In the spiritual world, you might hear people talk about energy all the time, but it seems that nobody has a good explanation for what energy actually means. So it ends up being some vague concept that many spiritualists base their lives around, yet can’t explain what it is or how it works.
Energy, from a spiritual perspective, is a difficult concept to grasp. I by no means have all the answers, but here I’m going to break down this concept from my understanding so that spirituality at whole makes a little more sense to you.
What is energy within the context of spirituality?
Energy is the base building block of all existence itself, and everything that you’re experiencing is a manifestation of energy. Energy can be seen as an invisible property in which everything is created. This includes everything that you perceive and experience.
The truth of the matter is that nobody has a solid definition of what energy is. It’s an intangible, unobservable axis of our universe, but we don’t have the means to properly understand it. Can you tell me what time is, or what space is, or perhaps what matter is? All we know is that we can sense energy and everything has it.
Where does energy come from?
First, let’s get something straight. There are a few different forms of energy which are:
- Physical energy: What is recognized as energy scientifically, and is required for all things to create action
- Emotional energy: Refers to the energetic outlet of emotions, as emotions are energies too
- Spiritual energy: The metaphysical perspective of energy, which is an inherent property of existence
All these forms of energy are intertwined in some sense, but in this article, we’re focusing on spiritual energy, and the foundation of all matter/being/existence.
To understand where energy comes from, you need to understand that this universe is a manifestation of higher dimensions of experience. This universe, and everything within it is an expression of consciousness.
So what we’re experiencing right now isn’t real in the sense we understand.
At the bottom line, all things come from a source. This source is understood as god, the universal consciousness, or just as source depending on the belief system. Essentially, god is an infinite consciousness in which all dimensions, experiences, and things manifest.
As with all realms of experience, this universe can be seen as a single thought of god.
In this sense, energy can be understood as consciousness, because all things that exist are aspects of god’s infinite consciousness. All experiences are different expressions of the same consciousness.
Energy interacts with energy
Even though there are different qualities and vibrations of energy, all energy is energy. This means that energy interacts with other energy, regardless of what form it takes.
The energy of emotion can interact with the energy of a solid substance or liquid. The energy of love will interact with the energy of darkness and transmute it. The energy of thought can interact with the energy of the cosmos, or the universe.
Every expression of consciousness is on the same level, meaning that everything can react with everything. It doesn’t matter what that thing is, whether it’s a physical object, an emotion, or a thought.
If you’re putting positive intentions into a cup of water before you drink it, that water is interacting with that energy, and you’re consuming it. Maybe you’re energetically healing someone or visualizing white light cleaning out their wounds, this energy is interacting with their physical body.
If you’re constantly experiencing low vibrational energies of resentment, victimhood, scarcity, and such, those energies are going to interact with the reality you’re experiencing. So when people say your thoughts create your reality, it’s sorta true because the energy that is your thoughts is interacting with the energy that creates what you’re experiencing.
I delve more into this phenomenon in the following article I wrote about manifestation and the law of attraction. You can read it here:
Exploring different forms of energies
Now that you know energy is consciousness, and all things are manifestations of consciousness, there are many different qualities of energy. After all, consciousness has many different expressions, from blissful, to horrific, to downright strange.
People intuitively know whether someone is good, or whether something doesn’t feel right. This is because we are like antennas that pick up different frequencies of energy.
Everything has a different quality of energy, whether it’s a person, a place, or an object. Even though we tend to think of energy as being either positive or negative, there are many neutral energies too.
Here are some different forms of energy, and their purpose in the scheme of things.
Karmic energy
Karmic energy is a powerful energy that serves as a spiritual educational system. This energy is like an orchestrating force of the universe. It doesn’t have a positive or negative association, it just operates as a balancing mechanism of the universe.
