Sunday, September 30, 2018

The Treasure We Seek

While cleaning out a file last week, I came across a quote attributed to Joseph Campbell. Set beautifully upon an image of a cavern, light spilling from an opening far above, were these words: The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.

Campbell was a scholar of mythology and comparative religion. His work, however, was not meant to be abstract. No, his genius was in gleaning truths from tales told across cultures and throughout time, and using that knowledge as intended: to illuminate the pathway toward wisdom and a rich experience of living. 
            
It’s hard being a human being. Not only is our external world often demanding, but inside we’re a confusing mix of conflicting emotions and competing desires. Complicated creatures, we are each a mix of light and dark. For those of us on a spiritual path, it is essential that we explore this inner territory, for what lies outside our awareness exerts a powerful control over it. 
            
And yet, such work is not easy. We may prefer to avoid recognizing that a current pattern is harmful or the niggling sense that it’s time for a change. Perhaps we’re in a destructive relationship. We might have a soul~numbing depression, an explosive temper, or past emotional wounds that hurt us still. Maybe we drink, use prescription meds, cannabis or food to numb ourselves. Or we may have simply not yet found a way to live fully, offering our unique spark to the world. 
            
No shame in any of that. It can be frightening to turn to face what whispers, even hollers at times, for our attention. But as Campbell’s metaphor reminds us, there are compensations if we answer the call. As we step into that cave, we surrender our fear and open to the flow of life coursing through us, moving into greater harmony with that force many call God. 
            
On the other hand, when we resist doing as we know we need to, we create barriers that wrench us out of balance. And because such blocks go against nature, they must be continually reinforced in harmful ways. 
            
So we step into that cave instead, not knowing where the path will take us. And as we do so, we might find that we are, as Campbell puts it, “met by a thousand unseen helping hands.” Spirit is on our side in this endeavor.
            
Aspens are flaming a vivid yellow on the mountainsides, and nights have turned cooler at last. Autumn has returned once again, with its urgings to turn inward. 

And if in that inward turning, we recognize that there is some aspect of our soul that needs tending, let us tend it now, knowing that we will be supported in the task and trusting that the treasure we seek shall indeed be found.

Happy spelunking, everyone!

Leia


Sunday, September 2, 2018

Breaking Open...Yet Again

We almost refuse. The bank of clouds to the east seems much too thick to allow a view of the rising moon. But the night calls to us, and we respond. 

We take a seldom~used path, and let it wind us this way and that until we find our spot, its trampled grass showing it to be a favorite resting place for deer. That’s good enough for us. We ourselves need a place to rest, a patch of nurturing Earth to bring us back to center after summer’s wild ride.
            
We step off the path, put our things down. Making a slow circle, we greet each direction in turn. We then sit beneath that large expanse of darkening sky and quiet ourselves. The still waters of the lake stretch out before us, with magnificent mountains rising across the valley to the north and west. Above us, billowy clouds are lit from a moon we cannot see. 
            
Gnats and the occasional mosquito consider making a nuisance of themselves, but their presence summons a group of nighthawks, the gymnasts of the bird world. In crazy, drunken, joyful arcs they swoop and soar as they feed, white wing bars glowing in the night sky. They fly so near that their fluttering is felt, as well as seen and heard. 
            
And then, suddenly and quite spectacularly, the moon clears the hillside behind us, moving into a patch of clear sky. It shines out huge and white and breathtakingly beautiful in the glory of its fullness.

There is a palpable sense of aliveness in this place. The very air seems to hum with it. We speak in hushed tones or not at all, as folks do in church. Fitting, for we know that we are in the presence of the sacred. 
            
My companion, stepdaughter whom I have known since she was a little thing of three years, speaks softly of her own journey. She shares with such wisdom and wonder that my heart breaks at the beauty of her. 

This is not a wounding heartbreak, but an enlivening one. I am broken open by this night, by the natural world offering itself so freely, by the radiance of this woman grown. And in the breaking open, I become more fully alive. 

I am also in love, in both senses of that phrase. I actively love this sweet earth and all who walk with me upon it. I also know that I exist quite literally IN love. I feel myself surrounded by it and held within it.
            
Love is everything. It is the only thing, actually…the alpha, the omega and the magic that fills the space between. We are immersed in a sea of love. Our task is to know it and then act out of that felt experience.
            
Rather simple in theory, but harder in practice. But that’s okay. We have a lifetime to learn. That is, after all, why we are here.

Loving you,

Leia