What about the cross, as a symbol?

It is a symbol that can hardly be ignored, like a star.

It’s a “shout it from the rooftops” kind of symbol.

It’s a quintessential symbol of “intersection.”

I love the cross! I love what it stands for –

a gift.

How bad it is. How good it is.

It is… as a cup runneth over,

as spiritual water.

More than affliction–

shows us to the soul.

Glory and crown redeemed,

We are blest and tested.

And eventually,

in the scheme

of things…

Our strength is revealed.

s.annshepler

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There is energy and power contained in SYMBOLS!

People live and die under banners and symbols.

Symbols embody and embrace our values, our hopes, our dreams, our weaknesses and our fears.

We are affected on an energy level, whether or not we are conscious of symbols as physical ”containers” of collective energy. The color pink is one container — containing ideas about femininity. This fashionable line of clothing is “Pink” (Victoria’s Secret) — this defiant rock star is named PINK, the crossed “pink ribbon” symbolizes unity and a shared cause (strength to women) — so ideas are trafficked unconsciously by means of “a color modality.” Color affects our energy and the way we perceive certain realities and bring them into being. Surely, if it comes down to being “in the pink” and full of feminine mystique, feminine integrity has “Come a long way, Baby.”

Notice how the mermaid, without speaking a word, is able to evoke a certain reaction or resonance.

While the mermaid resonates with individuals and affects individual dreams in different ways, the inherent content of a specific symbol, “energy body,” or prototype is the same in all cases.

This is what gives each symbol a certain power of influence and interactivity — collectively defined, yet personally bendable. This is essentially what makes an “archetype,” an archetype.

It’s oceans away!!! A swooshing tail of energy!!!!

Pushing and pumping, a tail is greatly needed

when engaging the sea–

A dolphin belongs, unquestionably.

To avoid the journey is to remain alone–

Leaving treasures sunk below.

It is the mystery of “feminine soul.”

What it does, it does routinely,

affecting with certainty!

The archetypes, if anything at all, are containers, and collective energies.

One hallmark of archetypes is that they have a certain “anonymous” energy that interacts with other energies.

For instance, a lighthouse “psychically” and physically connects us to a certain “energy.”

The lighthouse, metaphorically, is a well-lighted symbol of “strength and sea,” that moves us to feeling.

The lighthouse symbol is a masculine image (gender oriented, but not defined by gender — note that masculine/feminine symbols, as archetypes, are not unilaterally masculine or feminine, but multidimensional). The “anima” argument is that “she” is strictly experienced by the masculine psyche as his “feminine side” (according to Jung)– but it seems that the masculine/feminine dichotomy is subject to certain “cross-over” behaviors (attributed to what Jung called, “multi-valency”). Note Jeremy Taylor, The Living Labyrinth

Lighthouses symbolize “light in the darkness,” as God-like images (of strength and protection).

There is always more to say about the lighthouse, or symbols in general — there is no “single-minded” explanation for the archetypes. They are complex, interactive energies, contained of polar content in one place.

The devil, on the other hand is extreme, and on one end of the spectrum. The devil does not bring any good thing to the story.

It is only awareness of the devil that is “positive.” Ironically, the devil is often likable and intriguing, although with the vilest of intentions. For instance, we can be lured in by our fantasies, which can be the very thing that clouds our vision. It isn’t easy to see the devil for who he is– so again, the strength of this archetype in the series is to bring the invisible into visibility, as both the devil and “shadow” dynamics. It is as a thing against God would be.

Symbols can resonate many things in a variety of individual ways.

Dark Spirit, Grismere

It is important to remember that symbols have the radical ability to customize, as energy, to individuals, flowing into dialogues that are relevant personally.

Symbols can contain personal and collective energy — energies that “connect” in some way to individuals and/or populations. They are people and personifications, containers of any kind that provide a modality for the rich imagery of our unconscious mind.

Important things to note about this archetypal and primordial image:

Grismere has a very “tell tale” name.

Gris, Grey in Spanish — Mere means mother in French — and “mer” means “sea” in French (“mar” means sea in Spanish)

The name may be translated to mean: “Gray Ocean” or “Gray Mother.” This is very appropriate for this archetype, since there is a very dark side to this image.

On one side of the equation, the mermaid archetype (the Jungian “anima”) is representative of “the temptress and the witch,” and “she” is the negative energy that pulls us into a conundrum where even light is confused with darkness. Note that, according to Biblical references, Satan, or the “Prince of Darkness” disguises as an “angel of light.”

Grismere is a “Siren” or “nixie” figure, and of course a mermaid.

Grismere is a story from “head to tail.”

She is “the Goddess of the Sea” and a symbol — she is the quintessential manifestation of the notion of “wholeness,” or both unconscious/conscious being in one image.

Her words and green color tell the story of a serpentine figure, or she may appear as the “dark and evil witch.”

This energy is the same one that directs the “fall” of the hero into the engulfing abyss.

It is this “anima” energy, as Jung described it, with a link to the psyche and imagination that is so strong, we are willing to follow her, in a way, and to embark on the tenuous journey within.

Grismere beckons us “in” to the waters of the unconscious to learn who we are from a primal, tribal, and intuitive perspective.

