Back in the day, if you felt the call to awaken your spiritual gifts, in most cultures you left the public sphere and initiated into a more private and intensive training.
You had an ashram, temple or lodge where you lived, ate and participated communally with other initiates. You were supported by a container of community, strict rules and rigorous study paired with rigorous chores.
You weren't dating. You weren't working a 9-to-5 job. You weren't raising kids and managing a household, and you weren't juggling daily stress, emotional chaos and re-traumatization at every turn.
Most importantly, you were cut off from outside influence: you weren't watching the news, you weren't liking cat pics on social media, and you weren't swiping right on Tinder.
But guess what?
Those of us who chose to be here on this planet right now, doing our spiritual awakening thang right now...
We get to enjoy the maddening and baffling process of figuring out how to manage intensive physical, emotional and energetic upheaval {sorry, I think most people call that "transformation"} while also living a full and chaotic life that often opposes spiritual growth.
Now while this is frustrating, I do not believe it is unfortunate or even unintended. I believe that we as a humanity are at the stage where we must awaken, not just to our divinity, but to the purpose of our being here to divinize all physical matter, and reunite/align all the dimensions of our world and being ~ from the physical realm all the way up to Source.
That's no small feat. So if you feel overwhelmed, distraught, confused as f*ck over it all... you're not alone.
Most enthusiasts for spiritual awakening will swear it's all fluffy puppies and unicorn glitter but honestly it's the hardest thing you will ever do as a human being. It's also summarily worth it.
So now that you've had the pep talk {ummm... is that what she's calling that?} let's get into some of these basics.
Because they're important. If you're serious about spiritual growth and awakening, then you have to get downright adamant {but playfully!} about integrating your spiritual transformation with your day-to-day life.
What Exactly are "Spiritual Gifts?"
When I refer to spiritual gifts, I'm referring to the popularized benefits people expect or desire from regular meditation, spiritual awakening, a kundalini awakening, or any attainment of higher states of consciousenss.
A quick list of spiritual gifts might look like this:
- Heightened intuition
- Psychic abilities
- Clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairsentience, etc.
- Levitation or moving things with your mind
- Mastery over manifesting, speaking things into existence
- Channeling or regularly communicating with spirit guides, angels or disembodied beings
- A special connection to, or communication with animals
- A special connection to, or communication with the cosmic realms or with mother nature
- Abilities to heal self and/or others, including energy healing, hands-on healing, or healing by grace
- Ecstatic visions or revelations
It is important to note that these gifts are not the purpose of spiritual awakening, but rather a natural function of an awakened consciousness in an awakening body.
It's okay to desire these gifts, they are wonderful! But when they become the point or purpose, then we know that ego is in charge of our desire for awakening and the ego cannot lead that charge. It will hold us back because spiritual awakening threatens the ego... not with destruction, but with the unknown.
Add to that the fact that the ego is potently reinforced by our culture, news media, social media, corporate consumerism and everything else we are saturated with on a daily basis, you can see how this can get a bit challenging.
So here are three tips for opening yourself to spiritual awakening and to activating or increasing your innate spiritual gifts:
1.
Tap the power of collective consciousness and shared intent.
Many people are beginning to spontaneously experience the spiritual dimensions of their being and to naturally awaken higher intuition, empathic abilities, and more. These are gifts that we are waking up to collectively ~ hidden potentials we have always possessed ~ and they are beginning to "itch" at us or act up without us necessarily doing anything.
This is because of the overall energies and consciousness rising everywhere.
Did you know that a study in Princeton NJ showed that when you set an intention with a community of like-minded others, it is six times more likely to manifest than if you set an intention alone? Well right now, more and more people are waking up to their spiritual selves and beginning to seek communion with their own higher Truth. This is a powerful shared intent that will catapult all seekers (and even non-seekers) forward into spiritual dimensions of our being.
You can actively tap the power of collective consciousness and shared intent by simply being more aware of your physical environment and internal head and heart space. Open yourself to connecting with other people, environments and items that express or share your intent for spiritual awakening or awareness.
Through the natural law of attraction, your desire to connect with others who have awakened their gifts will likely connect you to people who serve as activators. Just being in their presence tends to bring your own vibration into harmony with theirs and help your own spiritual gifts evolve.
It's hard to describe how to identify an activator when you've met one. Usually you just have this feeling that when you're in their space, you feel more connected to the cosmos or the earth, you feel more centered and you seem to get more intuitive hits or you perceive the same energies they do. It's a feeling of resonance and a pleasurable sense that "you both get each other." That's the greatest sign that you're experiencing a vibrational harmony with another person.
Be mindful to spend more of your social time with activators and others who hold the intent and vibration of spiritual awakening... and less time with those who may tend to lower your vibration. When we are marred in chaos, stress, dramatic emotional ups and downs ~ or anything that steals our neutrality ~ we cannot access our higher energy centers, such as our third eye or crown.
