I swear to God in Heaven, or wherever God seems to be hanging out these days — I’m sort of thinking maybe It’s hanging out at a Cinnabon, because of the smell, but whatever — I swear to God in Cinnabon that someone has hijacked a tanker full of Fear and poured it into the water supply. No, really. It’s the only rational reason I can drum up for the “Brains!” style Zombie-esque addiction to Fear that the second half of 2013 has brought into the spotlight. And I’m not talking the garden variety “Ew, yuck! A spider!” kind of fear. I’m talking about the kind of fear that ends careers, ends friendships, end marriages — sheesh, it ends sentences if anyone will let it.

Fear is a fascinating little pain in the keester. From a biological standpoint, fear is very positive. We sense danger, and run, thus forwarding the progression of our lives. And certainly, sometimes people suffering from different mental illnesses will be dealt the challenge of struggling with Fear past a rational point.

However, when applying Fear to the spiritual landscape, it’s more like a can of worms the size of the HAARP Array is peeled open, attracting stray cats from six countries as they mistake the huge, popping sound as some calling card for recycled fish innards. Fear has been the topic of many a guru’s DVD set: How to overcome it, how to identify it, how to make it your friend, how to use it to your advantage — I’m pretty sure if we just keep going, Fear will have it’s own cooking show. (Oh, wait — that’s Gordon Ramsay’s gig. Nevermind.) The fact is, Fear is a symptom of a much larger problem. And as much as I love tie-ins to fish innards, I’d best get to the point.

In the 2013 Year of Polarization, the name of the game is being known for who and what we are. Now, if someone is a real piece of work, this poses some problems, because the shine-you-on smile won’t necessarily float in the heavy polarization energies. Moreover, people simply won’t be able to keep the smile up. So whomever we really are — good, bad, ugly, high maintenance, saint-like — will be how we present ourselves. We can’t help it. The greater energies dictate this action in order to prepare us for 2014’s Year of Illumination, where whatever we have reaped to this point gets a big old spotlight shown upon it so we can see what our choices have net us.

No pressure.

During all this polarization and this having our masks ripped from our ears at breakneck pace, many people fall prey to an uncomfortable sensation: Being known for who and what they really are. This is scary for most mere mortals considering that society molds us to be exactly what IT thinks we should be, so who truly knows who and what we are, underneath the hood?

And we wonder why the pharmaceutical companies love the USA.

Enter Fear Consciousness, the bastard stepchild of Self-Defeat and Self-Loathing. Fear Consciousness truly is contagious. I joke about it’s spread being blamed on the water supply, but I’d be more accurate to report that the spread of Fear Consciousness is much like a cold — word of mouth.

Human beings must be taught to be afraid, outside of biological fear triggers (like, you know — drowning.) Fear Consciousness is a state of mind which is often an infection of attitude first, then becomes a sickness of spirit. To remain in Fear means to view everything in one’s life as if it is making an offensive action toward the person feeling continually threatened. It’s the process of recreating everything in one’s life to appear the predator. It’s relegating oneself to being the ultimate victim. I say “ultimate” because there is nothing more claustrophobic or terrifying than being trapped in your own skin. By your own skin.

Why would one want to trap themselves in a never-ending nightmare of predation and claustrophobia? Well, because as long as I’m trapped on the inside of my noggin, nothing can get me in here, don’t you know. Fear Consciousness is the ultimate control exercise. If one views everything as ‘out to get them’, they’ve already decided their fate: To be hosed, to be taken advantage of, etc and so on. You see, trusting someone, or something, demands that one accepts variables that are outside of one’s control, like someone else’s behavior, or personal advances, or work plans, or driving routes. The minute we take fear off the table, we can’t control how we feel about something until we’re right there, experiencing it.

And, well — who wants their bum hanging out in the breeze to THAT extent?

Symptoms of Fear Consciousness include extreme paranoia, bitterness, anger, isolation, blame, and if left to fester in it’s own dark pit — hatred itself. Fear Consciousness is one of the favorite menu items at Chez Darkness. Chaotic Darkness, a much more PC term for “Evil”, eats chaos and pain. So those who dedicate a life to Fear Consciousness are usually at the top of the list of Favorite Snacks by ethereal creepy crawlies everywhere. The sad part is that those who suffer from Fear Consciousness — and I do say “suffer” because enacting Fear 24 / 7 is hell to pay on the lymph nodes, pituitary system, stomach, adrenal glands, and heart — don’t notice that a majority of their energy is being siphoned off by some Dark Passenger that views the individual as a free pass to the Golden Coral.

