Meeting Wetiko: Projection, Possession, and Consciousness

Meeting Wetiko: Projection, Possession, and Consciousness

What drives someone to seek a life without numbing out? This episode of *The Awaken With Alyssa Podcast* takes that question into some pretty wild territory, centring on the idea of **wetiko** – a "contagious, psycho-spiritual disease of the soul" described by author Paul Levy. Alyssa, who has a long history with addiction and recovery, ties wetiko to everyday experiences like projection, blame and compulsive behaviour.

She reads directly from Levy’s work, calling wetiko "a cannibalising force driven by insatiable greed" and then breaks it down in simple, practical language so you’ll see how it might show up in your own life, relationships and even social media habits. For anyone in or curious about recovery, the most striking thread is how addiction is framed as **spiritual hunger**.

Alyssa explains how compulsive patterns "consume our life force" and how, in healing, that same energy can be reclaimed as creativity, purpose and service. She’s clear that the darkness isn’t just a problem to fix: "The magnitude of the darkness often reveals the magnitude of the light trying to emerge." You’ll hear about Jungian shadow work, spiritual bypassing, and how judging others or feeling morally superior can actually make us more vulnerable to the very patterns we condemn.

There’s plenty on discernment versus judgement, entity attachments in shamanic traditions, and why awareness alone isn’t enough without somatic and trauma work. The tone is honest, conversational and occasionally funny (yes, Buffy the Vampire Slayer makes a meaningful appearance), but the message is serious: awareness is medicine, and so is choosing where your precious life force goes each day.

If you’re sober, sober-curious, or working through any kind of compulsion, this episode might have you asking: where is my energy really going, and what do I want it to serve?