As Within, So Without: Spiritual Bypassing Series #3

Capricorn season is upon us, friends. That practical, grounding energy invites us all to look within and make some decisions as to where this next year and season will take us. We have more power than we think we do, honestly. If you think about it, we are all only one single decision away from having a completely different life, for the better or worse, depending on the decision and the situation. A reminder that comes with this astrological season is one of rationality and expansion. As the Daddy of the zodiac, Capricorn embodies the disciplinarian archetype, bringing structure and exploration to the energetic atmosphere and asking the ultimate questions: “What do you want?” and “What are you willing to do to get it?” Hang out with that, maybe sip a peppermint mocha and ponder the possibilities for a bit.

Astrologically, we still have Jupiter in retrograde until March of 2026 and Uranus in retrograde until February 2026. Together, these two bring in lessons surrounding luck, vision, and expansion. As a reminder, Jupiter is currently retrograding through the sign of Cancer, bringing an emotional, watery energy to the party while Uranus, however, is retrograding through the earthy, indulgent sign of Taurus, so we can see where these two energies might clash a little. Overindulging in our feelings lately, are we? Swirling in existential rumination about what is your purpose anyway and why are we here and why is this happening and why to meeeee and…Stop, babe, I’m getting dizzy in this spiral of goo. Grab your planner or a notebook. It’s gonna be ok. Daddy Capricorn Season is here to straighten you out with a strong dose of practicality and ownership of self and action.

A question I’ve been getting a lot lately is “how do I set goals and break them down into action steps?” And the answer is: look within. Sit with yourself and ask “what do I want?” or, if you’re pedantic like I am “What would a life worth living look like? What key features, details, or factors would be present?” and hang out with that for a bit. Journal out what that life would look like. From there, break that life down into physical, mental, spiritual, social, and personal growth categories. Bam. You have goals.  Take each area at a time and break it down into actionable steps, which are behaviors or things you can do to get you closer to your goals. For example, if one of your details was “have a career I love,” then an action step would be to identify a career field you admire and feel drawn to. Another action step would be to identify the requirements of that field or specific jobs in that field. If you’d like something more concrete, look up S.M.A.R.T. goals and follow the template. Practicality is a skill that requires planning, commitment, and sustainability for successful use. With things as wild and unpredictable as they are right now, a little practicality would go a long way to helping us all feel a little better and a little more in control of our lives. Practicality is also, conveniently, a skill that really demonstrates the concept of “as within, so without, as without, so within.” Beginning from the inside, practicality starts with a plan, moves to application of related skills, and finishes by navigating barriers to bring success without, which then bounces back feelings of contentment. It cuts out the wishy-washy and the unnecessary bits to create a path to walk in the first place. Practicality lays the foundation for imagination to become reality by applying necessary rules to the goal, bridging the gap between impossible and possible. If I wish to fly, practicality reminds me that gravity and airplanes exist.

Ultimately though, what helps create and bring goals to life is ownership of oneself and one’s abilities. Ownership is knowing that the only person that’s going to get you where you want to go is you and you are the only one that owes you the effort of creating and sustaining your life. This is not to say that community is not extremely important and valuable. It is to say that we need the awareness that a healthy community is made up of healthy, responsible individuals. We must take care of ourselves to be able to give extra. This can be a brief return to the “you can’t pour from an empty cup” conversation, but ultimately, our conversation today is about personal ownership of one’s life and decisions to create a more self-aware society that allows for community to grow. As a series on spiritual bypassing, practicality comes in when discussing limitations to the externalization of one’s personal decisions onto other people…or onto beings. I think it’s time to have conversation about blaming others for our actions, about the old “the devil made me do it” mentality that’s been at work for so long. I don’t know if any of you are on “WitchTok” (the witchy side of TikTok) or are in other spiritual spaces buuuut I see a lot of people talking about how their deities or patrons are “telling them to do things” and…friends…it’s concerning. Now, I’m not talking about people who listen to their ancestors or those who understand archetypes and can appropriately apply them. I’m talking about people who are avoiding doing inner work and rather are engaging in acts of harm to themselves or others and then are escaping accountability by saying they were instructed to do so by a spirit or entity, or conversely, saying that they’ve been cursed or are being punished by a deity just because their wishes aren’t being granted. This needs to be addressed, mainly because it borders on spiritual psychosis on the worse end and absolutely is spiritual bypassing on the basic end. To be perfectly clear: we are all responsible for anything our mouths say or our bodies do by our own volition, regardless of what is happening around us. We are also, barring systemic nonsense, responsible for the circumstances of our lives that are within our control. If you actively choose to say or do it, you are responsible for the consequences of that word or deed. Practicality pops in here to remind us to avoid extremes for the sake of conversation. As always, nuance is required. What does this have to do with goal setting? Accountability and ownership allow us to set goals in the first place by helping us to acknowledge the power of ourselves over our own lives. We each have our own barriers and challenges, friends. But the point is…we all have them. It’s not ok to expect others to set aside their own feelings, goals, or needs to deal with someone else’s who’s perfectly capable of handling themselves. It’s also not cool to say that a deity being mad at you is the reason for your strife…Can we see how that’s…scapegoating? What are youuuuuu doing? Ultimately though, whether the action was spiritually inspired or not, we all still have the ability to choose what aligns with us and whether or not to engage in what aligns. If hexing aligns with you, that’s totally cool and fine. Just know that you are choosing to do that, not being told or instructed to do so. Own your craft, friend. Don’t blame Hecate. She’s got her own stuff going on. You’re also starting to sound like those people who claimed their deity told them to burn other people alive or torture them for not conforming. Not a good look babe. More deconstruction. More. Deconstruction.

