Reflections on Myths and Abuse of Power

My studies of mythology strangely originated in my teenage ambitions to be a lawyer. I chose Latin as a subject on the recommendation of the lawyers in my family. I fell in love with Latin literature, which I continued studying even when law turned out not to be the right choice for me. I also studied psychology, which complimented Latin literature in an unexpected way: through learning about the work of psychoanalysts such as Carl Jung, the myths I studied gained new meaning.

I became interested in the symbolism of gold in myths after I wrote my first novel, which can be described as a creative experiment guided by my subconscious. Gold is a symbolic theme in my novel and it also features in the title, In Search of the Golden City. When I resumed my studies of mythology after a hiatus of about five years, the mythical golden age which originated in some of the oldest Greek literature was the natural choice for a research topic. The author whose work I focused on was Ovid, a Roman poet from the first century B.C. whose work is well known for its wit, ambivalence, and political commentary. Even though I had never had much interest in the political side of history, I couldn’t avoid looking at it, because the myth of the golden age had become a political myth in the time of Augustus - the emperor was said to usher in a new golden age. My favourite poet poked fun at those in power by comparing them to angry gods who took advantage of defenseless humans.

Mythology remains a somewhat mysterious subject. Many think a myth is simply an untrue story, a concoction made up by ancient people who did not have science to explain the world. I don’t think myths are untrue in any way, provided they are not taken literally. To me, they reveal some truth about what it means to be human, coloured by the culture of its origins. Joseph Campbell, a mythologist whose work I respect very much, said that the inner landscape of humanity has not changed much in several thousands of years, even though our outside reality barely resembles the world humans lived in a few millennia ago. When I studied the Golden Age and its connections with political power through the words of Ovid, I learned something which I think is still relevant today. Personal power is an important theme to me because of its importance in healing. Much as I would like to separate it from politics, simply because I have no interest, it is impossible to do so.

The Golden Age by Lucas Cranach the Elder

The myth of the golden age is possibly even older than the oldest known Greek literature and describes a fall from grace, much like the story of Eden. It first appeared in Hesiod’s Works and Days, which dates from about seven centuries B.C. Hesiod describes a progression from the golden age to silver, bronze and finally the iron age, which he laments having to live in because of all the injustice in the world. Interestingly, the myth of Pandora also features in this work as an alternative explanation for all the evils in the world. Although on the surface it may appear that women are made the scapegoat, I think it is a metaphor for that which we desire but cannot control. Perhaps it even points to the division between genders, which I think is more of a fragmentation within the individual and collective psyche than a battle between the sexes.

Aratus was the next Greek poet to describe the myth in his Phaenomena, which dates from about the third century B.C. Phaenomena means “things that appear” and the work describes the constellations and how they came to be there, of course in mythical rather than scientific terms. Aratus connects the golden age with the constellation Virgo. The maiden is associated with justice and the golden age is described as an era when she still lived on earth and mingled with humankind. When the fall from gold to silver happened, she gradually withdrew from human affairs, until the race of bronze drove her to take abode in the sky, unable to cope with their wicked ways.

In Ovid’s version of the golden age in the Metamorphoses, the movement from gold to silver, bronze and then iron follows a similar trajectory. Two things stand out in his version of events. The first is that the iron age coincided with the discovery of gold in the material sense, reminding that desires if left unchecked can bring out the less desirable qualities in us, much like the Pandora myth. The second is that although it was ruled over by Saturn, there is no mention of the gods in the text at all until the fall is near. After this section of the work, the gods take centre stage, constantly ravishing helpless humans and interfering in their affairs.

I won’t go into all the details of the myth and the Metamorphoses, which is literally a work of epic proportions. My conclusion, however, was that there was a connection between the fall from grace and the rise of power in the imperial sense of the word. As soon as men started striving for dominion over the earth, they became the subjects of angry gods, or the political figures favoured by them. From a philosophical perspective, one could ponder about the meaning of the golden age and whether it truly meant the absence of all ills. What is striking to me, however, is the division between divinity and humanity associated with a fallen state.

Another course in my degree programme was agricultural slavery in the ancient world. We also looked at modern slavery, which was only finally abolished a few centuries ago, merely a fraction of time in the known history of humanity. Much as this was an unpleasant topic, I think it is important to look at one’s shadow to progress in any meaningful way, and the history of my species is part of what I need to look at within myself. One of the most hailed philosophers of the Western world, Aristotle, waxed lyrical about the existence of natural slaves. The Latin word for slave is servus and it is derived from the verb servare, which means to save. Slaves were those who had been spared from being killed when they lost a war. It is strange how even in those days domination of another human being was justified, even by intellectuals.

Closer to home, I lived in apartheid South Africa for the first ten years of my life. I now live in Scotland, and nearly three decades later I’m pretty sure most people I speak to would consider apartheid one of the most abominable institutions in recent history. But having lived with it, albeit not too long, I know that it was simply how things were. There were white people who questioned it, but I think most did not, or they did not want to share their views too loudly, or they felt powerless to change anything. I’m simply speculating because I was a child, and I can’t remember everything. But I do know that the Bible was used to justify apartheid, and few would dare to question God. Furthermore, questionable psychometric tests posing as science was used on black people to “prove” inferiority and thereby justify policies of unequal education. Of course, these studies were later discredited. When the regime ended, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established to help heal the wounds of the past. Many good-hearted white people were shocked and horrified by everything that emerged – they could not believe what the government had been up to.

If there has ever been an era in human history where abuse of power did not occur, I would like to know about it – it seems as old as humanity itself. I find it surprising that we still hesitate to question those in positions of power, or even other forms of authority posing as people with lots of knowledge. I don’t intend to dismiss the expertise of those who are very knowledgeable in a given area, but I do think that there is always more than one way of looking at something. I find it somewhat ironic that after millennia of wars that probably did not need to be fought, human rights abuses that only benefited those in power and social inequality that seems completely senseless, few people have considered their own role in defining the collective reality.

