It baffles me how people can take on a certain concept, ideology, or new term that hasn’t been widely popular until recently, and then act like it’s the only doctrine of truth. There are several trends I’ve noticed in the spiritual collective that drive me nuts. I pay attention, trust me — and some of these things weren’t popular a few years ago. Others are tactics clearly used by psychics and energy healers to attract attention and new clientele. Let’s talk about it.
Before I give you the list, I have to first say that I know some of you may think that twin flames are a trend, and I have made a career teaching about them. Of course, if you’ve read my recent writing on the subject, you’d know this isn’t true. I do not indulge in trends. I do my research.
I adopt belief systems that I have vetted and studied. The only concepts that feel worthy of my attention are those that have been around for a very long time. I approach all spiritual ideas with skepticism, and I recommend everyone to do the same.
So, if you agree that the following trends are annoying, let me know in the comments.
1. Timelines
There’s a trend now to talk about “shifting your timeline” or “elevating yourself to a higher timeline” as if there’s an infinite number of timelines to choose from. People sometimes use this term to refer to past lives. But it’s unclear because sometimes it is also used to refer to your current life story and the modality of universes. But there’s only one timeline, folks. And it gets confusing if you also believe that time isn’t real because all that exists is the present moment.
You can choose at any moment to transform yourself. You don’t have to call it “changing the timeline” as a form of escapism from the current path you’re on. Embrace your past and who you’ve been until now. Choose where you’re headed from here on out.
No one can escape the past and erase their origin stories. You have to embrace cause and effect, which is a law of the universe we live in. You reap what you sow. The universe makes sure that whatever you’ve done before will shape who you are in this life or the next unless you actively choose to work off that karma and make new choices to balance it out.
You cannot simply jump to a new timeline and skirt all of your responsibilities and forget your past.
Timelines are a way for people to dissociate from the past. However, I don’t recommend this. You can’t deny where you’ve been and who you’ve become until now.
2. “The energy is heavy right now!”
Spiritual advisors on the internet just love to appeal to your weak, fearful side by telling you how awful it is to be human right now. A lot of people struggle daily with mental health and various crises in their personal lives, so it’s a good bet that when you scream ‘the energy is heavy right now, do you feel that too?!”, you will get a lot of responses affirming these feelings.
There are people on my social media feeds who continually gain followers by telling people over and over how heavy the energy is and how this is a “period of confusion for everyone”, inevitably gaining the attention of anyone who is having a really hard time. But guess what? This is a negative message that helps no one. It’s also not even true.
Some times in life are hard and some times are easy, but it’s not because of some outside force causing us all to lose our minds. There’s no mind-controlling energy that is pulling you into darkness. Life can be very hard if you have this mindset about it, and it can be amazing, too.
It’s called the law of attraction — your outer experience reflects what’s inside you.
When people say that the energy is very heavy, such as during the recent eclipses, I often think to myself, “That’s funny, I have been feeling great lately!” and wonder why they’re ascribing their own misery to everyone else in the spiritual community. They claim that if you’re highly sensitive and empathic, you must be going through a meltdown — basically all the time. But I am psychic and I don’t allow my moods to swing at the whim of astrological or energetic forces outside me.
Do you ever hear them say that the energy is light and wonderful right now? Pay attention and ask the important questions. An appeal to your fear response will always win on the internet.
3. Occult = Magic
The use of the word “occult” has morphed over time and now it means something very twisted from its true definition. The occult is about lesser-known aspects of reality and inner journeys of truth. But people have made it synonymous with witchcraft, magic, and other concepts that reflect their attachments to things outside themselves. There are occultists who do not practice any kind of magic — they focus on inner alchemy.
The answers you seek are within and the solutions to your problems do not lie in spells and rituals. Esoterism is about the unseen and the wisdom on the inner planes. Occultists aren’t witches or magicians, they are instead people who study philosophy of the ages to determine the best way to exist in this world so that humanity may evolve.
Occult practices don’t have to be about manipulating things and people. It can be about working on the self.
To skip over the important lessons of occult studies about inner truth and soul evolution is folly. To use its teachings about the manipulation of energy and magick without understanding the purpose of life is a misuse of this valuable wisdom. Your powers and abilities are far less important in this world than your inner wisdom. Pursue knowledge before you pursue magic. Understand the self. Transform your inner world before you try to change what’s outside you.
4. Ego Death
The ego cannot really die. I think most people who use the term “ego death” already know this, but to someone hearing it for the first time, it may be confusing. We don’t want to set people on the wrong path early in their spiritual awakening journey. The loss of ego attachments is not about killing anything, but about embracing the destructive parts of you alongside the spiritual aspects.
The ego is an important part of human life, as it allows us to live as individuals. We can operate on this plane if we have some experience of separateness. But we must transcend this level of consciousness, ascending to a plane where we can accept that the lower parts of ourselves are as important as the higher parts. From the perspective of a higher level of consciousness, the ego attaches itself to material possessions and relationships out of self-preservation, and this causes suffering. To release this fear is to shed the ego’s attachments and set it aside.
You don’t want the ego to die.
When the ego dies, this story of your life is over — at your human-level death. This is not the end for the soul, but the ego will be completely shed at the time of your death here. As a soul, you are reborn on a whole new journey, continuing the evolutionary ascension that you’ve been working on for many lifetimes. You’ve had many egos before, but you just don’t remember them. Don’t kill your ego — it’s what makes you unique in this life, and allows you to do the work you came here to do.
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