NATURE'S POWER &

THE HERO/INE’S JOURNEY # 3

“Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye...

It also includes the inner pictures of the soul.” Edward Munch

Whether you are a nature lover or not, the archetypal Hero's Journey

was originally experienced in the Sacred Space of a natural environment.

That does not mean one has to venture into the wild outdoors to do it. Putting

oneself in a survival situation is counterproductive

to going inward and receiving the 'Grail' or anything else enlightening.

Whatever way you choose to be in Nature - it must be the

the right form for you - a spiritual retreat center, renting a cabin in the woods, on

a lake, on the ocean... Anywhere where one is exposed to Nature's

magic. Nature can meditate us

if we expose ourselves to her soft fascinations and biorhythms for a good few days.

"This song of the waters is audible to every ear but there is other

music in the hills ... sit quietly and listen and think hard of

everything you have seen and tried to understand ..." Aldo Leopold

For those more inclined to venture into the wilderness to

Separate...

"Have you seen God in his splendor, heard the text that nature renders? (You'll

not hear it the family pew.) The simple things, the true things, the silent folk who do

 things, then listen to the wild its calling you ... They have cradled you in custom, they

 have pinned you with their preaching, they have soaked you in convention through and

 through. They have put you in a showcase, you're a credit to their teaching but can't you

 hear the wild its calling you."  Robert Service

Research has shown that Nature has profound restorative effects. Green and blue colors

are relaxing (as are these colors in surgical scrubs.) Architects,

aware of the Sick Building Syndrome, strive to correct it with their designs

which embrace concepts of light (which neutralizes Seasonal Affective Disorder)

as well as plants, nature paintings or images and fountains.

Research has shown that if patients can see nature out of their windows

(or watch nature scenes on TV.) they recover sooner. Prisoners who can see outside their cells and those working in gardens do better.Walking in nature can be more restorative that an urban walk.

and a backpack create more equanimity than a hike.

The longer we expose ourselves to a natural environment - especially

with a restorative intention - the more powerful it can be. 

Eco-psychologists are emphasizing the importance of the "Accessible Green." The easier it is for us to regularly connect with the Earth Mother,

the healthier and more balanced we feel. All the more so for the Hero's

Journey which must also be inward rather than outward.

"To experience the Still Beings (rocks, mountains, earth) we must touch them.

To experience the Growing Beings (plants, trees) we must listen to them.

To experience the Wild Being (and domestic who were once wild) we must dance with them.

And to experience the Talkings Beings we must feel with them.

The Magic of the Extraordinary can be seen and heard in stunning wilderness but also in the 

Magic of the Ordinary with Nature that is all around us -

 a rainbow, a feather, a flower, a spider’s web, the flight of a butterfly or a hummingbird.

Once we take time out, preferably four days,

Nature's signs begin to talk to us as metaphors for our lives as do Power Animals

when they appear when we are in a relaxed, receptive, alfa state.

Our intuitive powers and our dream worlds expand. 

With the right intention we do not have to be in pristine wilderness.

The “Magic of the Ordinary” can occur anywhere we find ourselves;

The stars and planets having a divine consciousness greater even than that of humans

and only slightly less than that of angels, as do stones, water, earth and air.

If you want to learn the language of rocks and trees you must first slow to their pace

which is different from animals and wild flowers.

Although they are soundless they are not silent, so listen long and deeply in order

to hear what hearing ears do not.

Fauna, flora, stones, planets, stars, sun and moon, waters and the earth are replete

with God’s creative intent.

And so do we also have the attributes of all the plants,

minerals and animals and the power of the winds and their directions within us.

We are all one though not the same.

"We Inter-Are." Thích Nhất Hạnh

also believed that everything depends for its existence on everything else.

These wisdoms below help us to understand the danger of what we are in the process of 

losing. The Hero's journey can also facilitate our treating our Earth Mother more kindly.

“Earth is best understood as a single, self-regulating, Super-organism. the planet

is self-regulating through the interaction between living things and the inorganic

environment on earth. Gaia’s goal is to maintain a balance in the ecosystem

that allows Her to stay alive.” J. Lovelock and Magulis

When we immerse in Nature's power we become more committed to preserving her.

“The first rule of intelligent tinkering with world systems is to save all the parts.” Aldo Leopold 

“Wilderness holds the questions to answers we do not yet know how to ask.”

