mermaidcamp
Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water
You can scroll the shelf using ← and → keys
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
You can scroll the shelf using ← and → keys
The archetype of shapeshifter is known as an element to build characters for plots in novels. It is also well known in mythology. Shape shifting involves skill navigating between levels of consciousness. It is related to the trickster Coyote in legend, but has less specific goals. In dreams this character can be a savvy guide. Flexibility is the theme and the great talent of the shapeshifter. In therapy or self realization the archetypes can be used to enlighten the eternal aspects of the human story. Another name for this character is spell caster.
My own direct experience with this energy came through a very funny Yaqui friend of mine in Mexico. First he effortlessly got me to wear a medicine bag made of deerskin. I am a very prissy vegetarian and asked him for one with no animal parts. He dangled it and told me it was my medicine but if I didn’t want it…I grabbed it and put it over my head faster than you could say Cachora is your shaman. It was, indeed, my medicine. A few months later he made me turn in my medicine. He freaked me out by attaching a buffalo tooth. When he gave it back with the tooth I was laughing so hard. I remember joking that next I would be wearing an entire coyote head around my neck. He announced that he would be able to be with me at night while I wore the tooth. I do still wear my medicine sometimes, although I have not seen Cachora in years. The medicine fell on the floor, breaking the tooth in two pieces, revealing the center of itself while I was at a hot spring on a personal vision quest. I thought about that buffalo. I thought it was significant, then promptly super glued it back together. My medicine still works and I still think it is funny. It reminds me to check all levels of consciousness before making moves.
“You don’t just integrate your “shadow.” It’s not an aspect of personality but a mysterious element in the human condition.” – Thomas Moore’s tweet of the day today. @thomasmooreSoul is on twitter, like @Pontifex. They both know Latin, liturgy, and the Holy Ghost. Their twitter streams could not possibly be more different. Thomas Moore tweets a dab of darshan daily to his small following. Nobody tweets crass insulting things to him, like they do to the Pope. It is a quiet, one way stream, like the Tao itself..bringing us closer to the truth every day. The truth is always downhill, and flow always involves removal of obstructions. Today he is tweeting about the much misunderstood Jungian theory of the shadow. Shadow can very well be the prime obstruction to living a happy full life. So, where is this mighty shadow, anyhow?
The shadow is the part of your self, or your society, of which you are unaware. It is hidden by your extreme belief in what you are fed by your ego. The ego is the weakest link to reality, in a way, because it only wants to confirm and uphold status quo as it prefers it. Meditation, contemplation, or artistic endeavors bring perspective needed to see this shadow. It is the reason you are in whatever rut you occupy. The rut is like a bunker maintained by your self image. Like a city with big buildings, no shadow is cast down in the bunker, except maybe at noon for a while. In the “reality bunker” the ego rules and keeps other aspects in the belief system you know as your rut.
With Groundhog Day fast approaching, consider celebration this year by leaving your thought bunker to risk seeing your shadow. How might a gentle reader do such a thing? Silence is the threshold. Meditation is the key. Mandala is the map. Wisdom is the reward. Walking a labyrinth is a wonderful way to begin.
mermaidcamp 