Grismere draws us in, following the words and poetry, as one goes deeper and deeper into uncharted waters, dim moonlight, and the shimmering still hours of the night.

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Sometimes, what you see… is not what you get!! It is an all too familiar story. The wolf deceives “Little Red Riding Hood” by impersonating someone she trusts.

DEVIL – Bell Gothic

The villain archetype may appear as a master of deceit, cleverly disguised, and poised for betrayal (often not seen as destructive).

We pass on the story of Little Red Riding Hood, often unconsciously, as a rendition of the malicious “trickster” archetype. It is a glimpse of the nature of deceit.

The archetype of evil also “appears” as a beast (in the strictest form). Note that the shadow (D-e-v-i-l-Bell-Gothic) and the trickster (Shapeshifter) are worded the same, seemingly separate archetypes containing the same content or matter. It can only be deduced that these archetypes are one and the same.

The trickster/devil archetype (shapeshifter) is identifed by cleverly simple, uncommonly resourceful, “carnival tricks.” Deception is fun, until the fun ends. Evil is something that we must reconcile within ourselves.

Shapeshifter-BG-light

The shadow/devil archetype, both personal and collective is commonly recognizable as a looming, dark figure, such as Darth Vader, the Headless Horseman, the Bogeyman, etc.

Reading:

Debbie Ford, “The Shadow Side of the Light Chasers”

Robert A. Johnson’s book, “Owning Your Own Shadow”

Through our projections, we (psychically) complete ourselves. Given the nature of projections, however, our projections are generally unrecognizable, as such. Commonly, we cast our own shadow image outside of ourselves onto other people, places, and things. In this way, we come face to face with a polar universe of energies within us. There is a “light” or good side to us, and a dark side as well that we unknowingly attribute to others. To become aware of our projections, we have to acknowledge them, but we have to be able to see them for what they are, energetic parts of ourselves.

In this study of the archetypes, which bases so much on Jungian psychology, it is important to recognize that the word images are symbols, physical representations and projections. The purpose of the images is to expose the “archetypal journey” and the autonomous energies that are universal and collective in nature.

As we open the doorway to our own shadow material, we find that there is much more to us in the way of negative energy than we want to acknowledge — but we must acknowledge the shadow, since personal and universal forms of the shadow have a way of reigning over our thoughts and behaviors.

According to Jung, we must first recognize our projections, take them back or own them as part of our connection to universal energy, and deal with our lives on a path of growth and improvement.

“We need to become conscious in a way that combines mind, body, heart, and Soul.”

“On the symbolic level, living life only at the level of the Ego is like being a robot, toy, or other inanimate object. The hunger we feel is for a more genuine experience.”

“Each archetype that comes into our lives brings with it a task, a lesson, and ultimately a gift. The archetypes together teach us how to live.”

–C. Pearson, Awakening the Heroes Within.

“The Mermaid Chair,” (CD) by Sue Monk Kidd

The Mermaid Chair is a great story, symbolic and aware of “the archetypal journey” — Symbolism in The Mermaid chair includes mermaid and enlightenment symbolism, and the archetypal theme of dismemberment.

For more on the theme of dismemberment, refer to Jeremy Taylor’s, “The Living Labyrinth”

“To the extent that many of the dreams recounted and discussed here have implications for large collective issues of survival and growth, the dreamers of those dreams have a potential creative role to play in the collective transformation and solution of those problems as well. We as a species are responsible for generating the disasters that loom so ominously before us; and for that reason alone, we have a role to play in averting and transforming them.

One of the most potentially powerful and useful sources of the creative energy and conscious insight necessary to transform our individual and collective circumstances is the archetypal complex that Jung called “the Great Mother.” She is awakening in the collective psyche once again, and we continue to repress and ignore her only at our peril. To embrace her and give her her due is to release previously unimagined and unimaginable energies for growth, change, and reconciliation.”

And Robert A. Johnson’s book, “The Fisher King and The Handless Maiden.”

Star Wars is another story that is aware of the archetypal and polar energies that, on a collective level, are at war with each other.

Discussing the myth of “Sedna: The Handless Maiden,” Jeremy Taylor writes: “The horrifying way in which Sedna loses her fingers places her clearly in the archetypal realm of “Handless Maiden, ” the feminine spirit dominated and subjugated, but not crushed or defeated, by the masculinist/patriarchal worldview.”

The theme of dismemberment is apparent in this manifestation of the mermaid archetype (feminine soul image, anima archetype). Note that the mermaid, Grismere, has only one fin, and appears armless. The process of creating visual poetry limits the way images can be shaped and created –it is precisely those ways that permit the manifestations.

Grismere

Anima, Earth Goddess, Sea Nymph, Ancient or Primordial Enchantress

Archetypal — Personifies two Realities — unconscious (the sea) and conscious awareness (above the water).

We have a mission and a responsibility to be ourselves, complete, individuated. There is no collective answer to change. It is up to individuals. We are made for the journey. We make our conclusions, and choose a destination. There is an archetypal script– we are looking for a perfect fit, a Cinderella slipper, red shoes– a home. It should be easy to choose life everlasting. It should be easy, but it isn’t. The material world is alluring. It disappears into nothingness, all too often, leaving us to search for life inside.

