“As we hurtle toward a cold and barren cosmos…the only direction to look is inward. That is the noble direction to look. It is a direction that foregoes ready-made answers and turns to the highly personal journey of constructing our own meaning. It is a direction that leads to the very heart of creative expression and the source of our most resonant narratives. Science is a powerful, exquisite tool for grasping an external reality. But within that rubric, within that understanding, everything else is the human species contemplating itself, grasping what it needs to carry on and telling a story that reverberates into the darkness, a story carved of sound and etched into silence, a story that, at its best, stirs the soul. ~Brian Greene, Until the End of Time, pp. 325-6.
Science and psychology, outward and inward, matter and meaning, reason and imagination, are themes that stir my soul. Let me tell you a story. We’ve recently arrived at our cabin in the Smoky Mountains. At 7:00 AM this morning I awoke to a tap, tap, tapping at one of our bedroom windows. I knew what it was. A cardinal, perhaps confused by the reflection it sees at certain times of day, has been intent on flying into our room since we arrived here. Sometimes it taps, sometimes it flutters against the glass. Perhaps from its perspective it sees the reflection of an enticing fork in a branch of a tree over yonder where it wants to build a nest. That would be the rational explanation.
But what if, from an entirely different perspective, it’s trying to get my attention? To a rational physicist, that would be a ridiculous, irrational thought. But what if this idea intrigues me? Fires up my imagination? Arouses my curiosity about dreams I’ve had that feature birds or the color red? What if I find enormous pleasure in looking inward for a meaningful message in the symbol of a bird with red feathers? Just now, at 4:00 PM, he’s outside the window again as I sit at my desk pondering tomorrow’s post. I had planned to write about the North Carolina hemlocks that are dying from an invasive insect called the wooly adelgid, and how that connects with Brian Greene’s theme of the death of the universe.
It’s forty-five minutes later and I’m back after searching my dream journal for the word “red.” I hear the determined, “What, what, what, what, what, what, what, what’s truuuuue?” of the cardinal. There he is outside the window, perching on a barren branch. He seems to be looking in at me. Okay, okay. I hear you already. My search turned up 17 dreams so far this year that feature the color red. Two mention Red Feather Mind, Body, Spirit, the publisher of my book, The Soul’s Twins. In one dream I’m looking for a red jacket. In another, a priest is found guilty of embezzling money from the church. The proof is a large red button in his possession that he snatched off a woman’s red jacket.
Three dreams feature clothes I’m wearing. In one, the owner of a clothing shop has gifted me with a white jacket and silk pants in stripes of red, gold, pink and orange, because I gave her a copy of my book. In a second, a red-haired teacher of a psycho-spiritual class has instructed me to sew something creative out of a red square of fabric and use it to teach a class on a certain topic. In a third, I’m wearing a red flowered blouse as I tour a beautiful home that’s for sale. In the backyard, surrounded by lush trees bordering a sparkling lake, I stand in awe, gazing at an exquisite glass garden room. I want a room like that. I fantasize about buying the house and using the garden room for my studies and writing.
Other dreams feature a trickle of red blood from a puncture wound on my finger; a red bruise on my hip as I look at photographs of three people I care about who have been deeply wounded by life; my sun-reddened legs; a strange creature that looks like a mix between a fox and a large rodent that has four red dots on its fur where it has been shot; two elegant women with lush red hair who befriend me (one is a therapist); a red-haired boy who needs to have his temperature taken to see if he has Covid19; two attractive red-haired men—one who is charismatic but chauvanistic toward women; the other who is kind and gentle and wants to date me.
Each of these dreams has a plot. A few are so opaque that I can’t find any meaning in them. But in most, I felt emotions that I experienced in my outer life a day or so before I had the dream; warm gratitude, worries about book-related projects, thoughts about a topic that fascinates me, concerns about my health, a sense of wonder.
“Red is the color of heightened emotion, strength, and power. It’s invigorating, intimidating, and it’s never boring.” Sensationalcolor.com
These are helpful reminders to stay conscious of the life-giving forces in my psyche and pursue the meaning of taps on my window. I’m doing that now by tracking my cardinal muse in this post. I find it fascinating. Will pursuing meaning prove to be as worthwhile as focusing on the material universe? Or am I wasting precious time?
Physicist Brian Greene thinks both matter but ultimately meaning matters more. C.G. Jung, a scientist and an explorer of the universe within, believed the same. What do you think?
“Meaninglessness inhibits fullness of life and is therefore equivalent to illness. Meaning makes a great many things endurable—perhaps everything. No science will ever replace a myth, and a myth cannot be made out of any science. For it is not that “God” is a myth, but that myth is the revelation of a divine life in man.” C.G. Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections (1962), p.340.
