English

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Etymology

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karmic +‎ blowback. First use appears c. 2000, although the exact date of its first appearance is uncertain.

Noun

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karmic blowback (uncountable)

  1. (New Age, mysticism, metaphysics, spirituality) An adverse or unfortunate event or occurrence, as a result of an accumulation of past misdeeds.
    • 2000, David Brancaccio, Squandering Aimlessly- My Adventures in the American Marketplace, page 147:
      but I am among the many who walk around completely convinced that a blast of karmic blowback will smite me if I don't do a better job directing my efforts outward rather than inward.
    • 2003, Soka Gakkai International-USA (publisher), Living Buddhism, Volume 7, page 13:
      They're saying we are not connected; in essence, they're ignoring the karmic blowback.
    • 2006, Jessica Murray, Soul Sick Nation, An Astrologer's View of America, page 138:
      What is the karmic blowback for sabotaging the only international peacekeeping body in the world?
    • 2009, Sioux Rose, Moon Dance: the Feminine Dimensions of Time, page 258:
      The U.S. record of imperial hubris calls out for karmic blowback, and it's likely to take shape during Pluto's upcoming opposition to the United States July 4 sun-sign.
    • 2013, Rak Razam, Aya Awakenings - A Shamanic Odyssey, page 259:
      There's an ocean of grief for all involved, for whatever the reason, and the karmic blowback can last a lifetime-or many lifetimes.
    • 2016, Martina Boone, Illusion, page 57:
      Obadiah explained that as a result of casting the Colesworth curse, there'd been some sort of karmic blowback that had fallen back onto his family.
    • 2018, Michael M. Hughes, Magic for the Resistance - Rituals and Spells for Change:
      If you do a binding spell, it is important to bind only the negative or harmful behaviors of your target, otherwise you are verging on more harmful magic with greater potential to generate psychic or karmic blowback.
    • 2023, T. R. Johnson, New Orleans - A Writer's City, page 243:
      The scene for this karmic blowback is south Louisiana, some two dozen miles below New Orleans in the wetlands around Houma.
    • 2024, Mark Clegg, The Crimson and Gold - Football and Integration in Athens, Georgia:
      In more than a touch of karmic blowback, African American attorney Horace Ward - who had been denied admission to Georgia's law school in the 1950s - was part of the legal team supporting Hunter and Holmes in their successful federal lawsuit against UGA.

See also

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