Among the many laws of the universe, these are the biggies:
The law of connection - everyone and everything in the universe is connected; there is no "them" and "us", there is only "we"
The law of universal wisdom - there is a source of universal wisdom that we are all connected to (though we have largely forgotten how)
The law of attraction - what we focus on, we attract into our lives
When we accept these natural laws and work with them, we experience alignment and flow. We are empowered, more confident and happier as things just feel easier.
But here's the catch - when people are happy, confident and empowered, they are content with who they are and what they have. There’s no need for them to compensate for dissatisfaction by spending money on stuff they don’t really need, they can't be coerced or threatened into accepting less than they deserve. They stand in their own power, resilient and unafraid.
Over the millennia, as various civilisations have risen and grown (and ultimately fallen, but that’s a whole other article!), systems and organisations have been built to create a sense of order, to facilitate peaceful interactions between citizens and – ultimately – to control human behaviour. Systems such as religion, education, economy and politics, which are interdependent and very powerful. Together, they condition humans to believe, think and behave in certain ways. Those who resist these powerful systems are shamed and vilified, exiled - or even executed.
This sounds far-fetched, right?
But just think for a moment about some of the things we are taught, where those ideas come from and how they’re reinforced on a daily basis.
Separation / duality – we're taught from a very early age that we are separate from others and other species, that nature is a resource for us to plunder to meet our superior human needs. We're taught that wisdom is something we learn from outside ourselves; we must trust in authority figures – doctors, scientists, teachers, politicians - because “they know best”. We can only access the divine through organised religion and religious gatekeepers. This leaves many people feeling disconnected, lacking belief and trust in their own inner wisdom and power. Charles Eisenstein explores the “separation myth” thoroughly in his excellent book, The Ascent of Humanity.
Intellect over intuition - we're taught to value intellect over intuition - everything must have a scientific explanation. That which science hasn't managed to explain is labelled an "emerging discipline" which has yet to be fully understood. We are programmed to rationalise everything rather than accept that some things do not require empirical analysis, and we learn not to trust what our bodies and minds tell us. “Follow the science” has become a mantra robotically repeated by – it seems – the majority of the western world in recent times; the imaginations we cherish in childhood are systematically chipped away at until we no longer see the magic in the world, only hard, mechanistic answers that we may know in our hearts are just not true. There is always funding for science and medical research, less so for music, philosophy and spiritual pursuits. Those who pursue more esoteric paths are portrayed as eccentric or sometimes even dangerous (think: witch trials)
Money, status and power - We are programmed, like Pavlov's dogs, to desire and strive for certain things: material wealth, status, and power. Our focus is subtly shifted from the present moment to an ever-moving future, creating a sense of perpetual dissatisfaction as we constantly want more. Society measures success on terms of money, status and power. Technology and progress are portrayed as positive and necessary for human evolution. Those who reject progress and economic growth are labelled Luddites and technophobes. We are conditioned to think of the desire for achievement, ambition and status as a virtue to uphold and strive for, and to consider those who don’t seek these things as weak, ignorant and lazy.
Fear - We are conditioned to fear scarcity. Having a scarcity mentality actually changes the neural pathways in the brain and leads people to become obsessed by a lack of something that they behave in completely irrational ways to obtain it – greed, hoarding - and even violence - and in doing so perpetuates the sense of separation from others; we want to hide away like Gollum with his precious, lest anyone try to take away what is ours. This fear is weaponised to control people and encourage them to spend their money on things like insurance, security systems and guns. We are conditioned, too, to fear people who are different from us. Social identity theory refers to "in-groups" and "out-groups", leading us deeper into the conditioning of separation. Same = good, different = bad. This herd mentality leads to prejudice, discrimination and war. When we’re afraid, we are easily manipulated.
But to what end?
Why would people in authority ever want to create situations like these?
Governments around the world know all of this, and it serves them well to have citizens conditioned in these ways: people who are afraid tend to be compliant and easy to control - look how easy it was to convince most of the population to wear face masks and have their covid jabs. Those who chose not to be vaccinated were vilified in the media as ignorant, selfish, even psychopathic and dangerous. The government's "nudge unit" of behavioural scientists openly admit to manipulating the public psyche in an attempt to secure compliance, to the point of encouraging people to inform on their neighbours if they suspected any non-compliance.
