Alchemy’s Mysterium Coniunctionis: Union of Opposites

Carl G. Jung found that his archetypal studies–whereby he personally engaged in active imagination to engage with his ‘persona archetype’ figures within his own personal unconscious domain–could be linked to Alchemy.  Just as alchemists aimed to combine or mix chemical elements to produce a higher order of integration metaphorically described as the process of creating gold out of lead, archetypal psychology or Depth Psychology as Jung referred to his process aims to explore the character or properties of one’s internalized archetypal persona forms so as to integrate them into a greater harmony within the mature, individuated Self (or, Soul). Jung called the ‘sacred marriage’ of integrated archetypes within the Self, or more ultimately, of Self with ‘Divinity’ , a Mysterium Conjunctionis:

Likewise Joseph Cambpell, writing of the Hero Cycle we all undergo time and again as we work through our self-developmental passages within our individual Story, speaks of the ‘sacred marriage’ as “the Ultimate Boon” (in The Hero with A Thousand Faces ([Bollingen, MJF Books, 1949], pg 190) :

“The agony of breaking through personal limitations is the agony of spiritual growth. Art, literature, myth and cult, philosophy, and ascetic disciplines are instruments to help the individual past his limiting horizons into spheres of ever-expanding realization. As he crosses threshold after threshold, conquering dragon after dragon, the stature of the divinity that he summons to his highest wish increases, until it subsumes the cosmos.”

I would say that self-transcendence is a universal goal of any healthy, life affirming spiritual being (human, animal, and really ALL life forms).  We seek GROWTH, greater wisdom, maturity, and higher degrees of integration as we face our ‘dragons’ or challenges.  Life brings this opportunity, time after time, to expand our consciousness through more and more purified forms.

Of course, this self-growth can become stunted or aberrated; that is when we may seek a depth analysis to ‘sort out’ the difficulties and resolve them.  Archetypal psychology can be highly effective in helping us come to know ourselves better and to identify and resolve inner conflicts.  I will be presenting some simple techniques anyone can use in this pursuit in my upcoming book, Your Life Path, including an Archetype Dialogue Practice.  (See my sample PRACTICE technique, below!)

Can YOU relate to the principle of a ‘sacred marriage’ of opposites or of how unifying otherwise disparate  elements of your own personality characteristics has helped you sometimes to transcend inner conflicts or to resolve difficult choices? Think of the Devil-on-one-shoulder-and-Angel-on-the-other metaphor; have you ever become aware of such a duality in your consciousness? Which ‘side’ did you most listen to or act upon?

What would happen if you were to hear both nudges and put them in conversation with one another and with your higher Self? You can actually do this, quite naturally:

PRACTICE: A Dynamic Archetype Dialogue Technique

Think of a situation about which you feel a “divide” in your feelings or thoughts about that choice or situation. With active imagination, visualize each ‘side’ of your opposing internal perspectives as persons (personify them within your imagination).  Then let them speak with one another, and you as Self can either observe or take part in the conversation. Then (or as it is happening), journal about or write out this dialogue directly.  Aim for your opposing Parts-of-Self to arrive at some degree of mutual understanding and agreement to find a compromise that may help you to move forward and make a better decision than you might have had you acted on only one or another side of this polarity.

images are from pixabay.com

I welcome YOUR Comments and Stories!

DESCENDER Dreams, Part One

Have you had significant, memorable dreams where either you are in a dark or “lower” space such as in a basement or valley or the lower level of some house or structure, or where someone else who is a main character in your dream is in such a “lower” or “deep” space? This may be your DESCENDER Persona archetype (part-of-Self). Pay attention and you may learn something important from this often ‘submerged’ facet or energy within your Psyche.

My DESCENDER dreams often include a young girl, around 10 or 12, who inhabits a lower level of a tri-level house (interestingly my favorite kind of home; I live in one now and sleep in the lower level!).  I have learned to tune in to engage in conversation with my Little Linda part-of-Self, as I call Her.  She embodies my quiet side that would rather stay in the lower, shaded regions rather than have too much concourse with the public or other people in formal sorts of situations. She may be that facet of my Self that most suffers situational anxiety when it comes to ‘professional’ social gatherings.  I embrace this part of myself as a vital and important aspect of my identity. I go to Her in active imagination for  ‘Archetype dialogue’ conversation rather than requiring Her to come to the surface, though sometimes She does reveal Herself in our more conscious experience. She loves to walk along a lake or through a path in the woods, and she is a great companion when I am otherwise alone with my dog Sophie and feline Loki and Emily Friends.

Please be assured, I am not encouraging nor will recognizing your Archetypal Personas stimulate any sort of dissociative mental or psychological condition such as schizophrenia or Multiple Personality Disorder.  In fact, as William James wrote about at the turn of the 20^th Century, we are indeed all of us “multiple” as an archetypal assembly of sub-identities integrated by the superordinate Self, and in fact it is those who have not allowed their diverse archetypal character modes to be well attended to or integrated who may be more susceptible to ‘splits.’ You can easily tell the difference between an archetypal part-of-Self persona and a dissociated “voice”: archetypal elements within your Total Self System ARE YOU and feel naturally to be a point of view that is part of your Self perspective or outlook, though they may represent various sub-selves or distinct outlooks, see?  Jung, Hillman, Myss, Houston, Pearson, Campbell and many other archetypal psychologists have well described the archetypal landscape of the archetypal Unconscious.

So, Dream! Allow your various parts-of-Self Personas including your DESCENDER to manifest in your dreams so you can encounter and engage with them. You will learn more about your Self from understanding their viewpoints and feelings.

images are from pixabay.com

I welcome and invite your comments and stories. Have you had a DESCENDER dream?

What Really Is Love, Part Two: If I could live but only in the Moment

 

From my Lover archetype persona:

You asked me the other day while driving back from helping a friend pack and move, “What Really Is Love?” I reminded you of that movie, “The Man Eating Tiger,” that we saw on late night TV decades ago. That film had the right idea. When we love we wish only the best for the beloved. “Love is not a matter of belief but demonstration,” as expressed in a book I love by Paul Twitchell called Stranger By The River.

When we were a teenager you formed the impression (from Me) that “Love is Love.”  There is no true separation between one “form” of love and another. Family, Friends, Pet Companions, Colleagues, Students, Partners, God, Soul, Inner Master: the love we feel for each and all of these, as it is Love, is the same. Love is the essence and breath of divinity Itself. Love is the Life Force of creation, what you call as an ECKist the Audible and Visible Life Current.

images are from pixabay.com

You thought of love then (still from Me) as a “place” rather than an emotion; as a state of consciousness superseding all others! Remember Dylan’s line: “I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now”? We were wiser, then, about love. Now you may need to relearn all of this.

