Filling the conscious mind with ideal conceptions is a characteristic of Western theosophy, but not the confrontation with the shadow and the world of darkness. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.
~ Carl Jung
Have you ever told the story of Cinderella to your daughter? Maybe you read a brief version to her as she was preparing for her nighttime slumber, working the work of works that need working to prepare her for the beauty and fear that comes with adult life and that happily ever after. Or maybe, you read the Brother’s Grimm version, which has scenes of horror, abuse, and oppression, as a young woman, locked in the basement as a scullery maid, must sift through the ashes present to hopefully find just one glowing ember. Maybe, if you have a son, you read the dark Nordic folktale Askeladden (Ash-Lad), a story of a boy that must blow on the embers of the ashpit to find the courage needed to pursue a perilous journey that will bring him both world and spiritual treasures. Regardless of the version, they both tell of this most basic human plight to touch the inner light and associate it with the work needed to engage the psychological process of shadow work.
I am a proponent of positive psychology as a field of study. However, I also see the dangers present in presenting the theosophy of positivity. Theosophy is,
“any of a number of philosophies maintaining that a knowledge of God may be achieved through spiritual ecstasy, direct intuition, or special individual relations, especially the movement founded in 1875 as the Theosophical Society by Helena Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott (1832–1907).”
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But to maintain knowledge of God through direct or indirect experience, we must consider the omnipotent’s dark and light nature. The Hindi tradition of the Goddess Kali in India beautifully represents the polarized nature of the light and dark. She assumes both a beautiful feminine form and can also turn into a serpentine figure that devours the heads of her newly born. What lesson can we glean from the transitioning nature of the Goddess? I believe it warns us to tread lightly when honoring only one aspect of God.
Christianity also presents God in this light, with two distinct personality versions between the old and new testaments. The wrathful and vengeful God of the Old Testament only gives way when in his son’s presence; if we examine a little further, it carves out a gentler side of the consciousness that booted out our genetic and spiritual heritage from the Garden of perfection they shared with the omnipotent. However, it was only a choice,
So what can we do to create the meaning and the light we yearn to realize as we circumnavigate a journey filled with many twists, turns, walls, open fields, shadows, and light?
Let us breathe. It is all part of the journey. Secondarily, create a quiet time. By taking a moment to recenter, focus, and take your time back, you too can gear your body, mind, and spirit to an outcome I believe may be more beneficial than where we find ourselves in this very moment.
Remember, giving yourself just one hour a day in practice for quietness and undertaking one dream gives you 365 hours a year. That is 2.172 weeks of free time. Just imagine what light you can kindle and what vision you can manifest with an extra 2.2 weeks per year.
With loving gratitude, my friends. May blessings find you on your journey to advance confidently in the direction of your dreams.
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