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Spiritual Development

Page 17

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DECEPTIVE ASSIMILATION
By CinnamonMoon

Deceptive Assimilation…what is that? It's self-deception, ego-led theories of 'knowing' what's
going on when the practice arena of newfound skill or knowledge includes testing it out on
others. How do we learn to recognize it? As we receive our lessons and assimilate what they
have added to our growth in knowledge or abilities we face a time of testing. (Please see the
article on Assimilation in the Main Library.) The first series of tests (usually between 1-3 of
them) begins with us…not someone else. Proper testing is going to call for us to apply that
knowledge and hone our skill in an arena that affects no one but us. We're to use it to resolve
personal issues, to manifest personal needs, to learn to work with the knowledge gained in our
own way and jiggle things into place. In this way we develop our skill with the abilities enhanced
by the new knowledge and we harm no one in the process. If we make a mistake we pay for it,
no one else does. We learn through trial and error this way and as we experience the results of
our efforts we begin to master the skill in ourselves. Then we're tested again…someone close to
us comes to us with a need and asks for help. Key word: they ask us. The help they require will
be directly relative to our newly mastered ability or knowledge and calls for that to be applied in
some manner. In this way we bring the spiritual into the mundane and we learn to walk with it.
So many people keep to the duality of spirituality and mundane life, they can't see how to
combine the two and therefore deceptive assimilation can seep in.

Deceptive assimilation begins when we assume because of an experience or circumstance has
taken place and presented us with the knowledge or ability enhancement that we know all there
is to know and can just run about wielding it willy-nilly. We don't test it out personally, we just
run with it and we start testing it out on others. Deceptive assimilation begins to form when we
don't see someone asking for that help and start to go about quietly recruiting anyone who is
willing to be experimented on. We may see where they could use the benefits of our newfound
wisdom but do not stop to consider whether the timing for them is right or not. We're eager to
share what we've learned and so we justify what we perceive as their need as a cause for an
experiment. We justify our subtle approach thinking that by seeing the need we're the ones to fix it. Wrong.

Deceptive assimilation begins when we become drawn into creating experiments for our theories
without asking for someone's permission. Or sometimes it appears when we feel the urge to say
to someone "trust me, I'd like to conduct an experiment and I need you to ______" (based on the
trust of a friendship or acquaintanceship). That essentially sets the person up for a hit they are not
prepared for. This is extremely dangerous ground when we begin to draw others into our
experiments without their permission or without fully informing them of what we're going to
attempt to do. And it's very dangerous ground for us if we allow someone else to do this by
opening up to them. We should never open blindly. It's wrong to intrude on someone's free will
because they are not given a clear choice in the matter. We put them at risk because we have not
mastered ourselves first. If we've mastered ourselves then there is no need to test a theory on
another. We know what works and what doesn't, we know what can go wrong and so we also
know how to correct it. We know when a situation calls for that knowledge or ability and when
or when not to apply it. We know how to moderate that application to fit the circumstances.

In this light of experimentation the individual doing the testing enters into a lesson about selfdelusion
and into deceptive assimilation practices. They do not see their ethical responsibility
and you can bet that an energetic whiplash will occur because all energy work returns to its
creative source…in this case that's the self-deceiver…and the results of that energy will come
back in the form of the outcome and all its complicating consequences not to mention becoming
the source of harming another. I have seen this over-eagerness and blind-sidedness time and
again with those who do not understand the spiritual pattern of unfoldment. It's the wannabe
practitioner that thinks they know what they're doing who deceives not only others but
themselves. When we draw others into the theoretical experiment we create we are not being
tested by guidance and we are intruding on their life. In that we can disrupt their path, complicate
or hinder their growth, cause emotional or spiritual upheaval in their lives, and unwittingly cause
a great deal of harm.

