Spiritual Posthumanism

A branch that integrates posthumanist thought with spiritual and contemplative traditions, exploring what it means to be human in relation to the more-than-human world—ancestors, spirits, the divine, the cosmos. Spiritual posthumanism challenges the materialist assumptions of much posthumanist thought, arguing that decentering the human might open us to dimensions of reality beyond the physical. It draws on Indigenous traditions, Eastern philosophy, mysticism, and contemporary consciousness studies to imagine posthuman futures that include spirit, not just matter.

Example: "He was drawn to posthumanism's critique of human supremacy but found most of it materialist, reductionist, cold. Spiritual posthumanism offered another path: decentering the human could mean opening to spirit, not closing to it. His ancestors, his gods, his dreams—all part of a larger whole that included but exceeded the human. He wasn't less; he was more."

by Dumu The Void February 19, 2026

Esoteric Posthumanism

A branch that draws on esoteric and occult traditions—Hermeticism, Kabbalah, alchemy, Thelema—to imagine posthuman futures. Esoteric posthumanism argues that the "human" of humanism is a recent, limited construct, and that older traditions knew we were more than this—connected to stars, spirits, and hidden dimensions. It explores practices of transformation—ritual, magic, meditation—that might help us become something other than the limited humans of modernity. Esoteric posthumanism is posthumanism with a mystical twist, for those who suspect that the future of humanity might involve the gods as much as the genes.

Example: "She found mainstream posthumanism too clinical—all cyborgs and algorithms, no soul. Esoteric posthumanism spoke to her differently: the alchemists had sought transformation, the mystics had sought union, the magicians had sought power beyond the human. These weren't relics; they were resources. The posthuman future might look less like a lab and more like a temple."

by Dumu The Void February 19, 2026

Religious Posthumanism

A branch that engages with religious traditions—Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism—to explore posthuman possibilities. Religious posthumanism argues that religions have always been posthumanist in some ways: they posit souls that transcend the body, gods that exceed the human, afterlives that continue beyond death. The challenge is to rethink these traditions without the human supremacy that has often accompanied them—to imagine religious posthumanisms that are ecological, inclusive, and humble rather than dominating and exclusive.

Example: "He was raised religious but left when he couldn't accept human supremacy—the idea that humans were special, favored, above all else. Religious posthumanism offered a return: what if his tradition's teachings about souls and gods could be read as decentering the human, not elevating it? He could be religious again, differently—not as a human above, but as a human among."

by Dumu The Void February 19, 2026

Scientific Posthumanism

A branch that grounds posthumanist thought in scientific understanding—evolutionary biology, cognitive science, complexity theory, ecology. Scientific posthumanism argues that science itself has been decentering the human for centuries: Copernicus moved us from the center of the universe, Darwin placed us among the animals, Freud showed we're not masters in our own house. Contemporary science continues the trajectory: we're made of stardust, we're ecosystems, we're nodes in networks. Scientific posthumanism draws on these insights to build a posthumanism that is empirically grounded, not just philosophically speculative.

Example: "She was skeptical of philosophy—too abstract, too speculative. But scientific posthumanism spoke her language: evolution showed we're not special, ecology showed we're connected, neuroscience showed we're not unified. The science was already posthumanist; the philosophy just made it explicit. She didn't need to believe; she needed to see what science was already showing."

by Dumu The Void February 19, 2026