Spirits & Shadows
The dark side of altered states of consciousness
Hi Folks! I talk a lot about breaking generational cycles here. It is really important to reconnect with the self and to become incredibly intentional about the energy we allow into our lives. Recently, I started thinking deeply about alcohol and the way it has historically been connected to the word “spirits.” The more I looked into it, the more fascinating the connection became to me, especially through a spiritual and psychological lens. I think both of these lenses are deeply intertwined.
I have been on this cycle breaking journey with my family for a while now, and many of them struggle with alcohol addiction. I have noticed how much suffering exists within that low vibrational state. When I say low vibration, I am specifically talking about how it physically manifests within the body. A lot of them deal with inflammation in the body, which creates heaviness, bloating, exhaustion, mental fog, and emotional instability. It also manifests within the spiritual and emotional atmosphere around them. It can become difficult to be around them because the energy literally feels dense. I had to actually leave the dynamic entirely because I was severely emotionally drained by the toxic behaviours within the environment. Their addiction to alcohol almost made the environment around them feel like a dystopian, alternate Universe. They were just so disconnected from their body, which created a very reactive environment. When someone is miserable or irritated, it ripples out into the world.
Which kinda makes the show The Walking Dead seem a bit more metaphorical… doesn’t it?
What I have realized is that addiction doesn’t exist by itself. It almost feels parasitic in nature… it latches onto unresolved pain, emotional suppression, avoidance, trauma, loneliness, shame, and disconnection from self. That is why I think a lot of addicts become shells of humans (I hope you like my zombie references). They cannot physically live inside their body because they are so used to leaving it and abandoning it. I think people eventually become addicted to escaping what they feel when they are fully present with themselves. Avoidance can snowball… and when you don’t take accountability for that snowball effect… it can literally take you out.
Or make you become like a zombie, in real life! 🧟
At the same time, I started reflecting on how alcohol was constantly referred to as “spirits” throughout books and movies. In my random thought process, which honestly felt like a download from spirit, I decided to look into the history behind the term. I like to do that sometimes as a person who is fascinated with language. I want to share what I learned with you all…
So fun fact, the Latin term for spirit means:
“Breath, air, vapour, soul / life force.” In esoteric knowledge, the element of air is associated with the invisible realm or the veil. Interestingly, this is also where many creatives describe receiving ideas, inspiration, intuition, or sudden insight.
Historically, alcohol became associated with the term “spirits” through the distillation process. Early distillers, or alchemists, would heat liquids and watch the vapour rise from them. They believed they were extracting the purest and most refined essence of the material. They literally believed they were isolating its “spirit.” Over time, alcohol became connected to the phrase “lifting your spirits” because it created feelings of confidence, emotional release, and relaxation. People now call this liquid courage.
Now, I want to talk about how in the spiritual community people talk about “low vibrational folks or energy.” Today, they are usually describing people who are operating from heavy emotional states. This can look like people who are impulsive, people who react with anger, emotional numbness, people who lack clarity, and basically people who have just an overall disconnection to self. Alcohol contributes to those states because addiction and escapism weakens someone’s connection to themselves over time.
The more disconnected someone becomes from themselves, and from their narrative / story, the easier it becomes for external influences to shape their thoughts, behaviours, emotions, and even their identity.
This is where my thoughts became even deeper…
If people have a weak sense of self or an underdeveloped spirit (or even connection to their spirit), then they become more vulnerable to outside influences. I hear the term “negative entities” a lot within the spiritual community, and I genuinely want to talk about this because I do think this is true and it exists, but I want to ground it. I think grounding it allows the term to become less scary / less abstract and more real.
The Latin term for entity means "a thing that exists," which is a pretty broad term lmao 🤣. This could refer to an actual person, a corporation, a nation, a fictional character, a spirit, an AI system, an ideology, an energetic influence, an ancestor (or even memory of one), or even an emotional pattern passed through generations.
I think people often underestimate how suggestible human beings become when they are disconnected from themselves. I say this because I just went through an extensive year-long deprogramming journey, and I recognize how much work I get to do still…
There are so many ways that humans are programmed within our current society. This is done through things such as advertising. When I was a teacher, I would teach my students about the different modes of persuasion (Ethos - appeals through credibility, Pathos - emotional appeal, and Logos - logical appeal). I would teach them this to help inform them. The more informed you are, the less susceptible you are to subconscious programming. I am a big advocate for developing media smarts.
But humans are also programmed through things such as group mentality - like the bandwagon effect. We all know that social media influences people. Trauma influences people. Family conditioning influences people. And unprocessed emotions influence people. There are literally so many avenues for programming to take place.
Getting back to my connection, in older language, people would often describe drunk individuals as being “taken over by spirits,” or “being possessed” during altered states of consciousness. Which may seem like a horror movie, but this is real shit! I genuinely believe horror movies contain amazing commentary on societal fears and issues.
Today we use different language for the same thing. We just say things like:
“Their shadow side came out”
“They became a different person” or “they become a different person when they drink ________”
“They were not acting like themselves”
To me, all of these phrases are saying the same thing. Altered states can weaken self awareness and amplify the hidden aspects within the psyche or subconscious parts of our brain. Sometimes this can reveal buried emotions, unresolved trauma (like that person at a party who starts sobbing about something that happened to them at a young age), or suppressed anger (that angry drunk person who starts fights). It can also be a catalyst for creativity - some people get really fucking creative when they’re drunk because they can access their grief or vulnerable side.
I think this is why cycle breaking requires such a strong connection to self awareness. If we are constantly numbing ourselves or distracting ourselves with overstimulation / escapism… then we never get to fully meet who we are underneath all the conditioning. The spiritual journey allows us to remember that we are a whole person. We just have to call back in the different fragments of who we are - which takes time.
Healing requires presence.
It requires you to sit with your discomfort long enough to understand it, instead of instantly running away from it. All of those fragments happened because of trauma… if we keep hurting ourselves through substances like alcohol, we are just repeating that pattern, which continues the fragmentation process.
It takes great strength to be a cycle breaker.
That is why I believe it is so important to be conscious of anything that alters our state of mind. The things we consume do not just affect the physical body. They influence our mood, our perception, our ability to regulate our nervous system, our energy, our relationships, and arguably MOST IMPORTANTLY, our connection to ourselves.
An altered state of consciousness can reveal something hidden within us, whether that is truth, pain, creativity, emotional wounds, or unresolved shadows. But I think that requires someone to be willing to have great responsibility when you decide to go on a journey with an altered state of consciousness.
I have personally found some amazing truths when I have been really intentional going on an altered state of consciousness journey, but I think the difference is reflection. There has to be awareness before, during, and after the experience. Otherwise, people can easily fall into escapism instead of understanding.
When people constantly seek altered states with no grounding / no self reflection / and no intention behind it, I think it can create even greater harm. Not only within themselves, but also within the environment and relationships around them.
No matter what path someone is on, self awareness matters deeply.
The things we consume shape more than just the body. They influence perception, emotions, behaviour, energy, and the relationship we have within ourselves.
I think the real question we need to ask is:
What am I consuming?
&
Who am I becoming under its influence?
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