You may have heard “higher vibrations” and equated them with people who are “pure” or “of the light” and etc. and you might have heard of “lower vibrations” and equated them with “dirty” or “dark.” These ideas tend to be correlated with morality versus natural human tendencies and tend to also be a part of New Age philosophy. In reality, “dark” or “lower vibrational” energy doesn’t come from being human – it comes from being less comfortable of being human which, as a result, creates repressed emotions and energies that tend to swallow those attempting to connect to the Divine or are on the path to finding their “Higher selves.” What would normally be a useful concept when attempting to explain the metaphysical attributes of Divinity is often poisoned.
What Westernized mysticism fails to discern is the fact that morality is not inherent to true mysticism. There is a false notion that being moral is equivalent to being close to the Divine or have some “holier than thou” connotation. There are multiple levels of this fact which I will explain to you, but first, let’s take a look at where this comes from.
Christianity is everywhere
The Christian philosophy of “original sin” has essentially taken over the Westernized consciousness in a way that even those who have never been Christian or even those that claim to be an atheist cannot see a way out of it. We feel as though being human is dirty and wrong and there are morals attached to human tendencies like being taught that sexuality, emotions, and certain behaviors like jealousy are thought to be less moral and therefore need to be kept hidden.
You can see this in our political landscape in this day and age where the enemy is thought to be the person who is being authentic – true to their nature, sexuality, and identity or is born with a different mental framework that tend to also think outside of the box (I.e. autism, ADHD, Etc.). While before this shift in our society where we now talk about these things in detail, those who do not fit squarely inside a box were taught to repress and mask or face serious consequences in their day-to-day existence (and, arguably, still are facing them), they now are gaining context for ideas that were otherwise hidden and misperceived.
There hasn’t been an increase in the population of queer, trans, ADHD, autistic, etc. people – there has only been a societal shift away from Calvinist thought that being human is equivalent to being evil. The political violence and continued discrimination against these outcasted people show signs that Calvinism is on its way out and new thought regarding authenticity and diversity is on its way in.
What we see now, spiritually, is more and more people finding the path to the old gods while pews of Christian churches, even though they would have you believe otherwise, are getting emptier and emptier. If you ask me why I think this is happening (not that you’d care but if you’re reading this, you probably do) it would be because the polytheistic religions of old represent plurality and pluralistic thinking which is far more true to the individual human experience. It does not have to be one God or one evil, it can be multiple facets of Divinity that represent the strengths and downfalls of the human experience as well as the balance of nature and the universe.
The outdated philosophy that there is only one truth to being human is on a violent spiral downward and instead, ideas of continuous growth, pluralism, and a different set of values and principles are on the rise within Western culture.
It won’t go out without a bang, mind you. Those who are still in deep with this line of thinking are doing whatever it takes to control the narrative. At their basest level, they instinctively know that what they are doing cannot continue for much longer so they have to fight for what they have to continue their doctrine and philosophy to ensure continued survival of what they deem to be “pure” and “moral.”
There are still resonating consequences even after you set aside the understanding that Calvinism is not the answer to a good society or political landscape. This kind of thinking is traumatic and causes great injury to the human psyche as a whole. We are seeing new conversations surrounding what trauma looks like when it is stored within the human body and mind and what continued effects it has on people even after they escape the original stress and trauma that originally occurred in the first place.
However, we are still struggling to reconcile what is good from what is bad. Healing is of utmost importance and it takes a lot of courage to this day to seek what is best for yourself as a human being and what it means to live authentically and fully within the realms of this modern age even if we are still on the downward trend of Calvinism.
Now that we know the “why,” let us look at the less general scope of polytheism and our modern assumptions of divinity and why they are still incredibly problematic as a result.
The Problems in Paganism
Not a single day goes by when I scroll through social media pagan spaces where I don’t see people worried constantly about what they’re doing wrong when it comes to the Gods. It is a significant portion of the day-to-day issues and contemplations of the new and upcoming polytheists such that it is mostly what people are worried about.
The thing is, the Gods aren’t worried about you giving Them the wrong offering, saying something you don’t mean, doing things that are considered “problematic” in our world. They don’t care whether you feel justified in doing it or not and They certainly don’t care for your lack of morality. The punishment you are concerned with doesn’t exist and the punishment that comes from not being a “good person” or a “good devotee” is generally one that is brought upon by you and you alone shooting yourself in the foot. After all, what you believe to exist makes a difference in how you perceive the world regardless of how right or wrong it is or how true to a normal level of critical thinking it might be.
