Definition
Spiritual fantasy is the framing of an ordinary relationship as something fated, cosmic, or transcendent — destiny, soul-recognition, a bond written before either person was born. Greene describes the seducer lifting the affair out of the mundane and giving it an aura of higher meaning.
Once a relationship is cast as sacred or destined, ordinary scrutiny starts to feel like sacrilege. Doubt becomes disloyalty to fate itself.
Why it matters
How it works
The seducer narrates the bond in elevated terms: this was meant to be, we recognized each other instantly, no one else could understand. The story flatters the target — they are part of something rare and significant — and quietly disarms them, because to question a destined love is to be small-minded.
The frame does no work on the actual relationship; it only changes which questions feel permitted. Real problems persist, but the language makes them feel like blasphemy to raise.