Love=Love means you do not need any other to ‘bring’ love or to feel whole. Love is who you ARE; so be Love! Be a vehicle for love to flow out into your world everyday in every way, never asking for anything in return.

 

 

See Your Golden Child in the Mirror

Here’s a fun technique for bolstering your self-image: See Your Golden Child archetype (part of Self) in the Mirror!  Your Golden Child is that part of you that is bright and outgoing, full of charm and generosity in (her/his) most positive expression.

Look your Golden Child in the eyes in your mirror (outwardly or inwardly).  Notice her or his shining expression and gleaming smile, maybe with a bit of mischief in the eyes. Let her or him speak to you, too. What is your Golden Child telling you? What is s/he asking you to do TODAY in order to allow this important facet of your Self to express itself through your thoughts, words and actions?

Feel free to print this post out and write out a dialogue with your Golden Child in the Mirror space below. Just as an example, here is a brief version of my own Mirror Conversation with my Golden Child today:

GC:   I SEE YOU!

LW:  Ahah, I remember that from Finding Dory and from Avatar too.

GC:  But, do you get it?

LW:  Sure, “I SEE You!” And since you are ME, too—

GC: Well, a “part” of You as you soooo like to say—

LW: OK, as you are an important part of US, thank you for Seeing Me, and for Being Here!

GC:  Go get’em Tiger!

pictures are from pixabay.com

LW:  Excuse me?

GC: You know what I am saying, now FEEL IT. BE IT. The Bengal Tiger you were when we were on the Buff State Fencing Team, right?

LW:  You were with me a lot back then…

GC: You bet I was/am! Time is an Illusion, remember? So, ET LA! EXHALE! LUNGE!!!

   I invite you to write YOUR OWN Golden Child dialogue or affirmation in the MIRROR:

Your Artist’s Day at the Roundtable

We have been using Arthur’s Roundtable as a metaphor for integrating your own archetypal persona Ensemble Cast.  These parts of Self—which I am presenting as prototypically twelve primordial archetype forms based on Dr. Charles and Nin Bebeau of the former Avalon Archetype Institute—each have a vital role to play in connection with your own recurring Life Themes and your life’s Mission.

The ARTIST as an archetypal Ally is a very important persona, regardless of your career.  Let’s imagine it is your ARTIST’s DAY at Arthur’s Roundtable. Invite your Inner Artist to step up to be celebrated. Allow your Artist to express herself or himself to the rest of the Twelve.

Does your Artist have a name? What is that name, to you? Ask your Artist to speak about or to otherwise express (draw? create  a mandala or a collage? write a poem about?) her/his current interests, goals and concerns about your life overall as a Total Self System. Dialogue in your journal, if you like, with your Artist persona.

As an example of how you along with the rest of your Ensemble Cast might engage your Artist in dialogue, I’ll demonstrate a brief Roundtable conversation with my own Artist Ally:

L: Welcome, Artist! We celebrate you this evening at the Roundtable. Is there a name by which you might like to be called?

Artist: Sedona.

Communicator: Oh! Well that’s interesting; why Sedona?

Artist: Remember the Sedona Life Magazine? That was me who put pictures from that magazine on your wall the year before we moved to Arizona. I helped us all to ENVISION the Beauty of Arizona to help us to make that Big Move.

Mystic: So, Sedona, why do you remind us of this now?

Artist: We are ready to envision the next stage of our Journey. 

L: Maybe we should call you Chautauqua, then?

Artist: No, I am still your Sedona.  What did Sedona mean to you?

L:  It was an Ideal, a deep Inspiration,  a Goal to arrive at that at the time represented a major undertaking. Thank you for helping us to Ground our Vision in that way.

Idealist: We need that again, don’t we?

Mystic: You mean, more of an inspiration?

Idealist: Yes. Lately Linda, we know you have become a little worried about your overall retirement picture. I feel it in my Shadow nature. You are losing some of your self-confidence about what we will be doing in retirement.

L: Yes, I feel like I have pinned a lot on something that might not manifest as we most wish it would.

Mystic: But whatever comes about, we will forge and continue with our spiritual quest; of that you can be sure.

Artist: It will be a timespace full of Beauty. Hozhoni, as a Navajo might say!

L: I need your help in this, Sedona.

Artist: I will be there with you; I am always.

L: What can I do to reinforce this positive Vision of our future fulfillment in connection with our coming Big Move?

Artist: Take many pictures while enjoying your upcoming, interim road trip Home—Home to where we will be living next. Enlarge and maybe frame some of these: the Lake, the Hills, Boats, smiling People; your Sister, Mother, and special places that catch your attention.

L: Thanks!

******   ******

images from pixabay.com

So, now it’s Your Turn! Enjoy

I welcome your Comments and Stories!

Integrating Your Elder Leader

 

This year for the final post every month let’s focus on INTEGRATING the Archetype of the month within your Ensemble Cast of Archetype Allies. Your archetypal persona parts of Self function best in dynamic interaction with one another within what I like to call your Total Self System. This harmonizes their various energies to bring a greater balance to your perspective and more depth to your thoughts and creative expression.

Consider your Elder Leader mode with respect to your overall  presentation of Self. Acting alone, this archetypal role persona can be overbearing or rigid. Yet tempering this focus by integrating it with other archetypal energies such as the Nurturer, the Healer, the Lover or the Artist can bring a much more dynamic and brilliant approach, a multidimensional depth to your leadership style.

To help you integrate your Elder Leader, think about a leadership role that you occupy either as a parent or at your work or in your social or spiritual group. Is there a plan of action you are intending to implement from your leadership stance? How might your plan of action or a leadership decision you may face benefit from taking multiple internal (and external) archetypal perspectives “to Heart”?

The list below represents The Twelve primary persona Archetype modes that are universal to human consciousness.  For each of these, I invite you to contemplate and write down how each might contribute to your plan of action, then write out a unified account of how you might utilize these various perspectives in implementing your leadership strategy for the situation you are facing. In italics just as exemplar statements I’ll model the practice but I encourage you to try this one yourself!

 

The Situation requiring a plan of action:  Acquiring some needed resources for my department.

Contributing archetypal input (abbreviated):

ELDER LEADER:  Draft  a formal  request specifying needs and itemizing costs.

NOURISHER: Discuss needs with department faculty and staff, collecting their input.

WARRIOR: Identify benefits for the group and establish a strategic, logical argument explicating needs.

LOVER: Compromise where possible to temper your request in relation to the needs and feelings of people in other departments.