Fear Consciousness is a bad habit that becomes addictive because upon first glance, it is safe. Many standard-issue Snares of Darkness have this same up-front camoflage. It goes like this:

After a bad break-up, Mary decides that dating then gains her nothing but emotional pain. She decides she’s going to be afraid of having partnership. Thus, she’s alone a lot of the time. While alone, Mary is lonely, and rather than acknowledging that she was the one who decided she should be alone in the first place instead of giving Jack or Bob or Ralph a chance, she decides that the world sucks. She forgets altogether that she has the option to trust someone. Why trust? That’s no fun. And certainly, it’s not very predictable, and it’s that nasty free-will that broke her heart in the first place. The relationship that Mary has now formed with her own misery is extremely predictable. It can’t hurt her any more than she allows it. And, since Mary is becoming addicted to this new relationship, she’s allowing it to hurt her quite a bit, because this pain is her only form of emotional intimacy. Now that she has her own misery to commiserate with, Mary doesn’t leave the house very often. She sees the world as “out to get her” and she becomes suspect of anyone who wants to hold a door, or ask her out to coffee. What do they REALLY want? Are they out to break up the only stable relationship she has, with her own sense of Fear? No way, Jose! Mary then spirals into this Kathy Bates insanity that involves too much Paula Deen cooking and an extra 75 pounds. When gaining weight, she blames men. In her mind, she becomes the ultimate victim of a caustic system, instead of realizing that every human on earth gains weight when cooking with lard and Haagen Dazs. Soon, Mary has become warped on the inside out, dedicated to the mythology of pain she has created, viewing everything in the world as a predator out to ambush and judge her every move. Mary gets a cat, DVR’s every American Idol, and her friends stop hearing from her. When Jane calls Mary and asks what the deal is, Mary won’t return her calls. Because who knows what Jane really wants? … and Bingo, just like that, Darkness has opened one more all-you-can-eat-pain-buffet at the expense of a perfectly good Human Spirit. Sadly, Mary signed on to own the franchise, and doesn’t even realize she’s serving 56 Billion a year. Thanks, Fear Consciousness!

Watching someone’s life be consumed by Fear Consciousness is much like watching someone be consumed by Meth, or any drug. The addictive behaviors take over aspects of their life that once were filled with connectivity and joy. And, personality changes accompany those who succumb to Fear Consciousness. Since Dark and Light can’t be in the same place at the same time, those who commit their soul to Fear — and that’s how Angelic Life sees it — must eradicate Light in order to hold the mythology of their painful existence alive.

I say “mythology” of their painful existence because Fear Consciousness creates an illusion of terror that the person then chooses to navigate within. It’s like a bad acid trip mixed with a cheesy 90’s video game — it doesn’t make much sense and the graphics are really, really bad. Yet the person experiencing the Fear would argue that it’s Dolby 3D. Much like the person who is a high as a kite on cheap cannabis will tell you that the frozen Sarah Lee Cheesecake is a cuisine masterwork, the person dedicated to the mythology of Fear Consciousness is in it to win it.

Regrettably in my work, I see the spiritual infection known as Fear Consciousness all too often, and upon detecting it’s inky signature, I brace for the impact of someone who really isn’t ready to hear any sort of message at all, or for that matter — receive any help at all. In the world of Fear Consciousness, there is only room for one master, and it’s not Light. This inky cloud also accompanies those who suffer from Can’t Get Out Of Their Own Way syndrome. This syndrome is a career killer for many, a relationship tanker for others, and a general life-ruiner no matter how you slice it.

Can’t Get Out Of Their Own Way Syndrome is one of the more common applications of Fear Consciousness. Symptoms include self-sabotage, like self-defeating behaviors that dive right in between a person’s success and their life path. Can’t Get Out Of Their Own Way Syndrome is a serious career killer for many, who aspire to hold incredible jobs but fall prey to the Fear Consciousness paranoia that dictates their every move like a strung-out tom cat. For instance, now that they have the job they’ve always wanted, it’s too good to be true, so the boss must be untrustworthy. Or out to get them. Or a miscommunication is blown into a reason for mutiny. Or any other host of third-party projections that gives the victim of the disorder a reason to throw trust out the window in lieu of a more familiar bedfellow: Distrust. Those who suffer from Can’t Get Out Of Their Own Way Syndrome will systematically ruin every good opportunity that comes their way, only to recover, and get another opportunity — to then again ruin it, in the same way, but claim they were the victim, every time. Why? Because the underlying Fear Consciousness does not want the competition of boundless opportunities flooding into the person’s life. That may inspire the individual to GET a life outside of Fear. And for Fear, that’s terrifying.

Now there’s an irony.

Like a bacterial infection, Fear Consciousness can be treated with regular and timed doses of Attitude Adjustment. But it’s a long battery of spiritual medication, amd if one dose of Attitude Adjustment is missed, the fear Consciousness takes hold like a super flu and is then again harder to beat back. A stronger dose of Attitude Adjustment is required, and relocation to a better facility to recover — say, from the couch to the city park or a beach for a walk — is often a companion treatment.

Fear Consciousness is curable. Yet the biggest obstacle in the cure is the willingness of the person suffering from the malady to part with the safety of their misery. While under the illusion of Fear Consciousness, one is very safe in the confined oppressiveness of their own small, small world, in which, the script is neatly written to pen anyone with suspect behaviors as the “bad guy”. Such a controllable script enables the spirit to rest — it thinks — in the predictable nature of the flesh prison in which the soul is now entombed.

It’s Spiritual Stockholm Syndrome.