This is where I make the connection between personal power, which is so important in healing, and external power. I don’t think it’s completely accurate to assume that we live in a world where we are subject to laws and power structures decided by others. I think we are the reality, and each person contributes to it, whether they do so consciously or not. No leader or government structure, corrupt or otherwise, could ever wield power unless it is backed up by the beliefs of hundreds, thousands or millions of people. No abuse of power could ever happen if it wasn’t fuelled by the actions (or lack thereof) of subjects.

In Ovid’s version of the golden age myth, the absence of laws was an indication of the presence of justice. I think that gives us a clue on how we can find our way back home if we feel oppressed. If we claim full responsibility for our consciousness and live by our internally guided truth, there is no more externalisation of power. Each choice we have can be a powerful one and an expression of who we are, and we are free to revise it and do better next time if we miss the mark. When external forces attempt to impose their will on us, we can see it as an opportunity to claim our sovereignty. I’m not suggesting we will all suddenly be enlightened and the world’s problems will disappear, but I think it’s a good place to start.

The question remains of what exactly is the golden age, and to me the beauty of myth is that we can interpret it in a way that we find meaningful. The common theme between the various versions of the golden age myth and Eden is the presence of divinity among humanity. There is reference to abundance in Aratus’s treatment of the myth, and the garden of Eden to me suggests harmony with nature and an interconnection between all living things. Perhaps the topic is too deep to fully capture through something as mundane as words. I don’t want to discount the idea of a true paradise on earth, but I think it could be as simple as knowing we are connected to the source of all life and the universe is in us as much as it is around us. Perhaps from that place of knowing, power over another seems absurd, because we are not separate from them. When we let go of relying on a saviour and the fear of death no longer haunts us, perhaps we can begin to explore the true power of love.

Sacrifice

Sacrifice is not a pleasant word to many. It implies we need to give up some things we love for the sake of hopefully gaining something else we need or want. The everyday reality for most people contains a mixture of pleasure and pain. Nobody can do everything, and where we need to make choices there is often a sacrifice involved.

In modern spirituality I find a prevailing notion that we can have and be everything we want if we apply the spiritual “laws” of the universe. I don’t agree with this, because it denies so many aspects of the human experience. In this context sacrifice is shunned as something negative. Since sacrifice is a prominent theme in religion and mythology, I want to look at the deeper meaning of the concept and what it can teach us.

I grew up in the Christian religion, and one of the main tenets was the sacrifice of Christ, the son of God, for the sake of humanity. In the Old Testament we read about God demanding Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac. The son and father are saved in the last minute due to the love of God and the faith of Abraham. The New and Old Testament examples of sacrifice both involve divine love and the threat of death. In both cases human death is not the final outcome as Christ is resurrected and Isaac is saved with a ram sacrificed in his place. In the New Testament story God sacrifices his son for the love of humanity, while in the Old Testament example human sacrifice is needed to please God. As a child I found the idea of sacrifice vindictive and I never understood why Christ had to suffer for the sins of others. A symbolic interpretation however may shed light on what the sacrifice means.

The Sacrifice of Iphigenia by François Perrier.
From Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.

In Greek mythology there is Iphigenia, daughter of the Greek king Agamemnon in the war between the Greeks and the Trojans. Her sacrifice to the goddess Artemis was required for the king’s war pursuits to be successful. An animal was also involved as according to some sources the king offended Artemis by killing a deer, which was sacred to her as a goddess of hunting and wild animals. In some versions Iphigenia was saved and replaced by a deer. Iphigenia also appears as a priestess of Artemis. It is worth noting that Artemis is a virgin goddess, and the sacrifice was planned to take place on Iphigenia’s supposed wedding day. (Source: Wikipedia)

In The Undying Stars by David Mathisen, the theme of sacrifice in religion and mythology is discussed in detail. One of the theories presented in the book is that ancient myths, including those found in religious texts, point to the heavens and are an allegory for the movements of the stars and planets. The movement of the sun is used as a metaphor for the (recurring) journey of the human soul in corporeal existence. It is suggested that the theme of sacrifice is connected to the equinoxes and the animal symbolism is associated with the signs of the zodiac. In the case of Isaac, the ram is clearly Aries, the sign of the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere or autumn in the southern hemisphere. It is suggested that the deer in Iphigenia’s case represents the constellation Centaurus, which is near Virgo and the crossing of the celestial equator at the September equinox.

Because the equinoxes signify a turning point from longer days into longer nights or vice versa, they are a metaphor for the process of birth and death, or the journey into or out of the human body. The book provides a far more comprehensive explanation, and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in the topic. For the purpose of this article the idea is meaningful as it demonstrates the cosmic significance of myths. In the case of sacrifice in particular it tells us something about the balance between the spiritual and material sides of our existence, as signified by the balance between day and night on the equinoxes.

Going deeper into the notion of traversing the boundary between spiritual and physical, I think sacrifice has to do with how we create ourselves. I have written before on the gift of limitation. To know the individual self it is necessary to leave behind the realm of infinite possibilities. We retain some creative potential which we can work with in a world constrained by matter. To return to infinite love, the body and ego must be left behind. Of course nobody really knows what happens after death, but some research, such as the work of Michael Newton, suggests our souls contain memories of lives on earth even after leaving our bodies. Connecting this with the movement of the sun as a metaphor for the journey of the soul, it is worth noting that there is day and night at all times of the year in most places on earth. Sometimes there is more of the day and sometimes more of the night, but the two polarities exist side by side.

