spiritual cages ...

Artist: HyperHorizon "Soul Cage"

... any state of being that is absent or separated from one's Inner-most "Being", the Abstract Absolute, the Universal Consciousness, the Unknowable, or that which is considered God (Creation before it created) - serves as a blind cage (a cage yet unseen) due to the fact that we have not seen ourselves, outside of ourselves before.
The moment I forgot who I was - was the moment I forgot who I am.

The cage starts constructing from here (unconsciousness) as a seed; a seed that has the potential to sprout. I've sprouted the cage (my individual cage), you the reader has sprouted the cage...and it's difficult to know these cages from inside the cage. We each provide the fertilizer for that seed of unconsciousness to continually grow and "become" that which we are not - unconscious, controlled by the physical world, indoctrinated, usually innocently ... sometimes not, into a system where "Spirit" is rarely spoken of, let alone education and comprehension of our individual Soul.

How then, do we know we're even in a cage? There are skills to be learned that can  identify them, symptoms we can observe, and here I will share some of them with you. Ultimately, and because your cages are different than mine, you will need to find your own way in identifying that which holds you in certain forms of your mental and spiritual cage.

Some cages are felt, others are heard, often times they are seen, and they are ALWAYS experienced, whether we are at a point of being able to identify them or not. We can't NOT experience our cage, as we're mentally in it 24/7. Usually, more often than not, these cages are instilled in us at very tender ages. Initially, it's Others who gave us the building blocks and tools, or sometimes nothing at all, to navigate our internal and external lives. These cages are passed down from generation to generation within our earthly families. Sometimes they come in from a neighbor, a childhood friend, a childhood teacher, or anyone that crosses our path with a desire to have us think and feel as they do, and act as they do.

Because we do not understand our Sovereignty (a powerful aspect of our Being), we innocently, and inevitably, allow the exoteric forces to run and rule our lives. However, once our sovereignty is fully REALized, the ego has little chance of surviving this interaction with the Spirit (this is for another discussion though).

Cages are built here in our human experience due to the fact that no one is talking about them, as many are not teaching us as children about Spiritual cages, the spiritual traps and the pitfalls we will run into through our life. We rarely learn about our sovereignty. We are not taught, nor encouraged, to stay solvent (owing nothing to anyone, and in turn, we are owed nothing), no words given on our true state of being. We are not taught about personal authenticity ... and so ... over time, we start to sculpt ourselves into our own cages because it's what we know how to do given the tools provided, or the lack thereof. We sculpt ourselves based on others cages around us, like a blueprint. We sculpt our ego's (plural, as we each have many), which in turn, gives rise to our own personal "legion" of demons, aka Ego personalities (you think the legion is outside of yourself?).

Whenever an experience presents itself that REFLECTS a cage, it's worth exploring. If one  desires to escape the cage, then one MUST explore it...and it's not a pleasant journey at times, and sometimes needing assistance from others in various forms.

We start by learning how to become a SELF explorer, a self observer (who is it inside of you that is observing?...and who is observing that observer?). It's high time that we start to at least acknowledge that we have a Soul. We, as the human species, supposed "intellectual" beings,  are past due in showing reverence to our own Inner-Being, our own inner consciousness, our Essence!; The essence that allows this physical body to breath, pump blood, see beauty, EXPERIENCE beauty! The essence which is our birth right, is severely unknown in our day to day travels through what we consider life ... but if we're in a cage, are we actually living? We typically reside within our shell (physical human form), oblivious to the Glorious, Sacred, Loving force within and about us.

Moving on:
Any "extreme" sensation, emotion, action/reaction that presents itself, a change of attitude within that disturbs our being, a negative circling thought, physical sensations of stress or suppression - are many times "symptoms" that present themselves due to our separation from our source, our Soul, our Spirit. One way to identify a cage is to ask yourself if you are content in this world, as it all seems to be falling apart? Are we working toward having and a deep, intimate relationship with our innermost Being?, or are we transfixed on all the problems in the world, all the problems in our personal life - pacing the cage?

Identify a cage when you are feeling/sensing/believing as if there is no personal control in your world. Psychological awareness of anger, jealousy, vengeance, hatred, lust, greed, etc. are most definitely cages, even in their simplest form/s, as the smallest forms are usually the seeds of these spiritual entrapments that turn into our monsters. These so called monsters exist to ensure we stay in the cage (and also serve as our teachers ... this is for a future discussion), for if let out ... well, lets just say its the end of that particular "monster", and it knows it. We all have them. If there is a low vibrational seed, and you are either wittingly or unwittingly feeding it, it will grow. Universal Law states this to be so, and Universal Law is unwavering.

