It's the year 2025 and all the old rules that once applied are thrown out the window. In America, the clear lines that once divided are starting to blur and factions of people are rearranging with new unexpected alliances. If you are someone who follows either politics or the great awakening of humanity closely, this may becoming clearly apparent to you. These two seemingly opposing topics reflect the same message, because they are more intertwined then some realize.
This blog is focused on my spiritual awakening journey through art, but I have been fascinated by politics and history since I was young and it came into clear focus during my teen years. I often feel like a watcher of humanity, taking in all that there is from this experience and the lessons it teaches. It is often said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. So my question is, why has it been so prevalent for the new age enlightened consciousness spiritual community to choose to stick their heads in the sand when it comes to politics?
I have often heard reasons like 'choosing to be above worldly issues', 'choosing peace', or seeing politics as 'a game of distractions'. This has always rubbed me the wrong way as a view that is not as 'evolved' as they may like to think. While many spiritual practices teach us to value spiritual attainment above earthly ones, many also put an emphasis on taking care of community and the earth we live on - a sort of 'heaven on earth' approach.
Maybe the mechanisms of politics is not so peaceful or heavenly, but it is one of the main battlegrounds of good versus evil on this planet. Political systems and involvement are how we, as a collective, choose to treat each other and the earth. Through politics we create policy that holds accountable those who would wield power against others for evil purposes. I know it has not been a foolproof mechanism as many feel these mechanisms have lost sight of representing the people and instead have deteriorated into corruption, but that brings me back to the Great Awakening of humanity.
As a collective, we must move through difficult experiences that activate us into greater awareness. This awakening happens in waves, where pockets of people shift at a time. Just like in a personal spiritual awakening journey, there can be steps forward and steps backwards, as well as periods of stagnancy. As a collective, we have no control of when everyone will be ready to make a shift together. In current politics, this collective awareness is referred to as 'class consciousness'. This is where people realize that the true alignment of voting and advocating with their interests is along class lines and not based on smaller interest-based factions. Workers versus Elites. What is good for our fellow working neighbor is also good for us.
While Christian spirituality has often been tied to conservative party ideals based on cultural issues, the new age enlightenment movement has been detached from a particular political identity. Like I said earlier, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Years of putting heads in the sand to pursue spiritual goals at the ignorance of earthly experiences has left many people out of touch with the decades of storyline featuring powerful people actively dismantling and decaying our society for their own gains while spinning whimsical tales of falsehood.
This head in the sand approach to earthly matters has led many to be susceptible to propaganda, conspiracy and one-issue voting when something actually impacts them directly. Without awareness, one can easily be sucked down a pipeline of shadowy manipulation. I have seen it far too often. In the pursuit of enlightenment, we often hear the term 'shadow work' and facing the trauma of our past. We are not supposed to stick our heads in the sand when it comes to spiritual awakening and ascension of consciousness, yet many refuse to look at the true depths of how we have gotten to this current political state of affairs. Instead, a sort of nihilism is adopted or belief that those who are the most corrupt will become our saviors because they pander to a single interest. As the Christians might say, "You've fallen for the Devil's tricks".
However, they may have fallen for them as well. The Christian alignment to conservative values has fallen out of line with the Republican party in the Trump era, just as the progressive values of other groups has fallen out of line with the Democratic Party. The consolidation of power and corruption has become so rampant and clear that no one is safe from its effects. That may be exactly how the Great Awakening occurs. That which unites us becomes so clear that the things that divide us seem less apparent. It will take every single one of us working together to bring about a better world.
So instead of sticking our heads in the sand, believing it either doesn't exist or everything is terrible so there is no point, why don't we choose to set down our differences and build allies. Our government was created in a way where no small faction can take over full control to dominate the masses. It requires the uniting of factions of various backgrounds, interests and beliefs to create a strong enough force for real change. Unfortunately, bad actors with power-motivated interests have used fear to rally people together against a vulnerable group as a common 'enemy'. Fear is not the spiritual path. If there is ever a question of who to trust and believe, the enlightened person will advocate for compassion and helping thy neighbor.
We do not need to vote against our overall interests, freedom and community wellbeing for the single interest of your faction's cultural beliefs. We can all have a world where we are free to practice our unique lifestyles while letting others do the same. We can shift the conversation when we stay educated and active. There is still hope that while not everything and everyone is perfect, like in our own personal ascension journey, a better world is still possible if we take one step at a time in the right direction.
Choose Love.