Introducing Collective Consciousness. Why’s this important?

Because there’s more to it than you know. It’s the ultimate influencer, impacting your personal growth & spiritual evolution.

Collective consciousness has been mentioned often at this blog. Never before have I dedicated a blog post to defining it. Nor to exploring why collective consciousness is such an important part of my mission. Both at “Deeper Perception Made Practical” … and with my Energy Spirituality work in general.

Hmm, collective consciousness is such an important theme, I feel like rolling up my sleeves when getting to work. Except it’s the last day in June, a gorgeous day here in Sterling, Virginia. My shirt has short sleeves, actually.

However, I am choosing to write this blog post. Rather than putter around in my garden on this gorgeous summer day. So collective consciousness must be important to me. If I succeed at today’s post… Maybe collective consciusness will remain — or become — really important to you, too.

What Collective Consciousness Means

Energetically all human beings, animals, plants, and objects are connected. We interact at the human level, of course. We interact at the etheric, or Divine, level. Also — to a degree that becomes shockingly huge, and very fascinating, hello! We also interact at the astral level.

Introducing Collective Consciousness WITHIN You

Let me remind you of what you’ve got:

1. A conscious mind. (Positioning Consciousness at any of the Human Vibrational Frequencies)
2. And also a subconscious or unconscious mind. (Positioning Consciousness at any of the Human Vibrational Frequencies)
3. Plus a Higher Self or Wise Mind. (Positioning Consciousness at the Divine Vibrational Frequency)

Here at Earth School, all three levels of you  have a chance to evolve. Same with and all other humans. :-)

The history of ideas is a fascinating academic discipline. Involving our collective evolution, humanly, intellectually. Definitely one of my favorite hobbies!

Social historians notice collective evolution as well, everyday life reflecting trends related to laws and social institutions. (More on some of these soon, but from the perspective of collective consciousness.) Sometimes folks call this the Zeitgeist, or spirit of the time.

For energy healers like me, the really exciting version of collective growth is the evolution of collective consciousness.

Collective consciousness tracks the spiritual evolution of humanity. Namely, what matters to us humanly:

What we think, say, and do. Our politics. And our secrets. Our triumphs. Our hidden shames. What we collectively notice and what we collectively thrust into denial.

Introducing Collective Consciousness: Where Does the Term Come From?

In Western thought, the concept of collective consciousness is similar to the idea of “The Collective Unconscious,” courtesy of the great psychoanalyst Carl Jung: “Innate dispositions to experience and represent basic human behavior and situations.”

Carl Jung thought of archetypes. I think of evolution. But maybe I would think that way… Except that Jung introduced the idea of a deep, universal, unconscious human connection.

Related to this term, “Collective Consciousness,” is Eastern in origin, far as I know.

Introducing More about Collective Consciousness. How I First Learned About It

I first learned it when studying with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He didn’t just teach millions of people the technique of Transcendental Meditation. In addition, he was an astonishingly effective stealth missionary for his religion, Hinduism.

That guru taught a mixture of the two, yet downplayed the Hinduism aspect. Was collective consciousness one of Maharishi’s many brilliant insights? Or or it is more a traditional term. Perhaps 10,000 years old (like so much of Vedic wisdom). Perhaps some of you more knowledgeable Blog-Buddies could comment about this. Educating me & others interested in the history of “collective consciousness.”

Either way, I’ve found collective consciousness to be a useful concept. For instance, fascination with collective consciousness has far outlasted my affiliation with TM.

Why Care About Collective Consciousness?

Say that you facilitate mind-body-spirit growth: Helping people on their personal path to Age of Awakening Enlightenment. Or even an Enlightenment Teacher!

Alternatively, suppose you have any interest whatsoever in personal growth. Whether for yourself, or as a healer,  or as a teacher, or as a community organizer. Or as a political activist, or any other way that aims to change how people collectively relate to different aspects of life.

Collective consciousness matters because it is more than memes. Unlike slang that becomes popular. Or determining which YouTubes go viral. Or (ugh!) the (alleged) wisdom of crowds. (I say “Alleged” because a crowd might do well for judging the weight of a steer. But that everyman approach hardly makes for what I'[d call “Profundity.”)

Collective consciousness is the most intimate, and cumulative, way that you have been growing during your lifetime.

Regardless of how active you are socially or politically; despite your love of technology, or lack thereof… You can find extra meaning in what you value. Simply consider how that topic of personal interest is linked to collective consciousness. For instance:

Political Changes Related to Collective Consciousness

Yesterday’s blog post honored South African President Nelson Mandela.

In his lifetime, and yours, and mine, Mandela made a great change regarding the acceptability of apartheid.

Apartheid became socially unacceptable and politically illegal. Yes, it’s so important that this consciousness raising wasn’t just a change in collective consciousness.

However, when collective consciousness changes enough, it could be argued, social and political and legal changes are able to follow relatively fast.

Why? The majority of people automatically have begun to think differently.

Which Changes to Collective Consciousness Have YOU Witnessed?

In my lifetime, I witnessed the Civil Rights Movement in America. Did you, too?

That historic change included growth in collective consciousness, an evolution related to the noble achievements of Mahatma Gandhi. Yet Gandhi’s achievement taught collective consciousness about colonialism. Whereas Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. moved humanity to grow in acknowledging human equality within a nation.

