A few weeks ago I mentioned on instagram that I was going to share my thoughts on the icky-ness of the spiritual industry.
Well, here it is…
Have you noticed there has been a growing sense of collective jaded-ness about spirituality over the past couple of years?
You may have noticed a growing ‘ick’ feeling inside of you, along with a level of confusion, frustration, conflict and grief when it comes to your relationship with spirituality and the saturation of spiritual and cosmic material that is ‘out there’ now.
And I don’t blame you. I feel it too.
And I think there is a number of reasons for that which I’m going to break down.
Lets start here…
The Covid Experience.
The past couple of years has been intense when it comes to mass output of spiritual ‘information’ that was being released (of vast and varying topics) at the very same time we were experiencing a global upheaval and collective nervous system dysregulation due to the covid experience.
And while the whole covid experience has been beneficial in terms of the further awakening of the individual and collective consciousness, it’s also brought with it a whole lot of muddledness and propaganda to spirituality that’s left an icky, murky, skeptical, uncertain cloudiness within many of us.
So, what’s this murky, jaded icky-ness all about?
Spiritual Propaganda
Spiritual propaganda (to me) is information that is shared that is using a spiritual or occult truth but exaggerating it to extreme proportions or delivering spiritual material in an unbalanced, ungrounded, one sided way. Be that extreme proportions of shadow agenda information about dark interdimensional beings running the world.
Or, on the opposite spectrum that alien saviours or cosmic beings are going to arrive and save us from our plight. Along with channelled insight that states we’re going to ascend into our light bodies and into new earth over night.
While all three of these examples have a level of truth in them, information that is solely focused on such extremes without providing any context to the developmental stages of consciousness through earth’s history and humanity itself results in spiritual information like this to be confusing propaganda that played into a persons already discombobulated and vulnerable state.
Not only that, the spiritual information that has been offered over the past couple of years was reaching people who had limited understanding of spirituality, psychic experience or anchorage within themselves.
This meant people were opening themselves to a vast and conflicting array of information when they’re in an impressionable state of ‘spiritual newness’ creating overwhelm and in some cases kind of ‘frying’ themselves in trying to integrate the information.
False Light teachers and information
Psychic ability doesn’t always mean that the individual is tuning into quality spiritual information. You see, being psychic or having an intuitive ability is part of the skill. Understanding the realm with which you’re relaying information from is equally if not more important due to the fact that we are at a time where the lower astral plane linked to earth is quite vast in size. And holds within it a spectrum of lower astral beings that can present in a variety of ways. Some lower astral beings are obviously demonic, degraded and dark in nature, while other lower astral beings use a form of trickery or impersonation, presenting themselves in a false manner.
If you are practised in your psychic ability you will notice that impersonating beings within the lower astral plane can present as a ‘spiritual master’ or higher light being when in actuality they are seeking to make connection to parasitically use your life force energy. Often (in my experience) an impersonating being will use a kind of ‘hypnosis’ like effect upon you through the etheric mental plane while stimulating your energy field with a level of jittery excitement or ‘rush’ that may feel good on one level but will also feel a bit ‘slippery’’ and questionable in energy too.
The lower astral plane is linked to mental energy so if you are psychic and entering into meditative space through the mind and not through the heart you’re more susceptible to experiences such as this.
To be able to catalyse yourself into higher spiritual planes it requires the cultivation of your spiritual essence in a way initiates you slowly but surely into connection with higher beings and spiritual for wisdom and teaching to be received. When an individual holds substantial spiritual energy within themselves it is felt and experienced not only by them but by those around them through the transmission of their energy and communication.
Gone are the days where we can spiritual material and teachings in an innocent way. Discernment is imperative as we navigate this phase of our collective development.
Because spirituality and the spiritual ‘industry’ has exploded over the past couple of years there is a spectrum of psychics out there (I believe, doing their best) but perhaps not quite realising they are connecting to questionable beings or streams of consciousness. The information they share may also have a level of sensationalism with it. Couple that with a focus on marketing material and you’ve got a person broadcasting spiritual information that’s more lower astrally based reaching an audience of people who are potentially just at the beginning of their spiritual journey who have little experience and developed self knowledge to guide them.
When you are listening to spiritual material and you notice you receive an unpleasant or ‘off’ feeling to a spiritual transmission of some kind, don’t dismiss it. Simply be curious and acknowledge what you’re sensing and feeling. It can be confusing because a person may have a great many ‘followers’ but when you listen to information provided the energetic transmission carried with and through the person will feel icky or wonky or to you. This is because the vibrational energy of the transmission is lower than your own cultivated spiritual light – regardless of how knowledgeable or experienced you feel you are when it comes to spiritual material.
Trust yourself. Listen to yourself.
In many ways, this ‘re-introduction’ to spiritual information was always going to start in a messy kind of way considering that occult science has not been taught (in recent history) in terms of the organic patterns of evolution that humans, the earth and the solar system move through over long periods of time.