IDEALIST: Reach for the highest! Don’t settle for less than what is truly needed for all concerned.

ARTIST:  Design your presentation to be well organized and clear, to shine.

GOLDEN CHILD: Be assertive in order to be generous, taking everyone you represent into full consideration. Envision abundance and deliver that.

DESCENDER: Consider deeply what the true needs are versus frills, and prioritize. Consider carefully before proceeding.

TEACHER: Demonstrate the key elements of your needs assessment clearly.

COMMUNICATOR: Write carefully to frame the request effectively.

HEALER: Aim to present how the needed elements can improve/ repair the capacity of the department to better fulfill its role for students and will benefit the whole system.

MYSTIC: Use wisdom, not just knowledge; approach this process wholly.

Dynamic Plan of Action: Gather input from faculty members and develop a well considered list of needs. Frame the request carefully and deliver it effectively and with wisdom.

images from pixabay.com

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN! Try this for yourself!

I welcome your comments and stories.

Discover Your Descender Archetype

I started this blog officially on November 15, 2013, so I will complete this yearly round of topics on Nov. 14 of this month; after that I will introduce a whole new process and set of topics for the next year. For November, then, let’s come full circle to focus on the Archetype of the DESCENDER pairing with the metaphor Life Is…A Golden Opportunity.

DESCENDER is one of my primary ensemble cast members as a beloved Archetype Ally. As described by archetypal psychologist Debra Breazzano, Descender is an “Archetype of transformation through death and life/rebirth.” Its Mission is “to honor the descent process and embrace transformation of Self.”

Life is indeed a Golden Opportunity, and your Descender can help you discover its deepest possibilities for you.

A good way to tune into your Descender perspective is through active imagination that involves an imagistic form of descent itself. Imagine sinking DOWN  into a subterranean chamber or a cave, or even under water. Imagine there a semi-darkened space, with just enough illumination to see by. Find an image of your Descender there; what does he or she look like to you?

Start a conversation. I will model the process here:

L: Hello! I have come to visit with you. What would you like me to call you?

D: I live in your shadows, so you can call me Shade, if you wish.

L:  That reminds me of the shade of a large oak tree.

D: Okay. I can see that.

L: Let’s sit under a shaded tree then to converse. Would that be okay?

{Tree appears, and she: (darker hair, more slim, taller than me) sits down beside me in the grass. The space around us is dim, mainly we have the focus just around us in a luminescent glow.}

D: Why are you here? What would you ask of me?

L: I guess I’d like to ask about what happened with you yesterrday, when you cried out in frustration while I was fighting a cold and with my body aching generally, that we/I had “hit a wall”?

D: That was a waking dream when you walked into that glass wall at the seminar–at the turnaround door at the hotel– Nothing is an accident, remember?

(I did hit my forehead two weekends ago at a hotel. I’m still bruised across the forehead.)

L: Are you saying you led me to bump into into that door?

D: No, that wasn’t me. But it did wake me up! Everything takes SO LONG lately with you, with us, now in this lifetime.  I am tired of waiting — waiting — waiting, and for what? Will it ever really matter? What difference does all of this work make? Is there anything around the bend or just more of the same, always?

L: Those are worthwhile questions and I am glad you are bringing them forth, Shade. On one hand I figure patience is a big lesson here. But maybe there is a way to step things up, too.

D: Maybe talk to our Communicator about that.

L: OK, I will. I just want you to know I do care about your feelings. Thanks for expressing them and let’s stay connected!

 

******   ******

Archetype Dialogue can help you understand your own motivations and inner conflicts. Tune in any time!

I welcome your insights and stories of your own experiences.

 

 

Listen to Your Golden Child

This week we have been exploring together (thanks for all of your insightful comments!) qualities associated with the GOLDEN CHILD Archetype, both as an inner Archetype Ally within your personal unconscious cast of characters and as manifesting in some of your loved ones or others in your life.

Let’s take some time to ask ourselves, “What is my GOLDEN CHILD asking of me Now?”

Some of us are reticent to fully express our Golden Child archetypal potentials most of the time; our sense of “humility” might hold us back from possibly seeming brash or extraverted as much as a fully expressing Golden Child aspect could be.  But listen closely: If you could give full voice to YOUR Golden Child nature, what would it like to say or ask of you, Now?

Let me try briefly as a model (only); I invite you to do this yourself, either in an active imagination/ contemplation mode or through direct Archetype Dialogue journaling.

LW: Okay, GC, I am wanting to check in with you to see if you have anything you have been wanting to share with me/Us directly. Is there anything you want me to be saying or doing at this time that I am not expressing as well or as fully as you would like? You are my Ally and I trust you to speak forth as you desire!

GC:  Well then, that’s a welcome invitation. Are you telling me I could have full rein to speak my heart?

LW: Yes, absolutely.

GC: Hand me that mike, then! Ok…hmmm…ahem (clearing the throat, pausing to consider deeply)… First, about the book….Don’t hold back! It is ready to be launched; the new titles I’ve been helping you with yesterday and today are better, stronger, more clear. “Don’t hide your light under a bushel,” remember? And “Behold the turtle; s/he makes progress only when s/he sticks her neck out!”

LW: I hear you; these are two platitudes you have reminded me of since childhood! What else?

[Incubation throughout the day; including active contemplation before the rest…]

GC: As for the other issue we are being confronted with today…

LW: Work related?

GC: Yep. Don’t let this person take further advantage of your “good nature.” Don’t be milquetoast, got it? He will eat you up!

LW: I do know I must refuse to be codependent with an addictive personality.

GC: Then act, strongly.

LW: What would you say?

GC: {I choose not to publish this section; GC provided strong advice on how to confront a pressing personnel issue; advice I intend to follow through with.}

…  

LW: Wow…well, Okay then. Thanks!

GW: Any time. Remember to ACT!

******   ******

So then, I invite you to check in with your own GOLDEN CHILD, either as an unconscious archetypal outlook or converse with someone in your life who is not shy about expressing their helpful viewpoints!

I invite and always welcome YOUR Comments and Stories.

 

Open Mike

So are you clear about what I mean when referring to your own Archetype Allies? These are your at least partly submerged or unconscious “parts of Self” that compose aspects or facets (like alternative “faces”) of your personality. As a cultural anthropologist I would say that you develop some archetypal potentials rather than others as you acquire ROLE IDENTITIES.  For example, in romantic relationships you may develop your LOVER archetypal potentials; as a doctor you may draw upon the HEALER archetype; or as a writer you are likely to express the universal archetypal potentials of a COMMUNICATOR.

