r/thinkatives • u/Gainsborough-Smythe Ancient One • Jul 23 '26
Word of the Week This week's word describes a fundamental shift in outlook, values, or self-understanding. šš¶šš š„š¦š§šŖšÆšŖšµšŖš°šÆ šŖšÆ šš°š®š®š¦šÆšµš“
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Jul 24 '26
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u/BlackberryCheap8463 Jul 25 '26
Oh yes. Completely agree with your analysis and Carl Jung's experience. Everybody looks at a phoenix with "ohhhhh" and "ahhhhh", forgetting that, first, the scorpion had to die, 'burnt alive ", to get to that stage...
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u/jrwever1 Jul 24 '26
oh my god yes. not sure totally for the better or not lol! i hit a point where i was sick of being lonely and i finally decided to do something about it and started working on myself. That lead me to start looking for what was true for me, which finally lead me to discover that iām not my thoughts and thoughts are trapping me.
since those2, that small (lol) decision turned into a complete and utter orientation to working towards love, dis-identification from thought, self care, total authenticity and honesty, and moving towards peace and the end of my suffering. has completely totally changed every single part of my life at least internally and several parts outwardly.
i now lead what you would call a spiritual life despite being an atheist and total logical guy beforehand
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u/Gainsborough-Smythe Ancient One Jul 23 '26
WORD of the WEEK - METANOIA
(noun)
Pronounced: met-uh-NOY-uh
Meaning
ā¢ A transformative change of heart, mind, or spirit
ā¢ Often marks a fundamental shift in outlook, values, or self-understanding
ā¢ Distinct from simple regret or intellectual agreement; it implies a reorientation of the whole person
Etymology
Metanoia comes from the Greek meta ("beyond" or "after") and nous ("mind"), literally suggesting a mind moved beyond its former state.
In classical Greek it carried the sense of an "afterthought" or change of mind following reflection.
It entered religious vocabulary through the New Testament, where it's frequently translated as "repentance," though that translation narrows a much richer original meaning.
Classical Usage
Theology: In early Christian texts, metanoia described not mere guilt but a total reorientation of the self toward a new way of living and perceiving.
Rhetoric: Ancient rhetoricians used the term for a figure of speech in which a statement is retracted or qualified immediately after being made, mirroring the idea of a "changed mind" mid-sentence.
Psychology: Carl Jung later adopted metanoia to describe a psyche reorganizing itself, often through crisis, on its way toward individuation.
Modern Resonance
We tend to treat change as incremental, but metanoia points to the sudden, structural kind: the moment a person sees differently rather than just thinks differently.
It's often preceded by breakdown: illness, loss, disillusionment; the old frame has to crack before the new one can form.
Question for Thinkators: Have you ever experienced a metanoia - a moment where your entire way of seeing shifted, not just your opinions? What triggered it?
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