What is good, and what is evil? God and religion are mixing bowls of polar energy, universal, and synchronized with all things. We are kinetic, physical–energy. We are feeling energy connected to all things. We look for answers to relationships –and we seek to feel good about reality. Do children seek inner strength, in the midst of confusion? Our children enter the world stage, connoisseurs of god-energy. There are signs and warnings — a cultural sense of global warming, and the repeating theme of the world burning.

Who are we without sacred territory? Deception is a wrinkle in the fabric of vision, and a picture angled a certain way on a wall. Each archetype innately highlights a certain theme — as a prototype with a certain “spin” or meaning. Archetypal energy is positive, negative, influencing– building, annihilating –a hidden essence, an autonomous power, a persistent theme, the blueprints of history.

S. Ann Shepler©

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“Let’s watch AVATAR (again)!”

Can a lion look itself in the eyes?

In the end, “I see you,” in a new way.  And that is one of the many ways to experience “new bonding.”

Why choose the Archetypal, Symbolic, and Spiritual Journey toward God and awareness or enlightenment?

Maybe there is no other reason to follow “the spiritual journey,” but to remain on the road to a fulfilling life with God.

The Story of the Archetypes is a story of Us. It is an ongoing story of universal prototypes — images, energies and personifications. Archetypal energies and scenarios are the grist of who we are collectively, behind the scenes. It is the fact that the Wizard of Oz turns out to be only a manipulator behind a screen, apart from the dreamer and the dream.

IMAGES & ARCHETYPES — The manifestation of a (Jungian) “picture-series” (see dream-series).

Anima: Grismere (or Mermaid Poem)

Animus: Dragon Poem

Shadow: devil, and “Devil Bell Gothic”

Trickster: Shape Shifter

Divine Child: Ballerina

Note: Many archetypes manifest as personifications as others are simply symbolize the ways and means of the process>

“Modern Day Exposure to Ancient Archetypes: Art, Language and the Symbolic Nature of the Universe”

SPIRIT speaks through METAPHORS and MIRRORING IMAGES, in a way.

“Behavior is a mirror in which every one displays his own image.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

READ BUTTERFLY

What does it mean to talk to God?  Doesn’t it undermine “reality” in some incongruous way?  I try to make sense of a spiritual language, on that has roots in the archives of the “historical and archaic brain” (passed on from the deepest generations). It is a language that is individually understood, and individually interpreted –in a “God-to-individual” and “Individual-to-God” kind of way. We are whisked along on the winds of time, like a sailboat sailing upon the sea.  If I am willing to entertain the concept of divine guidance (spiritual energy), naturally I must acknowledge a Spirit Being in a forest of many beings, metaphorically speaking. I have a whole “archetypal psyche” full of heroes (see more, depth psychology, Jung, Hillman). My mind is a drum, filled with imagery, images that are part of me. Hence, poetically, I am a stone in the palm of creation.  I don’t think that God is a lie, or a figment of my imagination. I’m not that able to speak. I read the metaphors as they come to me. Maybe I am out of sync, at times, but there are messages everywhere, speaking through a kind of dream imagery. This is not my idea, Individuation is most definitely a Jungian definition of the process of spiritual maturation through archetypal imagery.

The church poem deals with my own feelings of alienation from “Church Structure,” Dogma and Religiosity.

Refer to the image and note the brick, almost imprisoning structure that represents the church. And yet, the church appears “protective” and castle-like.

The Lights Are Always On

READ CHURCH

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We are a Physical Universe — life affects us physically and psychically. We feel in a visceral way. Our psychology, clearly, is attached to our biology.

Symbols can actually be called “energies” — imagine that symbols are connected to our dream imagery.

Symbols relay affect, emotions, and thoughts. As energies they can affect us viscerally, contributing to the way we feel.

Our feelings are attached to what we think, if in no other way, than by associations.
It is similar to the moments we relive inadvertently when “a certain song” is playing, or the wind is shuffling a certain way.
While polar bears are often adorable, they can appear at others times as threatening, or threatened.

“It makes my blood tingle,” you could say. Blood is energy, POSITIVE life “giving” — and NEGATIVE life “taking.”

This energy is “archetypal” and symbolic, and exists on a continuum, with polar ends of the spectrum.

Words are insufficient to describe the territory of the “whole” experience — so the unconscious speaks through symbols and metaphors, things and people “representing” our own meaningful feelings, emotions, and identities (to some degree).

The same image or symbol, since energy is multidimensional, affects people differently.

There are positive and negative, opposite energies, inherent in symbols. Projections, consciously and unconsciously, affect the meanings of symbols dramatically.

The collective associations of any symbol are influenced by the culture surrounding the symbol to a large degree.

The color Pink is a powerful symbol these days, but not so just decades ago. Pink was associated with cotton candy sweetness, and in a meaningful way, weakness.

It is the way the collective works — the whole is influenced to think and behave differently as a result of changing images, such as the changing image of PINK.

Take a look at PINK (read Ballerina)

Archetypes contain polar energies. Such is the nature of archetypes and archetypal scenarios; they reflect both negative and positive energy in one image or body (like us).

Blood stands for something. It is life, allegorically.

What is it about modern day Vampires and Vampire symbols that we find so compelling?