In the story of Iphigenia the sacrifice to a virgin goddess is meaningful if we consider that her (possible) death happened on her wedding day. To me this says something about the sacrifice required in partnership. To be committed to someone else, a person inevitably gives up some of their freedom and independence, perhaps symbolised by virginity. If we go with the version of events where Iphigenia was saved and became a priestess of the goddess, this could indicate a different kind of devotion to an ideal. The benefits of partnership are forfeited by those who choose the path of chastity. If chastity signifies inner development, it could perhaps point to the solitude involved in embarking on a spiritual journey.

The word sacrifice comes from the Latin sacrificium, which is a contraction of sacer, which means sacred, and facere, which means make. To make the experience of giving something up sacred, we could perhaps adjust our understanding of sacrifice. Between the polarities of humanity and divinity where sacrifice usually takes place, there is a tension that cannot be resolved. I believe this points to the yin and yang in the universe, the sacred dance of opposites where new things are created. This is also illustrated through the sexual unity between man and woman resulting in the birth of an offspring.

Love is a theme in all these examples of sacrifice, although in the example of Iphigenia there is also conflict and self-interest that could lead to death. In each case the victim is saved through love, devotion and mercy. The wisdom of sacrifice could be that when we adopt the perspective of the soul in our human endeavours, suffering can be transcended. The need to choose what we dedicate ourselves to is highlighted. The journey in the human body with all its trials can be understood as a gift when considering the bigger picture of our spiritual origins.

Privilege and Its Pitfalls

Privilege is generally seen as a positive aspect of life, but the idea could be a hindrance to personal freedom and promote social inequality. In my middle class Protestant background, as children we were made aware of our privilege from an early age. We were taught to be grateful for having our survival needs met and having access to the best facilities, which would enable us to continue the legacy provided that we devoted our efforts to society’s notion of success. Quite often the idea was at odds with religious doctrine of love, service and the insignificance of material possessions. While I think gratitude is a most valuable tool to navigate the waters of life, I don’t see any reason why it should be adopted against the misfortune of others, however subtly it is brought into the equation.

The Wheel of Fortune as a symbol
illustrates that everyone is subject
to the ups and downs of life.

Within the idea of privilege I find a subconscious assumption that only some people can have good fortune while others have to be underdogs. This is problematic on so many levels, especially when it is accepted that that is just the way the world works. To begin with, those in “privileged” positions might not be happy with their circumstances, because the set-up does not suit them. They might not be content for whatever reason, and within our rigid social structure that classifies people according to their wealth, there might be little escape for the privileged in misery. Making changes could compromise their relationships, finances and social position, which could lead to even more suffering and disconnection from others. From a different perspective, regarding some people as under-privileged because of the absence of financial riches could deny their competences. We limit ourselves when we define people according to their financial capacities. There is light and darkness in everything, and in reality human nature cannot be confined within social categories.

Our notion of privilege also encourages me to think about where basic rights end and where special rewards begin. In a truly humanitarian society, having one’s survival needs met would be a right unless Nature decides otherwise. The same goes for access to education in a chosen area of interest when it is available. I do not propose that anything should be taken for granted, but I think an attitude of appreciation is a personal choice that benefits the one who adopts that mind-set. Clinging to stale notions of privilege makes inequality easier to justify as it is convenient to argue that working in harsh circumstances or being underpaid is preferable to having no income. It is inevitable that those in privileged positions are the benefactors giving the under-privileged the means to survive. A power imbalance can thereby easily be disguised as charity.

Something I find ironic is seeing how often misery results from clinging to superior positions. It might be my own projection, but I have often felt that in highly privileged environments there is little room for hilarity or genuine connection. Some of the wisest and kindest people I have known didn’t have money or status, and I have been to places where people showed warmth to me despite difficult political and economic circumstances. I do not wish to deny the challenges faced by those who struggle financially, or claim that everyone who is rich or successful is miserable. I do however suggest that we look deeper into our notion of privilege and question whether it is useful in any way unless we can have compassion while there is still social inequality.

Ultimately privilege is a matter of perspective. Life can be seen as a privilege with all the ups and downs, even though it might not always be obvious in dark times. Sharing with and learning from others, no matter what the differences in background, can enrich us if we look past appearances.

Clouds and Dreams

Nature talks to us, and often reveals to me something about what’s going on in my own mind. Clouds have caught my attention over the last week, especially the wispy kind that drifts in a clear blue sky. In Scotland where most days are marked by an overcast sky, these light clouds are pleasing to the eye. To me clouds represent dreaming, and reflecting on them I gained insight into the relationship between ideas and action.

Clouds vary in shape and form. They represent illusion in the sense that they appear soft like cotton, but consist of water. They are continually in motion, moved by currents that are invisible to the eye. It is easy to see a vision in clouds, signifying the uniqueness of each person’s point of view. The perceived shape is never true to the actual shape of the cloud, and since it changes all the time, it reminds of the fluid character of dreams. Clouds vary in tone, more so when the sun is shining. Where an endless blue sky can become monotonous, clouds that reflect the interplay between light and darkness give character to the heavens. The overcast aspect of clouds indicate the collective nature of thought and reality: while each perspective is unique, we also co-create the world through the way we dream together.

Representation of the World Tree:
the Shamanic Model of the Spiritual Realm

In the shamanic model of the spiritual world, there are three aspects which are connected to one another through the symbolic world tree: the upper, middle and lower worlds. In my experience, the upper world is the realm of wisdom, guidance and creativity, and often the place where inspiration is found. The middle world is the one where we assert ourselves, and the lower world signifies power and earth energies. To reach the upper world, a shaman needs to move his consciousness up the world tree and through a boundary that indicates the limit of the middle world. From there she has access to the universe of light represented by the sun, the moon and the stars, marked by freedom from the heaviness of the earthbound realm. Perhaps because of their dreamy attribute, I see the border between upper and middle worlds as a layer of clouds. The realm of the upper world is marked by infinity, but the creative energy of the universe can only take unique expression within boundaries, otherwise it becomes lost. From this perspective, clouds represent the thought processes beyond which we have to move to get inspiration, but to establish these ideas, we have to return to the material world where we act. Clouds contain the elements of air and water, indicating that intellect and emotion work together in the creative process. The light or fire on the other side of clouds signifies Source that acquires depth through the individual perception of its contrast with the shadows.

