Don’t Be Fooled!

August 9, 2025 / Lauri Ann Lumby / Leave a comment

Human beings are most vulnerable when afraid. It is when we are afraid that we are most vulnerable to the manipulation of others. Fear causes us to look for something – anything – to help ease our fear – even if what seems to ease our fear is a lie. When afraid, we just want something – anything – anyone – to promise we will be alright. Even when that promise includes something that might cause us harm. The promise might cost us emotionally, mentally, psychologically, physically, and most definitely, financially.

Depending on the magnitude of our fear, we may even be willing to sell our soul.

I have seen the evil that preys on fear at work in our world in a multitude of ways. In truth, it’s everywhere. It’s in the “shaman” that promises to cure your psychosis. It’s in the “influencers” who wave shiny objects in front of us, promising they will make us better, popular, famous, etc. It’s in so-called “reality TV” showing false images of beauty, wealth, status, and fame. It is in snake-oil salespersons promising a cure for cancer, ALS, Parkinson’s, and any other undesired medical diagnosis. It’s in the unsavory fitness and diet gurus promising their way is the only way to weight loss and long life. It’s in an advertising industry that purposefully preys on our fears, promising that their product is the solution to that fear. It’s in anyone speaking from the farthest reaches of the spectrum promising their way is the only right way and that anyone else is wrong.

We are living in a time in which humanity’s fears are at their highest – a world plagued by war, disease (including pandemics), homelessness, poverty, and hunger. The threat of nuclear war feels very much alive. Earthquakes and volcanoes are erupting at unprecedented levels. Our food and water resources have been poisoned. Weather has become increasingly violent. Millions of people recently lost their lives to Covid. A million more are currently facing annihilation under the orders of fascist dictators hiding behind the masks of democracy.

Humanity has good reason to feel afraid. Fear is a natural, human, response to anything that is outside of our realm of control. Fear, however, does not need to destroy us, and it is most certainly not a reason to give ourselves over to the false promises of charlatans, or anyone promising to have the cure for what ails us. Instead, the answer to fear is that which allows us to move through it so that we might return to our center where we can be in touch with – not someone else’s truth – but our own truth. As Frank Herbert wrote in his immortal classic, Dune:

“I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.”
(Bene-Gesserit Litany Against Fear)

When we are afraid, we are vulnerable to the manipulations of those who prey on our fears. When we sit with, move past and through our fear, we are able to return to our original nature of peaceful equilibrium. In this place of inner peace, we will see and know the truth. We are able to see through the masks worn by those seeking to have power over us through our fears. Equally, we are able to distinguish truth from falsehood. In this, we will see clearly those who might be authentic support for us in the face of whatever we are fearing – not by making us dependent upon their lies, but empowered in our own truth. Becoming comfortable with our fear and learning effective tools for being with and moving through those fears, makes us immune to manipulation and unable to be fooled by those who might otherwise seek to cause us harm.

NOTE: Those who are attempting to fool us often believe their intentions are good. Watch out especially for these for not only are they lying to you, they’re lying to themselves.

Authentic Freedom supports you in learning how to identify, heal, and transform fear. In doing so, you are freed to see and know truth, and identify and avoid falsehoods. Buy the book or take the class!

The Ego Trap of Future Thinking

September 16, 2023 / Lauri Ann Lumby / 3 Comments

As human beings we are gifted with an instinctual response to pain. This response urges us to do whatever we can to escape pain. In many cases, this instinctual escape response has saved our lives. It may have caused us to pull our hand away from a flame, to run from a burning building, or to seek shelter in the face of a storm. This instinctual response has proven beneficial when facing life or death situations and has ensured that humanity would endure, despite the hardships of being human.

An important quality of this escape response is that it serves us when danger is imminent. This instinctual response is meant for the present moment only, and was never meant to become part of our ongoing psychology. Animals, for example, experience those moments of fight or flight and then are done with them, free to move about their daily lives with a certain measure of ease. They do what they need to do to obtain nourishment. They sleep. They play. They poop. They mate. They don’t waste their time on worry. As such, they live their lives free of the ongoing obsession with preparing to flee (or fight).