What about Zombies?

Just to say… I believe in Jesus.

Conscience and compassion necessarily accompany “the Truth.”

And knowing about the Crusaders (the brutality and destruction), I cringe to think that Christendom was won in this way.

The cross was lifted to claim Christian territory, symbolically.

The conquest was as unthinkable as the very nature of war. Beneath the churches in pagan lands are the feet of pagan gods, symbols, and pagan practices.

Did the pagans practice cutting off limbs and sacrifices? Were the rituals evil, inasmuch defined as “inhumanity to man.” Is it a better way for mankind?

Look in the direction of a “Burka” and ask yourself, how does this happen to women?

Every religion clings to certain doctrines — and when all is said and done and we have unraveled the languages in the tower of babble, love, well-being, and mutual edification, can be the only true religion on the planet.

How is it explained? “Do not rely on your own understanding,” the Bible tells us. And, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart… “

Why do forests burn down? Why do they grow new and green again? What is it about the other side of everything that we don’t understand?

Even the sweetest picture in pink may be hiding a weak survival system.

How does the Universe remain in balance?

(I’d love to know your thoughts on the subject)

BOTH ENERGIES PLAY A ROLE TO BALANCE OUR THINKING, OUR BEHAVIORS, AND OUR CULTURE.

QUOTES: Robert A. Johnson, “Owning Your Own Shadow.” Note the book is entitled, “Owning Your ‘OWN’ Shadow.”

“Our fate can truly be altered if we have the courage to embrace the opposites.”

“Again, look at the Catholic Mass and you will see a perfect balance of destruction and creation, of evil and redemption.”

“All of this flies very much in the face of traditional thinking. Our present model seems to be that we can do something sufficiently creative, that will overwhelm the dark forces and we will have triumphed. But a very different solution is required.”

“The bottom of the triangle represents the duality of our perception. On the ego-shadow axis, we see the pairs of opposites: right and wrong, good and evil, light and dark. As long as we concern ourselves with this scale the best we can hope for is an endless contradiction. But if our consciousness is sufficient, we can synthesize these warring elements and come to the all-knowing eye at the central point.”

If we can balance our energies away from “blood thirst,” maybe we can alleviate some of the world’s suffering. After all, “it’s all in fun,” they say about extreme hazing and cruelty, blurring the lines between positive and negative energy. The dark scenarios supply a certain increase in adrenaline (something like a vampire feels, I would imagine). To a large degree, the collective cultural mindset supports, for example, vampires and zombies.

Clearly, we relate to vampires and zombies on some level. This interest is attached to both sides of the symbolic core material, including horror, disaster, and demise. As with all archetypes, there is a positive side to vampires. Hmmm, can’t think of it (but by definition, there is a polar side). Actually, I can. There is a connection between the dark, shadowy side of us, “vampires,” and other dark figures of the night. It appears that there is a metaphorical, “flip-side” of life. We have a dark-side. It is as if we only have access to it through a birds-eye view, or through our projections on things and people.

There is mystery and intrigue found in the story of evil. It “stirs our blood,” so to speak.

In my picture-series, with the caveat that I believe in Jesus, the “blood of Christ” is highly relative to my journey. Inherent in Christianity, “The blood” is powerful, cleansing, and healing, as the result of “belief.”

Symbols Stir Us to Action, at times.

SYMBOLS THAT “SUPER-IMPOSE” Christian symbolism. To have attached death to the cross did not undermine the enduring symbolism.

It is important to realize that the Christian faith is based on the Resurrection of Christ and the belief that “Jesus lives” (in the hearts of believers).

Note how the ribbon “crosses” — The Pink Ribbon symbolizes Unity (a cause)

The Yellow Ribbon symbolizes – Unity, and “the safe return” of our Army Soldiers

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS

THE SUN (SON) SYMBOL

The post Precious Blood appeared first on AwakenArts.

READ Angel Gardens

“The Dove Poem” uncovers a forgotten dream.

Symbolizes rebirth.

READ Dove

To understand the image, it is important to realize that symbols and images are relevant forms of discovery associated with “the individuation process” as described by C. G. Jung.

“The urge and compulsion to self-realization is a law of nature and thus of invincible power, even though its effect, at the start, is insignificant and improbable.” “Its power is revealed in the miraculous deeds of the child hero…”
Jung, The Psychology of the Child Archetype

Dreams present us with images that reflect our own and a collective inner “plurality” of persons and places, inasmuch, an inner community and a society. Understandably, this inner personified plurality often supports polytheism. As a Christian, I believe in one God, plural in nature, a “Trinity,” God, the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit. I believe in the Biblical, “Kingdom of Heaven.” It is important to note that, according to biblical doctrine, the Kingdom of Heaven is located “within.” As implied, “the Kingdom” is a spiritual firmament, societal in nature, which includes “the family of God,” Saints and Angels. From the standpoint of “a personal relationship with Jesus,” the stage is set for the spiritual interaction that occurs throughout the Kingdom. If God is good, God is a positive force in the universe, and where there is a positive force, there is a polar and opposite force as well, a formidable negative and adversarial force, which includes the many manifestations of evil and the personifications of deceit.