People who try to compensate for their unhappiness through "retail therapy" spend their money, thus growing the economy: the success of a nation is seen to rest on its GDP and "economic growth" is the holy grail of politicians worldwide. Business benefit, but it is by and large the big corporations - the Amazons, Tescos, and Walmarts - that prosper, rather than independent, family-owned businesses. Furthermore, people who are scared will spend more of their disposable income on products and services that they are told will alleviate their fear - medicines, insurance, further boosting the coffers of big pharma, the banking cartels and snake oil salesmen who sell big promises with little substance. (Some of) these companies pay tax, which boosts the country’s coffers and in the language of economic theory, money = political power.
We are reminded daily of how scary and dangerous the world is through a barrage of reinforcing media messages - on TV, in the newspapers, and even through the storylines of Hollywood films. Just take a look at the day’s headlines: is there anything that makes you feel happy or safe? The sole purpose of mass media is to reinforce certain ideas and subtly encourage us to behave in particular ways, to manipulate what we think and do, how we relate to one another. Like Winston Smith’s telescreen in George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984, the messages are the same – which is hardly surprising when you consider that 90% of the world's major media outlets are owned by just six corporations. The only difference today is that we willingly pay for our “telescreens” at the Apple store and we wear them on our wrists: prisoners of our own making.
The antidote
So, what can we do about it? You may well be thinking that there's not much you, as one person, can do to counteract this constant barrage of programming. But in fact, the very opposite is true. Change happens from the bottom up, not the top down. It simply requires each person to stand in their own power and make confident choices that honour the boundaries they’ve set for themselves rather than decline passively and unwittingly into the quicksand of someone else’s control.
Shift your mindset: changing how you view happiness is key to freeing yourself from conditioning: happiness isn't about wanting more; it's enjoying what you have. Reflect on what's really important to you and ditch the rest. You'll find you have an urge to simplify, detox and de-clutter anything that no longer serves you, be it physical "stuff", relationships that are past their best-before dates, unhelpful beliefs and habits - it will all be chucked out, creating physical, mental and emotional space for you to learn who you really are and what you truly want in your life. You'll start to live your life in the present moment, enjoying what simply is, and you’ll worry less about the future.
Become more self-sufficient: As your mindset changes and you focus your attention inwards, you’ll naturally be less reliant on the external world. The more that people rely on society for the things they need and want, the harder it is for them to overcome their conditioning. Those with expensive lifestyles need money to sustain them and are often in constant fear of losing their income, driving fear and stress, and focusing their attention on working longer hours to get that pay rise or bonus - often at the expense of the really important things in life. When you're no longer distracted by all that and you shift your focus from the outside to what's inside; you'll start to feel comfortable just "being" and not "doing" or “having”; you'll really hear your inner voice that was previously drowned out by all the noise of your conditioning and you'll learn to trust your inner wisdom - what your body, heart and soul are telling you.
Take responsibility: as you learn to trust your intuition, you’ll take full responsibility for your choices, knowing that you have made them without outside interference; you’ll stop looking for validation from others that you’re doing the right thing, or that you’re worthy or lovable (insert adjective of choice). You’ll recognise the things that have triggered you in the past, and you’ll make conscious choices about how you respond to them, rather than unconsciously reacting. You’ll own your own choices – and yes, your mistakes too - without resorting to blame of victimhood – and you’ll learn something valuable about yourself in the process.
Respect your boundaries: When you take full responsibility for your decisions and actions, you will see more clearly where your boundaries are: what is and isn’t acceptable to you. And you’ll start to recognise when your boundaries are being disrespected – by other people in your life, by society’s norms and even by yourself. And when you take responsibility for yourself, you stand in your own power and you’ll be in a position to choose how you deal with those situations. Your relationships with others will be healthier and you’ll find that when you stand in your power and call out behaviours that dishonour your boundaries, not only do you feel empowered, but others recognise your personal power and change how they behave accordingly.
By stepping into your personal power, you free yourself from the shackles of conditioning and live life on your terms, fully aligned with the natural laws of the universe.
If you’ve lost your power or are struggling to reclaim it, The Wild Edges can help. Please contact me at thewildedges@pm.me for a confidential and free discovery call to find out more.
Joss Anderson is a qualified and experienced Shamanic Practitioner, Shamanic Reiki Master Practitioner and ICF-accredited coach, based in Cambridgeshire, UK and online.
© Joss Anderson 2022; © The Wild Edges, 2022