Ask A Healer Etheric Alchemy Series

Spiritual Awakening and Your Children - The effects of critical mass on adolescents and teens
© Neva J Howell, All Rights Reserved


If you are unfamiliar with the term critical mass, you may first wish to read the introduction to this article: What is Critical Mass?

My first exposure to this idea of a planetary critical mass was when I read about an experiment with monkeys that was conducted in the Marshall Islands. Scientists were studying monkey behavior and there were two groups doing these studies, located on opposite ends of the island.

Scientists on one end of the island were noticing a monkey practicing a new behavior, which was to take his food down to the water and wash it off. After the first monkey learned to do this, those around him started following that behavior and taking their food to the water too.

As the story goes, when the 100th monkey washed his food, the other group of scientists began to report that monkeys on the other side of the island also began washing their food in the water.

There are those who say this never happened too. I really don't care if it happened or not, in this particular experiment because I know it's real, critical mass. I know that enough people, holding the same behavior, reach a point where the behavior can transmit to others far away and create change that is monumental.

This knowing is why so many groups call out for focused group prayer for peace. They recognize that the energy being held for war, power, greed and hatred is strong and to shift that behavior, the answer isn't more guns; it's more people holding the energy and behaviors of a peaceful planet.

When I considered the spiritual critical mass we were most assuredly headed toward, back in 1996, I did get a strong sense that the adolescent to teen age group least likely to shift into the higher vibrations with ease.

Unfortunately, from what I see on the news, that was a correct assessment. The rate of adolescent drinking and recreational drug use is at an all-time high and teen suicide cases have also increased dramatically.

This was a time of latch-key kids (to some extent, at least), living in single-parent homes or homes where both parents work. The absence of the mother in the home had shifted their sense of security. The preoccupation of the father, or absence of male role model, had caused additional confusion to self-image for many.

"The Great American Dream" died during this generation, and what will replace that dream is still in creation. The dream of owning one's own home and having a comfortable retirement fund is no longer reason enough for committing to college and 30 years of work in any chosen field. Yet, for so many there is no other dream, to replace the one that has died.

This is partly because so many parents are just in the process of finding new direction themselves.

These young people have not been given a life direction that feeds them. As a result, many have become angry, restless, depressed, often violent, and isolated from a society that offers them little comfort. Teenage theft and drug use has escalated, as have the numbers of preteen and teen suicide and murder.

There has always been that angry and rebellious time of youth; there have always been rebels without causes; the difference is the extreme behaviors to which the anger and rebellion are leading and the big leap in numbers of pre-teens and teens who have been involved in violent crime/self-damage, in the past few years.

It may be a bit idealistic to expect these discontented adolescents and teens to make an easy turn-around, just because their parents have decided to drop the corporate cloak and seek a spiritual path. In fact, this particular age group may momentarily become even more rebellious, seeing the latest shift in priority as another indication of parental selfishness or fickle instability. They may initially prefer the comfort of the known.

Patience is definitely required for this age group. They are in The Void and it is full of their parent's reflections. The higher vibration of the parents, parents who have begun to search for deeper meaning and spiritual truth in their lives, will eventually begin to affect the vibration of the child, but it may be best to let it happen on a purely spiritual level for a while. Parents who can avoid directly pressuring them to change, own up to past mistakes in an honest and straight-forward way, and treat the feelings of the younger person with respect, will fare better than those who try to lay down the law.

One way to spiritually transmit an accelerated energy for your pre-teen or teen who may be struggling is to spend time in their room while they are away, energizing it with love. Intent is important, so there should be absolutely no attempt to force the energy on them or mentally influence their choices or behavior. This type of mind control would be an invasion of their privacy, a form of manipulation, and would probably be met with increased rebellion or a weird sense of being uncomfortable in their own room, which may have been, up to that point, their only haven.

They will choose to be away more, if you try this approach. Also, if there has been a past history of searching their room (as might be the case if there has been a suspicion of drug use) or there has been any strong resentment expressed when you have entered their room while they are away, do this exercise outside the door of their room rather than inside it. Respecting their wishes for privacy as much as you possibly can is an important aspect of creating a healing atmosphere for them.



The purpose of energizing the room is to generate the highest level of loving energy you are capable of transmitting, while holding a loving image of your child in your mind. It can be helpful to touch the pillow on their bed, if inside the room, or hold a favorite article of clothing if outside the room and touch the door of the room.

Release all negativity attached to past behavior and remember them as newborn babies, how charming and sweet they were! Recapture their innocence and your sense of unconditional love for them. The idea is acceptance, not judgment.

Allow acts of negative behavior to come to mind. As each memory surfaces, forgive and release. Let your child know, on a spiritual level, that you have forgiven that act and will not carry it's memory into the future.

Search your mind for a good memory, a happy moment from the past, and let that memory replace the one you have chosen to forgive and release. Allow your child to stand free of all past behavior, in your mind, and tell them, on a spiritual level, that they are free to create a new way of being, without guilt or shame for past choices.

Send out, from your heart chakra, a beam of love and light into the room. Ask that this heart energy dissolve the past feelings and to fill the entire room with love.

If you are able to do this, to let the past go, your child will feel the difference. They may want to be home more and, at some point, they may feel safe enough to talk to you about their struggles. Eventually, communication can be opened and healing can begin.

If enough spiritually aware parents could practice this and other forms of energetic healing in the home space, perhaps the 100th monkey effect would create a critical mass for families that would be healing for the planet.