Still in all, while everyone has the potential for expression of all twelve of the universal or primordial classes of Archetypal Persona forms (see the wheel below, based on Dr. Charles and Nin Bebeau of the Avalon Archetype Institute), most of us will express some of these as dominant modes versus others, and the form of expression will vary based on your situational experience and other personality factors.

An approach I work with a lot myself and encourage through coaching via the Life Maps Process that I will be presenting in the upcoming book, Life Paths, is a technique I call Archetype Dialogue practice. One stage of this process I call “Open Mike.” To get to know some of your archetypal dispositions or members of your “ensemble cast of Archetypal characters,” you can simply contemplate upon a topic that is meaningful to you, perhaps a question involving an upcoming decision or a possible transition in your life, or a goal.  “Sink into a reverie” sort of state; that is, allow yourself to “descend” to a subconscious awareness level, and invite your archetypal subselves to speak out in their distinctive voices or from various of your own dynamically complex points of view or attitudes.

You can also invite any one of your archetypal allies to step up to the “open mike” about a topic of relevance to its specific outlook. Since we are closing this month’s focus on the COMMUNICATOR archetype in association with the metaphor of Life is Heeding the Call to Realize Your Dream, I invite you to call upon your unconscious COMMUNICATOR persona one more time. Invite the COMMUNICATOR aspect of your Self to speak up about a topic relating to your own Life Dream or a significant GOAL. You can engage your COMMUNICATOR inwardly via active imagination and then record your experience in your journal or as a story, or you can directly transcribe a dialogue with your COMMUNICATOR in a dialogic writing mode.

Allow me to briefly exemplify from the perspective of calling forth my own COMMUNICATOR persona:

LW:  So are you there, Communicator? What shall I call you?

C: Call me what you wish, I do suppose. I am quite adaptible, after all. How do you wish for me to express myself Now?

LW: In your Writer mode, I guess, for Open Mike.

C: About what topic, then?

LW: The upcoming meeting with our Agent.

C: But of course.  I would emphasize how important it is for us to be clear with her and to LISTEN VERY WELL. Communication is a two-way street, and this is a rare, golden opportunity for you and for all of us, to Listen and to Learn.

LW: I hope this meeting can result in the project going forward, the proposal being sent out soon.

C: Yes, but please do let the Moment reveal its own potentials. Trust in Spirit; have faith in your inner as well as your outer guidance to reveal what is needed of us next as stewards of the book’s most effective emergence into publication.

LW: The faith of the mustard seed, do you mean?

C: Or of the Acorn, as we have talked about previously with our MYSTIC Ally.

LW: So, why the Acorn?

C: Acorn has within its seed nature the capacity to grow into a mighty Oak, its roots descending deeply into the nurturant Mother Earth while its branches reach far upwards toward the Heavens.

LW: You took that metaphor from Stranger by the River by Paul Twitchell.

C: Indeed, yes I did! But I added the Seed metaphor, as you have been thinking about how the life mapping Tools are also seeds.

LW: Beautiful! Okay then, together here we go…

C: We are Multiple, yet together we are One!

******   ******

I welcome YOUR insights and stories!

(As I am traveling, my next post for this site will be on Tuesday to begin our new monthly cycle.

P.S.: The meeting went well !!!)

Your Communicator as Writer

A writer is first and foremost a Communicator, so being an author is an archetypal profession. What archetypal forms of the Writer/Communicator do you draw upon in composing your manner of writing?

Some authors might emulate the communicative style of a well known writer whose works they admire. This can help initially to establish a narrative “voice”; however, ultimately your own unconscious Communicator, as your archetype Ally, can more genuinely articulate your unique point of view.

What are you passionate about? Draw from that. Allow your inner Communicator persona to express through your writing your most authentic Self.

 

Consider then how you can tune into your Communicator part of Self. Archetypal Dialogue is a simple way to connect. Simply imagine your Communicator archetype ally as an individual point of view within your unconscious makeup. Establish a conversation, either by active imagination or via direct journaling, alternating between your conscious and this usually subconscious perspective.

I welcome your insights and stories!

Avril, My Inner ARTIST

I highly recommend “archetype dialogue” as a fun, dynamic mode of active imagination and/or journaling. It can help you to meet &  greet your own usually unconscious ensemble cast of archetypal personas that are very important facets of your own Self! Just as an example of how freeform yet deep-reaching and energizing an informal practice of archetypal tuning in and dialogue can be, allow me to model the approach by engaging in conversation with my own ARTIST Ally.

The process is simple. Relax and invite your archetypal cast of characters or one of them in specific to engage in dialogue. Allow yourself to shift between consciousness states naturally. It may help to consider how dominant archetypes are associated with role personas you occupy. Shift attention to a situational mode in which you normally ‘channel’—as it were; or, enact—the archetypal viewpoint you wish to engage with (e.g., if you are a teacher, the Teacher archetype, or as a Parent, the Nourisher or the Elder Leader archetype). In this dialogue your core conscious persona—“you” as your normal subjective self, or Soul—will usually remain the interviewing or initiating narrator.

So, to begin:

L:            What may I call you?

A:           I am April; you know: lw/avril !

L:            Oh, well that is lovely then. It makes sense!

A:           Tell the story for your blog post; I’ll help…

L:            Well, okay. When I was in college in Buffalo I had an amazing mentor who was a Philosophy professor, Toni (Antoinette) Mann Paterson. She became a good friend. While she was first getting to know me as a student, through a Creative Studies program she was helping facilitate one semester, Toni asked me one day:

“What is your name?”

“Linda,” I answered, bemused because she already knew that.

“No, it’s not! I mean, what is your REAL name?”

“(Long pause)… … April?”

“Yes, That’s it! You don’t feel to me like a Linda, at all. Now April, that name suits you.”

L:            Okay, so the name April for me actually goes back to when I was around 7 or 8. My older brother told me I was an orphan. He used the fact that my Mom had lost my birth certificate to convince me I had been adopted. Since I was smaller than my siblings and always felt somewhat an awkward child, it was not hard for me to believe my brother’s ruse. I came up then with the alternate name of April from a little girl down the street who often played on a trampoline in her yard. Having the name of a month appealed to my sense of difference; especially “April”.

A:           It was me who was the author of the artistic aspects of your journaling then, when you signed lw/avril !

L:            So you were!

A:           I wrote poetry, and invented your “Foto” scapes practice of describing scenes with words as you would use a “Camera Obscura”…

L:            The name of one of our journals!  I—or we, then—journalled constantly back then—filling some 20 journals in the first four years of college. Thanks for that! I have always thought of my journal as a Friend; I guess that is, in part, you!