America’s Civil War had contributed to evolution of collective consciousness about race. Yet Dr. King took recognition of prejudice to another level.

In this last week, some of you may have followed this icky thing: The scandal about Paula Deen’s racist remarks.  IMO, definitely related to changes in collective consciousness.

In America, racial equality is far from perfect. At least, certain shifts in collective consciousness have made Deen’s language socially unacceptable.

Collective Consciousness About Race In America Has Evolved

I sure hope so, anyway.

Eugene Robinson’s perceptive editorial in The Washington Post really nailed it for me. Recommended: Please read Eugene’s editorial for info about Deen’s fondness for being waited upon by who? By uniformed African-Americans, not that different from slaves. As Robinson noted:

‘The whole entire wait staff was middle-aged black men, and they had on beautiful white jackets with a black bow tie,’ Dean says in the deposition. ‘I mean, it was really impressive. And I remember saying I would love to have servers like that, I said, but I would be afraid that somebody would misinterpret.’

“Her fears are well-founded.”

The beloved (or formerly beloved) cooking superstar’s personal tragedy? Let’s connect that to how collective consciousness has changed. By now, racism in public is becoming less acceptable.

Civil Rights for This Time?

You Know What’s the Happening Thing Now… in Collective Consciousness?

It’s marriage equality, gender equality.

The defeat of DOMA is a huge legal step that may hasten momentum in America’s collective consciousness.

I think we’ll know that growth in collective consciousness has increased when the predominant language used over the marriage issue becomes “Marriage equality“ (Today at 262,000,000 Google hits) rather than “Same-sex marriage.” (Today at 756,000,000 Google hits, more than twice as many.)

Personally, I have cared about LGBT rights long before there was such a term as Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgendered. Growing up in New York, family friends were in that group. Prejudice against sexual orientation didn’t make sense to me then, nor has it since.

While living near the Whitman-Walker Clinic in D.C., I used to volunteer by doing Reiki treatments. The AIDS epidemic changed collective consciousness in many ways regarding attitudes towards gay culture. I longed for more change, in the direction of simple human decency.

Introducing Practical Perspective on Collective Consciousness

Thinking in terms of collective consciousness, it makes sense to me that humanity would go through the precise sequence that has developed in American legal history:

1. Ending slavery
2. Allowing women to vote
3. Desegregation and other forms of civil rights
4. Allowing marriage equality

As part of our collective evolution of consciousness on the planet, sure.

First we managed to figure out that humans could not own other humans. Hello!

Then we managed the big leap of considering adult women fully as human and adult. Ooh, just like men. And therefore, eligible to vote. (Something we’re still working on, regarding adult women being considered adults. ;-) )

With the Civil Rights Movement, collective consciousness evolved too. It was a big deal when children from different racial groups were allowed to go to the same school. Legally, segregation could no longer be considered fair or socially acceptable. Affirmative action began. Retroactive justice!

And now, allowing same sex couples to have federal benefits when married? To me, this seems like such a no-brainer. Yet I know that accepting this is hard for other people with perfectly fine brains. Perhaps brains that have been influenced by certain religious views that I happen to find questionable, to put it politely.

Maybe deeply felt views, maybe convenient views. Definitely views out of step with the evolution in America regarding belief.

Why Would Sexual Fears Be Toughest to Change in Collective Consciousness?

Not so obvious is that factor of sexual orientation. Of these four fairnesses, internal allegiance to gender is the most subtle.

Especially since sexual orientation may not be so obvious as an either-or. Most of us are mixtures, regarding what attracts us, even if firmly committed to one sexual orientation or another.

Telling the difference about someone other than yourself? Way hard. I don’t use aura reading for that, as you Blog-Buddies may know.

Right on the surface of life, no energetic literacy required:

• Usually you can discern pretty easily who is male, who is female.
• Somewhat easily, you can stereotype people into a racial group –though doing so, these days, is pretty complicated. And I sure look forward to the day when collective consciousness in America moves beyond the need to try.

But sexual orientation? Sometimes the person isn’t sure, or allegiance changes.

Just because that doesn’t show on the surface of life, trying to figure out sexual orientation requires learning about an individual.

Exactly the direction where collective consciousness is headed. I hope.

That’s my work. And maybe yours. Maybe it will help how I’ve been Introducing Collective Consciousness in this article. So few people know that it’s a thing!

Finally, as the Founder of Energy Spirituality

This Blog’s Contribution to Upgrading Collective Consciousness

I do have a dream.

This is not a dream like Dr. King’s, that arises out of oppression.

It’s a dream of evolution in collective consciousness, a dream about Energy Spirituality.

And it’s a dream where the world’s empaths become skilled empaths. And thus are able to bring a kind of perceptive leadership into earth.

It’s a dream where healing emotional and energetic STUFF, at the astral level, is done by hundreds of thousands, as an effective and seriously respected profession.

It’s a dream where energetic literacy (Stage Three Energetic Literacy) is the norm for otherwise literate human beings.

This is a dream where people are judged by the contents of their character, or even better, explored all the way down deep, as the magnificent creations they are. A dream where face reading doesn’t mean “Face judging” but reading the Secrets, true face reading. So that each face is recognized as perfect. Perfect as an expression of that evolving soul.

In my dream, collective consciousness has evolved enough for all this to be easy, natural, socially the norm.

That’s my dream, and I give everything I’ve got to help make it happen.

That’s my dream. What is yours?