One element that is missing from clouds is earth, which represents the material reality. When it comes to dreaming, the biggest challenge is often how to give structure to our visions in a world ruled by restrictions. Clouds can never be captured, and by the time their substance reaches the earth, their form is lost. The dreamer can, however, plant seeds, and build on what he would like to see grow. When seeds are planted and nurtured under the right conditions, at least some of them will find a way to grow, aided by the sun and the coming down of the clouds. There is a lot that the planter has no control over, and this illustrates that although working with love is necessary, trust is also required. While dreams can reveal something of our connection to the universal mind, the matter that we work with doesn’t truly belong to us, and sometimes it’s best to let the universe decide how and in what way our dreams will come to fruition. The dreamer is an instrument of universal will as much as the entirety of creation is an expression of something we cannot know or understand.

Contemplating the Ocean

I find the ocean to be a curious reflection of our own make-up as humans. The largest proportion of the earth’s surface comprises oceans, much like our bodies predominantly consist of water. The ocean’s water is salty, and so is human blood. Tides are ruled by the moon, as is the female menstrual cycle. The ocean affects climate and weather cycles, which also impact our sources of food and shelter. Oceans can be a means of transport, but they aren’t free from danger. Despite the destructive power of the ocean, it has a calming effect on my mind.

One of the fascinating aspects of the ocean is its depth. Even those humans who venture into the ocean can barely skim the surface. The seas have shaped our collective history as humans and yet the average person knows little about it. When chunks of the ocean become frozen, only the tip of the iceberg is visible above water. At deep levels there is very little light, and the magnitude of life at those depths evades our understanding. Where land meets sea, the waves that crash on the shores have been travelling for miles on end.

In mystical and psychological terms the ocean is symbolic of the unconscious mind. To me this portrays how much of what we experience in our daily lives is influenced by a hidden realm where there are multitudes of unknown life forms. As humans we grow in the water of the womb before we are born as individuals. Our corporeal incubation in water cannot be remembered, and I think the same applies to our consciousness. The vastness of the ocean can only be felt through contemplation. The waters of the seas are all connected to one another. When we touch the waters we have access to, we interact with the depths and the life forms residing in them.

In astrology and Roman mythology two major archetypes are associated with the ocean: Venus and Neptune. In astrology both are linked with love and artistic inspiration. Water is also the realm of emotion, and to me this illustrates how inspiration springs from unknown places in ourselves, mediated by emotion. The uncontrollable aspect of water tells me something about the nature of love. Very little is known about the depths that move us, but few actions are worthwhile unless inspired by the power of love.

Symbolism in the Mundane: a Message from Feathers

I love seeing symbolism in the mundane, and recently I have found a message in the way feathers appeared to me. Feathers are useful tools for me in my energy healing work, but I have been without them for almost two years. This is because I moved to a different continent and could take very little with me. I left my feathers behind — ironically because they would not have caused problems with my baggage limitations — thinking that I would find new ones. I also reasoned that I had to be able to do healing work with or without the tools.

In the year and a half that I was in Scotland before returning to South Africa for a visit, I did not find a single feather, despite visiting the park on a daily basis and embarking on a few trips to the wild highlands. Back in South Africa I found to my delight that my old eagle and owl feathers, which I had left at my mother’s house, were still intact. I also found some more guinea fowl feathers and this time I took all of them with me on my return to Scotland. Since my arrival back, there have been feathers everywhere.

The feathers I had were special to me due to my relationship with the birds in question. The eagle appeared as a symbol of courage during one of my first encounters with spiritual healing, and is also the inspiration for my first novel, In Search of the Golden City. I have been drawn to owls since I was a child, and they came to me particularly in times of need. The owl feather I have came from barn owls that nested in our chimney. One of the birds got stuck and we had to rescue it. It was quite an emotional experience, especially when we saw that as soon as it was free, it joined another one in flight that had been waiting for it. Owls have also appeared to me in dreams a few times, often before or after I saw one in the physical world.

To me the message in the sudden abundance of feathers was one of cherishing what I have and believing in my own connection with spirit. This also relates to the process of soul retrieval, where healing is done through recovering lost aspects of the self. To bring the best of myself to the world, I have to use everything I have been given and be careful of discarding it due to the demands of the material world. If I honour what is precious to me, I will see more of it in the world around me. However, if I leave it behind thinking that there will be more to come, its presence in my life will diminish.

Entering the New Year: Gifts and Action

I have ambivalent feelings towards the festive season. My primary reason for hating it is the commercial side of Christmas. Whereas Christmas presents held appeal when I was a child, working in marketing for more than five years has cured me of the need to buy things and exchange gifts for the sake of tradition. The one part I like about the festive season is that the bustling of working life comes to a halt. This gives me time to reflect and do introspection without feeling guilty for not being productive. In this post I will share some of my reflections on the turn of the year in the light of existing traditions.

This festive season has been different from former ones because I am on the brink of major life changes. Pending immigration related admin my plan is to be fully self-employed as a healer in the very near future. I used to face the year ahead of me wondering how on earth I made it through another twelve months of wasting effort not getting anywhere. I felt despair as I asked myself how I could get out of the cycle I felt so stuck in. This year I felt excited about the prospect of directing myself in future, but the part of me that feels afraid wanted to put brakes on the rolling in of the new tide. Feeling that I am about to throw myself off a cliff and hope I’ll fly is daunting, but I know that it is time to give more energy to the wheels that have been set in motion.

