Spiritually Hot, Emotionally Not: How New Age Spirituality Has a Love Issue
Have you met New Age Spirituality yet? They’d glide into a rooftop ceremony, barefoot and glowing, sipping a mason jar of something that looks like it came out of a swamp, something vaguely fermented and deeply blessed. They wouldn’t walk, they’d flow, hover above the ground like the universe is their stage. That glow, you’d swear they’d just had transcendent tantric sex…
They’d sit next to you, too close to be casual, smile with full eye contact, and say, “Your aura feels like déjà vu.” And that would be it. You’re done. Hooked like a fish on an organic hemp line. By the second conversation, you’d be talking about past lives and future timelines. Maybe even 5D. By the third, they’d casually mention your Svadhisthana chakra is “open in a way that’s… rare.” You’d pretend not to blush, but come on.
They’d play you a playlist of tracks that “aligned perfectly with your special frequency.” And when you kissed (because of course you did), it would feel like kissing God/dess on mushrooms. You’d lie there afterward, tangled in limbs and incense, thinking: Is this love? Because it sure as Ancestors calling felt like it.
But it wasn’t love. It was the high of chemistry. Like licking a battery in the shape of a soulmate. Or touching a live wire and mistaking the jolt for destiny. Or standing too close to a lightning storm and thinking “this must be fate.” The exact same way we all once mistook a really hot, intense crush for something eternal. New Age Spirituality is not in it for love. They’re in it for the hit.
Because the moment it gets real—emotionally, relationally, politically, even spiritually—you’ll feel the temperature shift. Somehow the hot feels turns into a cold front. Suddenly your feelings are “negative,” your needs are “your ego,” your anger is “unprocessed ancestral wounding you need to take responsibility for.” You’ll ask for clarity, repair, presence. They’ll exhale slowly, place a hand on their heart, and say, “I’m not available for that kind of negative energy.” And then they’re already halfway out the yurt. Ciao.
Let’s remove the filter. New Age Spirituality talks about love like a love-drunk poet (name-dropping divine union, soul resonance, unconditional connection…). But when it comes time to actually practice love—the kind that requires accountability, presence, and repair—it runs.
It confuses the feeling of love with love itself. The way a crush feels like forever until it has to face the flashy daylight. Until it has to apologize or read a book about race and realize the Universe won’t decolonize itself. Because love isn’t just a vibe. It’s an action, a practice. And that’s not sexy in the way New Age Spirituality likes to be sexy.
Because that kind of love, the kind that shows up through miscommunication, disrepair, grief, discomfort, and injustice, requires self-reflection, self-introspection, time, work, loads of energy, and motivation. And the hard conversations about power and privilege. But instead, we get the talks about love & light without the embodiment. Like someone endlessly talking about how they’re going to kiss you, but never actually does. Or someone who always talks about getting you flowers but somehow always forgets. Okay, you get the vibe.
New Age Spirituality turns away from real action and calls it “non-attachment,” or “no judgement,” or “high vibes.” It dodges accountability and calls it “alignment.” It individualizes everything, even—or especially—collective harm. Somehow in New Age Spirituality everything is sacred—except justice. It spiritualizes out of oppression and gaslights those still affected by it. And it calls it love.
New Age Spirituality has a love issue. Not because it doesn’t feel things deeply. But because it won’t stay long enough for those feelings to grow roots. It wants the crush. It wants the chemistry. It’s like the sacred tension between two people who haven’t disappointed each other yet. But it doesn’t want the real work.
So, my love infused friend, if you find yourself preaching about love, but leaving the moment it asks for complexity and discomfort… You’re not loving, you’re just spiritually flirting. And sure, flirting is delicious—a thrill that reminds us we’re alive. Who doesn’t love the high? Just don’t confuse it with love.
If this resonated with you, moved you, or made you pause and reflect – consider this your cue. I’ve set up a virtual tip jar via Buy Me a Coffee. No monthly commitments, no strings, no memberships required.
Your sweet kindness helps keep the thoughts flowing, the energy exchange intact, and the glow of my inner goddess alive. It won’t fix capitalism, but it might buy me five minutes of joy (or at least a cortado).
Gracias. Thank you. Jërëjëf. Merci. Obrigada. Danke. Arigatō. Medaase. Grazie. Hvala. Tack. Asante. Shukran. Teşekkürler. Dziękuję.