In fact, treating someone who has gone into a full-time relationship with Fear Consciousness is much, much more like deprogramming someone from a cult. The Cult of Limitation (the title of an upcoming book I have coming out — shameless, sad plug) is the key compound where you’ll find most Fear Consciousness members. Like any cult, fear demands that you deal only with those who also deal within its mythologies. Those who aren’t going to play the Fear game are then ostracized. Dark attracts Dark, Light attracts Light. (Opposites only attract on Match.com.) Once someone becomes sucked into the full weight of the cult by surrounding themselves with those who also operate on the same fear Consciousness, it’s very difficult to convey to the individual the allure of trust and opportunity. Much like taking someone out of a straight jacket who has been confined for many days, the victim of fear Consciousness isn’t sure what to do with all that free, unpredictable space. They must be brought back into Light slowly, until they realize that the Light is their primary design, a design they are built to trust.

Fear Consciousness is spreading at the same rate that the Culture of Love is making even more headway. That’s part of the Polarization energies of 2013. One of the most startling realizations I’ve made in this past year is the number of people who simply are incapable of recognizing that their Fear Consciousness is the sole reason their life isn’t moving forward. And it can be dangerous to “pop the bubble” of the person who is fully dedicated to Fear as they lash out and push back when accountability and change become an option.

Darkness never gives up ground without a fight.
One of the most obvious ear-markers of Fear Consciousness is Blame. As long as it’s someone else’s fault, the person who is suffering from this particular addiction to pain won’t have to change any behaviors. Again, the “not me” illusion sets in, and Fear is safe from spiritual eradication.

If you find you have friends or loved ones who are down the rabbit hole in terms of Fear Consciousness, there truly isn’t much you can do about it. It is a RELATIONSHIP between the person who is swimming in the illusion, and the Fear itself. It’s a very real codependency. And just like trying to interrupt the romantic relationship of a codependent person — the messenger is always shot. (Believe me. This year, I’m going to Halloween parties as a piece of Swiss Cheese and I won’t even need a costume.)

The best we can do to assist someone who is drowning in Fear Consciousness is to deal with them in compassion. Anger against Fear brings out rage. Rage against Fear brings out Apathy. Love against Fear melts Fear. And once Fear is melted — the person who has been held captive in the lonely one-person cell within their own skin — will emerge.

During this Polarization energy of 2013, do not be disheartened if your most sincere life-saving ring tossed into the sea of Fear is then lit on fire by someone drowning in Fear Consciousness. It’s not personal. It’s Fear, attempting to guard its real estate. There will be many who will choose the karma (lesson) of learning what it is to be truly isolated, and they will choose self-destruction, career-destruction, relationship-destruction, all fueled by Fear, just to try on the different facets of their own learning. Humans often learn who they are through learning who they are not.

We can do our best to not engage the Fear Consciousness on a day to day basis. Like a Virus of Bacteria, it’s an equal opportunity infector. We keep our spiritual antibodies strong by aligning ourselves with those who also seek Light. By those who live for the WE consciousness, not the ME consciousness. By those who understand communication and forgiveness and by our enacting communication and forgiveness. We keep up our spiritual immune system by aligning ourselves with God Energy — meditation, prayer, baking a cake, writing a song, rocking a child, playing with a pet — and by doing unto others what we would have done unto ourselves. We remind ourselves that our way is indeed, NOT the highway. And we trust. When we’re hurt, we shake it off, and we still trust. And when we’re disappointed once again, we realize it’s not personal, and we STILL trust. Certainly, discernment is part of trusting. Yet there is no discernment in blindly adhering to Fear. Or Anger. Or Blame. Or Paranoia.

Fear Consciousness is a spiritual sickness. And it’s treatable with compassion. Yet there will be those who choose the lesson of going down with the Fear Ship. And we must allow those who make that choice — to experience the consequences of that choice. We can attempt to be a good friend, a good spouse, a good boss. We can attempt a pep talk or a good cry with a pal over a glass of two buck chuck wine. Yet at the end of the day, we are completely incapable of changing another person’s perception, and those truly dedicated to Fear Consciousness will simply overwrite what’s being told to them with a conveniently paranoid script anyway. It’s part of the ailment. Illusion is the Fuel of Fear. Without Illusion, Fear is Powerless.

Being on the other end of someone whose primary relationship is with their own Fear becomes an exhausting task. Continuing to wear the ‘bad guy” costume placed upon us by the person who craves the Illusion of Confrontation then begins to warp our own sense of self. The most loving thing we can do for ourselves as well as someone who is dedicated to their own Fear Consciousness, is to love them. Either from up close — or sometimes, better far away.

We are the body, the breath, the pulse of creation. Our collective consciousness effects the earth, our atmosphere — absolutely everything. When we Fear, water particles retract. When we love, water particles expand. We as a species are in a key time in our development, realizing we are not simply flesh pods working 9 to 5, but a spiritually evolving species straddling a deep cavern where every move we make determines whether we cross into an exploding, enlightened, interonnected state of being, or plunge to our lowest common denominator below. Many are falling into the abyss at record rates.

I found this quite tragic until an Angelic entity shared this perspective with me:

“Why do you weep for those whose (free) will was honored? Yours is no more worthy than theirs.”