Metamodern Mysticism

In this episode, host Pierce Salguero sits down with Linda C. Ceriello, a scholar of mysticism and popular culture from Kennesaw State University in Georgia. Linda is one of the foremost scholars of metamodernism, with particular focus on contemporary spirituality and mystical experiences. She talks with us about what this concept of metamodernism means, and how it can open up new kinds of more capacious thinking. I’m sure you will agree that a lot of what we’ve been doing on the Black Beryl podcast over the past 4 years — juxtaposing different perspectives, exposing our full selves, exploring the dark sides of spirituality, leaning into sincerity, etc. — has all embodied a metamodern sensibility. Anyway, I think she’s the perfect guest to talk with as we launch season 4, and I hope you’ll enjoy the show.

If you want to hear scholars and practitioners engaging in multidisciplinary conversations about Asian healing and mystical traditions, then subscribe to Black Beryl wherever you get your podcasts. Also check out our members area on Substack (blackberyl.substack.com), as each episode our guests share downloadable PDFs of articles, book chapters, and other materials for you.

One last thing: we are planning an “Ask Me Anything” episode coming up soon, so reach out via Substack or my website here, and let me know your questions. Ok, on with the show!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• “What is Metamodern?” website
• “What is Metamodern? Conversations” on YouTube
• Bloomsbury Press series: Studies in Metamodernism, Theory and Criticism Across the Disciplines
• Vermeulen and van den Akker, “Notes on Metamodernism” (2010)
• Kersten, Polo, Wilbers, Glocal Metamodernisms: European Fiction After Postmodernism (2026)
• Disambiguation video
• Recorded lecture: “An Overview of the Academic Research on Metamodernism” (2023)
• Recorded panel: “A Bodhisattva Move: Popular Mysticism’s Influence on the Metamodern Turn?” (2021)

Subscribe on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including these PDFs of Linda’s work:

• Metamodern Mysticisms (2018)
• “Toward a metamodern reading of Spiritual but Not Religious mysticisms” (2018)
• “The Metamodern Bend: Theorizations for Religious Studies” (2022)

Black Beryl’s host Pierce Salguero is a transdisciplinary scholar of health humanities who is fascinated by historical and contemporary intersections between Buddhism, medicine, and crosscultural exchange. He has a Ph.D. in History of Medicine from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and teaches Asian history, medicine, and religion at Penn State University’s Abington College, located near Philadelphia. See www.piercesalguero.com