Such is not the case with human beings. Instead, we have been conditioned to exhaust our thoughts and our energies with preparing for possible threat so much so that the present moment itself has become a threat from which we must escape. This is where future thinking has come in.

Future thinking is anything and everything that takes us out of the present moment. (Past thinking does the same thing, but in the opposite direction).

Future thinking arises out of the idea that where we are right now isn’t good enough.

We’re not happy enough. We’re not well enough. We don’t have what we want. We want for more. We’re not pretty enough or skinny enough. We don’t yet own red-soled shoes. We’re lonely. Alone. Afraid. We’re not good enough, rich enough. We aren’t famous. The goal we once set out to accomplish has died on the vine. We haven’t yet met our soulmate. Love has eluded us. We’ve accomplished all we set out to do and we still find ourselves dissatisfied.

Future thinking casts us into the hell of wishing, hoping, dreaming, praying, manifesting, for that which we do not currently have, enforcing the illusion that there is something out there, in the future, that will finally make us happy and ease the pain of being human. Future thinking then causes us to seek outside of ourselves, reach outside of ourselves, throw money at things outside of ourselves that promise to have the secrets to what out there, and in the future, will make us feel better – take away and ease our pain.

Literally every industry is guilty of enforcing future thinking. Education that tells us we will have a meaningful job and abundant wealth after investing thousands on their degree. Healthcare that tells us this treatment will save us, and while there might only be a 0.03% chance of a cure, it will be worth the millions of dollars spent and months of agony for the 0.03% chance we might be cured. Corporations who promise their product will guarantee happiness, make you beautiful, stop the signs of aging, help you lose weight, become cured of … etc. Religion for promising our suffering will be rewarded by a lifetime of happiness in the afterlife or that our prayers will make our circumstances change. Self-help programs which promise wealth and happiness. The Secret and similar new thought programs which tell us our future depends on our good thoughts. Astrology that promises us love and money after x,y,z planet becomes aligned in this perfect way. Psychics who promise better times ahead. Mediums who promise that if we heal the wounds of our ancestors all will be well. Shamans who promise to remove the demon from your second chakra which is blocking your way to wealth. New Age and Ascension practitioners who keep promising if we buy their program, we will receive the codes we need to open our pathways to love, happiness, and wealth.

The key words used in future thinking are: If…then

If you do this, then you will get that. The devil (an outward manifestation of the inner adversary/The Ego), used this trick with Jesus in the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. (Ref Luke 4: 1-14)

“If you turn this bread into stone then you will prove to me you are the son of God.”

“If you worship me, I will give you all these as your kingdom.”

“If you throw yourself down from this parapet you will prove to me God’s words that the angels will pick you up.”

Today’s future thought purveyors are no different. “If you do what we tell you, buy what we are selling, believe as we believe, do as we describe, THEN all your dreams will be fulfilled, and your pain and suffering will come to an end. But the truth is, NONE of these have the power to change the present moment, neither do they have the power to change the human experience.

Pain and suffering are the consequences of being human. So are happiness and joy. It is all part of our human journey and there is absolutely nothing we can do to escape this. There is no magic pill, right thought, or future fantasy that will change the reality of being human.

The key to finding peace and contentment in the human experience has nothing whatsoever to do with the future, and instead has everything to do with being fully present to the NOW. Jesus did not say the kingdom of God was in the future. He said it is in our midst, right here, right now, within and among us (Luke 17:20-21). The NOW is not something to escape. It is something to embrace, allowing ourselves to be fully present to what is right now, instead of wasting our time wishing, hoping, dreaming, fantasizing for a better tomorrow.

Disclaimer: I fully admit to being occupied with future thought myself, throwing my money at future thought purveyors and making future thought promises myself. It’s an ego trap I admit to having fallen into and I am making decisions today that are helping me to unravel from this trap. Join me if you feel so-called.