There are also subtler forms of cages. Habits that don't really seem to serve any purpose other than making us feel good for a moment, but these have the ability to turn into addictions, of all kinds, if we are not paying attention. Spiritual aversions, so to speak. These can be tricky and very difficult to track down as they don't always scream loud ... but I can assure you that once you start learning how to identify these cages, even the vague, seemingly quiet facets of our cage, is going to have a tough time hiding from you for too long. Declare your Sovereignty however, and nothing here has a chance of adversely affecting you.

The most dangerous cage (in my experience), is that of spiritual entropy. The gray zone, as I refer to it. The complete lack of knowing, caring, considering or acknowledging that there is an energetic environment that resides in the Macrocosm and the Microcosm of our existence. The gray zone is like the screen of a fairy tale we watch from the moment we wake up in the morning, until the time we turn in at the end of the day. We've seen it so many times we can often quote the whole day before we even live it. Starting and ending the same way. The ego knows very well that its existence becomes threatened once we start moving out of this gray area. The ego needs us in that gray area, because we don't resist there, we don't expand our consciousness there, and therefore, we don't grow. We become a food source of energy for the ego.

It's amazing to think that the ego knows us and our weaknesses better than we do.
It's why its so essential that we start making efforts to get out of the cage.
To do this, we have to have the WILLINGNESS to explore ourselves deeper.

Recommended self awareness starting points:
1. Any ill thinking or emotions that prevent you from self exploration.
2. Addictions, of ALL kinds ... even the seemingly harmless ones.
3. Your outlook on life in general. Are you pessimistic? Judgemental? A people pleaser?
4. Look for "trends" of people that keep entering your life that diminish, or try to  diminish, any part of your authenticity (that which you know to be true of yourself).
5. Are you locked up in a job that doesn't inspire you because someone in the past told you that THIS is who you should be?
6. Do you find yourself having difficulty in relationships, of any kind, but especially deep emotional or romantic types of relationships?
7. Are you following the crowd, wearing a mask so your individual light isn't shinning?
8. Are you abusive toward others - needing to control those around you?
9. Do you have tendencies toward rage, guilt, selfishness, self indulgence, depression, erratic thoughts and actions?

...the list of symptoms go on and on and on. I'm going to generally assume that the main point has been made here - our "cages" represent any aspect of ourselves that need our assistance, and sometimes straight out war, as our egos have lied to us since the day we were born. Self Awareness IS the journey. It's not obtaining things or controlling others - it's about clearing out, healing, discarding that which does not belong here blocking the path of our Soul towards it's "higher", actually "inner" knowingness of the Divine Being.

And Lastly??

The kicker here? ... after what's been shared up to this point? ...

The real TRUTH of the "matter" - is the cage is and always will be, an illusion. IT'S NOT THERE. The cage doesn't even exist, the ego knows this. It's the fact that the human mind is very impressionable. Extremely impressionable. But that's all it is - Impressions. Our demons, our egos, our distortions, are all impressions based on a false foundation, and instilled through the our 5 senses (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell), as well as through the emotions (this is for a later discussion).

Wouldn't it be helpful to know how your invisible cage was constructed, why it was constructed and how to correct this misconception? The good news is, you can. The good news is, YOU are the only one who can correct it. No outside chaos, no one telling you about you, no ego twisting your energies while your not looking so it can continue to feed off your Divinity.

A future Spiritual war isn't coming in the future. That Spiritual war is happening NOW, and has been for thousands of years.

I encourage the beginning, for you as the reader, to start revering that you are a Creation of "your" most High. You are a direct extension of that Creator. Every aspect of the Creator is within your makeup - you can not avoid it, get away from it, nor destroy it - It is you and you are IT! Creation is your every breath and every heartbeat ... it is the energy that drives every thought, word and action - whether you accept these words or not.

There is nothing on earth, physical wise, that compares to the experience of living life in a Divine state of Being. Seeing the Divinity in every thing and in every one. Every Spiritual Master that ever walked the planet spoke of this Divine state of being, available to all, not just a few.

Let's start pursuing that which we have so long forgotten. 
To get started, try the items above which will start opening your real senses to what is actually going on, better yet, create your own.
Feel free to read through the other Blog posts on this website to gain even more seeds of reflection.

And as always - don't hesitate to reach out and share your stories, or to inquire about something along your own path. I'm here, I'm available, and I'm ready to help in any way I can.

Until next time - Be Well, Stay Well!