“The Dragon Poem” exposes two key tenets associated with individuation:

1) duality and

2) the shadow (personal and collective)

Dreams offer the canvas for unconscious sketches and renderings. Dreams are happenstances filled with diverse characters, landscapes, themes, and journeys.

Ladybug

OUR BRANCHES instinctively reach out toward the extravagant sky of our dreams, rich and colorful, imaginary and legendary.  It is the sky where the God Being has beautiful wings; it is a story of creation, full of images, symbols and visual storytelling.

“The Butterfly Poem” exposes the reflective, mirroring nature of the process.

READ Butterfly

OUR DREAMS are a stage for the unconscious to act out inner plays in a world of possibilities. It is through symbolism and imagery that we are able to detect what is otherwise hidden as part of an indiscernible unconscious reality. We connect through the energy that resides in imagery.

“As expressive forms, things speak; they show the shape they are in. They announce themselves, bear witness to their presence:  ‘Look, here we are.’ They regard us beyond how we may regard them, our perspectives, what we intend with them, and how we dispose of them. This imaginative claim on attention bespeaks a world ensouled. More—-our imaginative recognition, the childlike act of imagining th3 world, animates the world and returns it to soul.”
–James Hillman, A Blue Fire

As Spirit conflicts with the flesh, it is the unison of words and music that we seek, the integration of intuition and imagination with collective AND personal individual realities.

READ God Gave Love Wings

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The dragon is a “primordial” image. “The primordial image, elsewhere also termed archetype, is always collective, i.e., it is at least common to entire peoples or epochs.”
(Jung, On the Nature of the Psyche).

The dragon appears in many ways, and creates connection through various means, including themes and motifs. This dragon, the word image, is relatively harmless in appearance, not a fiery dragon bearing teeth. However, the words of the poem do bring the prototypical (archetypal) fierce, deadly dragon into view.

The dragon archetype is both wise and engaging and the dragon is full of burning fury. It can not be another way since the dragon, here, is an archetype and an instrument of the process of enlightenment.

Netscape Dragon, Techno-Dragon (a “digital” motif)

The dragon archetype, in general, adheres to a certain blueprint of the past, present, and future nature of the psyche, or the collective unconscious. To understand the dragon is to understand archetypes.

“One result of the dissolution of the persona is a release of involuntary fantasy, which is apparently nothing else but the specific activity of the collective psyche.”

“I call the image primordial when it possesses an archaic character. I speak of its archaic character when the image is in striking accord with familiar mythological motifs.”

C. G. Jung

BLUE DRAGON

The dragon archetype, as all archetypes, is multi-dimensional, “multi-valent.” It is typical of an archetype to appear somewhat ordinary. But this is highly deceiving since archetypes, by definition, are the polar, complex energy of the psyche “contained” in images and imagery. Archetypes are not to be understood on a level of one-dimensional thinking. They point back to themselves as representatives of the collective psyche. After all, the archetypes are the stuff of the “cosmos,” products of the collective unconscious, emissaries of enlightenment, and manifestations of “the powers that be.” It is the function of archetypes to appear as symbols and content that can be absorbed and understood by the conscious psyche, generally speaking, and to bring what is unknown or in need of acknowledgment into consciousness.

Notice how in the following motif — this symbol is similar to a “space ship” (if you can imagine this, it might be a “Star Trek Warship” in the shape of a Dragon —

Then think about the fact that this is “a primordial symbol” and it is inherently speaking the language of the archetypal realm of the psyche and the Spirit of One God (i.e. “wholeness”).

saying (called “amplifying” according to R.A. Johnson, The Fisher King and The Handless Maiden) to me about the digital dragon? It tells me that the “tron” in us is also void of the human in us.m

Imagine the lights in the windows of a skyscraper at night.

Or the lights of a Dragon Shaped Space Station.

Good and bad, as always: It is how we come to an integrated conclusion about the facts understood as “symbolspeak.” It is how we learn to separate the light from the darkness that is the glimmer in every galaxy.

The dragon poem poem tells a tale, and enlightens in a variety of ways. Color (an archetype in itself) changes the interpretation, if only slightly. It merits consideration when dealing with dream or fantasy imagery. This dragon has several names, the “And” dragon, the message dragon, seahorse dragon, red dragon, black dragon, blue dragon,

Green Dragon

The Divided Self

The dragon tells the story of dualism and polarities. 

These creations, dream or fantasy images, tell the story of my own journey to higher awareness. The images are symbols, not consciously created for this purpose. They are “containers” for my projections. Some of the symbols are actual containers, a set of bowls, a clay pot, pointing more precisely to their nature. They have transformational, universal implications, but they are blended with individual parts of my psyche, products of my own inscape projected outside of myself. In this way I was able to negotiate parts of my psyche that were foreign, alien, and that could not be in any other way assimilated.

There is growing awareness, globally, of the need for essential, healthy nutrients in the world, nutrients for the soul journey.

When we nourish ourselves, we are blessed with energy to nourish the world. It is in the best interests of all that we ourselves heal as an only method to heal the world.

Paradox

This picture is called, “the ‘And’ Dragon”

Notice that the word, “and,” is “on the dragon’s mouth”
(figuratively and literally). 