Kundalini energy
Kundalini energy is a powerful spiritual energy that transmutes consciousness. In my experience, it takes the form of a reddish channel of heat that rises from the root chakra. This energy is seriously powerful and is associated with mysticism and transformation. I talk about my experience with Kundalini Energy below.
Masculine energy
Masculine energy is an outwards, assertive energy. This is the energy that anything considered male emits, such as men, the sun, and fire. The purpose of this energy is to provide and sustain. Its purpose is to give, fight, and protect. All things are either masculine or feminine in nature.
Feminine energy
Feminine energy is an inwards, creative, nurturing energy. This is the energy that creates life, and the role of feminine energy is to nourish. It’s a gentle, soft, caring energy, and acts as a complementary energy or counterbalance to masculine energy.
Qi (Chi) energy
Qi is recognized as a universal life force energy. Think of Qi as vitality energy that all beings have, and that all beings can connect with. This energy recharges us and helps us find equanimity. It is experienced through nonresistance, and being in tune with the flow of life. This is what energy healers work with, and it appears to flow through everything.
Prana
Knowledge of prana comes from yogic traditions. Prana is the energy of the air we breathe, and it can be utilized through breathwork. Look at prana as a rejuvenating, cleansing energy that we tap into via our breath.
Sexual energy
Sexual energy is something that everyone has experienced before. It’s a powerful, lustful energy that comes from the sacral chakra. This energy is responsible for procreation and plays a role in romance and attraction. Sexual energy can be channeled which can lead to transcendental sexual experiences. I experienced this transcendental sexual energy during my kundalini awakening, and it was absolute pleasure.
Healing energy
Healing energy is a very soothing, beautiful energy that causes healing and regeneration of the consciousness. We experience this form of energy when we are healing from something, whether it be trauma, emotions, or a physical issue. This form of energy is commonly experienced in ceremonies and rituals, but we all experience it at different times to facilitate the process of healing.
Warrior energy
Warrior energy is a very fierce energy that is harnessed to fight. This is that extremely passionate energy that makes you feel like you would die for a cause, and that you’re at service to something that’s bigger than you. Warrior energy is rooted in feelings of justice, but it also has a darker side that revolves around vengeance.
Understanding the energy of things
Now that we’ve looked at some different types of energy and what function they serve in the greater scheme of things, let’s look into the individual energies of all things.
Everything of living things
Every living thing has a different energy. You might notice this in different people who you get different feelings around, but you’ll notice this with anything living. You tend to tap into someone’s or something’s energy via intuition, as your intuition is what picks it up.
Some people’s energies are calming and peaceful. Some are compassionate and loving. Some are passionate, fierce, mischievous, intense, awkward, creepy, weird, or they make you feel uneasy. But mostly, it’s hard to put a label on all these different energies because everyone’s energy is unique.
For example, people tend to recognize my energy as very calming, and it’s something I’ve been aware of for a long time. With that said, I wouldn’t consider it as a very firey or passionate energy like some people might have.
Spirits too have different energies. I first became aware of this during my shamanic voyaging when encountering all sorts of spirits.
Mostly I met benevolent spirits who’s energies were very healing and put me at ease. But I have encountered many neutral spirits too. Often in their presence, it felt a little strange, but not dangerous in any sense.
Other times they felt angry, but not evil. Sometimes I couldn’t pick up anything, but I intuitively knew that they were just minding their business.
Then there are the dark spirits too. I’ve met a couple of these. In their presence, there is often a feeling of doom. It’s uneasy, to say the least.
Energy of places
As all living things have a unique energy as each living thing is an expression of god’s consciousness, places too have unique energies.
Along my spiritual journey, I started recognizing the energy of places, and the more attention I paid to it, the more obvious the place’s energy became.
For example, the Andes mountains have a special energy and are recognized within shamanic traditions in Latin America. If I were to describe it, I would say the energy of the Andes is a very expansive, euphoric energy.
