Vibration and Embodiment

This week a student of mine shared a concept she’d watched a video on the premise that witches don’t need to worry about “raising their frequency” because they “already are”, and asked my thoughts. I decided to share them here, because there is so much to unpack with this concept.

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Firstly there’s the concept of “frequency” and “vibration”. What exactly is meant by those words in a spiritual context? And whose lens are we looking through? Yes, everything is energy—we know this scientifically and spiritually. And all-the-nouns (persons-places-things) have their own unique(ish) frequencies. The sticky point is when we start discussing how to “raise our frequency/ vibration/ etc.,” as though there were some spiritual hierarchical ladder that needs climbing. This concept really took root in the New Age community with the publication of Dr. David Hawkins’ book Power vs. Force, (published in 1995) when he introduced the Map of Consciousness; a logarithmic scale from 1-1,000 that determines an individual’s “level of consciousness” ie: their spiritual frequency, via muscle testing. These levels of consciousness set the tone for, and in many ways the direction and perspective of your life—for better or worse. The concept is expounded upon further with the assumption that through various meditative and spiritual practices that one’s level can be raised. 

I take umbrage with hierarchical ladders. They are almost always patriarchal in concept and therefore disinteresting to me.

*A quick anecdote: I was first introduced to the Map of Consciousness a little over a decade ago by a man who was spiritual by his own definition. Upon his own muscle-testing findings, he was “quite high” on the scale—I’m talking near Christ-level consciousness levels. His words. He became obsessed insistent that I calculate my own ranking. I was…disinterested at best. Finally after much haranguing persistence, I agreed to do so, via video chat with him. He was displeased shocked at the results. (Spoiler: they were higher than his—and I assure you I am not saddled with hubris, and don’t fancy myself a saint.) So, he “retested” me himself, and lo and behold? The number was higher still. Our tenuous connection dissipated shortly after that—he was looking to gather another follower that would be impressed with his spiritual stats, and that person was not me.

In my lived experience, and in the teachings I have received from more than a half dozen teachers, spiritual growth and maturation aren’t achieved by jumping through hoops collecting miraculous feats like Hercules was tasked to do. Spiritual growth and maturation occur at the intersection of intelligence and lived experience—when they alchemize into that ever elusive quality we commonly call wisdom. With a healthy dose of compassion and grace, to boot.

I’ve digressed. Back to the original question.

YES. Witches “are”. If you took my most recent class (last Saturday) “Witches: Markers, Lore, and Embodiment”* we discussed this concept in depth. The gist is that for many who wear the mantle of witch it isn’t actually a mantle at all—it isn’t something that can be removed, hung in