So always be aware how your outer environment, and the people you give physical, emotional and energetic space to, will affect in any given moment the degree to which you are accessing your spiritual gifts.
2.
Tap the power within you ~ it's the only power that can truly be yours.
This is where most people get detoured on their journeys, or even permanently stuck. When you begin your spiritual journey it can often feel like uncharted territory. Compound that with managing our daily lives, paying bills, taking care of others and maybe even taking care of ourselves... most modern seekers feel pressured and rushed. We become overwhelmed and stressed, particularly when we can't seem to progress further on our path.
This may lead you to believe someone else (a guru, self-help leader, energy healer or spiritually advanced friend) will have the answers you can't seem to find. You might think they can put you on a path and tell you exactly what to do to awaken the spiritual gifts or dimensions you seek.
But the more often you bring your intuitive hits to others for validation... the more you elevate any outside truth or sense of reality above your own... the more you give your power away. And it is that power within you that you must collect and commune with to awaken your spiritual gifts. No one else can activate your power for you. And you cannot borrow anyone else's power to make it your own.
You can begin to immediately tap your own power by doing the following practice daily, whenever you think of it:
When you face a decision, meet a new person, or encounter a new experience, check in and ask yourself, "What is my sense of this situation or person? Which choice do I feel is right and why? What do I sense will happen depending on which choice I make?"
Notice that the language here is 'sense' instead of 'think.' That is because intuition often runs counter to logic. This is why many people find it very hard to connect with intuition and spiritual gifts.
When you practice this, don't worry about trying to be right. The entire point here is to know what your sense of things is and how it holds up with the reality that plays out. Over time, as you make this practice a habit, you'll be able to discern your intuition better and you'll notice that as you pay attention to it more, you'll begin to trust it more, and it will steadily become more accurate.
There is no magic to awakening your spiritual gifts. Rather, it is through practicing your spiritual gifts that you invite magic into your life. 😉
3.
Tap the power of Source through the Universal Language of Archetypes
This is not the only way to access Source, however it is quite direct and easy. It just requires learning a bit of a new language: the language of archetypes.
We all know the idea of the Mother, the Virgin, the Warrior, the Wizard and the King. We all know of the Martyr, the Priest or Holy Person, and the Victim. Their meanings and significance bridge time, culture, language and geography. They are ideas that every person on the planet seems to share, no matter what.
Exploring these archetypes and learning their language opens an enormous gateway into the Divine and allows a far easier download of information and insight. For example, most people who immerse themselves in archetypal stories, myths and concepts will find that their dreams take on a rich and complex texture. Understanding how different archetypes manifest symbolically in our dreams or imagination will give us a powerful map for navigating and understanding our dreams. A type of codex or atlas if you will.
To tap the power of Source and better translate the higher guidance you receive, pick up a book of myths or stories that have withstood time and crossed cultural boundaries. Try to get the older versions if you can as many newer versions of the original fables, fairytales, creation stories and myths have been washed clean of their rich symbolism and complex layers.
For example, years ago when I began reading Clarissa Pinkola Estes' book, Women Who Run with the Wolves, I came across a story where a young girl is captured by a witch in the woods and forced to work chores in a strange house that walks on chicken feet. Estes diligently explained each of the symbol and archetypes in the story, explaining that each room and aspect of the house represented a woman's psyche, such as the kitchen representing where we take in information, nourishment and food ~ also a communal place where we can encounter other aspects of ourselves.
I dreamt that night of three obnoxious fat women stuffing their faces with food in my kitchen where I was attempting to take a shower but couldn't stand all their rucous. Suddenly the shower head takes on a life of it's own and begins spraying the women as they run around screaming and then leave.
When I awoke, at first I was baffled. I'd never had such a strange dream. Then I remembered the story I had read before falling asleep and realized my subconscious had used the opportunity to communicate with me using the symbols and archetypes I had just learned!
The three women eating ridiculous amounts of food represented the parts of me that sought to over-eat, and those parts of me were loud and overwhelming. At that point in my life I often listened more to those parts of me than any other. Trying to shower in the kitchen represented my desire to detox and cleanse. I felt my dream was showing me that I had to clear those loud, obnoxious parts of me out of my psyche if I was to successfully cleanse the physical toxins out of my body. Because what remained in my psyche created an affinity {habitual connection} with unhealthy food and eating habits, so even if I cleansed myself physically, the psychological and energetic/emotional "fat women" would still be there and the moment I took my conscious focus off of eating healthy I'd be right back where I started.
So go ahead and pick up any book of myths, fables or fairy tales that interests you. All you have to do is read the stories! Soak them in. Read a bit each night. And then just free your imagination and sleeping mind to churn on them and use them. You'll be surprised by the new richness of information you glean from your dreams and the new inspired visions and understandings you'll have in your waking life: about people, yourself, and the state of our world.
Here's a few reading recommendations:
For Scholarly & Spiritual Understanding of Archetypes:
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