Calvinist ideals of original sin and humans being abhorrent creatures run rampant throughout our society, still. Paganism still suffers a great deal of it. The “holier than thou” archetype of a pagan leader creates the same problems of the Catholic church and the issue with discernment and skepticism takes priority over what is actually going on: we are not in tune with our very nature as humans. We don’t know or understand ourselves as a result of all of this bullshit that gets in the way. And because we don’t know, understand, or value ourselves as a principle, therefore, there is no substantial foundation where you might get to know the Gods through today’s modern contexts.
This is why the “shadow” is much more widely talked about. We think all the Gods are concerned with and get involved in is the betterment of ourselves and us only and that’s that. We don’t talk about the community as a whole and we certainly don’t think about why it’s such an issue that so many people are alone and suffering. It becomes extremely individualistic and self-centered. Arguably, most people who are okay with that reason with themselves by arguing that they can do whatever they want and still make space for the Gods at the end of the day for them to speak with and hear back from.
Unfortunately, this is a rather delusional way of thinking and the reason why all boils back to why we think we’re immoral and what guilt and arguing can coincide to ensure that we remain in the most comfortable philosophy which, at the end of the day, completely derails why the Gods even come here in the first place.
You see, you are not better than someone else simply because you are in tune with the Gods. You are not more important if you see things others can’t. You aren’t “good at this” because you can be a medium to whatever spirit or Deity decides to take advantage of you. We aren’t loose in our morals because we are pagan – in fact, the opposite reaction occurs when we think that we are doing something risky or interesting and it is so far to the side of being “anti-Christian” such that we end up arguably becoming Christian again by running too far into the opposite direction. It becomes very self-centered rather than self-actualized and broken in a different way rather than whole again.
We tend to treat paganism as a self-help manual where casting a spell can make your problems disappear and the Gods are our Divine life coaches who wag Their finger when you stray. As long as you have a nice looking altar and give the Gods offerings, then who cares?
We are so afraid of what They will do that we don’t believe They would ever be present in our lives. If we do think that They are, we do not know how to react nor how to continue keeping it that way. We do not know how to treat Them, what They want, and what They are looking for because so few people ever deem it necessary to ask. Instead, most people treat Them as if They are a vending machine or a tool to get what they want.
Now, all of this being said, I’d like to delve into energy and how it relates to connecting with the Gods.
Instead of a fixation on moral principles or correctness, the means in which a God can reach back to you are more simple and less reliant on who you are as a person.
I say “simple” as in you don’t need to spend several years of getting it “right” to become in tune with the Gods. You don’t need to shame yourself for not giving offerings, not praying enough, not doing (insert activity here) enough. If all of these things cease to be meaningful, then no matter how hard you try, nothing will ever get you close enough to the Gods for it to matter and nothing will ever be “enough.”
I mean “simple” as in it all boils down to vibrational patterns as the reasoning behind why the Gods care about your development in the first place.
So let’s boil it down.
What low vibrations entail
When I mean “low vibrations” I mean that this is how most humans function at a normal level. These are normally impacted by the day-to-day mundanity of modern life. You have your biases, your ego, and your self all intact. You may be easily distractible, easily encouraged to go to war on social media over what your aunt Karen said about Trump. You might be triggered easily either due to trauma or anger from patterns that haven’t evolved since childhood or later. It is riddled with shame, indoctrination, and ego.
The likely culprit in this way is not because you are a “bad” or “evil” person, but rather one who is not aware that there are things impacting their biases and thoughts. This isn’t easy to define, necessarily, because the spectrum is broad. One could be more receptive and open who tends to fall on a lower vibrational part of the spectrum on average but there are times when they are not.
Essentially, the more that gets in the way of your thoughts and daily life such that you are not in tune with your own being (think: working a job you don’t like and having to go there 40 hours a week, a friend group or living with family who is draining, politics and social media, etc.) or anything that takes up your mental space and clarity can get in the way between what the Gods want to say to you.