David Brower

 

Nature is part of God’s masterpiece on our tiny planet inside the

mysterious, magnificent, multiverse. For many, Nature, is the best place to connect

with the sacred geometry of Divine Intelligence. For those resistant to the concept

of God, think then of, 'Field', or Infinite Intelligence.

 

Equanimity is believing that the Infinite One is present in everything we see and do and in

so believing, while it does not change what happens,

it does change how we feel about it. We do it with greater reverence,

gratitude and joy because we trust in and are aware of God’s presence.

 

The soul’s essence should lodge comfortably in the body.

From the sound of my sighing, has my essence (soul) cleaved onto my flesh (body.)  

David the Psalmist

Soul (Essence) and Body (Flesh) are meant to be in unison. When we are dysregulated,

the Soul which is pure, will separate from the Body's impurities of ego, shadow,

and monkey mind, out of control.

Nature has the potential to bring body and soul back together again.

David was a shepherd and before he became king he was “Nature Bound.”

You can imagine him in pure wilderness, experiencing

the oneness or “sighing” or Wilderness Rapture that one can achieve

with prolonged exposure in Nature. No doubt his songs and the subsequent psalms

were facilitated by this immersion.

 

We need to empty ourselves of Narrow (Monkey) mind’s obsessions and venture into the

expanse of Spacious (Big) mind. 

The more we look for the Divine in all Creation the more we will encounter Him/Her. 

Nature is a room with many doors and windows to Spirit.

 “Search for Me and you will find Me, seek Me with all your heart and

will let you find Me.”  Jeremiah

 

The Creator (and Jesus) want a personal relationship with each of us. Kabbalah states

that the Great Spirit is playing “hide and seek” but no-one

wants to participate. Jeremiah is affirming God’s desire.

 

The Supreme Being is a persistent lover wooing us with many pleasures,

lavishing endless grace, wanting our delight, hoping for our trust.

We are all given a unique talent or destiny (mission, purpose) by the Great Spirit

in order to help the planet and its Beings.

The Hero's journey is aligned with finding and fulfilling

our special purpose. Nature is a preferred environment and a catalyst in whatever way

we find it.

 

THE HERO'S JOURNEY & THE MAGICAL POWER OF NATURE #2

THE MYSTERY OF THE NUMBER 4

4 WINDS & 4 RIVERS AROSE OUT OF EDEN TO ANIMATE ALL CREATION

We can enhance the Hero's Archetype by paying attention

to these Four Key Factors described in Kabbalah.

Four Seasons

Four Directions (and Power Animals in the Medicine Wheel)

Four Beings: Still, Growing, Wild, Talking

Four Elements: Air, Water, Fire, Earth

(To be discussed in future blogs)

Four Archangels

Uriel, Gabriel, Rafael, Michael

Four Colors for each direction

In addition we can include

Four BasicArchetypes: 

Healer, Teacher, Warrior, Visionary (who is usually the Hero/ine)

Four Phases of Life

Child, Adolescent, Adult, Elder or Crone.

During the journey it is optimal to spend a day

in each of these stages of life to see what issues in the past may

now be blocking one going forward.

THE FOUR DIRECTIONS 

"So the young man went North seeking the “Singing Stone.”After many adventures

he arrived in the North and found his grandfather sitting upon a stone

waiting for him. The Singing Stone is not to the North said the grandfather, it

is to the South. So he journeyed South and after many adventures

he found a dragonfly. The Singing Stone is not to the South sang the dragonfly

it is to the West. So he journeyed West and found a mouse.

The mouse answered, the Singing Stone is not to the West it is to the East.

So he journeyed East and after many adventures he arrived at a strange camp.

He headed towards the camp but pulled up short when he saw the paintings and signs

on the lodges were foreign. He decided to go ahead in spite of the

“Bow of Tension Pulled within Him.” Finally he reached the circle of lodges.

Then his sisters, mothers, brothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers,

uncles and aunts and all his relatives came out to greet him saying,

welcome to our Counsel Fire Singing Stone." H. Storm

 Arnold Van Gennep originally described initiation rituals (or the Hero Archetype

in indigenous peoples as occurring in three stages.

Separation, Threshold and Incorporation.

These were expanded and made more meaningful by Joseph Campbell.

The Hero's journey is a tortuous and convoluted one and may require more than one attempt.  

