SPIRITUAL TERMINOLOGY AND MEANINGS

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Shadow Work

What is shadow work?

The term shadow work refers to the process of becoming aware of one’s shadow self, or the unconscious aspects of our identities, and the tools utilized in that process. It is the the mechanism through which we expand our consciousness.

Shadow work involves the recognition, acknowledgement, and healing of buried traumas, unconscious habits, patterns, and addictions, and awareness of one’s less desirable characteristics as well as positive aspects of ourselves which we may not be conscious of due to emotional abuse and neglect. Shadow work also involves examining subconscious biases we hold and societal programming, including beliefs and ideologies rooted in patriarchal conditioning, social Darwinism, and other cultural conditioning a results in separation consciousness like Individualism. Through this process, we release self-limiting beliefs and deprogram ourselves from cultural belief systems which no longer serve us.

Shadow work is the process of becoming self-aware and self-actualized, through which we release both our personal and collective karma.

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How do you do shadow work?

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?

read more
Spiritual Narcissism

Spiritual Narcissism

For those in the know, “spiritual ego” 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.

read more
How White Supremacy Shows Up In New Age Spirituality

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 don’t realize, however, is that reality isn’t what is subjective –– 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.

read more
Fear Is Not A Dirty Word

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.

read more
Spirituality’s Relationship With Mental Illness

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 people–psychics, channels, influencers, whomever–suffering from mental illness, all the while without stigmatizing it.

read more
Spiritual Narcissism

Why QAnon Infected The Spiritual and Wellness Communities

I’ve been receiving a lot of comments on my posts lately from people within the spiritual community and outside of it all saying the same thing: “I don’t understand how people got from spirituality to QAnon.” Hold my beer, I’m gonna draw you a diagram…

read more
Why Your Spiritual Practice Should be Trauma-Informed

How Separation Consciousness Masks Itself In Spiritual Unity

One of the main goals of spirituality is to move away from separation consciousness and ascend by achieving unity consciousness, but separation consciousness has infiltrated spirituality (!). Are you unknowingly embodying separation consciousness in the name of spirituality?

read more
How do you do shadow work?

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?

read more
Spiritual Narcissism

Spiritual Narcissism

For those in the know, “spiritual ego” 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.

read more
Your Perspective isn’t Valid if it Contradicts Objective Reality

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 don’t realize, however, is that reality isn’t what is subjective –– 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.

read more
Fear Is Not A Dirty Word

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.

read more
Spirituality’s Relationship With Mental Illness

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 people–psychics, channels, influencers, whomever–suffering from mental illness, all the while without stigmatizing it.

read more
Why QAnon Infected The Spiritual and Wellness Communities

Why QAnon Infected The Spiritual and Wellness Communities

I’ve been receiving a lot of comments on my posts lately from people within the spiritual community and outside of it all saying the same thing: “I don’t understand how people got from spirituality to QAnon.” Hold my beer, I’m gonna draw you a diagram…

read more
How Separation Consciousness Masks Itself In Spiritual Unity

How Separation Consciousness Masks Itself In Spiritual Unity

One of the main goals of spirituality is to move away from separation consciousness and ascend by achieving unity consciousness, but separation consciousness has infiltrated spirituality (!). Are you unknowingly embodying separation consciousness in the name of spirituality?

read more

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