It would have been so easy to overlook the coincidences between two old photographs and the recent dream I wrote about in the last two posts. But because I took them seriously, I received an important gift: a more integrated perspective on the Mystery of life. And not just my life, but life in general.
For example, I get the ancient adage, “As above, so below,” because I’ve experienced the intimate relationships between Spirit and Matter in so many synchronicities. These two apparent opposites work together in meaningful coincidences, and I know it.
But until now I never quite saw the same harmonious Spirit-Matter connection in the saying, “the story of our lives is written in the stars.” To me this sounded suspiciously like the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination: the belief that an omnipotent, punishing, Biblical, Outer/Other/God “freely and unchangeably ordained whatsoever comes to pass.” And that “God appointed the eternal destiny of some to salvation by grace, while leaving the remainder to receive eternal damnation for all their sins, even their original sin.” In other words, if you’re happy but I’m suffering it’s because you’ve been good and I’ve been bad and God likes you better than me! Really? So God’s nothing more than Santa Claus?
I don’t accept that. In fact, I think this belief and the dogma of original sin are two of the most toxic ideas religious institutions ever perpetrated. In forcing these beliefs on us they have sown fear and guilt and created untold suffering.
In thinking about this I realized that what I do accept is that life is a journey of tragic and unjust experiences over which no one, not even that punishing God-image, has any control. But it is also an extraordinary Holy phase of humanity’s journey to the Mystery we call God. In that respect, I believe the true story written in the stars is not about cause and effect, but about a loving and compassionate aspect of Spirit, metaphorically symbolized by the sacred spark of wise Sophia, that has indwelt every soul from the beginning of time.
I believe Sophia knows who we are, what we need, and what our journey through life is all about. From her dwelling in the unconscious she sends messages to all of us via dreams, synchronicities, intuitions and other subtle prompts. These truths of our souls are the substance of every myth ever told and every religion ever initiated by every authentic spirit person. They show us our true natures and help us journey to our true Home: Benevolent Consciousness.
This is what it’s all about. Benevolent consciousness creating more Benevolent Consciousness. This state of awareness is the holy destiny of every soul. To attain it we don’t need to believe in creeds. All we need to do is notice everything that happens to us and look for the Soul’s mythic meaning beneath.
“God always speaks mythologically.”
Carl Jung, Letters, vol. 2, pg. 9.
I believe this because I can’t deny the evidence of my experiences or the knowing in my heart. I see now that at the age of 10 I was on the threshold of a spiritual journey which was, indeed, “written in the stars.” I was always meant to take this journey and so were you. This, as author Phil Cousineau calls it in his new book of the same name, is The Oldest Story in the World, the story of the human soul’s evolution into consciousness.
I don’t expect you to believe this just because I’m saying it. Consciousness-raising insights only come through personal experiences, and the experience I shared in the last two posts was meant for me. But if you yearn for similar experiences, my suggestion would be to view the story of your life through mythic eyes which see the symbolic meaning of everything that has ever happened to you and ever will.
The day after I wrote the above, the following quote arrived in my mailbox from a blog I subscribe to titled SymbolReader. It so beautifully summarized what I was trying to say (another beautiful synchronicity), that I knew I needed to share it here:
“I suddenly realized that … everything actually was all-meaningful, that every symbol and combination of symbols led not hither and yon, not to single examples, experiments, and proofs, but into the center, the mystery and innermost heart of the world, into primal knowledge. Every transition from major to minor in a sonata, every transformation of a myth or a religious cult, every classical or artistic formulation was, I realized in that flashing moment, if seen with a meditative mind, nothing but a direct route into the interior of the cosmic mystery, where in the alternation between inhaling and exhaling, between heaven and earth, between Yin and Yang, holiness is forever being created.”
Hermann Hesse, “The Glass Beads Game”
0 Responses
Dear Jean,
Firstly, thank you for re-quoting what I posted, but that is not what I wanted to say, really.
I have also felt the presence of Sophia in my life. I have felt her gentle wings over me in times of doubt and I know she is my inner guide and protectress of my soul’s development.
As you maybe know, I am deeply engaged in astrology, so for me the notion of being written in the stars is closely intertwined with astrology. For me, astrology is indeed a symbolic language that helps me understand deeper the archetypes at work in my psyche and in the world around me. I never connected astrology with the doctrine of predestination. I think that events are not what matters but rather “the interior of the cosmic mystery”, the magnificent play of archetypal forces that make our existence.
In gratitude
Monika
Hi Monika, Thank you for adding astrology to this conversation. I see astrology the same way you do: as a symbol system which has nothing to do with predestination or cause and effect and everything to do with the mystery of the interconnectedness of all that is in one cosmic whole of evolving consciousness. I see Tarot that way too; another symbol system that helps us better understand, as you say so beautifully, “the magnificent play of archetypal forces that make our existence.” These and other symbol systems, for example, mythology and I Ching, speak to the issues of our souls, the “inner events” that can show us who we are and bring us to greater consciousness if we will let them. With much appreciation, Jeanie
Reblogged this on Sindy's Saturday Satsang and commented:
Such a lovely blog written by a lovely lady. If you don’t follow you should,