SPIRITUAL TERMINOLOGY AND MEANINGS
Browse spiritual terminology and meanings by letter:
Consciousness
What is consciousness?
The term consciousness, within a spiritual context, refers to varyings types or states of conscious awareness. Consciousness is our ability to be self-aware: our thoughts, ideas, beliefs. The intangible aspects of ourselves.What is consciousness made of? Where does it come from? This is what weβre exploring when we talk about spirit.
A fundamental principle of spirituality is that consciousness and energy are one and the same. That means that because everything, even the physical matter in the universe, is made of energy, that everything is also consciousness, even if in a latent, non-aware form.
Altered State of Consciousness
An altered state of consciousness refers to any state of awareness other than beta stateβthe fully awake, alert state that you experience most of the day. Altered states of consciousness have been achieved by various cultures throughout history in a variety of ways, including prayer, meditation, ingesting hallucinogenic plants, dance, yoga, chanting, ritual, and any other activity that causes a change in brainwaves. Altered states of consciousness are a tool to connect with one’s intuition and with higher consciousness.
Christ Consciousness
Christ consciousness refers to attaining a level of embodied awareness similar to that of Jesus Christ. In New Age spirituality, Jesus is considered an ascended master and a representation of a self-actualized, enlightened human being. Christ consciousness is the embodiment of higher consciousness in a physical body, available to all humans and the pinnacle of human potential.
Collective Consciousness
The collective consciousness, from a spiritual perspective, refers to the totality of humanity’s shared belief systems, values, attitudes, and current, often limited level of spiritual awareness. We gauge our global level of consciousness by analyzing the collective consciousness.
Collective Unconscious
The collective unconscious is a term from Jungian psychology that references the part of the unconscious mind that is connected to ancestral experiences and memories and is shared by all of humanity. In spiritual terms, the collective unconscious is considered an energy field of the shared human experience and is the gateway through which we experience interconnectedness with all of humanity.
Expansion of Consciousness
Otherwise known as the evolution of consciousness, to expand one’s consciousness means to become more aware of one’s self, the world, and the people around them. An expansion of consciousness results in a greater and deeper understanding of all of these things.
Higher Consciousness
Higher consciousness refers to the highest, most expansive levels of awareness and understanding, wherein one has the ability to see and understand that Love is the fundamental building-block of the Universe and that it is omni-present throughout our experience.
Separation Consciousness
Separation consciousness is a lower level of awareness wherein a person cannot perceive the interconnectedness of all beings, or their connection to their own divinity and God/Source. Within spirituality, it may also manifest as narratives of total Individualism, or the belief that every person’s absolute reality is created and experienced solely by them, and as such, every individual is responsible for every trauma they experience and all of their life circumstances. Absolute Individualism devolves into separation consciousness when it ignores the interconnectedness of all beings, obscures the concept of co-creation, and denies social responsibility.
Unconscious
Unconscious refers to a lack of spiritual awareness and understanding. It may also be used to describe someone who is unaware of the subconscious habits, patterns, and belief systems which drive their behavior.
Unity Consciousness
Unity consciousness also refers to higher consciousness, specifically the aspect of higher consciousness that recognizes its interconnectedness with the Universe and everything in it. It is the opposite of separation consciousness.
LEARN MORE
Escape from the Matrix: Social Constructs are the Key to Conscious Evolution
Full transparency: This is a really long read, but it’s going to completely change the way you view reality. *shrug* Learn about social constructs and how they’re deeply connected with metaphysics and spirituality.
How White Supremacy Shows Up In New Age Spirituality
The answer to this one might surprise you.
How do you do shadow work?
Question from a reader: How do we do this shadow work? I’m am aware of plenty of traumas in my past but I struggle to break the habits and patterns I have developed. Are there any tips or advice on where to begin? Journaling? Specific meditations? I’ve read a lot on your site and I really enjoy your ability to cut through the bullshit, while holding to the mysticism. You talk a lot about shadow work, but where do we start?