Although I’m not sure about the exact historical origins, I believe that most religious festivals that are still celebrated today share roots with pagan traditions. The Christmas and New Year festive season more or less coincides with the winter solstice, which marks the beginning of a new cycle. For me this is a good time to think about my goals for the next year. Since I do shamanic work, I spent  some time journeying, which to those not familiar with shamanism I would describe as a way of accessing the unconscious to work with the intelligence of the universe. A year ago I wrote about the association of trees with Christmas. I haven’t done much research about the tradition of Father Christmas, but I have read articles proposing that it originates from the use of psychedelic mushrooms (see for instance this interesting article). Seeing the symbol of Father Christmas in one of my recent meditations however got me thinking about the concept of manifestation through the shamanic upper world: that layer of the unconscious where creativity and wisdom come from. I have come to despise the tradition of over-indulgence associated with the festive season because from my perspective it serves as a justification to spend one’s entire year doing meaningless things for the sake of gaining money, which again needs to be spent to have meaning. But the concept of gifts delivered from the upper realms reminded me that the unconscious finds expression even in the Western world where we have become profoundly disconnected from the spiritual aspect of Nature. Applying the concept of gifts to New Year’s resolutions, my belief is that gifts come from Spirit, but it is what we do with it that will determine how it manifests in our reality. I journeyed to my future self a year from now to ask about practical goals I could work towards achieving. The advice was to lay strong foundations for my life work. Although it would not be easy, I would become stronger as I applied all my effort to building what I would like to see grow. Working on publishing the books I have written is a priority, as is practical shamanic healing work.

The Eagle: Symbol of Courage, Focus and
Communion with the Higher Self

I also have to look back and honour the help I have had along the way, as well as express gratitude for the gifts from Spirit that have manifested. My first novel was inspired by my knowledge of shamanism and initiated by a journey to the shamanic upper world in order to find a story that needed to be told. The eagle emerged as the primary symbol in my first book. On 1 January 2014 I drew this picture of the eagle with the intent to get my first book published. It so happens that exactly a year later, on 1 January 2015, I was offered a publishing contract. Those who would like to access other realms through fiction can watch this space…

The Widow’s Jar

I have written a previous blog entry offering my interpretation of the Greek myth of Pandora’s jar as signifying a wish for fulfilment that can never be realised. The theme of women’s jars associated with fulfilment reminded me of a Biblical story I remembered from my childhood. I decided to find and re-read the story of the widow’s jar of oil. So much of what we take for granted in the world is based on ideologies of success through having. From my perspective, striving for something more often than not produces the experience of lacking. Most of what we want and need is readily available when we ask for it. However, we also have limitations in the physical world. What follows is my personal interpretation of the story of the widow’s jar as I think it beautifully illustrates the concept of abundance.

The story (appearing in the book 2 Kings 4) is of a woman approaching the prophet Elisha because her husband is deceased and she fears the creditors will enslave her sons as repayment for debt. The widow claims to have nothing in her house except a small jar of olive oil. The prophet instructs her to ask her neighbours for empty jars and fill them with the olive oil. From her small bottle she manages to fill all the empty jars. When she has filled the last jar, the oil stops flowing. The prophet tells her to sell the oil and use her money to pay her debts. He tells her that they will be able to live on what is left.

Image from Wikimedia Commons. Author: Hans Bernhard

Where Pandora embodied the gifts of the gods and her jar is associated with the evils caused by desire, the story of the widow is about freedom of enslavement in the midst of sorrow. The woman asks for help and it is given, both by the prophet and her neighbours. She uses what she has available. As she does so, the oil keeps flowing, giving her what she needs to free herself and her boys of enslavement. To me this story communicates that when we are willing to ask for help and use our abilities, there will always be enough for our needs. Interestingly the olive has various symbolic associations with peace, again contrary to all the evils flying out of Pandora’s jar. It takes no genius to realise that if everybody adopted the approach of the widow and her neighbours in using what they have, taking only what they need and recycling what they don’t need, every person’s needs would be met. If that was the common attitude, I believe peace would be the natural outcome. No studies, policies or displays would be needed to improve the situation for all humans.

The myth of Pandora contains warnings of being consumed by what we desire. Looking at the world I cannot help being amazed at how we seem to be ruled by an ideology according to which most of our efforts should go towards having more. One aspect of it is that no matter how much one has, it is never enough. Another aspect of it is the fear of being unable to make a living; in that sense literally not having enough. Sadly I think the former produces the latter and that they are flipsides of the same coin. Personal experience of the mind-set will probably depend on where one falls on the wheel of fortune at any given point in time. Unfortunately I also think that the latter produces the former: I doubt whether abuse, greed and exploitation would have been easy if everyone devoted their efforts to what they loved doing rather than trying to survive.

Both these stories contain wisdom, asking us to look at ourselves and how we collectively create the world through our ideas and interactions with the world. The widow’s jar of abundance is no instant route to riches, but a rather bleak portrayal of God’s grace in the harshest of circumstances. A woman who is at the mercy of her circumstances finds an impossible way out of her predicament. To me, this story asks us to question our assumptions of what is possible or not in terms of survival and enslavement. More than that, however, it points the way to the true source of abundance. The widow’s oil was not something she had to obtain or fight for, but something from her own home. Perhaps the antidote to being consumed by Pandora and her jar – the riches outside of ourselves - is the realisation that what we have to begin with is enough to make it work for us.

The Symbolism of Being Naked

When I was a child, I thought it really strange to imagine that Adam and Eve were naked and not aware of it. That was only when I was old enough to remember with shame the time when I used to run around naked shamelessly. Nowadays being naked represents sexuality. Especially when women show their bodies it is usually in a context where they are objectified and lose all their dignity. The more skin that is shown, the more sexualised the body becomes. I am not proposing that everyone just takes off their clothes and start walking around naked, and yet I fail to understand how we came here.