The word, “and” can be interpreted in the context of the dragon metaphor as speech (note that fire, Spirit, and language are historically combined in symbolism). We might interpret the dragon to be “stating the message” of duality as well as embodying the message in typical archetypal fashion.

Essentially, we are polar energies in one place, this “and” that. Paraphrasing Scott Peck on the subject of paradox, we are not to think in terms of one “or” the other, but one “and” the other.

“‘Tis neither good nor bad but thinking makes it so.” Shakespeare

The dragon is neither good nor bad — as it is a symbol of wisdom and prosperity as well as a symbol of death. There is “a lesson in projection” here. As we find from all of the archetypes, both good and evil (an apt dichotomy for the dragon archetype), we have a way of mirroring our beliefs on the forms or persons outside of us, and in this way, we disassociate ourselves from distasteful things within us to an image outside of us. (Read Debbie Ford, “The Shadow Side of the Light Chasers” or Robert A. Johnson’s book, “The Shadow”). Through our projections, we find a way to complete ourselves. Usually, we find that there is much more shadow material than we want to acknowledge — but we must acknowledge the shadow, since personal and universal forms of the shadow have a way of reigning over our thoughts and behaviors. What would happen if we were to take back our projections? We search for what is in us –looking outward.

It is out of love for God that we begin to hear the golden bells, the songs of angels, and the whisper of Holy things, like doves on the wind.

I can think of these things. I can believe.

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Butterflies symbolize spirit, transformation, and new beginnings. The butterfly poem is one in a series of transformational images. The images, as a whole, constitute a Jungian “picture-series” similar to a dream-series (refer to C. G. Jung and the process of individuation).

God speaks a universal language, understood through soul and spirit, a language of symbols, metaphors, allegories, and dream imagery. Our ability to communicate with one another is connected to our ability to communicate with God. Spiritual wonders are hidden as pearls, waiting for discovery. We search for the vocabulary to communicate with God. We find our way to each other when we find our way to God and Love. We can share ourselves most effectively when we are connected to the energy of God. We know the way to interact with God intuitively, honestly, and as children seeking guidance. Relationship to God is a transformational journey to wholeness and healing. When we are connected to God, a relationship is forged from the choices we make; bad or good, our choices define us. It may be as simple as choosing God. In the process, we awaken from the dream that separates us from God.

Transformation is the synergy that is created between man and God. It is the soul’s journey of completion.

What happens to change a butterfly? Transformation involves a shift away from the ego, though the ego is not gone, nor should it be. Independent will is part of our path and our relationship to God. God addresses each one individually. Even the most ardent servants of God experience the inherent separation between heaven and earth. There are certain paradoxes associated with God, such as “God is one, and God is many.” These paradoxes contradict, by nature, yet the energy of God is unifying. God is an archetype, a supreme being, a galaxy of polar energies existing in one place. God is not one-dimensional and the matrix that contains us is the matrix that is within us. One way that we are are connected to God is through our will. We are on the road to becoming and proactive through our choices. It isn’t always easy to anticipate change and our plans are always subject to interference and adversity.

We are the synergy of God, soul and substance in one place.

The words are identical on each side of the poem. Between the words there is a center place, a space, and a chasm. It is where the mystery takes place. The words combine in the center to create synergy between the two sides forming a question, “Our hearts of God’s grace?”

It is as if this question comes between the two realities, “Do our hearts reflect God’s grace?”

Butterflies and Transformation, Video

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What does it take to pull one individual off trajectory, as if some energy were leading elsewhere. Note the symbolism associated with the whirlwind in The Wizard of Oz, or the symbolism of the whirlwind that took Elijah to Heaven. The whirlwind, then, is a symbolic way of identifying the energy that takes us to another place, literally and spiritually.

wizard of oz tornado scene mix

The new trajectory places new meanings on everything and everybody associated with the new reality. There is a certain energy that leads each one individually. There is courage for the Lion, a heart for the Tin Man, a brain for the Scarecrow, and home for Dorothy. People who exit the circle of expectations are alienated to some degree, appearing outside of normalcy, even when the exodus is due to an terminal illness or handicapping disability. The crowd defines normalcy rather arbitrarily, e.g. a popular musician who behaves badly is idolized, while others acting the same way are publicly eschewed. Those following individual belief systems are precariously situated, something like Jesus. The Road Less Traveled is a “different” course, by definition, and the pursuit of independent objectives in life tends to meet with opposition. Conforming is positive, as well, and plays a role in social associations. Over-conforming, in the long run, is simply the path of least resistance.

Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland

“Down, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end! `I wonder how many miles I’ve fallen by this time?’ she said aloud. `I must be getting somewhere near the centre of the earth. Let me see: that would be four thousand miles down , I think–’ (for, you see, Alice had learnt several things of this sort in her lessons in the schoolroom, and though this was not a very good opportunity for showing off her knowledge, as there was no one to listen to her, still it was good practice to say it over) `–yes, that’s about the right distance–but then I wonder what Latitude or Longitude I’ve got to?’ (Alice had no idea what Latitude was, or Longitude either, but thought they were nice grand words to say .)