How is blaming the spirit spiritual bypassing? Well, because you’re blaming the spirit and not taking accountability for your thoughts, words, or actions. Using spirit to avoid self-reflection is the definition of spiritual bypassing, so, kind of on the nose with this one. On-topic with goal setting and practicality, not only are the gods not going to tell you to curse someone, they’re not going to tell you what to do…period. I know. I wish so too. Would be nice for a change. You get to decide what your highest good is. You decide your ceilings and limits based on what you know of yourself, your environment, and your situation. Practicality, friends. You could also be a pretentious old goat and shatter the ceilings and limitations a la Capricorn…but it would be your choice to do so and to strive for it. I’m also going to tell you a secret: entities, deities, etc. are archetypes of the self in mythology. The stories serve as lessons that create a foundation for deeper understanding as lessons are learned. The stories serve as vessels for wisdom, just as the deities or entities serve as vessels for our imagination and the energies around us. They represent both our own power and the power of the universe around us. Conscious co-creation, anyone? This is not me saying that they don’t exist. They do…just…not corporeally. There’re limits to the spiritual where the physical has to take over. Ya know?  I can get the download from spirit, but I still have to physically type the blog. And it’s my choice to make it into the blog. If it somehow does real harm, I can’t just go “oh, well, the gods told me to write it” and then la-di-da off into the sunset. I would have to be accountable for that real harm that was done. I didn’t have to write it in the blog. I could’ve left it in my journal. Or just told a friend. But that felt unsatisfying. So, blog it is. Ownership. 

What is the solution? Well, as always: embodiment. Embody your archetype. Embody your deity. Act as if. But still know it is You. I’m writing this series because our community is growing and it is more accessible than ever. With what was once hidden now coming to the surface, there is a real chance of it being misconstrued and weaponized. History has a tendency to run in rhymes, and we have to keep our wits about us. There are people who intentionally spread misinformation, who misconstrue and misrepresent spirituality for clout or monetary gain. There are people who misrepresent witchcraft, paganism, and general spirituality to pipeline people into or back into the dominant ideologies or to justify harming members of the community. Part of the goal of this series is not just to help people who are on the path ground themselves, but also to help people identify problematic practitioners and pathway propaganda. My favorite thing about the spiritual community is the acceptance and the love of individual paths and intersectionality. Inner work protects our community and will continue to make it stronger. The veil is deeper than you think, my friends. Come in further, there is space enough for all.

If you are craving community and connection, I’ve decided to build one. I’m pleased to announce that I have created a Metaphysics & Mayhem Discord server to facilitate building a spiritual community. It is a place where we can gather, discuss, share, and maybe plan some things. My hope is that we will be able to create some community events such as moon and/or seasonal gatherings. It is free to join, no subscriptions or purchases, just please follow the rules. It is an 18+ server, but please be respectful. I also ask for patience as I work out any kinks or difficulties in its facilitation. If you are on iOS, you will have to enable 18+ permissions on your Discord app. This blog is the only place to obtain the link.

Link: https://discord.gg/p2cdnC6p

This link expires in 7 days (Jan 5th, 2026). New links will be posted on each subsequent blog post. I hope you’ll come and help make it awesome.