Getting dressed is such an ingrained daily ritual that we take it for granted. It is a way of reinforcing the message to ourselves that we are different from the rest of nature. Not only are our bodies shamed, but perhaps there is no more powerful way to suppress all our natural impulses and sever our relationship to Mother Earth that gave birth to us. We are all dust and to dust we shall return, yet we choose to believe that we are the things we have created to glorify our minds. Perhaps it is not surprising that most of us seemingly have really bad relationships with our bodies.

As a child I wondered why grown-ups don’t run around. Now I know that when you are forced to sit still for long enough, it starts feeling natural. At some point in the process of growing up it becomes inappropriate to walk barefoot. Thinking back, it is more or less the same age when one loses the connection with the world of fantasy and instead develops an interest in cultural values of identity. When we don’t feel the earth underneath our soles any more, it is easier to turn our attention to “the world” and be fed ideas of what we should strive for in life.

Perhaps the dream symbolism of being naked holds the key to the truth about ourselves. I am sure all of us have dreamed countless times of being naked in public and only discovering it when it is too late. It could be interpreted as the fear of being exposed, but I think it’s more than that. I’ll turn to Hans Christian Anderson’s tale of the naked emperor for some insight.

According to this story, the charlatans who made the emperor’s clothes said that only those who were unfit or incompetent would be unable to see it. In this case, being naked represents truth and everyone is afraid to point it out for fear of being labelled stupid. The naked body is the way we came into the world and it is the truth of who we are. Yet we assume cultural identities symbolised by clothes. It becomes so normal that to deviate from it is considered insane and shameful. The subconscious mind knows the truth about who we are. It reminds us in our dreams because we are afraid to live it. If we recognise that the emperor is naked it will also mean that we are naked. When we stop giving authority and power to others, it means we have to claim responsibility for ourselves. That will mean we can no longer play along with games we know to be untrue.

I’m still wondering at Adam and Eve’s fall from grace. Relating it to the Roman myth of the Golden Age, I would say the knowledge of good and evil was abused for the purpose of self-enrichment or power. Our connection to nature was severed when we started defining ourselves in terms of our material wealth. The body became a canvas used to communicate to others where one fit into the social hierarchy. Actually we all know that the emperor is really naked but nobody wants to be the first to say so.

The way out of being entrapped by our social identities is by baring our souls. Being naked is symbolic of being vulnerable. It is the heart consciousness that knows that we are all connected, whether we remember it or not. When one is truly oneself, it is easier to become free of judgement and accept others for who they are. The spirit of love recognises that we are more than our possessions or cultural identities. All of us come into the world naked and when death comes, material accumulations mean nothing. In our short time on earth, we have to choose very carefully what we consider important enough to apply our efforts to.

When Man Discovered Gold

According to the ancient Roman mythology, there was a period in the history of mankind when nature provided freely and harmony prevailed. This was known as the Golden Age. When man discovered real gold, the era of harmony ended. Mankind deteriorated because of greed and people started killing each other. The Silver, Bronze and Iron Ages (present era) followed. Ironically, the Golden Age was characterised by the absence of gold whilst the discovery of actual gold meant the end of the Golden Age.

Two things come to mind when I consider the symbolism of gold: value and purity. When someone has an intrinsically good character we say that she has a heart of gold. When man discovered gold outside of him, he was so mesmerised by its beauty that he wanted to possess it. This gave rise to corruption. Man’s soul turned black because of his need to be in possession of something that didn’t belong to him.

Before the arrival of greed, the earth was a garden of harmony. Gold was within the earth, which produced all we needed to keep us happy. The test that the discovery of gold posed was whether man could remember that value was within. When we appreciate the beauty of something, it leaves its footprint in our heart. The fact that we can see it and understand its value means that it is inside us also. If we recognise the earth as our paradise then we would not need to take forcefully from her because she is part of us.

The advent of consciousness also introduced the potential vice of cunning. The message of gold is that we should use our intelligence wisely: to heal and not to destroy. If we do, the earth will become our paradise once more and life will be a wonder.

Alchemy is the art of turning lead into gold. If we change all our bad ideas about who we are, we can return to a state of purity, reversing the blackness that came about by our need to possess. On the positive side, our relationship with gold was one of love to start with. If we realise that love is free and natural and we don’t need anything to experience it, we can transform our relationship with money. Then we will live in harmony with each other and the earth once more.

Why Myths Are Important

We tend to think of myths as forgotten stories from a past that doesn’t belong to us, one where people held irrational beliefs and didn’t know anything. But the truth is that we are still living myths today, individually as well as collectively. In fact, everything is based on myth. It’s because we believe in our present day myths that we live them and perpetuate them. If we want to change our personal or collective reality then we need to take a look at the stories we tell ourselves about who we are. We have to decide not only what we would like to discard, but also what we would like to take into the future.

Myths and dreams are the symbols that illuminate our current self-concepts and contain the seeds of what we can become. The Now-moment contains nothing at all, except what we choose to believe in. The Now moment is pure potential and completely insubstantial. But Now is also the bridge between our myths and our dreams - the space in which we can create. Now is often too fast on us – it doesn’t give us time to deliberate and make informed decisions. That is perhaps why it can open the door to change, because even though it is insubstantial, it is all that we really have to work with. Now is the moment of choice, the moment where all possibilities are connected and from where we can choose our experience. In my experience each Now moment provides the opportunity to either heal the past or direct the future.

Dreams are nothing other than the myths of the future telling us what is possible. If a dream stirs our hearts then it calls us to a better future. The question is often how to use the Now to transform our own stories, releasing myths from the past that no longer serve us to bring the dreams of the future into our present reality. But in truth all myths are important, regardless of whether we like them or not. If we want to get rid of a personal myth, it will probably re-present itself with more insistence until it is healed. We only heal our myths when we love them, because unwanted myths represent parts of ourselves that need to be loved back to life. Once it is integrated into our sense of self, the unwanted myth no longer has control that is beyond the power of our own will. It will then cease to run the show, because we are no longer afraid of it.