A:           And our Inner Guide, too, the Mahanta.

L:            Absolutely.

A:           So then, what has been the value to you of our journaling?

L:            It has never ended; this very conversation and this blog are extensions of our never-ending alliance!

A:           C’est bon! Oui, Oui, mon Amie!

—lw / Avril

 

******   ******

I invite and welcome YOUR insights and stories!

Conversation with a Warrior—In You!

Here are some questions I invite you to answer AS your Warrior within. To do this, it may help to sit in a quiet space and sink into a reverie. Imagine a space where you can converse with that part of yourself you can call a Warrior. This is a champion, a protector, or a pathfinder sort of persona.  You might wish to copy and print out the following prompts as an opener to your “archetype dialogue”. Your Warrior is an Ally, so this is an opportunity to connect with this positive potential.

Hello, Warrior, how are you doing?

W:

 

How do you like to be called?

W:

 

What concerns have you had lately?

W:

 

What do you find to be a worthy cause?

W:

 

How do you prefer to fight for a cause?

W:

 

What do you defend against or protect us from in our life?

W:

 

What was one time when you were most active in our life? What happened and what did you do?

W:

 

When can I call upon you and how would you like me to do that?

W:

 

How can you help to achieve our Life Dream?

W:

 

How can I help you?

W:

 

What do you need from me?

W:

 

Please let me know when I can help you!

Dialogue with a Mystic: In You!

Archetype Dialogue can be a helpful tool for gaining greater self-awareness and clarity about any topic in your life about which you feel uncertain or in conflict. Where should you go for your spring vacation? Or, should you date that person? Take that new job? Make a change, and of what kind? Checking in with members of your unconscious ensemble cast of archetype Allies can help you to expose aspects of your own suppressed attitudes, feelings and motivations.

You can enter into Archetype Dialogue any time; in fact, we all do it naturally many times daily when we slip into “inner dialogue.” But when you consciously tune into your subconscious attitudes or conflicting outlooks on some topic or decision, you benefit from expanding your understanding of your own inner character modes and their considerations. Bottom line, you get to LISTEN to parts of your Self you might otherwise suppress or ignore.

As we are pairing the Mystic archetype with the metaphor Life is an Epic Quest this week, why don’t you take some time to ASK your Inner Mystic about the path you are on with some aspect of your life. What direction shall you go to maximize your Bliss or your goals with that leg of your journey of life?

Allow me to model this sort of archetype dialogue, briefly. I invite you to engage your own Mystic. You might begin with active imagination or contemplation (see Tuesday’s post). Then record a direct dialogue from your contemplative encounter.

(Self):  What is our next step, Mystic Lindy?

M: Do you mean regarding your writing?

S: Yes.

M: Stay the course.

S: Are we sure about that?

M: Absolutely.

S: But am I on the right track with this major revision? Is there more I still need to consider?

M: One small step at a time, but you are on the right track. Continue to remove all obstacles to the reader’s comprehension. Ask more of the reader.

S: How do you mean?

M: You can ask more direct questions for journaling reflections, not only in the “Tools” but throughout the narrative.

S: What kinds of questions, do you mean?

M: ‘Have you had a recurring form of Animal dream? What do you feel that animal reveals about you?’ OR: ‘If you were an animal, which animal would you be? Why? (Please complete Chapter x, # y before continuing.)’

S: I see. So we could spice up the Tool invitation boxes this way?

M: It is a way to interact, not just describe.

S: Thanks! I will use that. Anything else?

M: Trust.

S: But what if (you know)?

M: What waking dreams or golden-tongued wisdom have you perceived recently?

S:  That everything is fine.

M: Stay the course.

S: Thank you so much!

Continue to dialogue with your Mystic Ally so long as It continues to  advise you on your question. Know that It is always available to you.

I welcome YOUR insights and stories.

 

 

The Oak in the Acorn

A primary tool I will be offering with the upcoming book Life Paths is the Archetype Dialogue Practice. This approach lets you use active imagination and journaling to engage directly with your unconscious archetypal parts-of-Self (personae) so you can get to know these ever present aspects of your own Self and so you can enlist the Strengths of your archetypal cast as Allies in the pursuit of your most integral goals or Life Dream.

The process of active imagination has been well described and exemplified by Carl Jung.  Wikipedia explains:

 As developed by Carl Jung between 1913 and 1916, active imagination is a meditation technique wherein the contents of one’s unconscious are translated into images, narrative or personified as separate entities. It can serve as a bridge between the conscious ‘ego’ and the unconscious and includes working with dreams and the creative self via imagination or fantasy. Jung linked active imagination with the processes of alchemy in that both strive for oneness and inter-relatedness from a set of fragmented and dissociated parts. This process ultimately resulted in the Red Book.

A simple method for engaging in active imagination yourself to explore or to meet & greet some of your own archetypal energies (or, synergies) is simply to close your eyes and imagine going down into a subterranean cave or down a set of stairs where your archetypal sub-selves can meet with you. Use this or another active contemplation technique to encounter or to observe these aspects of your psyche, then when you return to your usual conscious awareness, as if waking from a meaningful dream, you can record what you experienced or learned. You can also use any artistic media to represent this encounter or what you have learned from it.

I find it easy after long practice with this approach to simply “shift down” to a subconscious perspective and to journal a dialogue directly with my own archetypal aspects. It is important to be receptive and allowing; create an internal environment of acceptance and offer a safe space for the dialogue to occur. Note that the ‘voices’ you will encounter will feel naturally to be aspects of yourself; they are not external ‘entities’ (you can discontinue your session if these voices do feel external). You will know you are ‘in the zone’ when the alternating perspectives in your dialogue feel inwardly to be authentic and clearly distinct parts of Self.

So for this week’s pairing of Idealist archetype traits with the metaphor of life as a Long and Winding Road, allow me to demonstrate, and I invite you to encounter your own “inner Idealist”, too. Remember that your archetypal personae might manifest either as masculine or feminine images and they might present in either Strength (positive) or in Shadow (repressed or feeling suppressed) modalities.

LW: Calling Doña Jeanne [a combination of a female Don Quixote and Joan of Arc!; I  used to address my fencing foil by this name]; come in, Doña!

DJ: We like how you animated and personified your blade in this way; ‘et la!’ we would say…

LW: Thanks. How are you doing these days?

DJ: We—Let’s say I—am always available. I wish lately you would allow me and the rest of us to shed light on why it is so important for you to maintain your trust, your faith. It is one thing to claim a faith but quite another to demonstrate the ‘faith of the mustard seed’, remember?