Spiritual Narcissism
For those in the know, βspiritual egoβ is quite rampant in the spiritual community. The more mainstream spirituality has become in the west, the more it has been influenced by individualistic Western cultural values, resulting in what social science has now termed spiritual narcissism.
Western Individualism and Spirituality
I reference individualism frequently in my posts and point to it as one of the underlying problems with Western spirituality. I wanted to take some time to do a deeper dive on this so everyone understands what Iβm talking about.
Your Perspective isn’t Valid if it Contradicts Objective Reality
A common misconception that many spiritual people have is that spirituality tells us that we each create our own reality. What many often donβt realize, however, is that reality isnβt what is subjective ββ your experience of it is what is subjective. The personal beliefs and opinions formed by those experiences are may not be valid, particularly compared to someone else’s.
Why Your Spiritual Practice Should be Trauma-Informed
Not all spirituality is helpful or healthy spirituality. Trauma-informed spirituality is where we need to go in our attempts to leave behind toxic spirituality. Here’s what that is, and how to identify it.
Do We Really Have Free Will?
Do humans truly truly have free will? Don’t be an April fool.
Fear Is Not A Dirty Word
Fear gets a bad rap in New Age spirituality. I’m here to argue that certain, very obvious kinds of fear need to fuck off, but other kinds of fear are actually quite helpful in helping you determine where your edges are.
Spirituality’s Relationship With Mental Illness
Spirituality and mental illness have a complex relationship. My goal today is to talk about mental illness within the spiritual community in a way that can help those of you reading this recognize just how pervasive it is in the spiritual community and help you identify spiritual peopleβpsychics, channels, influencers, whomeverβsuffering from mental illness, all the while without stigmatizing it.
Escape from the Matrix: Social Constructs are the Key to Conscious Evolution
Full transparency: This is a really long read, but it’s going to completely change the way you view reality. *shrug* Learn about social constructs and how they’re deeply connected with metaphysics and spirituality.
How White Supremacy Shows Up In New Age Spirituality
The answer to this one might surprise you.
How do you do shadow work?
Question from a reader: How do we do this shadow work? I’m am aware of plenty of traumas in my past but I struggle to break the habits and patterns I have developed. Are there any tips or advice on where to begin? Journaling? Specific meditations? I’ve read a lot on your site and I really enjoy your ability to cut through the bullshit, while holding to the mysticism. You talk a lot about shadow work, but where do we start?
Spiritual Narcissism
For those in the know, βspiritual egoβ is quite rampant in the spiritual community. The more mainstream spirituality has become in the west, the more it has been influenced by individualistic Western cultural values, resulting in what social science has now termed spiritual narcissism.
Western Individualism and Spirituality
I reference individualism frequently in my posts and point to it as one of the underlying problems with Western spirituality. I wanted to take some time to do a deeper dive on this so everyone understands what Iβm talking about.
Your Perspective isn’t Valid if it Contradicts Objective Reality
A common misconception that many spiritual people have is that spirituality tells us that we each create our own reality. What many often donβt realize, however, is that reality isnβt what is subjective ββ your experience of it is what is subjective. The personal beliefs and opinions formed by those experiences are may not be valid, particularly compared to someone else’s.
Why Your Spiritual Practice Should be Trauma-Informed
Not all spirituality is helpful or healthy spirituality. Trauma-informed spirituality is where we need to go in our attempts to leave behind toxic spirituality. Here’s what that is, and how to identify it.
Do We Really Have Free Will?
Do humans truly truly have free will? Don’t be an April fool.
Fear Is Not A Dirty Word
Fear gets a bad rap in New Age spirituality. I’m here to argue that certain, very obvious kinds of fear need to fuck off, but other kinds of fear are actually quite helpful in helping you determine where your edges are.
Spirituality’s Relationship With Mental Illness
Spirituality and mental illness have a complex relationship. My goal today is to talk about mental illness within the spiritual community in a way that can help those of you reading this recognize just how pervasive it is in the spiritual community and help you identify spiritual peopleβpsychics, channels, influencers, whomeverβsuffering from mental illness, all the while without stigmatizing it.
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