People talk about the collective, but they don’t necessarily know what it means. Vague ideas of everyone uniting as part of a giant hug or returning to a single energy field tend to underlie the term’s usage.
That kind of thinking tends to generate patterns of enmeshment and erosion of much-needed personal boundaries. It can even create greater vulnerability, trauma, and energetic porousness for particular individuals for months, if not years afterwards.
In practice, when doing any group work or facilitation, overly diffuse ideas of the collective expose people to external baggage, attachments, and traumatic energies. The idea that a burden shared is lightened does not apply in this context, as it tends to oppress a person who really does not need to go into that at all.
There’ll be that one person too used to being the anchor or sponge for collective group dynamics, and it’s that person who ends up then having to clear the most energy from something that was supposed to empower them.
If their facilitator is dismissive or unaware of what’s happened, they’ll blame the person for getting injured or not being aware enough.
I do not subscribe to the idea that having such experiences is ‘empowering’ as they can leave a person scarred for months, if not years afterwards, through no fault of their own.
For me, the best analogy of collective work came from something I read years ago, in a book called ‘Living In The Light’ by Shakti Gawain. I came across it at a time in my life where I really needed to find that light within once more.
Whilst she wasn’t talking about the collective per se, she was talking about taking individual responsibility for what you bring to the table. She likened it to players in an orchestra, where each person had to focus on what they were doing and let the conductor do the work of bringing it all together. If the musician spent too much time listening to what everyone else was doing, they would lose focus and miss their cue.
Naturally, there are musical contexts in which that doesn’t apply, especially in close situations where you’re improvising together, etc. – but the orchestra is the most appropriate scope for something as vast as the collective.
I remember the time I spent singing as part of a choir of 100+ people, and this was certainly the case. Each group had to focus on what they were doing and trust the conductor to do their role in bringing it all together. The participants themselves did not decide if adjustments were required, as it was the role of the conductor to make that call.
The same discipline and trust are needed when undertaking any spiritual group work, especially that which focuses on the idea of the collective.
You need to be sure if that is the group you want to be part of if they’re singing a song aligned to you, and if the conductor/facilitator is someone you trust to ensure your/everyone’s boundaries are respected.
In the video, I provide specific examples as to how these ideas are easily co-opted.
At the end of the day, it is best not to focus on the collective outcome or a specific goal and to literally :
Do your best and allow Spirit to do the rest.
Many astrological and metaphysical traditions easily meddle or tamper with the flow of evolutionary events thinking that they are ‘helping’.
I’ve seen these kinds of meditations actually end up anchoring more damaging energies to the planet, which other facilitators then have to spend time undoing.
Pointing this out is not always welcomed, as so many people don’t even realize the damage their energy bodies are taking. It’s one thing to choose to be open and sensitive, and it’s another thing to be rendered so porous that you have no sense of yourself anymore and no sense of direction. Note: This is not what is meant by ‘ego-death’, but rather a loss of identity and autonomy.
The people who get hooked into that feeling of connectivity with the group are the ones who will resist acknowledging what they have participated in.
And the ones left with all that burden that wasn’t even theirs, to begin with, will actually start to question what the heck that was all about. That is if they’re willing to acknowledge that’s happened in the first place.
Some people are so hungry for connection that they’re willing to take the debris of others just to feel something. And that’s not healthy at all – they’re certainly not working from a place that values autonomy and taking responsibility for yourself. These individuals are most likely to valorize martyrdom or to equate suffering with spiritual progress
You’ll find that the people who enjoy such events, either at the cost of the Earth or the energies of others they have essentially thrown their baggage into, tend to be the people most likely to be blind to their own privilege.
The sum of these events tends to be negative from a broader perspective. I’ve seen many negative and artificial patterns projected upon the lines of energy on this planet – resulting in unhappy land energies and spiritual distortions.
There’s certainly been a lot more of that as of late.
It doesn’t matter what rhetoric, tradition, or sacred words or concepts are used – if you’re trying to meddle or enmesh, your/another’s personal boundaries, the energies of the Earth, or the energies of the Skies – you’re probably doing something that will have a collectively negative effect.
Because people want to buy into the idea that they’re all now the Spiritual equivalent of ‘The Avengers’, they’re going to buy into the rhetoric that they, through their collective force, make changes happen.
It’s basically a control dynamic of the ego-group-mind, astral style.
And it’s certainly not in alignment with the New, though it did get a facelift.
If you do not trust Spirit and its timing, why bother with Spirituality?
If you do not trust the Sky and the Earth to know how to facilitate this shift best, what are you even doing?
A group dynamic can benefit you when
- Each individual takes ownership of their process and inner awareness
- The facilitator does their job in making sure there are no overly vulnerable or porous boundaries
- You are with people who are on a similar path as you and have done their inner work
- You are not trying to meddle with an organic process or planetary awareness/consciousness
Otherwise, it’s just a mess.
As part of my journey, I have witnessed group events that are shockingly dangerous, but at the same time, I have also met True Teachers.
And what I have learnt from them is that when it comes to Matters of Spirit, Less is Usually More.
Focus on the good you can do, and let Spirit do the rest.
If you want to come together to Pray, that’s lovely.
But be sure you’re on the same page, and each individual is doing their part and that no one is overdoing it.
It starts with taking personal responsibility and exercising individual discernment.
This message is especially important as the Moon at 29 Scorpio and Venus at 29 Virgo prepare us for the work of entering partnerships and connections with others.
Blessings,
The Sky Priestess
Tier-23 In-Depth Guidance & Monthly Meditation Group: http://www.theskypriestess.as.me
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© Bairavee Balasubramaniam, 2021. All rights reserved.
Just Thank you for articulating that. Period.
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