LW: Or of the Acorn?

DJ: Tell the story; have you ever found its message for you?

LW: Ok… One of my greatest mentors, Antoinette Paterson (Toni), loved oak. All her furniture, mostly from Salvation Army stores around Buffalo, NY, was made of oak. She once showed her young son an acorn while under an oak tree in a park, saying to him, “There is God!”

DJ: And the meaning, dear?

LW: I have always figured she meant that the Acorn, as the seed of the great Oak it will grow into, is a manifestation of the divine principle of Creation. Isn’t that the message?

DJ: But there is more, much more.

LW: What else then?

DJ: The Acorn IS GOD, as God IS the essence of Everything and No-thing—the Alpha and the Omega; Yin and Yang; beginning and goal achieved; inner and outer; Spirit and form; Sea and Foam. Do you see?

LW: I like the sea and foam image.

DJ: It is no metaphor. It Just IS! From out of the Formless, Form emerges. Then and Now, Once and Forever, IS. What does this imply for you?

LW: I look into the Acorn to see therein the Oak in full expression. It is not now and later but it is One. The Oak already exists in the Acorn. Is that what you mean?

DJ: Can you apply this to your recent displays of frustration and impatience?

LW: You mean re. the arduous, nebulous publishing process?

DJ: How can you bring about the bend in the Road you desire?

LW: By focusing on the End achieved.

DJ: No!

LW: By further editing?

DJ: Not even!

LW: Hmm…just by allowing the process to be already complete from within?

DJ: Indeed.

LW: So when I dreamed last week that several large boxes of books were ready for delivery…

DJ: Precisely! On the Inner first; the Outer is a reflection. “All creation is finished in the lower worlds.” (Paul Twitchell)

LW: So trust, allowance, acceptance!

DJ: Love is All! Love is the acorn is the oak and all its roots and branches and leaves. Even its corpse is Love.

LW: Thank you.

DJ: God Bless!

LW: God bless you too, with Love.

 ******   ******

I invite you to your own Idealist dialogue. I welcome all your insights and stories!

Elder Leader as Pathfinder: Change It Up!

On Sunday I blogged about Chefs as Elder Leaders bringing about a new fusion of cultural traditions in our globalizing world. Reflecting further on this theme, “change it up!” comes into focus as a statement about personal growth.

The Elder Leader archetype is a harbinger and often an agent of change. When you become too settled into established routines or habits, beliefs and attitudes, you can always call upon your archetypal Leader persona to set you forth in a new direction. This is because Leaders are Pathfinders. They are not content to stay in a situation that feels stuck or stultifying for very long. When you do resist change or feel hampered by limiting conditions, your Leader might “submerge” and cause a feeling of dissatisfaction—that is a Shadow leader trait—or else it will seek a new direction and set your course in the direction of exploration or, at least, envisioning a future set of possibilities.

I have been feeling somewhat impatient or hedged in about my own creative development lately. I have been getting plenty of things “done” to fulfill my responsibilities, yet now that some of these projects are completed I see a break in the “busy-ness” cloud and I have become more aware of what I wish would be happening beyond my day-to-day routines and workload. So it is a good time to enter into Archetype Dialogue:

LW: Calling Elder Leader; come in, please!

EL: Very funny. Watts’ up, Doc?

LW: Very funny in return!

EL: Droll perhaps, but hardly funny really. What can I do for you?

LW: I feel stymied.

EL: What is it you are wishing for?

LW: Are you my Genie in a Bottle, then?

EL: That is an apt metaphor, at least.

LW: Well in the biggest picture of things, I want to go Home!

EL: What do you mean?

LW: To find my place, my REAL place or space … you know?  Where I belong, where what I do can be effective and reach those hearts I strive to connect with in a dynamic, helpful way…my Family (both literally and metaphorically). Where I can serve my kindred well and be progressive with my own Soul Journey.

EL: You wish to leave this earthly plane?

LW: No, of course not; you know that is not what I am saying.

EL: You want the world to change around you, to better suit your ambitions?

LW: Yes I suppose, I do want the routines to dissolve so that NEWness can enter. New conditions, new activity, finally proceeding to Live my Dream fully, here and now.

EL: What are you going to do about that?

LW: I thought you are the Leader, the Pathfinder for change.

EL: I am; You are!

LW: You seem rather placid lately; you lead me to act toward my goals but seem content with that activity (writing, resubmitting earlier today).

EL: Are we doing all that we can do, Now?

LW: On the level of basic activity and productivity, yes. But I sense there is more I COULD be doing that could facilitate the greater change. What is that?

EL: Perhaps you are referring to the Law of Attitudes or Assumptions.

LW: Change my beliefs or postulates?

EL: Be open to all that which Spirit offers; do not hold back. Sometimes ANY small change is a step in the right direction, like rejoining the Y as you have done recently.

LW: Yes! Physical activity or “returning to fencing” has always been a way for me to shake off the cobwebs to make greater progress.

EL: Then do two things better: Contemplate better. Trust more.

LW: Thank You.

I invite you to open a dialogue with your own Elder Leader, whomever and however you might perceive that to be!

What’s Up, Doc? (Enlisting Your Elder Leader Ally)

Do you sometimes wish you had a trusted advisor by your side, 24/7, to help you make a difficult decision or to help you to take effective action on a significant next step in your life journey? You might have a valued spiritual advisor or sources to consult, but when you seek your own inner counsel, how can you strengthen your connection with your own Elder Leader archetypal strengths and outlook?  For all twelve of the universal primordial archetypes I am presenting in this year’s blog cycle, I invite you to DIALOGUE with your own archetypal cast and crew, as it were—forming and strengthening your own archetypal Inner Council.

This week, I invite you to enlist your Elder Leader persona as an Ally. Get to know this important energetic figure that is always within you but may be more consciously available in some of your day-to-day activities or roles more than others. When do you ‘step into’ your Elder Leader energy? For me, for example, sometimes in my workaday role as a department Chair I find myself expressing my Elder Leader traits, or when I help to organize some service activities within my spiritual community. Also as a pet parent sometimes I rely on this aspect of Self to help me make decisions about proper care of my dog and cats.

So, my first suggestion is for you to simply review your alliance with your own Elder Leader persona. When is he or she most evident in your life? Under what circumstances might s/he emerge?

You might wish to name your Elder Leader facet; I guess for me my title of “Dr.” best fits this persona for me, though I rarely emphasize this title with others except to allow students to use it if they wish to.

