Abuse on any level is wrong. Most of us recognize this fact and seek to protect ourselves whenever we encounter a situation where abuse is present. Today, however, there are forms of abuse that are not immediately obvious, but incredibly dangerous, both to individuals and to society as a whole.
Physical abuse is relatively easy to detect. We can recognize it and take steps to minimize harm. It is also culturally recognized with laws against it.
Emotional abuse is just beginning to be recognized as harmful. Individually and culturally, we are coming to understand that name calling, taunting and bullying are abusive, but we (in the US) haven’t yet figured out how to handle these acts legally because of first amendment issues.
Energetic abuse, however, flies beneath the radar of the majority of us, and is only beginning to break through to consciousness. Because it is invisible, insidious and covert, it is far more dangerous to us both as individuals and to society in general. Because it influences our thoughts and actions without our knowledge and/or consent, it is psychological manipulation at its worst.
Abuse is about energy stealing, and stealing energy is about power. The object of all abuse is to throw victims off balance so their energy is much easier to steal, much like a purse snatcher who knocks down his victim to distract her from noticing her purse is being taken.
Abuse is the worst kind of energy stealing because it seeks to steal not just a small amount of energy, but a person’s self-confidence, self–worth, and the ability to think and act freely, in other words, a person’s soul essence.
Physical abuse throws the victim off balance through physical violence and violation. Emotional abuse throws victims off balance by name calling, taunting and other personal insults. Energetic abuse throws people off balance by altering their sense of reality.
Two forms of energetic abuse that are getting attention these days are passive-aggressive behavior and gas-lighting.
Passive-aggressive behavior is characterized by a disconnect between what a person says and what he does, for example, when someone dumps a bunch of negative energy on you while chatting away in a perfectly friendly manner. You feel like something really bad happened, or that you are contaminated in some way, but cannot find the source or figure out what happened. As you begin to question your grasp of reality, your energy becomes more and more available for the other person to steal.
More common examples of passive-aggressive abuse are when someone acts sullen and unhappy around you yet insists things are fine when you ask them what’s the matter. Stubbornness and procrastination are also ways of altering a victim’s reality by allowing him/her to think that you will do something when you won’t or don’t.
Gas-lighting is an even more dangerous form of energetic abuse that is characterized by active attempts to manipulate others’ perception of reality by outright lies, omitting or massaging facts and presenting fake stories as truth.
New research has shown just how effective these tactics are. We now know that fake news is spread many times faster than the truth, and that repetition of falsehoods increase the likelihood they will be believed even among those who know they are false.
Energetic abuse is a form of mind control that is aimed at making the victim completely dependent on the abuser for a definition of reality. The perpetrator tries to convince the victim that the reality that is obvious to everyone, is not really true, and only the reality proposed by the perpetrator is real.
This obvious disconnect between what the victim sees and understands, and what s/he is told is true, causes the victim to either think s/he is crazy, and/or deny his or her own logic and perception so as to become totally dependent on the perpetrator to define reality. In this way, the perpetrator has complete control of the victim’s energy, thoughts and actions, and that dependency allows the abuser to continue to have this control whenever and wherever he/she needs it.
In the US, our traditional ways of understanding reality have all come under question by speech and actions from the current leadership. Once trusted sources of information such as science, the news media, academia, the intelligence services, and the education system have all been maligned and called out as being fake, broken or having a political agenda. In addition to this kind of gas-lighting, we have leaders who openly deny what clear evidence shows, say one thing and do another, and make false claims about things that never happened.
With the news about Cambridge Analytica and the manipulation of voters through information gleaned from social media, opportunities for societal gas-lighting have increased exponentially. Information from social profiles pinpoint those most likely to be influenced by energetic abuse, and then target those people repetitively with false or misleading information.
Although it all seems pretty scary, we can protect ourselves by first, understanding what is happening and second, being vigilant and proactive when we encounter energetic abuse.
Remember that energetic abuse is about stealing energy in order to gain power over others. Through digital networking and information gathering people are now able to steal energy from millions of people they will never see in person. This is possible by a sophisticated understanding of how emotions influence beliefs and behavior and the digital interconnection of the internet.
Fear and xenophobia are important emotions we need to keep us safe in the physical world, but they are dangerous emotions when harnessed by those who want to gain power by influencing our thoughts and actions on a large scale.
What can we do?
Be skeptical of anyone trying to sow fear. Fear is the primary emotion used to manipulate. When someone tries to make us afraid, always look for a hidden agenda. Those who make us afraid are trying to alter our reality to one where we think we are constantly in danger and can trust no one but the leaders who say they will protect us.
Do not give power to celebrities through admiration or attention – this gives them undue influence over us. Through advertising, Facebook pages, Twitter and other careful manipulation, it may look like celebrities have it all, but they are humans just like we are with all the same insecurities and personal problems.
Beware of information aimed at getting us to dislike an individual or group of individuals, especially if we already dislike them. Instead, pay attention to positive information, even if it is about an individual or group we already dislike. We may learn something important.
Beware of individuals who lie, procrastinate and say one thing and do another, both in personal life and in political life. Pay attention to what a person does, not what he/she says in order to decide whether to trust them and adopt their version of reality.
Beware of information that is constantly repeated. Remember that the more we hear it, the more likely we are to believe it even if we know it to be untrue. The more it is repeated, the more likely it is that someone is trying to influence our behavior.
Educate ourselves
Fact check information before believing it, and especially before sharing or acting on it.
Research the whole story. Most fake news is built on massaging or embellishing facts, omitting key ingredients or taking speech or actions out of context.
Beware of those casting aspersions on government or governmental institutions. Autocratic leaders feed on cynicism and feelings of helplessness. They attack the government in order to get people to trust leaders rather than themselves. Government in democratic countries is a product of society itself, not it’s leaders. Since it is our creation, we CAN change it.
Realize that political leaders, pundits, news people and even our friends and family may be more susceptible to energetic abuse than we are. We need the courage to think for ourselves. We are far wiser than we think.
You can learn more about the energy realm in my book, “It’s All About Energy: Adventures in Expanded Reality”, found on Amazon, in local bookstores and on my website, www.transformationalexpansion.com.
Excellent article and food for thought. Thanks Bev