Imagine how you'd feel if someone pushed their test onto you without any training in that
particular arena. What if you're not ready to experience the results of what their abilities can
bring forth? It can be very traumatic and lead to debilitation, and this inexperienced practitioner,
because they are taking the wrong approach, will not have learned how to correct their mistakes.
You become their guinea pig for their experiment and any complications that may arise will be
yours to contend with-they've finished with you and you're left high and dry. No one has the
right to impinge on you this way, but people do it all the time. We are responsible for our actions
and in one way or another will be held accountable for them but there can be a lot of damage
done in the wake of irresponsibility. Not only is it our responsibility not to fall into this trap of
experimentation with others, it's our responsibility to not allow others to entrap us. The choice in
either case is up to us and it's important to know the level of experience of anyone we allow to
do any spiritual energy work on us.

The path of another does not belong to you and their lessons in life are not your private 'testing
arena' for whatever emerging abilities you are currently developing; that's using people. Let's say
someone read a popular book on soul-retrieval, and during that process they experimented with
some exercises in the book that walked them through some basic processes. Now this person
'thinks' they know what they're doing because they had the experience that awed them and they
'think' they can 'help' others with this new knowledge. What they aren't recognizing is that they
were prepared for the timing of that stage of growth in walking their own path, the interest was
there and the desire to work through something existed. The book became the tool but one
experience is not mastery, it initiates understanding that needs to be pursued further. The
deceptive assimilator is going to assume that's all there is to it, that it's easy to do, and then set
out to prove that theory to themselves at the expense of others. No book or single experience can
completely prepare you for what will develop in the days, weeks and months post retrieval. (This
includes any other area of spiritual development, remember the retrieval is merely an example.)
Now while that individual has chosen of their own free will to experience a portion (and I do
mean portion) of soul-retrieval by no means do they know all the ins and outs. To then draw
someone unwittingly into this exercise with a "trust me" statement puts that person at
considerable risk with the deceiver's own incompetence. The ego has taken over and they have to
prove their theory at the expense of another. If it backfires oh well, mistakes happen right?

Wrong! If this individual says to a friend: "Trust me, I want to try an experiment with you" and
that friend trusts them and opens to it, deceptive assimilation has begun on both their parts. The
unsuspecting friend opens to a retrieval process they have not prepared for, are not ready to
embrace, and traumatic events may be relieved that cause serious psychological and/or emotional
consequences with the potential for even more complicating factors to enter into things. They
may show immediately and they may come later, but by then the deed is done and well-meaning
or not, the deceiver opened a can of worms and has gone their merry way believing that the
experiment was a success. And if they do stay around how do they get those worms back in the
can where they belong? Oh yeah, grab the book there must be a chapter on that! Oops, the author
didn't discuss that part, now what? Major crisis, that's what!

How do you know when someone is doing this? Generally the approach is to create a level of
trust and then use that to draw you into the experiment. Instead of informing you of what the
experiment is going to be you're asked to 'trust' them and just go with it. It appears to be a game
of sorts and quite innocent. In truth when it begins this way the first betrayal is present because it
is not only demeaning to the 'victim' but it is demeaning to the 'perpetrator' too. It's selfish desire
that drives someone to do this type of thing at the expense or potential expense of another. Why?
Just to prove it can be done and feed their ego? It's behavior that begins to take you off a path of
Light into Darkness and corrupts the spirit within you. It becomes a temptation to control and
abuse one's power and in that your own ethical character is going to be tested. It's embracing the
abusiveness that walks with those who get caught in their egos and self-gratifications. While the
entrapment of that temptation may seem innocent it's not a minor thing. It's setting the stage for
the continuation of that type of behavior in the future and it becomes a way of doing things each
time that individual learns something new. It's pure manipulation of the will of another to serve
your needs and when that happens the trap is set and the consequences are waiting…for you both.