Wresting Satan

March 16, 2023 / Lauri Ann Lumby / Leave a comment

As much as I believe that Jesus came to realize the truth of Oneness and then sought to teach this to his disciples, including Mary Magdalene who went on to establish her own mystery school teaching the way to love; I am reminded today of the value of perceived separation – especially when it comes to those things outside of us which seek to keep us from the path of our truth.

Satan, meaning adversary, is the representation and embodiment of all that wants to keep us from our original nature as One in love – whether we perceive it as within us or outside of us.

Outside of us, Satan shows up in:

Societal expectations.
Tribal customs and rules.
Worldly ideals which place value on externals – money, power, status, fame, material possessions, etc. etc. etc. over the place of real value which is within.
People who are threatened by our decision to step outside the tiny little box that our religions, communities, political parties, race, gender, orientation, etc. etc. etc. etc. seek to prison us within.
Any individual or structure which seeks to have power and control over another.
People who reject us or our gifts.
Feeling thwarted in the fulfillment of our gifts.

Every single thing which resides outside of us and tempts us to step away from our original inner state of contentment and joy is The Devil and when doing battle with Satan, it is helpful to think of it in this way.

I know, I know….this is the complete polar opposite of what all the new age/new thought/manifestation/secret and abundance people say. They would say, “Everything that is happening outside of you is simply a reflection of what is happening within.” But here’s the deal…..when I think of my own struggles in this way, it makes me feel TERRIBLE. I feel shame. I feel guilty. I feel as if I am a failure and that I have done something wrong. Believing in the idea that the difficulties happening outside of me are because I thought the wrong thoughts or didn’t believe hard enough or didn’t trust God enough or surrender enough, simply triggers my fear of not being perfect. When this fear is triggered, the downward spiral of self-loathing begins. You mean my anxiety is my fault because I don’t trust enough? My fears over money are my fault because I’m not trusting in God? I haven’t found “the one” because I’m not holding my vibration high enough to attract him? Ignatius of Loyola would have had something to say about these so-called theories of “right thought.”

St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491 – 1556) was a pioneer in and became one of the foremost authorities on the process of discernment. In his writings on discernment, he describes two distinct energies – one that reflects the Divine path for us and the other that reflects “the devil.” He calls these energies, respectively, consolation and desolation. If I apply Ignatius’ guidelines for discernment to the idea that what is outside of me is a reflection of the energy I am holding within, I find I have to call it desolation – the energy that represents the mark of Satan. Those things outside of me that are tempting me (which I experience as fear, anxiety, worry, self-loathing, depression) away from my Oneness with God (which I experience as peace and contentment) are the Devil and when I think of them in this way, instead of feeling powerless or despairing, I feel strong, confident and empowered because I know what to do with the Devil outside.

When I know that Satan is hard at work trying to keep me from my path, I know how to respond. I have learned that calling temptation what it is, giving it a name and a face, deprives it of its power. I stand toe to toe with Satan. I look him in the eye. I name him for whom and what he is. I call on Michael the Archangel, Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Archangels Kamael and Tzafkiel, all my ancestors and the communion of saints to surround me and I then proclaim Jesus’ own words when facing his own Satan, “Get behind me Satan.” In this I feel strengthened and am able to return to the path of my truth – the path where I feel fulfilled and where I am at peace.

What tools are you using to confront that which tempts you away from your own natural state of inner peace?

Demon Binding and Banishing

A Seven Step Process for the healing, transformation and release of negative energetic influences.

Nine Instructional Modules

Self-Paced

Moderated Discussion

Learn more and Enroll HERE

The Devil at Your Door

February 4, 2022 / Lauri Ann Lumby / Leave a comment

The Devil at Your Door

The Irish are correct in their habit of holding good news loosely and for being always alert to the shoe that’s sure to drop. That shoe always drops, and good news is often followed by bad. It seems to be the law of the universe. This law has even been given a name – an Irish name at that: Murphy’s Law.