We can draw on Indigenous wisdom and the Four Directions (or six - Up and Down) to help us.

The Four Directions and the Medicine Wheel

were also part of the Vision Quest of the Native Americans which Westerners

have now copied and usually condense into Four Days

of fasting and going inwards to find one's purpose on the planet.

Although the Four or Six directions are not unique to the Native Americans - Isaiah

the prophet described them in a vision eons ago - they belong to everyone.

However, the Medicine Wheel with its directions are distinctly Native America.

This is a sensitive subject to many indigenous tribes of North America

who have been compromised by Caucasians and then find us adopting their culture

to help us with our own lives after compromising theirs'. If done with integrity, sensitivity

and respect for

its origins, this seems reasonable, though it may not be to its founders. 

Descriptions vary among the various tribes and I have expanded these principles

and the Hero archetype by combining them with understandings from Kabbalah and Yoga.

You will need to formulate your own, unique to you.

You may want to take a 'Medicine' walk' before your journey to formulate the polarities

on your way that can assist you. At the same time decide on what you really need for

the adventure, knowing that wants will get in the way of going inward.

The less we have between us an Nature the more powerful the connection.

Below can be a template for you, to design your own, according to

what feels right for yourself.

There are no rules except to have gratitude for their origins.

The Chakras, and the four basic Archetypes are added

to assist you in your own journey.

The different tribes have their own varying descriptions

of how to work with the wheel, so that nothing is cut in stone.

The Chakras and the Elements also coincide with

the increasing vibration that occurs as one travels clockwise around the wheel. 

We travel from the

South - Child - Earth - First Chakra - Survival - Healer - Summer - Red

(the wounded child of the south needs healing and often becomes a healer)

SEPARATION

to

West - Adolescent - Second Chakra - Water - Procreation/Digestion/Elimination

Teacher - Fall - Black

(the adolescent usually needs a skillful teacher to guide him/her to the North)

THRESHOLD

to

North - Adult - Third Chakra - Fire - Our Ego/Power Base - Warrior - Winter - White

(the chief of the tribe is also ideally a visionary who guides the tribe through

the challenges of providing for winter and also keeping them safe)

ALSO PART OF THRESHOLD

to

East - Visionary (Hero/ine, Elder, Crone) - Upper Four Chakras

- Air/Ether - Spring - Gold

The East represents New beginnings for becoming an artist, musician, guru, priest,

shaman, sage, healer, mystic... etc and the final phase of the Hero and

INCORPORATION

The snake shedding its skin and being 'reborn' again.

To keep its simple use the diagram below as a template and add or subtract

whatever suits. There will be other options you may want to add in later blogs.

'

I have omitted power animals which are for you to choose depending on what ecosystem

you best relate to. Your power animal may not necessarily be the animal you want to be

but the one you need to be eg. an ant for being more industrious

or rabbit or mouse for humility. They may come to you through the energetic

power of your guides - that manipulate them to you at the right time.

For that reason the Power Animal may not be behaving 'normally.'

In Native American tribes; the bear is commonly in the West - the Fall

since this is the time for bear to hibernate and 'go inwards.'

The West is often the dark night of the soul which occurs in the beginning of Threshold

when we face all our outer and inner fears.

In some Native American traditions

the white buffalo - the spirit animal of mastery - is in the North.

A raptor; eagle or condor with their site and insight is in the East

but these are predators and some may prefer a more spiritual rather than a warrior energy

for the East such as a water bird like a heron or another animal.

The Medicine Wheel applies especially to the seasons in the Northern hemisphere

but can be adapted to the Southern. The colors shown are arbitrary.

Isaiah's vision of the Four Directions (actually six, including up and down) also included

an archangel to guard it. Uriel is in the North (Eagle,) Gabriel in the West (Buffalo,)

Rafael in the South (Talking Beings) and Michael in the East (Lion.)

These angels also follow you in whichever direction you go, with

Uriel always in front, Gabriel on the left, Rafael behind

and Michael to the right. Uriel is light, Gabriel strength and courage,

Rafael healing and Michael lovingkindness.

Anyone can call on them at any time for support.

They are also associated with their respective Wild Beings.

Above is Panther stalking. Below is Bear for dreaming.

(Judgment in the North and Ego in the West only apply to the Tree of Life

which has corresponding directions in six of its Sephirot.)