This, of course, can be changed given the environment though the base level should none of it be addressed or change will keep going down to the lower ends of the spectrum. For example, you do a mindful exercise prior to doing a ritual or giving an offering to make you more receptive to the Gods. You might temporarily be able to be on a higher side of the spectrum as long as you address what would likely be a distraction, but would quickly retreat lower given the continuation of normal, daily life.
Needing the Calling
This often feels disheartening and often depressing for those who understand the feeling of what it is like to connect with the Divine. Those who are called to do this work are often depressed when they aren’t living a life that is in that consistent higher vibrational pattern and the Gods become more accessible. The joy and the high of being able to hear and respond to a Deity as well as being able to connect with Them energetically can be dampened once you remember you have to go to the job you hate the next day, the people you live with are harmful and toxic, or those who don’t understand your path make you sweep it under the rug. This, by no means, is a “wrong” way to live. However, it is draining and often counteracts any pathway in which the Gods can reach you. Changes of lifestyle are imperative when the desire to work intimately with the Gods and hear them.
As a side note: this is why Loki is essentially a very good Deity to work with at the start of your path. He is the bridge that fosters that relationship with yourself and cuts away the ties that hold you down and away from the possibility of being open to the Gods. He is like the initiatory God who sends you through challenges of transformation in order to connect with the Divine in a way that doesn’t have all these filters and ego attached. But I digress.
This is a more commonly attributed case to most people who are pagan. Our society is not conducive to the lifestyle that is necessary to be in tune with the Divine – in particularly in Western (mostly American) culture where we are tied to our jobs and in the midst of late stage capitalism and are forced into situations that are hard to navigate. Pagans who realize this are often forced to deal with it, and pagans who are not realizing this are likely never going to learn unless there is context available and would likely get frustrated when discovering that connections to the Gods is not seemingly possible for them.
High Vibrational Energy
Those who are on the higher vibrational spectrum in this case who are always susceptible to hearing the Gods fluently have often given up several things about the lifestyle that is considered “normal.” This is why not everyone is called to work a path of priesthood in particular because of the fact that it is a sacrifice to the modern designation of living. More often than not, allowing the Gods to assist in helping you bridge that path requires you to meet them halfway. You have to be open to the change and be vulnerable with Them in order for Them to cause the change you want that will make you more susceptible to hearing Them more clearly.
I am not saying sell all of your possessions, move to the country, and farm. I am saying that sometimes it takes a great deal of sacrifice to what you think you need and have the Gods present to you a better way to respond. For example, I believed I was going to marry my ex fiancé (never mind the fact that he was abusive and awful but anyway), because that’s what’s expected of a twenty to thirty-something woman and it would have been easier to go do that than leave because that’s what the rest of the world seemingly wanted for me to fit in. I left him because the Gods gave me an opportunity to do so and I leapt at the chance and ever since, my life has not been the same. This is one story of others I know of but the meaning is always the same. When one door closes, more open – and it is in particularly true when working with the Gods.
As a warning: this takes time and is often incredibly difficult. If you leave this blog and go to ask the Gods to manage your life in the way that you need in order to hear Them easier, you are more than likely going to be placed in positions that will make you choose the easier path or Them. If you wish for that, you’re going to be tested to begin with and tested thoroughly. This is not an easy choice to start with. In my example, it took about five years of working with Loki before everything about me changed after several very difficult hardships and trials and errors. It eventually came between choosing Him over everything and everyone else that I thought I wanted so I can have that need of connection fulfilled and live on a higher vibrational pattern.
Note: this does not make me or anyone more moral, divine, miraculous, pure, love and light, or whatever. I chose this life because I needed to. I saw the other side of the curtain and it made the life I thought I wanted before absolutely unbearable to continue to live. The restlessness and the heartache were too much to continue keeping up with and so I had to change and so I did lest I continue to suffer.
In regards to what it is like to be on the higher end of the spectrum, there is a reason why those who are usually at a lower level baseline remain there. It is objectively harmful to expect yourself to remain on a higher vibrational energy unless you are apt to being there. This not only requires personal change but a biological, psychological, and sociological one.
It is for this reason that shamans are often seen to go through a “shaman sickness” as a result of this transformation. It does not always result with madness or psychological harm, but often means you are legitimately sick. If it is not properly addressed, if your ego is not properly shredded, it can be extremely dangerous to jump from one end of the spectrum to the other. This is why it takes years to develop, not days, weeks, or during some multi-week class that Sharon from your local metaphysical is doing. The fact that this is often misinterpreted and seen as a something that should be attainable is harmful.