Presently she began again. `I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth! How funny it’ll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downward! The Antipathies, I think–’ (she was rather glad there was no one listening, this time, as it didn’t sound at all the right word) `–but I shall have to ask them what the name of the country is, you know. Please, Ma’ am, is this New Zealand or Australia?’ (and she tried to curtsey as she spoke– fancy curtseying as you’re falling through the air! Do you think you could manage it?) `And what an ignorant little girl she’ll think me for asking! No, it’ll never do to ask: perhaps I shall see it written up somewhere.’”
Literature.org, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

The Problem with Strict Conformity to Cultural Norms

The problem exists in relation to the greater good, to include saving the world from the tyranny of depersonalization. The collective and culturally influenced personality is so easily spilled upon throughout the crowd, contaminating with ego energies which only serves to wash away individual awareness. It is the duty of awakening to create an individual from the masses. And it is the individual solution that is primary. As we learn from R. A. Johnson, Jung, J. Taylor and others, there is no collective solution to the ills of society. Healing occurs one healed individual at a time. Personalities are energized by the spirit in different ways. The platform that includes energies associated with different personalities accounts for astrological typecasting. There remains a mystery surrounding spiritual reality.

“Spirit-enlivened” individuals are hard to “pin down.” In terms of the archetypal, collective psyche, the presence of any archetype including Spirit has both good and bad sides. This is not necessarily a distinction of good and evil, but there is a negative side somewhere in the mix. The Spirit is sweet, airy, but the earth is an anchor for the feet, a place of solidity. It is easy enough to fly, but there is a certain amount of dust on our wings from the falls associated with learning. When the path approaches the end, physically, all of us experience the road home.

The sharp edge of competition for both tangibles and intangibles in our society is overwhelming. The mirror side to this energy is negative; it creates “losers” in society, where losses are categorically considered unacceptable. Society itself is depersonalizing so the awakening individual hurries back to sleep to avoid personalizing and experiencing the truth of one’s own underlying reality to remain in the good graces of society. Success is haphazardly based on the false assumption that others are “winning.” Many people simply quit, give up, and justify perceived losses by making excuses. It is so important at this juncture to believe in the power to change. Wayne Dyer identifies commonly used excuses for resisting change in his book, “Excuses Be Gone.” (Excuses Be Gone, Youtube).

The journey leads to success, inherently, but the way that success is defined creates a deceptive reality. The battle for resources (including power and dignity) garners hostility and invokes a competitive, even adversarial spirit. Admiration is only one currency associated with the process. There are many, including hubris or pride.

World English Dictionary

hubris or hybris
—n
1.      pride or arrogance
2.      (in Greek tragedy) an excess of ambition, pride, etc, ultimately causing the transgressor’s ruin

There seems to be a certain energy opposed to pride; “pride goes before the fall.” The Bible says that “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” And still we turn around, dumbstruck in the sackcloth of our difficulties, shaken, defamed, and on our knees to pray. Paul, writer of the Epistles tells us in Romans that there is a natural conflict that exists between the physical and the spiritual world, or between “Spirit and flesh.” As Paul lamented, “these things I hate, I do,” in reference to the conundrum of our “sin nature.” Why didn’t God take the thorn from Paul’s side? Why wasn’t Moses allowed to enter “The Promised Land”?

When it comes to compliance, we have become a culture of “exempt others” since we are refusing to accept God with humility. We deny our allegiance to the spiritual monarchy, redefining it in some way to make ourselves sovereign above the King, symbolically. When we choose to accept the moral laws that pertain to human life, we are accepting the role of God as King, by default, since morals and ethics apply to God inherently. Our relationship to God may be akin to our relationship to Santa Claus. Typically, we want it our way or no way at all, until something changes; it may take a whirlwind.

How do we balance the positive and negative sides to the personality?

We can not disown our own energies if we are to heal. We often displace ourselves (project parts of ourselves) on other people. We react to others as if we were not displacing our own energy, keeping it at bay instead of allowing the energy to come forth and enlighten. The personal unconscious finds the quickest and easiest way to displace energy on the closest, least suspecting and most available victims. The psyche protects its shadow in these unhealthy ways, working to the detriment of the enlightened personality in important ways. The key to balancing the personality, according to Jungian tenets, is to integrate the disparate parts of the personality into a whole, and moral human being.

In view of the deprivation that exists in the world today, do we really need so many material luxuries? Our collective consumer mentality, on the positive side is motivating, and on the negative side promotes greed. Is there a way to stop “the vicious cycle” from rotating around the earth again and again with the same negative energy? People continue on the path of aggression, reacting and defending. We recede from God to operate on the level of survival, “kill or be killed,” and the world remains ill. The method is misguided and intended to alleviate internal pressure by displacing negative energy onto others by powering over and creating enemies. We begin to shake the book of righteousness at our neighbors, undermining the words under the cover. Shortcomings and faults are disowned and deflected onto others both consciously and unconsciously. It seems right to offend in return, a knee-jerk reaction, which appears “justifiable” in some way (chic in the current cultural environment). It is this internal justification mechanism that creates so much of the hostile and negative energy that is in motion between people today. Most of these transactions take place outside of the realm of awareness. Along with the practice of denying and deflecting comes an accompanying sense of reinforcement, a hint of self-protection, and a sugar boost to the personality. The idea of acting to the contrary quickly passes away. It is a way of playing “hot potato” or “pass the hat” (filled with negative energy). Curiously, these are viewed as a harmless “games” by the culture, which begin in childhood. The game has no more practical application to healing and well-being than treating a disease with leeches.