Second, I invite you to dialogue with your Elder Leader archetypal Ally or cast member this week in relation to any situation you are pondering that may require a decision on your part. Maybe it’s that New Year’s resolution! In fact, as I write this I realize it was my Elder Leader persona today that took me over to re-enroll in the YMCA.

LW: “Why did you want me to do that today?”

Dr. L: “It will be helpful for our health as we approach another new cycle of heavy activity this next semester, and we can start getting into a workout routine now while we are still on winter respite.”

LW: “I have been feeling somewhat vulnerable lately to flu or other things going around because of how busy things have been.”

Dr. L: “Thanks for paying attention when you heard on the radio that the Y is suspending enrollment fees during this month.”

LW: “Okay, Doc—can I call you that?—but you know how I am with gym memberships. I usually start pretty strong but then I get busy with everything else and I don’t get over to work out much; then I quit again so as not to waste the monthly fees. So what’s to make that any different this time around?”

Doc:  “Excellent question!  Let’s talk about that.  I want you to establish a reasonable schedule this time and stick to it.”

LW: “Once or twice a week maybe?”

Doc: “What is the most open day you will have over this next semester?”

LW: “Probably either on a Saturday morning or maybe a Monday afternoon.”

Doc: “So let’s check it out tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon to see how that feels for a start.”

LW: “All right then. I can do that. Will you help me maintain the schedule once we get started?”

Doc: “I am with you and you can call on me whenever you wish.”

LW: “How does this help you with your own specific goals or interests in our life?”

Doc: “But we are one, along with the rest of us, not ‘many’ ”. You may need to come to understand that better. “WE” are not about compartmentalizing, as you sometimes seem to think. We are simply One AND Several, altogether, at the same time!”

***   ***   ***

I welcome YOUR comments and stories!

Follow Your Heart to Embark on Your Greatest Adventure

 

How might your inner Teacher help you benefit from understanding that “life is but a dream”? To find out, I invite you to simply open a conversation! You can do this by journaling (as below) or through direct, active imagination and then write about it or otherwise represent what you gain from this later.

I’ll share an excerpt from an archetype dialogue with my Teacher part of self:

Self: I call upon my Teacher persona. Are you there?

Teacher: Always, yes.

S:  How would you like to be addressed?

T:  It depends on your reason for calling me; what is it you need?

S: Just to chat, for a blog topic about the metaphor “Life is a Dream”.

T: Okay then, call me Coach.

S: Okay then. Why Coach?

T: To realize the potentials of manifesting your Dream, a life coach can help you expose your goals.

S: That could be helpful. What would you suggest then?

   {Synchronicity (aside): As I am in the process of engaging this dialogue, Tolkien’s Return of the King is on TV. I had forgotten that Frodo and Bilbo Baggins both depart with Gandalf at the story’s finale, on an elvish boat that heads out to unknown and indescribable Adventure.}

T: How could it be otherwise? Bilbo and Frodo are Adventurers by their deepest nature.

S: How does this relate to living life as a Dream?

T: You must follow your dreams. To do this, listen to your heart, then act accordingly.

S: My heart aches lately. I long to embark on the next phase of my great adventure, too. But I wish I could do this, when I go, with fellows such as Frodo has; true friends of the Soul.

T: Follow your heart then.

S: I don’t know what you mean. 

T: You are never alone, not when you realize HOW Life is a Dream. Your fellows are right beside you, and within, always.

S: Thank You. I begin to perceive what you are teaching me.  Separation is an Illusion. 

T: Trust the process. The law of spiritual economy ensures that everything is interconnected; nothing is wasted…

I gain from this encounter that since Life is But a Dream, there are no limitations except for those we choose to accept for purposes of learning life’s lessons. There is a freedom to ACT in the direction that accords with our own deepest nature.   A dream is malleable; it can be redirected according to the will of the Dreamer. This does, however, require (and reward!) an exercise of mindful awareness.

On another level, as someone reminded me this week, we can also think of God or Higher Wisdom itself as “the Divine Dreamer”. In this sense, mine or your dream-life is neither accidental nor random.  Remember to ask of any life situation: “Whose Dream IS this, really?”

I welcome your comments and stories. I invite you to engage in Archetype Dialogue with your own Inner Teacher persona!

Forging an Archetype Ally

As one of twelve primordial archetype character modes, the Teacher is associated with the element of Earth, with a Dissolving energy mode, and with Sagittarius (hence, December).  A Teacher perspective usually involves practicalities or facts rooted in solid foundations, revealing in that sense an earthy nature.   Teacher also brings a dissolving or resolving energy, allowing questions to be answered and transitions forged. And Teacher may cut to the heart of a matter with constructive critique like the Sagittarian archer.

Regarding our archetypal aspects of Self as potential Allies, Teacher is a very positive ally to cultivate in its Strength mode.  If in Shadow, Teacher can be overly didactic or attached to a rigid point of view. But in its positive nature, Teacher can be a transformative Ally, showing the way to new vistas or a more flexible, new way of being.

In order to harness the positive strengths of your inner Teacher potentials, it is necessary first to get to know yourself in this dimension.  In my personal development book and Handbook, LIFE PATHS, I will be presenting a complete Archetype Dialogue process to facilitate your “alliance building” in this respect. For now, I invite you to start an “active imagination” form of conversation with your Teacher energy.

I invite you to simply seat yourself in a comfortable armchair or lie prone on a couch or bed. You might chant a favorite mantra or a prayer, or breathe deeply several times and release your breath to relax into a mindful or aware state. Focus inwardly on that spot between your eyebrows, gently expecting to encounter a part of your Self that has a Teacher aspect to him or her. Imagine this inner Teacher energy; it could be someone who has been a teacher for you or a fictional character or your inner Teacher may take her or his own unique personal form.  Allow yourself to spend some time with this inner character. Allow your experience to unfold in its own way. Meanwhile you can have a conversation with your Teacher figure. Ask whom s/he is and what s/he would like for you to know about him or her. Continue the encounter as long as it naturally unfolds.

When you return from your active imagination session with your Teacher part of Self, you may either continue the dialogue before opening your eyes, then record in your journal all that you remember; or, you might open your eyes after your main interaction and then start journaling an immediate dialogue in your journal.

When Jung returned from an active imagination experience–as described in his THE RED BOOK–,he would first journal about what he had experienced, then he would often draw a painting  or create a mandala to represent the lesson he had learned.

 What does your Teacher archetype look like? Does s/he have a name? Now that you have shared an encounter with him or her, do you feel a little differently for having included your inner Teacher energy more consciously within your Awareness?

Inwardly you can invite this figure to remain part of your consciousness from now on! You can offer to be more attentive and caring about his/her interests and concerns. You can work together to help achieve your common goals.

