Understanding Evil: A Spiritual Inquiry

Naming the Uncomfortable

Evil is a word many of us shy away from. It feels heavy, unsettling, almost too hard to say out loud. But it’s real — not just a myth or a distant shadow, but something we see and feel in everyday life.

I like to think of evil as distortion of energy: a twisting of our natural life force or psychological drive away from connection, integrity, and flourishing, toward fear, control, or harm. That energy grows when we act without conscience or feed selfish impulses. Even something small — like saying something unkind about a coworker — is a tiny feeding of the “bad wolf.”

Evil as Distortion and Choice

We all have an inner moral compass. Philosophers throughout history — from the Stoics to Aquinas — called it Natural Law. It’s an intuitive sense of right and wrong, a pull toward fairness and empathy. But life erodes this awareness. Trauma, fear, and ego can harden the heart. Even those of us who try to act consciously can slip.

Personally, I practice the pause. Before I speak or act, I ask myself: Is this kind? Is it needed? Am I acting in the highest and best? It’s simple but powerful. I still struggle — gossip is my ongoing challenge. I fail sometimes, but awareness allows me to try again, and that is part of feeding the good wolf. I share this because this journey isn’t about moral perfection. It’s about reflection, awareness, and choice.

The Two Wolves Within

The Cherokee story of the two wolves illustrates this perfectly. One wolf represents love, integrity, and compassion; the other, anger, greed, and selfishness. The wolf that grows is the one we feed.

Daily choices, even tiny ones, determine which wolf gains strength. Pausing before reacting, speaking kindly, listening deeply — these feed the good wolf. Ignoring conscience, acting out of fear or pride — these feed the bad wolf. Awareness lets us see the battle, even when we stumble.

Darth Vader: A Story of Gradual Distortion

Darth Vader shows how someone morally aware can fall into distortion. He wasn’t born evil. Fear, trauma, ambition, and manipulation gradually eroded his connection to what was good. Each choice to prioritize control over conscience amplified negative energy, shaping both his actions and character.

His story is personal but also universal. The same fear and ambition that corrupt an individual can, when shared, corrupt institutions and systems. Vader’s journey shows how evil grows through repeated choices, both inside ourselves and in society.

Systems That Amplify Distortion

Evil isn’t only personal; it can grow collectively. Societies that prioritize fear over reason or control over conscience create fertile ground for negative energy.

Institutions, including some religious organizations, demonstrate this when fear is used to demand obedience, moral questioning is restricted, or hierarchy outweighs conscience. Structures meant to guide toward Spirit can unintentionally amplify distortion if people lose connection to integrity. This is not a condemnation of faith, but a reflection of human choice repeated over time.

Evil as Energy and Action

Evil exists in two forms: energy and action.

• • Energy: You can sense it — a heaviness in spaces dominated by fear, pride, or selfishness.
  • Action: That energy becomes tangible. Acts that betray conscience, exploit others, or harm intentionally are the crystallization of low-vibration energy.

Building on the idea of distortion energy, awareness acts as a counterweight. It gives us the chance to pause, notice, and feed the good wolf instead. Choosing empathy, honesty, or kindness is feeding that wolf, one action at a time.

Our Emotional Response

When I reflect on evil today, I feel a deep, frustrated anger that fuels my call for awareness. It’s not only frustration at repeated human mistakes but also a reminder to examine my own choices.

Sitting with that anger without letting it consume us is essential. Feeling deeply is part of understanding, not judgment. Awareness helps us see how evil manifests both inside ourselves and around us, preparing us to make conscious choices — even when it’s hard.

Questions to Reflect On

• • When have you observed selfish or harmful behavior, and what motivated it?
  • How do fear, ego, or trauma influence actions around you?
  • Where have you seen moral awareness eroded in yourself or others?
  • How does disconnection from Spirit allow negative energy to flourish?
  • Which “wolf” are you feeding most often?

Understanding evil is uncomfortable but necessary. It exists as both energy and action, amplified by human choice and disconnection. Awareness is the first step — the light that reveals distortion and the lens through which we discern our choices. It is the beginning of feeding the other wolf.

In our next exploration together, we’ll look at the antidote: how connection with Spirit strengthens our moral compass, nurtures the good wolf, and creates a personal and collective space where negative energy and harm cannot easily take root.