In Paulo Coelho’s books I have read about the personal legend. Being authentic means weaving our myth so life works for us and we fulfil our greatest dream, which should also be our biggest ambition. This doesn’t mean that we should be flawless, but that our chosen myth should be original and have the power of our own creativity.

The Changing Consciousness and its Implications for Reality

I didn’t have a clear opinion about whether I would buy into the idea of 2012/2013 and what it meant for changing consciousness on the planet. Whilst 2012 was quite a hard year for me, supportive friends have told me that things would get easier. I wasn’t sure I believed them because it felt to me that things were always going in cycles which were more or less the same. However I can honestly say that my friends were right. Things have changed drastically for me over the last year or so, mostly in terms of the way I viewed things. Insights that I didn’t have before would come to me from nowhere. Whereas before my struggles had mostly been internal, I became more and more aware of how things operated on a collective level. I recognised that my issues aren’t weaknesses in myself but perhaps an indication of what humans go through based on what we buy into. The more I moved to a space where I was having a critical look at global problems versus having a critical look at myself, the less concerned I would become about my own success. Not because I’m more altruistic and less egotistic but just because it’s too draining to for ever try getting ahead or being better than I am.

I would like to highlight a few insights that came to me from nowhere – the “in-between” spaces. To start with, the circle as a symbol has spoken to me lately. This was initiated by my visit to Stonehenge last week, a mysterious stone circle in England dating from ages past. A post-visit meditation plus a few other coincidences presented the following ideas.

Flow:

All things are connected. We are made of the same stuff. This is not my own idea but one that has been repeated many times by many seekers, perhaps because eventually we all come to the same conclusion. Dust we are and to dust we shall return. Perhaps that is also why the Earth is a globe and has an elliptical orbit around the sun. Everything is in flow and the Universe flows through us. It is not linear but if we allow the light of love to shine through then we are as a circle providing a hollow container for the flow of God. That is when we are on the bridge between the visible and the invisible, the space where we are all things and therefore don’t need to be anything other than what we are. What we want is readily available for us to BE if we recognise that we don’t even need to be it; it is what we are. In this place where we aren’t looking for anything, good things come to us from nowhere.

Reality is But a Projection

Reality is our instrument just like we are Love’s instrument. The problem comes in because we believe that things are the other way round – that we are at the mercy of reality and that love is our instrument. That is when we start to suffer because we want to use love to fulfil our own needs. When we believe and trust in Love we allow it to flow through and transform our reality.

We Don’t Need to Have Our Dreams Come True

We are the dream and we love dreaming. Everything we dream of is already here, inside us. If we can access the dream we can pull it from thin air and bring it into reality. Once we realise that, all we need to do is share our dreams with the world. Within our own dream there is also the seed of everyone else’s dream. Sharing and living our dream, shining it out through love will also wake up the souls of others to realise their dormant dreams. We are the same light and the same dream, just like we are made of the same stuff.

Changing the Nature of Reality

In a world where fear-based systems prevail it can be hard to live the flow of the circle. I often have the feeling of bumping my head against a brick wall trying to realise my dreams since the structures of authority are pyramid-based. Within this paradigm there will always be someone at the bottom and we will continue to re-create the problems we are having. Identities are boxed in and we forget who we are. We become our possessions, which are also meaningless unless we believe in what they symbolise. At the risk of being labelled a conspiracy theorist I’ll confess that I get the impression our minds are being controlled so we could be sheep in favour of supporting a system from which a minority draws benefit. We believe we have to fall in with it in order to survive which is ridiculous because what we really need is supposed to be provided by Nature.

To me it sometimes feels impossible to change the way things are – the nature of the world we know. It is run and controlled by crystallised structures which are based on nothing at all. But once we see that, we have the choice to continue believing we have to fall in with it in order to survive or, on the other hand, believe in what we would like to believe in, making it reality. Fighting the system or worldly order is futile. However if we allow the dream to flow through us (or flow to dream through us?) and we operate from where we are with awareness of love, I believe that we can transcend the old order and move to a new dimension where all things are possible. Once the old is no longer useful, it will fall away. It is easier for us to move or adapt if we are in flow than it is to shift an ingrained system on the level where it was created. Recognising that what we need is right here, right now will bring it into this world. This is not only a fact, but a necessity.

Saying Goodbye to the Notion of Work as a Treadmill

We have this thing called work entirely wrong. It’s upside down and it’s no longer working. Working in the way we know it isn’t the law of nature i.e. survival of the fittest, it is the product of our limited resources based consciousness. We strive for endless economic growth and in the process we have created a system that benefits a few while the rest of the world has to suffer. We assume it has to be this way and nobody really asks how we got here in the first place. The more comfortable we are, the less inclined we are to question and yet somewhere, deep down, we know that something is wrong. It is time for transformation because the system we have created is collapsing.

An unexpected thread recently presented itself in the course of my conversations with people, mostly through work. In the job that I have left very recently, I tried to help people in their business wherever I could. Yet at some point during some conversations with clients I became tempted to switch off my business persona and listen to them as people – meaning REALLY listen, understand their challenges and commiserate where appropriate. This often involved acknowledging that I didn’t have all the answers and in that way exposing myself, risking looking like an idiot. The interesting thing was that occasionally the roles were reversed and the client would listen to me as a person and advise me on how to handle my approaching life changes (involving leaving my country). The common theme that emerged was that people are tired of being on a treadmill. They have to work more and more for less and less money and they start asking themselves what the point is.