The same could also be said for those who channel or do mediumship or possessory work for others without the proper training or base level on the spectrum.
Risky Behavior
One example I’ve seen is during a class I did with an oracular seidr group that was inspired by Diana Paxson’s book and group (this was prior to the allegations coming out regarding who she was involved with and subsequently kicked out of the Troth). During an example ritual I attended, seers carried multiple Deities who either came down and possessed the seer or simply spoke through them. Each and every seer I saw walk out of the chair looked sick and defeated. They collapsed to the ground and looked pale and tired or “hungover”. This is damaging because it essentially makes the seer’s energy go from low to high in minutes or even seconds and then go back to low again.
If you are not trained to do this work and do it once in a while when a “high” ritual calls for it, rather than a regular practice, it could easily make you very sick both physically and mentally. People are worried about the dangers of channeling and possessory work that, instead of making it something that could be easily accessible and practiced, it is rare and few and far between. This is a lifestyle and choice, not a skill that is learned and taken out of the box when it suits you as a cool party trick.
You would not expect a rookie football player to train for a couple weeks and then become a NFL quarterback. That’s not how it works. They would be torn to shreds if they were somehow allowed to play at a professional level after having only trained a few weeks. The same thing is happening here. Your mental state, livelihood, and physical wellbeing are put at risk if you attempt to carry or channel a Deity right out of the gate simply because you are told that’s what a seer does. Or because it’s a cool party trick to do every so often when the need is called for.
This is also why it takes multiple people to do this work. It is very important that not just one person is doing it alone, but in the very least, two to three. One person needs to be able to witness and tend to the other who will likely be wiped during their “training” period and switch off for confirmation and sanity’s sake.
Even those who work with the Divine at this capacity are not necessarily at the highest end of the spectrum always and still require tools to get them to the higher end because the alternative is harmful and tiring. It simply is a higher base line from the normal everyday human because they have been guided and worked up to existing here. In order to channel, connect with, and be in existence with the Divine in such a way, it is imperative that a level of training and transformation takes place prior to the shift.
There is a reason why being a priest/priestess or seer was a profession and not a role they play with their local pagan group. It is a career path rather than a chore or duty. It requires the entirety of the human to change and be guided in this way and supported by a Deity during the stages of transformation, rather than a human electing that they want to do this for fun or because they think that’s what they have to do to prove themselves worthy. Which, once again, is not only harmful to themselves but to the community that surrounds them because it only continues misinformation as well as harmful power dynamics.
In summary, there are many reasons why being at a higher vibration does not call for you to be moral or light and love or whatever people seem to think it requires. There’s also a reason why not everyone is capable or should be capable of hearing the Gods explicitly or always.
For the everyday practitioner, it is most common that you meet the Gods somewhere in the middle of the spectrum and that tends to be on the lower side. Though in the days of old, the priest/priestess or seer profession would be widely regarded as such and people would go to them to connect with their respective deity, that is not the case anymore and I highly recommend thoroughly vetting anyone who claims to be such a thing. There will be keen evidence and proof should it be the case for that person. It is not as easy as claiming to be a priestess or taking a class to be a seer and it should never be regarded as such. It should never be regarded as a moral failing or failure in general, either.
Regardless, it is the objective of the priest/ess or seer to assist in helping people meet the Gods at that halfway point because they themselves need that to bridge the gap. The priest/ess is then responsible for also getting that person back down to where they normally need to exist on that energetic spectrum and back to the life they need to live because it is not every single devotee’s responsibility to be put in that position of absolute sacrifice and transformation. It’s not sustainable or healthy for the everyday person.
In Summary
Morality is not equivalent to being at a “higher” vibrational energy level, and being a “bad pagan” is not equivalent to being at a lower vibrational energy level. There is a reason why such people who are responsible for being at that “higher” level don’t exist among what is widely considered “normal.” And there’s a reason why all of this isn’t happening in the typical neopagan sphere, either. We have very little context for it and it is usually destroyed when ego and power dynamics get involved.
Going forward, I will be referring to this spectrum in my blog posts because of the kinds of work I will be talking about and likely going into more specific uses of this terminology. Perhaps you may even get a graphic. Who knows?
I hope whoever needed to see this gets something out of it.
Devoured by Flame 