We unconsciously offset the personality with polar, opposite energy. The dream repairs by means of “compensating energies” appearing as symbols and images. Negative energy, darkness and despair, undermine success, operating in the field unconsciously. The dream comes to let me know that there is something to recognize in the imagery that is beneficial and healing to me. That’s the way the process works.

Overcoming Negativity

How can the negative energy defying my own efforts to succeed get autonomous control over me?

How do I allow negative energy the power to prevent me from being the person I want to be?

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Can we become new again?

Change is, after all, “the impossible dream.” We can heal and be born again as friends of God and humanity. We can win the shiny crown and the glory we seek somewhere in the territory of our being. It is within the powers of God to assist us on our healing journey.

We can be so much more than we are able to see. It is as if there is a veil separating us from the intelligence (the truth) that so vitally affects our reasoning. Without the light of knowing, we remain in the dark, viewing life from the perspective of the invalidating dream.

Life is a personal journey. Dreams come in service of dreamers and speak a language of symbols that is unique to God and individual beings. Trial and error is a valid form of learning. There are gains and losses along the way. It is the way of the world that things need sorting. All misfortune somehow affects everyone, even those who disown, deny, and deflect it. We must not identify ourselves in terms of the slander surrounding us at any given point on our path or journey. There will be many “rude awakenings” but as Wayne Dyer says regarding interference, “Get on with the journey.” We are to a large degree, faulted by nature, and grow from misadventures into saints.

In our story, who will be Judas? Who will exploit the “weak”? There are infinite ways that life can seize us with forceful energy, blindsiding us into a shadow personality. Everyone has felt the grip of fear, or the chains of guilt and shame. Love captivates and can be one of the most difficult energies to assuage.

Where will we find the den of evil if Heaven is within us? It takes honesty to own the shadow as a part of one’s collective and personal psyche. It takes courage to face the unlovable and unlikeable attributes within ourselves. The “process of individuation” is a process of self-discovery. And it is a process that demands steps in the right moral and ethical directions. It is the person who mines the soul through the process who finds allegorical gold, healing and whole being. And there is more. Somewhere, buried as an Aladdin’s Lamp, symbolically, is the born again ability to proceed in the direction of one’s destiny.

What C. G. Jung termed “the process of individuation” is the sheer power of the unconscious psyche to take the lead in one’s story, and through a series of images and symbols, to heal the conflicted and fragmented human psyche by integrating dualities and multiplicities into “whole being.”

And from this vantage point, we can uncover the mystery for what it is. We can see ourselves in our projections. We no longer want or need “scapegoats” or unsuspecting others to act as placeholders for the shadow within our own divided being. We can be more than fool’s gold for the devil’s magnet. There is a standard of human decency that is circumvented when a stand-in is chosen for one’s own flaws and inadequacies. Scapegoating, unconsciously, is a defense mechanism associated with the personality, and the true culprit is within one’s own personality.

Swans and Christian Symbolism

“During the early years of Christianity, the swan was a popular image used for Christian lamps and ornamentation. Its extreme whiteness and its life upon pure waters implied purity and chastity; virtues which early Christians found exemplified in Jesus and Mary. It was the emblem of perfect love, courage, clean conscience and of light; traits also exemplified in Christ who called Himself the ‘light of the world’ (John 8:12) and laid down His life for His friends (John 10:11-15; 15:13). Its white coloring reminded Christians of Christ’s transfiguration during which ‘His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them’ (Mk 9:3). Like Christ, the swan was an enemy of the serpent because it ate small snakes and eels as it swam in the marshes.

A pair of swans drinking from a cup symbolizes the Eucharistic chalice and the innocence of those deemed worthy to drink from it. Two swans with their necks lovingly entwined stand for two lovers or friends united in a companionship which is tender and true. However, Vincent de Beauvais considers this picture an image of lasciviousness and forbidden caresses.”

Link to ChristStory Swan Page

“Probably, the most famous belief about the swan is that it only sings when it is about to die. This song easily became an omen of death. It is believed to be extraordinarily passionate and beautiful, filled with the joy of a being which sees the glory of another life before it. This song has been compared to the joyous deaths of saints and martyrs and is exemplified in the Bible’s description of the death of Stephen the Martyr: “He, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God…” (Acts 9:55-60). The last works of poets and other artists are referred to as their “swan songs.” The swan song of Christ is contained in John chapters 14-17.”

Swan Song

It is certainly the rule that archetypes have both positive and negative sides. It seems that the art poem, Swan, deals with agelessness and the echoes of time. There is a very present “swan song” but it is part of the eternal nature of the swan, where life and death are captured in the same song. The “final scene” nature of the swan is only to precede the swan’s return. The story repeats itself.

“‘Swan song’ is a metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement. The phrase refers to an ancient belief that the Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) is completely silent during its lifetime until the moment just before death, when it sings one beautiful song. The belief, now known to be incorrect, had become proverbial in Ancient Greece by the 3rd century BC, and was reiterated many times in later Western poetry and art.”

Answers.com

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