The Cassandra Club: Calling All Tortured Empaths

shellisue

Feb 13 min read

Your intuitive gifts may be ignored. Are they still worth sharing?

Recruitment ad. For immediate release:

Are you a good fit for the Cassandra Club? Check this list of qualities. You:

Possess intuitive gifts that tend to be dismissed or ignored
See patterns in current events that compare eerily well with historically harsh governments or regimes now condemned by society
Have compassion toward humans and their rights even when not personally affected
Lead with curiosity and ask questions rather than accept something blindly
Enjoy reading, both fiction and non-fiction. Banned books don’t deter you.
Tend to speak out, only to be dismissed—followed by episodes of despondency, wondering if your opinions are worth sharing
Spend significant mental energy on questions like “How did we get here?” and “How do they not see it?”
Can’t leave well enough alone

If most or all these traits sounds familiar, you may be a candidate for the Cassandra Club.

Due to the high integrity of our recruitment office, we will not sugar-coat the hazards of your involvement. Comfort-wise, it’s a tragedy. You will never rest again. Once you join, you will see the world in a new light, the shadows more prominent than ever. The facades—sheer like holograms.

Your desire to effect change will never leave. Your hopeful projections will be ever-present, like mirages, seemingly always out of grasp.

Even though you possess traits such as empathy and insight, the lethal component is outspokenness. Folks who disagree will not want to hear your insights. The truth that pings their good senses will cause them to revolt in unwanted ways. Those persons willing to bend their ear, even a small degree, will be in the minority.

The only good news in this scenario is that the truth eventually comes to light, but usually not until the outspoken individual is long gone.

This is not to say your involvement would be pointless—far from it. But the needle will move so slowly that you may not perceive it. Greater numbers will effect greater change.

Who is Cassandra, anyway?

Juxtaposed here are Taylor's TTPD album cover and a classical artist's rendition of Cassandra

Have you heard Taylor Swift’s song “Cassandra”? (If not, please stop and listen to track 27 of The Tortured Poets Department.)

In the song, Swift alludes to Cassandra of Troy in Greek Mythology, whose blessing was the gift to foretell the future, but whose curse was that no one would believe her.

If the Trojans had believed her, they wouldn’t have accepted that disastrous, warrior-filled horse as a gift. (It’s amusing that even after her warning, nobody bothered to check the inside just in case. But we digress.)

As to Cassandra’s fate, the myths take varying paths, none of them favorable. No matter if she’s taken as a concubine or a slave, if she descends into madness, or if she’s hidden away from the public, they all end with her untimely death or murder.

We are aware that the honesty of this ad may drive you away, but please allow one more fair point: If you resonate with the bulleted list, you are not simply a candidate, you are already a member of this ill-fated bunch and may not have been aware.

The above traits are non-negotiable, bestowed at birth, refined with age. (In rare cases an epiphany can bring on this realization later in life.) The negotiable part is how you choose to use these traits. Our only aim is that you use your gifts to effect change, however small or insignificant. A “Cassandra” need not work alone to move the needle.

Silence, however, is impossible and goes against the bearer's destiny. Eleanor Roosevelt (a member unbeknownst to her) said, “If silence seems to give approval, then remaining silent is cowardly.”

It should be noted that a Cassandra can also be referred to as a “canary in a coal mine.” Men can fit these criteria, too.

As a member of the Cassandra Club, you may be accused of “virtue signaling” or being on a “high horse.” You can expect this. Your response might be something like, “Speaking of high horses, if the Trojans would’ve listened to Cassandra, they wouldn’t have fallen for that one.”

A note to those who do not identify as Cassandra Club members: please be gentle with the Cassandras in your life. They’re quite sensitive when they’re not raging. Keep them close and heed their warnings, just a little. If you don’t have one, befriend one immediately. Please be open to their insights. At the very least, help them not get killed.

The Cassandra Club: Calling All Tortured Empaths

Your intuitive gifts may be ignored. Are they still worth sharing?

Recruitment ad. For immediate release:

Are you a good fit for the Cassandra Club? Check this list of qualities. You:

Possess intuitive gifts that tend to be dismissed or ignored

See patterns in current events that compare eerily well with historically harsh governments or regimes now condemned by society

Have compassion toward humans and their rights even when not personally affected

Lead with curiosity and ask questions rather than accept something blindly

Enjoy reading, both fiction and non-fiction. Banned books don’t deter you.

Tend to speak out, only to be dismissed—followed by episodes of despondency, wondering if your opinions are worth sharing

Spend significant mental energy on questions like “How did we get here?” and “How do they not see it?”

Can’t leave well enough alone

If most or all these traits sounds familiar, you may be a candidate for the Cassandra Club.

Due to the high integrity of our recruitment office, we will not sugar-coat the hazards of your involvement. Comfort-wise, it’s a tragedy. You will never rest again. Once you join, you will see the world in a new light, the shadows more prominent than ever. The facades—sheer like holograms.

Your desire to effect change will never leave. Your hopeful projections will be ever-present, like mirages, seemingly always out of grasp.

The only good news in this scenario is that the truth eventually comes to light, but usually not until the outspoken individual is long gone.

This is not to say your involvement would be pointless—far from it. But the needle will move so slowly that you may not perceive it. Greater numbers will effect greater change.

Who is Cassandra, anyway?

Have you heard Taylor Swift’s song “Cassandra”? (If not, please stop and listen to track 27 of The Tortured Poets Department.)

In the song, Swift alludes to Cassandra of Troy in Greek Mythology, whose blessing was the gift to foretell the future, but whose curse was that no one would believe her.

If the Trojans had believed her, they wouldn’t have accepted that disastrous, warrior-filled horse as a gift. (It’s amusing that even after her warning, nobody bothered to check the inside just in case. But we digress.)

As to Cassandra’s fate, the myths take varying paths, none of them favorable. No matter if she’s taken as a concubine or a slave, if she descends into madness, or if she’s hidden away from the public, they all end with her untimely death or murder.

We are aware that the honesty of this ad may drive you away, but please allow one more fair point: If you resonate with the bulleted list, you are not simply a candidate, you are already a member of this ill-fated bunch and may not have been aware.

Silence, however, is impossible and goes against the bearer's destiny. Eleanor Roosevelt (a member unbeknownst to her) said, “If silence seems to give approval, then remaining silent is cowardly.”

It should be noted that a Cassandra can also be referred to as a “canary in a coal mine.” Men can fit these criteria, too.

As a member of the Cassandra Club, you may be accused of “virtue signaling” or being on a “high horse.” You can expect this. Your response might be something like, “Speaking of high horses, if the Trojans would’ve listened to Cassandra, they wouldn’t have fallen for that one.”

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