Let's use a different example. Someone encounters a new Totem, let's say it's Wolf. Whether
Wolf comes as a solitary Totem or with the pack won't matter here. Wolf, or the essence of Wolf,
does. Now Wolf Medicine is the Medicine of the Great Teacher. If, because Wolf has appeared,
that individual presumes they have the attributes of Wolf they're correct, they certainly do…but
those attributes have not been mastered, only brought to the individual's attention that they exist
and it is time for lessons on self-mastery to begin. If the individual does not see it this way they
enter into those lessons by experience and trials by fire. They begin to assume they have
permission to use that Medicine with others and they assume the role of teacher. They start to see
what others need to learn according to their inexperienced perceptions and justify teaching them
those lessons by force-feeding them. This is deceptive assimilation of that Totem and the first
thing they will learn is everything they need in the concepts of its Contrary Medicine….how
*not* to teach others. Wolf is going to appear and teach the individual 'how' to teach others as
they get to know one another. Wolf prepares one to teach before setting you on that path
independently. It's not automatic but the individual who is inexperienced with Totems is likely
going to react that way at first. It's one of the little traps we tend to fall into.

We can pull on the Totem Black Panther here too…without a thorough study of its Medicine and
an in-depth study of oneself, deceptive assimilation leads someone into the Contrary Medicine of
being the Know-It-All and the path walked would be again a trial by fire experience. Someone
coming to Snake Medicine and assuming they had that mastered ability without proper training
from Snake would be spewing venom at others and slaying relationships with hurtful words
wondering why no one wanted to be associated with them. The individual that masters Snake
would know when to strike and why that strike was needed. They would know when to shed
their own old skin and grow recognizing the time for transformation had come. The one who has
mastered Snake Medicine would know what the transformation process entailed, how to help
others through it, and would never try to force someone to experiment with the shedding. Totems
are not pets and they are not handing you toys to play with in the abilities that surface when they
begin introducing themselves. A good year or more is required to walk with any Totem to get
even the foundations of full understanding in place. To act on that Medicine before then is irresponsible.

Claiming false pride comes from deceptive assimilations, it dishonors our teachers…be they a
spiritual teacher, a physical teacher, an author, or someone sharing topical knowledge, it's
important to honor that source and just as important to hone the knowledge gained…to work
with it for a time and test it out on yourself in many different ways…the key here is 'yourself',
not others. It's harmful to those who assume that what we are projecting is truth when it's tainted
with a deception. In this false experiment we feel justified because we needed to see how the
results manifest so we can validate our skills. On the surface it may seem benign or even helpful,
but one retrieval can lead to subsequent reactions over time and in those to more retrieval
experiences. The deceiver, thinking the experiment is over in one session walks away and leaves
that individual unprepared for what will follow, totally incapable of handling the flashbacks and
traumas that may be attached to them and sets them on a path of harmful experiences.

Now knowing there is deceptive assimilation that exists who is responsible when it strikes?
Naturally the deceiver is, but so are we. If we trust someone enough to blindly enter into their
experiments we're giving ourselves into the repercussions of that experience. We are responsible
for recognizing when the information or suggestions others present us with are incomplete. We
are responsible for accepting or rejecting the offers made to us. At the same time we do not
always look to a friend to be putting us at risk and if trust levels are high we can easily walk into
these types of entrapments. It's far better to ask how much experience someone has with what
they are asking you to learn with them this way. Even the most seasoned pathwalker is going to
be learning new things as they go. Do not assume that because that person has walked a spiritual
path for the majority of their life that they are masters of all their abilities. Sometimes that
individual may fall prey to their ego, the wannabe in them is intoxicated by the new strength or
power they are wielding and they lose sight of where they're going with that. If someone asks
you to trust them and let them conduct an experiment ask about it and their ability to do so. And
if you're tempted to ask someone to 'trust' you as you conduct an experiment then stop right
there. If you can't explain what's going on, how you came to the knowledge, what you want to
test and theorize, then you're turning the can-opener and it's full of worms.

Libraries are on this row
INDEX Page 1
(Divination & Dreams, Guides & Spirit Helpers)
INDEX Page 2
(Healing)
INDEX Page 3
(Main Section, Medicine Wheel, Native Languages & Nations, Symbology)
INDEX Page 4
(Myth & Lore)
INDEX Page 5
(Sacred Feminine & Masculine, Stones & Minerals)
Most often INDEX Page 6
(Spiritual Development)
INDEX Page 7
(Totem Animals)
INDEX Page 8
(Tools & Crafts. Copyrights)


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