I know there are many people who now feel the world (and especially the USA) are going backwards and sliding into darkness. They’re largely right. The USA in particular is backsliding greatly.

Remember that this wasn’t an accident. Lots of people chose this.

This backsliding phase is spiritually purposeful and meaningful, like a giant cleanse that’s happening. I don’t mean a cleanse of people but rather of ideas. Old stupidities are rising to the surface and being processed.

We’re going to be in this phase for a while. Can you accept that? Can you surrender to it? Or would you rather pretend that it’s not happening or hope it all goes away?

You may recognize that some of these stupidities are very old indeed. You may have even thought that humans surely must be done with this foolishness by now. Nope, that was a mistake on your part if you assumed that we’d already called a wrap. Humanity clearly isn’t done with what it’s currently processing. It has a long way to go still. A lot of people need to experience what’s happening now – perhaps a lot more than you’d have ever assumed would need to go through something like this.

It’s important to let this play out. You don’t need to actively participate in it unless you feel wrapped up in the karma of it. And if you do feel karmically engaged, then allow yourself to engage. See what comes out of you during these times. Do your own processing of whatever surfaces. Are you surprised by what comes out of you when you’re squeezed? Delighted? Disappointed?

It’s good to let people discover for themselves where all this leads since many clearly want and need to experience it firsthand for themselves. They won’t heed and don’t understand the warnings about it. They’ll learn more by diving deeper into the darkness and soaking in it a while longer. They’ll come out when they’re ready, not before. Just leave the light on for them if you’d prefer not to join them.

This time period is also a powerful invitation for conscious, growth-oriented people to test their mettle. As Bruce Lee said, “Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.” Let’s see just how good you are at keeping yourself light-aligned while so many others do their dark dives. You don’t have to join them.

From a certain perspective, this is indeed a test. Will you allow yourself to be dragged down by it? How strong and resilient are you? Will you give in to fear, hatred, vengefulness, anxiety, hopelessness, helplessness, or despair? Are you really going to be beaten down by these energies swirling around you?

How much compassion and patience do you have? This is a good time to find out. When others’ actions affect you personally, can you still give them space to explore and process what they need to experience? You get to experience the ripples their actions create within you. See how quickly and easily you can return to stillness.

May these times show you what you’re made of, and if you don’t like what you see in yourself, then you have a clear invitation for additional steps on your own path of growth. Do you want to repeatedly get goaded into reactive mode? Or can you remain centered and choose your response to events consciously?

This beast of darkness taunts you ceaselessly, trying to bait you into reacting to it, doesn’t it? It wants you to engage from your weakness, so it can suck you into the range where it’s apparently powerful and you’re presumably weak. How many times will you fall for this trick before you accept what the beast is trying to teach you?

As odd as it may sound, the beast is actually on your side. It’s here to help you grow. It’s not actually here to beat you down. Its invitation is for you to choose a powerful and honest response to it, and then to see if your choice is really right for you.

Even while this beast continues to jump, snort, and throw daily tantrums, you do not have to play its silly games at that level.

Pause and notice just how silly, dumb, and ridiculous it truly is. It is not rational, thoughtful, or brilliant. It is emotional, reactive, needy, and self-destructive. It tries to convince you that it’s powerful, but it isn’t. Its game is to see if it can trick you into giving your power away to it by enticing you to fear it. It will keep offering to play this game with you till you find your own way out.

See if you can reach the point of being able to laugh at the beast. Laugh too at your own vestiges of fear and anxiety about it. Stand in the strength of your spirity side, and laugh at your silly human weaknesses – the very same weaknesses that this beast embodies.

This beast is asking you if these weaknesses are really you and if you’re going to keep embodying them. Or are you really ready to let those weaknesses go and proceed without them?

You may even perceive that so many other people appear to be embodying these weaknesses. Will you be swept up in that? That’s yet another trick of the beast. It’s checking to see if you’re a conformist too. If going along with the herd mentality still matters to you, then you aren’t yet ready to embody the full freedom of a conscious being yet.

Remember: you can choose which energies to embody. If not fear, worry, anxiety, and so on, what will you choose instead? This is indeed a choice when you recognize that it is.

If you don’t want to be repeatedly sucked in by the illusions created by a sense of disconnection, then your invitation is to reconnect. If you’re not going to be sucked in by fear energy, then where will you stand?

You’ll need to find your own answer to that. If you are not fear energy, then what are you? When you are most connected, where are you standing? Where is your home base? Which energies are truly you?

My own answer is to stand in the stable field of energies that feel most aligned with my true self. Those include curiosity, exploration, enthusiasm, intimacy, sharing, kindness, fun, trust, courage, intelligence, simplicity, harmony, and inspiration.

If I were to condense my list to my two favorite energies right now, I would choose wonder (for the active yang side) and delight (for the receptive yin side). I love to explore what I genuinely wonder about, and I delight in the ever-unfolding process of exploration and discovery.

I especially love to keep exploring with others who value wonder and delight, and this year especially, my life seems to be growing richer in such people locally here in Vegas. I’ve been chipping away at exploring more socially and experiencing more moments of shared delight. For instance, this past Saturday I attended a holotropic breathwork ceremony and had a beautiful and peaceful inner journey. The more the outer beast rampages, the more I regard its various tantrums as invitations to commit more deeply to my favorite energies.

I choose to let the beast run its course. My inner senses tell me that it’s been collectively summoned to fulfill a worthwhile purpose, so deep down I feel supportive of it. It’s doing what it needs to do.

I do not ignore the beast. I watch it attentively because it’s clearly very active in my reality, and I want to be sure that I receive and integrate its lessons for me. I took its presence as an invitation to do more growth work in certain directions. Energetically this has been like learning to stand in the eye of a storm.

As this year has progressed, I’ve been feeling ever more centered, grounded, stable, and indeed delighted by life. This is even with the knowing that if the beast really wanted to, it could demolish many aspects of my life and business. Yet it cannot threaten what I care about most, such as wonder and delight, so deep down I don’t find it particularly threatening. The beast serves to remind me of what I hold most dear. It reminds me of who I am at my core.

And Beast, I’m still laughing at you. You really are fucking ridiculous. Thanks for doing what you came here to do. I can see that you’re needed, and I appreciate what you’re doing. Here… have a Scooby snack.