This universal law is also rooted in an often-forgotten spiritual reality.

When we are actively pursuing our spiritual growth and development, there will always be a “devil” knocking on our door. There is truth in the religious saying that “a quiet mind is the devil’s playground,” but not in the way that the religious warn, and definitely not in the way they often prohibit spiritual practices for “fear of the devil.” The devil who is knocking at our door is none other than ourselves – our ego attachments, false perceptions, unhealed wounds, non-loving conditioning, habitual behaviors, fears, and our attachment to the status quo.

Spiritual growth leads to change. The “devil” hates change.

Instead, the “devil” wants us to stay where we are. “He” wants us to remain small and imprisoned by our habits, our attachment to approval, our wounds, and our victimhood. The devil wants us to stay chained to the bars of the cell in which we are living that has been created by our past.

Our Soul, on the other hand, wants us to be FREE.

The Soul drives us to pursue opportunities for healing and growth. The Soul leads us toward the resources and tools we need to transform the pain of our past and to break free of it so we can know our original nature of LOVE and live out of that LOVE. The Soul guides us to those who will help us in this healing and drops gifts into our laps that will assist us along the way.

Every time we say YES to our Soul, the “devil” comes knocking at our door.

The devil shows up with all the weapons of our past wounding. In his arsenal are all the words, experiences, and thoughts that are sure to trigger our past pain and cast us into the hell of confusion, doubt, fear, depression, anxiety, panic, and self-loathing. Self-doubt is the devil’s best work. And yet, there is a gift in this. The devil doesn’t come to cause harm, he comes for the purpose of asking us,

“Are you really sure you want to take this step toward your liberation?”

He then continues with reminders: “Aren’t you really comfortable where you are? Isn’t the known far better than taking the risk toward something you don’t yet know? Aren’t you getting attention and other benefits from staying small? What about the relationships that might have to end because they are solely dependent on you obeying the rules, keeping the peace, and maintaining the status quo? Won’t you miss that familiar pain and self-loathing? Why would you give all that up for the small chance that things could be better? …. And so on….

I have found that many, if not most, give into the devil’s pleadings. They forsake the opportunity for spiritual growth because a) they’re afraid, b) because they don’t have the tools or resources to recognize the true designs of the devil and then do something about it. Freedom from the devil is possible – but only when we have the proper tools to meet him where he is at.

The devil is at home in our fears and unhealed wounds.

When we do the deep inner work of healing and transforming these wounds, the devil no longer has a place to live within us so he moves on in search of others he might torment.

What tools do you have for when the devil comes knocking on your door?

Authentic Freedom is a protocol and practice developed by Lauri Ann Lumby which supports you in identifying and then healing the fears that have kept you imprisoned by your past wounding and cultural conditioning.

Through recorded lessons, reading, discussion, mindfulness and creativity practices, you will be given the tools to identify, heal and transform the fears that:

There is not enough.
You are insignificant and have nothing of value to offer the world.
You cannot live as our most authentic selves.
You are not loved (or that love has to be earned or can be taken away).
You are not free to express our truth.
You do not know the truth.
You are alone.

At the end of this course, you will have the tools to support you in the continued liberation from your fears and the conditioning that has placed them there.

Learn more and register HERE

Authentic Freedom, by Lauri Ann Lumby, transcends centuries of dogma to reveal the powerful and life-changing message at the heart of Jesus’ teachings and the universal truths at the core of every religion. The book’s unique approach offers an opportunity for the reader to heal the separation they feel within themselves, with God and with each other, ultimately revealing the truth of Oneness. Built upon the compelling integration of Eastern Energy Medicine and the 2000-year-old tradition of Christian, contemplative spiritual practices, Authentic Freedom revels a Dynamic and unifying path of spiritual transformation that speaks to people of all traditions and beliefs.

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