Our psychic energy is a mixture of individual spiritual energy bound to a three-dimensional body that interacts with other similar beings. In some energy theories distance is not relevant, but in our incarnate experience here on earth distance is important. Proximity counts: touch is essential. And thanks to social media, almost any thought can be expressed and spread across the vast ocean of information uploading and downloading.
Unprecedented times
In many recent articles, I have written several times that we are truly living in unprecedented times. Until recently, using the word “unprecedented” was an overstated statement, largely because changes, even major ones, have never really broken or fractured the overall system. Globalism proved remarkably resilient in the face of revolutions, wars and economic disruption. Not even the September 11 attacks could stop American culture from “fighting back” with the ultimate weapon: shopping.
Air travel changed, but daily life for most people was only disrupted when they traveled by plane. Even the economic impact of the 2008 financial crisis was blunted by globalism and conscious decisions to force liquidity into the markets or bail out large corporations to avoid a potential catastrophic failure if left to truly capitalist market forces.
As an astrologer, I look at past, present, and future events through the lens of astrology, which very often provides a roadmap for how energy will evolve, even if the specific events deliver a surprise in the moments surrounding the astrological phenomenon . Astrologically speaking, 2020 has long been on the radar of the professional astrology community as a turning point, definitely with the potential to impact the global community in a way not seen since World War II, the Spanish Flu, the revolutionary wars of 18th century, and the Black Death (1346 to 1353).
Spiritual interpretations of COVID-19
Spiritualists, like myself, see events through a lens of higher purpose, understanding the world in a way that is very different from atheism and many forms of religion. If we view the relationship we have with the planet as symbiotic, and not merely parasitic (with us as parasites), then it is incumbent upon us to respect our relationship with the intelligence, both grand and dynamic, that is this planet.
Science or science fiction, the planet is a living organism that needs us much less, if at all, than we need it. In logic, at some point of pressure, this kind of relationship becomes one-sided, revealing that the health and existence of the planet are necessary for our existence, but not conversely. And like any organism that experiences a threat to the system, it consciously or deliberately fights back. What viruses are to us, antibodies are to the planet.
After all, the planet is a closed system and every closed system has boundaries, which defines it as a closed system. If we do not live within the confines of the closed system, we must escape the system and seek a system that is larger and better able to accommodate our expansion. Therefore, the rather convenient solution to living within our borders, as presented in Star Trek science fiction, was to avoid the problem of humanity expanding endlessly into space. If humanity could not expand, the system would eventually impose limitations.
Always expanding!
Part of humanity’s psychic dynamic is exploration. In fact, it is also the psychic dynamics of the mind. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. We come to the three-dimensional world to explore, and we keep coming back to make new discoveries for the greater intelligence of all life, across the planet, the solar system and the dimensions.
If a system is large enough and the expansion lasts long enough, it can become a world theory that expansion is a constant rather than part of an ebb and flow that also includes contraction. If we understand that we are part of a system, with boundaries, and we consciously respect and honor those boundaries, we can grow without always expanding and endangering the system.
Social media as a form of unlimited expansion
The psychological impact of social media is enormous. We are here to be social, to communicate. Social media removes all controls and allows people to express themselves however they want, whenever they want, with surprisingly few restrictions. We take our interactive closeness for granted, largely unconscious or consciously ignorant of our impact on others. Across the range of social interaction, we also actively seek attention and comfort in our connectivity with others.
Social media thus reinforces our interest in and contempt for others. Social media is very much an expression of Neptune in Pisces, as the planet’s many minds are now connected via Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, texting, and plain old email. The millions upon millions of minds are part of a gigantic internet brain that is still in its infancy in terms of how it shapes our individual minds and global consciousness.
Social media bypasses the traditional gatekeepers that were editors at magazines, TV news stations, book publishers and radio stations. Now anyone can blog (magazines), create and distribute themselves on YouTube (TV), and self-publish (with affordable printing and editing packages). Social media opens up the identity of the human psyche to the entire modern and connected world.
The psychological impact
While the most obvious negative psychological impact is disruption and discomfort, the greater, and potentially more lasting, psychological impact is greater awareness of others around us. We will pay more attention to people who are different or, as may be the case, we will ‘silo’ and only pay attention to the people who say the same things we think or what we want to hear.
If social media remains largely unregulated, and it certainly appears to be the case, a global shift in spiritual consciousness could become stuck in a “blocked development,” close to the adolescent stage and far away from the of the elderly. It may be the case for yet another unprecedented and truly new moment, where we encounter the limits of the system in such a way that we learn deeply that the system is limited and that we must respect those limits to survive.