My mother used to tell me that money makes the world go round. This is such a profoundly untrue statement and yet it’s the belief that society is based on. The world goes round of its own accord and life renews itself without our interference. If anything, we just destroy what is given to us for free in favour of making space for things we can make money of. Looking at the way society functions, we have to have money to get by and yet if we take arbitrary things out of the equation then I wonder how much we really need. Civilisation didn’t get there all by itself and yet I wonder what the money and the work that made it all happen is based on. It’s not even the same in every country. I was taught that if you work hard it will pay off. Yet when I started working in “the system” I realised how far from accurate this statement is. If we understand the original idea behind work from an existential and cosmic perspective better then I think we might come closer to the truth.

I’ve never been a fan of laziness  and yet looking around me at all the things that “money” produce I think it’s based on symbols, belief and magic more than hard work, necessity and survival of the fittest. When I was younger and having trouble getting through a school day I would occasionally have anxiety about “surviving” when I grew up. I was afraid that I might at some point just become too tired to work in the same way that I was too bored/tired at school to listen in class and do my homework like I was supposed to. I remember being told once that I should enjoy being a child because once you grow up you are no longer carefree but weighed down by responsibilities. On the one hand I thought that it was impossible because being a grown up meant that you could do whatever you wanted to. On the other hand I didn’t enjoy much being a child and was wondering how much worse it could get once I grew up. It also makes me ask the question, if life sucks so much and the treadmill is a fact of life then why is it another “fact of life” that we have to perpetuate the cycle by bringing new life into the world? The “normal” course of life is to “grow up” in the way your parents see fit so you could also be a responsible individual one day – one who would earn enough money to provide for the family (if you’re a man) or always sacrifice your own desires for everyone else (if you’re a woman). This is to protect the children that you would raise so they could be responsible, bored and miserable individuals like yourself one day. Once you’re thirty, you have to be settled, rich and have a family or you’re a misfit at best, a drifter at worst.

I recognise the tiredness that I dreaded as child in others and even when it’s my job to tell clients that they “should” be putting in more effort, I would rather sympathise. The dreamer in me wants to know what society would be like if everyone thought differently about work. Perhaps in the world that we live in now, work is a means to “get by”; a necessity rather than a choice. Yet when you want to apply for a job, potential employers expect you to be “enthusiastic”, “driven”, “passionate” etc. like you’d work on their objectives for the love of it rather than because you need the money.

We misunderstand work. The new age spiritual teachers would tell you that “thought is creative” and yet people often forget about the importance of action. Work is the action that provides the fuel to our thoughts. I don’t think there is any more powerful way to create ourselves and society than through what we put into our work. In a purely material sense it means that if you do certain work you would get a certain something in return, based on the parameters that have already been established. In a more direct sense, work is much more than that. It is our means of bringing ourselves into the world and it is possibly the most potent tool we have of collectively creating the world.

Work as I like to believe it was originally intended is about love and authenticity. It is why we exist and how we create meaning in life. It is our answer to life’s most important question – who are you? The answer might not lie in the fixed label of an invented profession, but in defining ourselves through our actions in response to life’s challenges. It is also the way in which we reinforce our beliefs about ourselves and the world to our subconscious mind. If we believe that we will never have enough and have to suffer in order to gain recognition and that is the way in which we work then we will always be on a treadmill. If we believe that we have a gift to bring and that the world can benefit from it then we might succeed in bringing more light to our surroundings. Work is about the pleasure of creating what we would like to see in the world.

The Magic of Symbols

Where marketing, Jungian psychology and general observations come together I have discovered the magic of symbols. Every thought structure has symbols that represent it. The more people believe in these symbols, the more powerful they become. When one takes a step back and looks at them carefully, one discovers that they are representations of an idea that has gained power and momentum through belief. When we don’t recognise it and simply take them for granted as “the truth” rather than a construct, they dictate our reality.

The poem Ozymandiaz by Percy Bysshe Shelley comes to mind. I was fascinated by this poem when we analysed it in English class in high school. It made so much sense – the hunger for power, the ruler’s urge to deify himself – leaving monuments in his honour on earth after his soul has departed his body. While the physical material used to build the structure is still there centuries later, it has been eroded, leaving only ruins. One wonders what for. The leader is no longer there to appreciate his legacy.

In a similar vein, I watch snippets of Sky News when I can’t help doing so whilst cycling in the gym. I wonder at all the processions when there is some political congregation. It doesn’t look like there is a point to any of it other than a display of power. The reason why school kids wear uniforms is to discipline them into submission. The same can be said of the suit and tie as the corporate attire and the fact that jeans are not allowed on golf courses. It’s a little bit ridiculous and yet everyone accepts it because it’s what they’re used to.

Symbols speak to the subconscious mind, which explains why countries have flags and companies have logos. Most of the time we don’t question these symbols. They tell us what to believe and we fall in with it, assuming that they must have authority if they have survived. In a way it’s true because only the ideas that people believe in survive, yet most people don’t recognise their freedom to choose what they want to believe in.

The symbolism in being wealthy leads me to question why people want to make money. I’ll risk looking like an idiot and confess that I don’t understand money at all. Whilst in some sense it is a figure on a computer screen that determines how much one can buy, in another sense it is a floating ideology that decides the social order. We don’t desire the things money can buy because they truly make us happy, but because we attach a certain meaning to them which gives us a sense of security. The things we are sold are only significant for as long as we esteem them. To be free from the ideology of money rather than enslaved by it, we need to consciously bring our intentions to the way we work with it. If we use it in such a way that it makes us happy we will transform it, making it work for the benefit of the whole.

Whilst symbols can be used to influence us and control our minds, it is also Nature’s way of talking to us, telling us what we need to heal. She speaks to us about the power that we find inside through our connection to the whole. Recognising that we create our own internal universe frees us from the belief that we need anything in order to be happy.

The best things in life are free. Happiness can be chosen at any time because it comes from the space between something and nothing where there is no limited supply. The more we believe in it, the more we have of it and the easier it becomes. Happiness is right here, right now, not in the future where we will have all our ducks in a row or enough money to claim our freedom. The most exciting discovery one can make is that one doesn’t need anything to be happy.