And I think we should both have grace for ourselves and for those who are brave enough to dive into this HUGE body of work along with sharpening our internal discernment around the quality of information we engage in AND an honest look at why and how we are choosing to use spiritual information.
Spiritual Capitalism & Extraction
Spirituality has been offered has been through a very colonised and white lens that is embedded within a capitalistic and patriarchal way of exchange making it very extractive and often more about trends, marketing and ‘selling’.
Spiritual capitalism is based on the premise of ‘fixing’ or being perpetually on the treadmill of healing which is done through trends that promote consumerism that is driven not through love but through fear. It’s extractive, disempowering and depleting.
I personally believe that when turning to a spiritual practises to support the healing of trauma you may have stored in your nervous and energetic system, it doesn’t have to excavated.
Your system guides you by revealing to you the trauma and beliefs that are ready to heal as you develop your self connection and alignment. Old unprocessed wounds and memories arise from within you in a timely manner and comes into your awareness cueing you in a way that lets you know you’re ready to address it.
You may be aware of trauma you hold but haven’t yet addressed – and that is okay! Don’t push yourself to address it before you are ready to, healing trauma and disempowering beliefs require a spiritual strength and preparedness that is developed by addressing other smaller ‘issues’ first which develop self trust and empowerment that will allow you to feel equipped to deal with more significant trauma you may hold. So, listen to how your body and beingness is guiding you in regards to the unfolding of your own healing.
The ‘spiritual advisor’
Spiritual capitalism is also based on separation – where the ‘spiritual advisor’ has skills that you don’t possess or that they can know more about you than you. This is exploitative and disempowering and simply untrue.
No one can know more about you than yourself, but you yourself have to develop the trust and connection to your own body and internal guidance that streams from your soul. And any quality intuitive or healer is going to encourage and support you to develop your own perceptive abilities and place you as an authority of your own self.
While spiritual science does have a structure, it is also very mystical and reflective of the individuals level of soul development and personal readiness. This means that ‘selling’ courses that promise xyz outcomes can be dangerous, harmful or disempowering.
The unfolding process of someone’s spiritual development cannot be controlled or defined by another, it happens at the rate and pace of the individual and the esoteric lineage that person’s soul is linked to and feels most resonate with.
In general, I notice people engage in spirituality purely for extractive measures rather than to come into communion with themselves and life. They turn to spirituality and psychic development to ‘get an answer’ (extract) rather than entering into spiritual communion with their soul to know themselves deeply in a divine way, allowing the natural unfolding of guidance flow from there.
To extract information is based in lack and often to try to control circumstances. But to engage with your soul essence from a place of curiosity and love is restorative and empowering, even when you come into relationship with your own Shadow.
Plant medicine ceremonies
We can also see spiritual capitalism and colonisation within plant medicine ceremonies and circles.
Plant medicine ceremonies are sacred ceremonies that have been performed through the ages by shaman or medicine men/women of different cultures, using different types of plant medicine from the lands they are from.
Obviously, ayahuasca ceremonies have become really trendy over the past few years. Yet these ceremonies often involve the stealing of indigenous cultures rituals and wisdom without acknowledgement, along with little understanding of why such ceremonies were used. It is also important to note that plant medicine has also been used through western mystery tradition lineages.
The use of plant medicine was an intentional initiation rite that required diligent spiritual preparation and integration because of the power and potency it has. Traditionally, plant medicine was used once an individual had already developed a level of psychic and spiritual skill and connection within themselves. The individual understood how to navigate themselves within spiritual realms and encounters with other beings. They also didn’t require plant medicine to be able to have a spiritual or psychic experience.
Psychedelic experiences can open us to incredible revelations about ourselves and the multidimensionality of life, which is powerful and wonderful! But they can also connect us to dark entities and false light beings and information. And if we have no previous skill or knowledge as to how to discern such experiences one can become ungrounded and entangled and can even experience psychosis.
While I am not against the ceremonial use of plant medicine, I think there are many things that need to be considered by the individual prior to participating rather than approaching a ceremony of this nature in a spiritually consumeristic way as something to do on a weekend because it’s on trend.
I sense many people have stepped away from spiritual information this year to individually cleanse themselves, their psyche and field of the murkier spiritual propaganda to come back into their own self connection. And this is wonderful.
If you, over the past 2 years became caught up in a vast array of spiritual material that felt both resonate yet wonky and now feel a sense of jadedness due to how it impacted you, go slowly.
Come back to the simple but powerful practise of being in relationship and communion with your own spiritual essence first, taking time to develop understanding of your intuitive language and soul history. Do it for the joy of it. Do it because it feels wonderful to be in relationship with your heart and soul and own divine essence. Do it because you desire to come further into your own unique sovereignty and individuality and power.
Connect through your heart with the spirit of Gaia and nature in a multidimensional way where you’re seeing nature beyond it’s physical form and relating to it’s spirit.
And then, if you feel called begin to seek out spiritual information that has been recorded within eastern and western mysticism and the oral stories and mythologies of indigenous cultures that explores the developmental stages of human and earth consciousness over great swaths of time.
Much Love,
Lauren x