The Amazon rainforest on the other hand has a very different energy. The Amazon is much more dense, but not in a bad way. It’s a heavier, more energetic energy that to me at least, has notes of feeling a little strange. The energy of coasts is different too, as well as deserts, swamps, volcanos, and other environments.
Then each place is different too. The coast where I live in Australia has a very different energy to the coast of Guatemala or the places I visited in Vietnam.
Then you get even more localized. If you have learned how to tap into energy, you may notice the energy of particular places. It might be a town that just feels stale to you, or perhaps a church that has a nice feeling to it, or an old building that makes you feel uneasy.
When you’re talking about a very localized place, usually it’s the quality of energy that was experienced there that builds up.
I usually feel some really beautiful energy in temples, churches, and shrines because lots of people experience energies of gratitude and love as they’re places of worship. So the expressions of consciousness that happen at particular places leave a sort of energetic mark.
Likewise, haunted locations usually have a dark, dense energy to them, because dark things happened there. It may have been a tragedy, death, or other painful expressions of consciousness that left an energetic scar on that particular location.
Energy of objects
As I mentioned about people and places, objects also have individual energies. Each material has a different energy, as does each craft.
Crystals are a common example of items having a distinct energy. Each crystal has a different energy, and different objects can have different strengths too. Likewise, each crystal and material has different vibrations and properties which interact with the energy around them.
Some items are blessed due to the same reason I mentioned about the energy of places. People use those items and it takes on their energy, and the energy of those items affects what those items are being used for. Some items are also cursed and interact in a more sinister way with the energy around them.
The reason why ancient items tend to be charged with some sort of energy is because they have been used for many reasons, in many situations, and many different expressions of consciousness were experienced around those particular items.
So in its old age, that particular item has some wisdom, and it holds onto that residual energy. This is what an enchanted item is, as highly charged items may have special properties.
Everything is made out of energy, everything has energy, and that energy interacts with the energy of everything else. So instead of just seeing things as objects with no value, think about the energy they have absorbed, and what they’ve been used for.
For any object that has a history of being used for darker purposes, it’s probably best not to interact with it or have it around you. Objects that have a history of helping, protecting, or being worshipped or praised can have some beneficial energetic properties.
Understanding vibrations of energy
People generally call the quality of energy positive or negative, but this isn’t necessarily accurate. That’s because no energy is good, and no energy is bad. All energy is a different expression of consciousness that serves a different purpose.
But energy does resonate at a vibration, and this vibration can be seen as a spectrum from low to high. The faster the energy vibrates, the lighter it becomes. The slower the energy vibrates, the darker it becomes.
On one side of this spectrum, we have high vibrational energy, which is what people usually mean by positive energy. On the other side, we have low vibrational energy (or dense energy) which is what people usually mean when they say negative energy.
The higher the vibration becomes, the more heavenly the energy becomes. Therefore, high vibrational energy refers to emotions, thoughts, beliefs, and experiences that we perceive to be good.
Low vibrational energy on the other hand creates a more hellish experience as it’s associated with suffering, darkness, and all the things you want to hide under your bed from.
You can get a broader picture of what the different vibrations of energy mean by following the link below, otherwise, here’s a quick rundown.
High vibrational energy:
- Benevolence
- High-vibrational states
- The higher self
- Positivity
- Virtues
- Growth
Low vibrational energy:
- Malevolence
- Low-vibrational states
- The lower self
- Negativity
- Destruction
- Decay
Quality of energy vs quantity of energy
You can look at the quality of energy as the different types of energy. The quality of energy ranges from light energy to dark energy, to every neutral energy. There are many different types of energy, where energy that is more high‐vibration is perceived to be of higher quality.
The quantity of energy refers to the amount of energy that is generated. You might not be able to feel much depending on what you’re experiencing, but it all adds up. If you’re constantly expressing gratitude every day, you’re going to start shifting your energy towards the light. If you express a little bit of hatred every day, gradually you’re going to shift towards the darkness.