The Magic Spiritual Pill Syndrome
Spirituality and conscious movements have become a billion dollar industry as more people see the fallacy in taking a prescription pill (or the weight loss pill of the 90s) to solve our problems. But are we still just grasping for the next magic pill?
I did a book promo interview a few months ago. The host later shared with me that the listeners were dropping off the call like flies causing the numbers to be extra low compared to her usual guests. I was shocked and upset by this. I re-listened to understand where I could improve in the future. And then I researched past guests with high numbers. What did they have, do, or say that I didn’t?
I found one thing in common: They all had magic pills to offer through energy transmissions, angel readings, or the latest brain-changing formula and then special offers to boot.
Most of these types of modalities and practitioners are valid and legitimate. I enjoy them and believe information is crucial in understanding ourselves to learn who our authentic self is beyond social and ancestral programming. As the Greek proverb says, Know Thyself.
However, the problem is when people are looking to the next session, reading, program, transit, or teacher to instantly change their life. And believe that the next one or the next one or the next one will be the one that turns everything around for them.
Feng shui is one of the worst culprits for selling the magic pill in the form of tassels, toads, and coins. I find people want to hear the miracle stories of how feng shui magically changed people’s lives. I do have some of these stories, but they are the result of complex energetics coming together, explained here.
Unfortunately, the only way to is through. By to, I mean true joy. And by through, I mean facing our demons, our shadows, in other words, our emotions, that we have buried for decades. This is not an overnight process and is much harder to sell. It’s a lifelong process of unraveling the layers of the human experience. I avoided this process myself thinking that a magic wand could lift all my worries.
“There is no coming to consciousness without pain. People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own Soul. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” -Carl Jung
Many spiritual teachings are as much a form of escapism as any other distraction in our modern world. We will do just about anything to skip the emotional body. This is one of the reasons why teachings, such as the Course of Miracles and Law of Attraction, are so popular, particularly among strong-minded folks. They are extremely buy ambien online reviews valid and valuable teachings, but they take place solely on the mental level. These techniques have done wonders to wrangle the monkey mind and lessen stress. But to evolve further, which is through the heart, we have to go deeper than the mental plane.
Wonder why you don’t always get what you want when using the Law of Attraction? We have a whole subconscious world of energy and emotions that are emitting an even stronger signal than our minds. And so we are left with manifesting with only part of ourselves, not the integrated whole Self.
In order to integrate our shadows, we have to see them and then love them. Self-help techniques are at their best when they help us do just that: (1) to see and understand our shadows on the mental level and then (2) provide us with the tools to be with them and purify them on the emotional level. This takes spiritual tools, a higher perspective, and support in the form of a good friend, spiritual teacher or mentor, and/or therapist.
Spiritual teachings have helped us to become more consciously conscious. Now when painful emotions start to the rear their head, it is easier to push them back down with an affirmation, conscious thoughts, or even a meditation. This is far better than a synthetic pill that chemically suppresses our emotions into dangerous side effects. But we are still skirting the underlying pain that is really driving the bus.
If you suppress one emotion, you suppress all emotions to the same extent. This is why true joy is elusive for most of us. We are still avoiding the only thing that will bring us true joy. Going through the dark to find the light.
Some of the best techniques for reaching the emotional body are body-centered modalities. This is why yoga has been a gateway for so many people in the healing arts. Inner child work also reaches those buried emotions because it is in childhood where all our pain begins and is stored. Shadow work author Teal Swan has some great videos on how to heal the emotional body.
Ascension is no longer a luxury that is optional for spiritual woo woos living off the grid. We are at a point in our evolution when it is imperative for everyone.
Before you think about whether you should take the red pill or blue pill. Think again. Maybe neither. Opportunities for healing are with us each day we experience pain, discomfort, and annoyances. It’s time we listen.
Like a child, what those emotions really want is to be heard and felt, not covered up, bargained with, shamed, or bought off.
It really is that simple, but not easy.
“Life gives you what you need for the evolution for consciousness.” –Eckhart Tolle