I welcome your insights and stories!

Your Helpful Archetype Allies

When I was a senior in high school in New York state (Lewiston, NY), our English professors came up with a great idea for that year.  Called “Universal Man”, the study year was segmented into a series of 3 or 4 week modules each on a different theme. Man the Lover, Man the Prisoner, Man the Seeker, Man the Adventurer, Man the Thinker, etcetera (now it would be Man or Woman…), was the basis of the themes. For each module we would choose relevant literature to read and we would write about it, plus we would reflect on that aspect of our own lives as well. Only many years later would I come to appreciate that these themes were “archetypal” in nature.  I really enjoyed that year’s English program. It helped me see how all these threads or energies interweave within everyone, giving us special qualities from each perspective.

Each archetypal character MODE has a unique viewpoint and stance in our overall Psyche. Some are more active and others are more suppressed, depending on the situation or context. This week I am inviting you to choose one of your own archetypal sub-selves to get to know better and to enlist in your adventure toward achieving a meaningful life goal. Since goals are usually related to some active role or career that we are already engaged with, let’s begin by selecting a goal associated with a role with which we are highly identified at this time. (For example, for me right now, it is my Writer/Author role that carries the most poignant goal; that of publishing LIFE PATHS.) So, after identifying your ardent goal related to some active role in your life, you can then identify an archetypal member (or more than one) from your unconscious ‘ensemble cast’ that could be most helpful aligning with you as you advance toward realizing your goal.

I will repeat Sunday’s lineup of archetypal character modes below. Which of these is most closely connected with the Role and Goal you are interested in strengthening?

Elder Leader: Strength mode—strong authority figure, self-confidence, director, leader; Shadow mode—harsh authoritarian, strict, imposing

Lover: In Strength—romantic intimacy, self-sacrificing, passionate; In Shadow—over-attachment, selfish desires

Warrior: In Strength—fighter for a good cause, courage, blazing new paths; In Shadow—attacker, domination or exertion of power

Nurturer: In Strength–Caregiver, gentleness, supporter, giver of consolation or understanding; In Shadow—stingy, over-protective, undue worrier

Artist: In Strength—expressive, talented performer/artist, creative, innovator; In Shadow—blocked creativity, inhibited, introversion, negative fantasy

Idealist: In Strength—High ideals, far-ranging vision, traveler, manifesting change; In Shadow—frustration, feelings of persecution, criticism, over-perfectionism

Golden Child: In Strength—charismatic, mover and shaker, destined for success, generous with largesse; In Shadow—overly controlling, vain, needs to be onstage or center of attention, fickle

Descender: In Strength—introspective, reflective, thoughtful, cocooning; In Shadow—depression, self-restriction, hiding, avoidance, introversion

Teacher: In Strength—imparts knowledge with enthusiasm, studious researcher, reader, notetaker, patient instructor, coach; In Shadow—overly didactic, my way or the highway, micro-manager, overbearing

Communicator: In Strength—public speaker, writer/author, workshop presenter, interpersonal communicator, promoter, a good listener; In Shadow—tight-lipped, withholding viewpoint, holding ideas close to chest, suspicious, or overly extroverted, “rabble rouser”

Healer: In Strength—doctor or nurse, concern with diet and exercise, natural energy, implementing positive change; In Shadow—masochism, perpetuating pain or sense of fatalism

Mystic: In Strength—seeker, prayerful, contemplation or meditation, dreamer, focus on cosmos, monk-like, alchemy; In Shadow—addictive personality, dwelling in Darkness, isolated hermit, withdrawn

Have you identified one or more potential character allies? Next then, I invite you to engage with this archetypal aspect-of-Self in an active imagination and/or in a journaling DIALOGUE. Get to know this energetic part of yourself. What are his or her own goals for you? What are their greatest loves, fears, worries, hopes? How and when do they show up for you? How are they part of the ROLES you enact day to day? When and why do you sometimes suppress them or why do they sometimes retreat?

How can they help you to realize your Goal?

As a sample, while I find many of the 12 archetypes have qualities essential to my current goals as a writer/author, I want to get to know The Healer better this week, because I think that is a part of myself to which I do not give enough room overall in my life. I catch from the character description that Healer can be helpful with “implementing positive change” and has a quality of “natural energy”. I feel the need for a second wind lately to help circumvent some of my own habitual self-limiting attitudes. So I seek out HEALER as an ALLY on this leg of my journey.

First then, dive Down into the Deeps of your personal unconscious realms. Do not expect your archetypal sub-selves to necessarily come “up” to your world of consciousness to meet with you. You can use an active contemplation or meditation mode to “sink” into an imagistic realm that you share with your archetypal cast.

LW: Is one I can call Healer present here? Can we talk?

H: I am here.  How are you?

LW: Worried. I feel like I’ve been sabotaging myself lately; I need a dose of some positive self-confidence for taking the next big—or small—step. I am scared.

H: Why then is it me you seek help from? Why not some of the Others? Elder Leader or Artist, or Descender even?

LW: I feel I need your Healing energy to help me assuage self-doubt in order for me to be more empowered to communicate from a greater strength of awareness.

H: Who injured you? When?

LW: Wow! You are right, this goes way back to my father and others who led me to inhibit or to subdue my sense of confidence in life overall. Better to stay in the shadows they would tell me. Be silent; don’t make waves. The world will beat you down if you stick your neck out, they would say.

H: There is more. What did your father say that inhibits you so deeply? He is down here still you know, both as what you call Shadow and as Strength. Do you want to see him?

LW: …not right now. I remember several disparaging remarks, most of which I don’t want to include in the public blog…so I’ll reflect upon them privately instead.

H: What do you need a healing for then?

LW: For hiding from him all these years—or the Shadow side of him. I am still grateful for the rest and I know he ‘meant well’ and had his own dragons affecting him.

H: What do you need from me?

LW: Just to be with me as I forgive him. To be my Ally as I take a step to communicate ‘forward’ this week. I need you to acknowledge the purpose I aim to fulfill with this goal.

H: Many others can benefit; the time has come to release this child of yours into the world.

LW: Will you mid-wife then?

H: Yes if you will allow me to.

LW: Please.

H: Then remember to BREATHE, okay? Breathe and review where things are at. Breathe and communicate forward.

Enough from me. I hope that the process is clear for how you can engage with your own archetypal parts of Self. I invite you to do so. Identify a goal that matters to a role you seek to strengthen in your life right now. Identify an archetypal part of Self that could help you. Get to know that archetypal persona and invite that one to serve as an Ally.

I encourage and look forward to YOUR insights and STORIES!