SSE interview with Stephen Gain

Member Spotlight: Stephen Gain

E. Stephens Gain earned an AB in Biology from Princeton, an MA in Developmental and Evolutionary Psychology from UC Santa Barbara, and, more recently, an AA in Film Production specializing in film sound from Santa Barbara City College. As a writer, media producer, and artist, they publish TriforiumTribune, an online zine dedicated to normalizing expanded consciousness. Recent productions include Light Body Human Universal, a book that urges scientists and tech entrepreneurs to use ideas from evolutionary psychology to understand anomalous cognition and frontier science, and Lightworker in the Classroom, instructional materials for K-12 teachers to use subtle-energy techniques for stress management. They also publish Expanded Consciousness 101 on Substack, an introductory reading list for people new to the topic of consciousness exploration.

Eventually, in 2011, I started a Facebook group for people who practiced a particular subtle energy technique called Wording that’s taught in the books channeled by Paul Selig. The books are like energetic workbooks with interactive exercises to develop discernment of vibration and a creative vocabulary for practical use. I started the group soon after Paul published his first channeled book, I Am the Word. The group grew with his career, and its dynamics changed as he published more channeled books and social media became more relevant. My experience with the books and the techniques they teach fascinated me. I was also fascinated by the phenomenon of channeling and the experiences and abilities of the people who master these techniques. They reveal aspects of our cognitive psychology that are not adequately explained by the traditional materialist framework.

It’s hard to credit COVID for something good, but the pandemic lockdown was the real catalyst for my current work. Filming in Los Angeles came to a standstill, so all my production sound jobs were canceled with no new film shoots in sight. To make good use of my days, I started a website for this group of around 5,000 members to get off Facebook. I recruited writers to help me publish a blog, and, for a year, we experimented with a variety of online workshops using the Wording vocabulary to work with energy and vibration. Our group attracted people from all over the world, all religious and cultural backgrounds, and all stages of self-awareness. It was a crazy time, but everyone was grateful to find validation of their inner experience. I learned a lot, and I became more confident in my role as a mentor.