I was recently talking to a friend about darkness, and they said that they no longer fear it because spirituality usually only talks about the light, with the view that the darkness was something to fear. I have said before, without darkness there can be no light, and we rise from the darkness into the light. Yet, there are types of toxicity that can turn into darkness, but we must face them and recognise them in order to address them and not let them control us. Many refer to this as our ‘shadow side’, and it is human to have shadow thoughts, but it is a side that we can control.
We have the ‘dark/shadow side’ of us that perhaps no one except your Higher Self knows, and that can be ego, selfishness, pride, envy, or other traits that you don’t want others to know about. Often we go through life with the odd fleeting bad thought or selfish act, but they do little harm or we feel guilty and don’t do it again. The danger occurs when these traits become a habit, and that’s when the darkness begins to ingrain itself within the Soul and turns into a dark soul.
Then there are those with dark souls, who are malicious, evil, and their actions are dark intending to do harm to others. They choose to be dark, and encourage others to be like them, and this kind of of coercive action is seen in cults. Some branches of spirituality and New Age theories don’t escape the cult label, and that’s why cults can be dangerous when they indoctrinate dark traits into the vulnerable.
As much as we’d like to escape toxicity and darkness, it exists in our everyday life wherever we turn. There are things we can’t control, but there are some elements that we can control. Perhaps we can avoid social media accounts that are toxic, media platforms (newspapers and television shows) that have dark materials and who thrive on toxicity, and to avoid people who are rude, mean, and selfish in our lives? We can avoid toxic situations or places, but we have to experience them before we know they are toxic or harmful.
Rude and insensitive people aren’t pleasant to be around, so we can choose to cease contact or to avoid them. However, some might be worried how they will react, and that again is another toxic element that they impinge on others. I recently had to endure a conversation with an old friend who I thought had turned their life around, because that is what they believed. They hadn’t and I sat through a conversation full of lies, disgusting comments, and I made an excuse to go and hung up. I decided not to communicate again, and my instincts were right as they sent disgusting images exposing themselves to me. You don’t need an excuse or reason to cut toxic and dark people out because they are like energy vampires draining you of energy, and forcing you to give a reason for avoiding them.
Can people with dark souls change? I believe they can, but only if they want to and have understood why their soul was dark, but many don’t because they enjoy the control they have over others through fear and they are addicted to that control. That is why one should never fear the darkness because it needs Souls to fear it, and that is what empowers them.
How do souls become dark? It can be a mixture of things from greed, selfishness, and a need to manipulate others for their own needs. That’s why when a soul encounters negativity and toxicity, they need to recognise it and find a way to stop it before it consumes the soul. When we are aware that we have carried out toxic acts, rather than beat yourself up, the best way is to accept that you are human and that you are aware of your actions an thoughts and try to avoid them again. If you see others doing the same and they don’t realise it, then perhaps tell them the uncomfortable truth in their best interests? A simple. ‘I think that was a bit mean, or selfish,’ is enough to make someone stop and think about their actions.
This is how dark souls begin and evolve, and why things need to be nipped in the bud before they become bad habits that become a way of life.
In a world where people are deceived and manipulated, it is hard to know what is authentic these days, and we often question our own actions and reactions. I ended up asking myself if I was being mean by saying ‘no’ to people who were taking advantage of my help. On one hand I knew that I could help them, but on the other hand I knew they were taking advantage (and had been used to me accommodating them) and had little consideration of the inconvenience and time my help took. By saying ‘no’ I was also helping them to recognise toxic traits they were getting used to. Never be afraid to say ‘no’ to someone who is toxic, and don’t be afraid of those who have dark souls, for they thrive on fear. If you find yourself being toxic towards others, think about what triggered it—anger, frustration, greed, resentment, or envy? Then you can figure out how to avoid those toxic feelings and thoughts again, and that can help you control your shadow side.
The Soul Expedition 