awesome!”

With the collapse of secular institutional authority, a massive spiritual vacuum has opened. The columnist argues that into this void has rushed a return to “a medieval atmosphere.”

Really?

How about looking at it a bit differently and realizing there has been a reversion not so much to the Middle Ages as to the earlier days of Christianity, when evil was seen for what it was and miracles were believed for the simple reason that they happen.

Many are recognizing there was and is the Person named Jesus.

The danger comes when enchantment is cut loose from discernment — from Church, doctrine, humility, community, and spiritual authority. Untethered enchantment mutates. It becomes obsession. It becomes delusion. It becomes a private religion in which every impulse is a revelation and every coincidence a command.

The modern world promised to banish mystery. Instead, mystery has returned— and so have sudden conversions.

If that “medieval,” so be it. The world as fashioned solely by Scientism has proven to be shallow (and often very wrong) indeed.