Jean Raffa’s The Bridge to Wholeness and Dream Theatres of the Soul are at Amazon. Healing the Sacred Divide can be found at Amazon and Larson Publications, Inc. Jean’s newest Nautilus Award-winning The Soul’s Twins, is at Amazon and Schiffer’s Red Feather Mind, Body, Spirit. Subscribe to her newsletter at www.jeanbenedictraffa.com.
7 Responses
Dear Jeanie,
I love how the cosmos and the cardinal speak in the same tender language. The way you let curiosity, symbol and spirit coalesce with rationality invites us into that liminal space where wonder quietly waits. I was especially moved by how you listen to the red, across dreams, feathers, blood, silk and memory, tracking its pulse like a sacred thread through your psyche.
Your willingness not only to look inward but to stay there with reverence stirs something ancient and aching in me, something that longs to trust meaning as deeply as you do. The pursuit of meaning isn’t just a detour but a deep alignment, a way to fully inhabit time rather than drift through it.
And when viewed through the lens of ‘rubedo’ (the Great Work), this reflection becomes something even more vivid: the soul’s awakening, the integration after fragmentation. The cardinal’s tapping, the dreams drenched in red, the shimmering garden room by the lake, they’re not just images, they’re thresholds. Echoes of life coming into colour, into presence.
In ‘rubedo’, red is no longer just the wound, it becomes the flame, the resurrection, the soul remembering its own radiance. Meaning is no longer an answer we grasp for, but an embodiment we become. That cardinal isn’t just knocking at your window, it’s declaring: You’re ready! Come alive!
Thank you so much for this cardinal call to pay attention, to dream boldly, and to remember that silence and symbol often speak truer than fact.
Your words don’t just resonate, they stir the soul into ripening.
I hope this day finds you well, perhaps with a cardinal nearby, or a dream still echoing in your heart, reminding you of just how alive and luminous this journey we call life, truly is.
Whatever you’re doing, have a wonderful weekend my dear friend!
Love and light, your poet friend, Deborah.
Dear Deborah,
Oh, how lucky I am to have a friend like you who creates poetry and even more meaning out of my prosaic utterances! The rubedo stage of alchemy hadn’t occurred to me, but, of course! Redness is not only the essence of the life that flows through our physical bodies, but the goal and reward of the psychological opus of individuation.
And I love your summation of meaning: that it isn’t just a detour but a way to fully inhabit time rather than drift through it. This rings deeply true. Your words show me aspects of myself that are so habitual to my way of being that I fail to notice and treasure them. Thank you for holding up that mirror to me.
This day does find me well. After twelve weeks and 36 classes of cardio rehab I’m not only fully recovered but feeling physically better than I have in years. Also, it’s very nourishing and uplifting to be away from the busy-ness of the big city and back to our quiet, slow-paced life at our cabin in the mountains. We’ve only recently arrived after an unusually busy spring that has prevented me from immersing myself in the luxury of my usual reading and writing. I’m working on a new book tentatively titled Heart Murmers and will say more about that soon.
I’m loving your posts at your new home on Substack. It’s really brought your poetess into the world in a big way. I’m sorry to have missed the two most recent. I look forward to getting back into my routine and catching up soon.
With much love and gratitude, Jeanie
Thank you for another insightful, instructive, and enlightening article, my dear Jeanie. You have introduced a book that appears highly significant and underscores the proper ways to understand the value of meaningfulness in reaching the Self. Unfortunately, it does not receive as much attention globally as I would wish. I apologise; I am utterly confused, defeated, and exhausted! There is a sordid game being played by the potentates, and all I can see is darkness!
Sending you warm wishes for health and happiness! I hope you have a wonderful time with your loved ones. Take care and stay well. 💖🙏
Thank you, Aladin. I’m so very sorry about the craziness that’s happening in Iran, and for the terrtible pain you and your former countrymen and women are in. Please don’t apologize for your confusion, sense of defeat, and exhaustion. You have every reason and right to feel that way. You’ve been doing your best and I know you will continue to do your best no matter what happens. I hope your health is improving and will continue to improve. I send you healing energy and prayers. Your friend, Jeanie
I don’t know how to separate matter and meaning. The images (matter) are all filled with meaning.
In daily life, I’m searching for meaning in the vertigo that won’t leave me alone. It has no color, but it has a feeling of dissociation from the very green earth and demands that I walk with a trekking pole. Everything has to be slow and careful. It’s challenging to get used to the intensity of the change.
As you know, I’ve had Meniere’s Disease for many years but the symptoms were less intense. Meniere’s is more intense in the humid tumultuous weather we’re having this summer. Vertigo and a sense of helplessness that comes with it are the worst in summer, my favorite time of year. Tap, tap, tap. My life is going through a tremendous change and I’m having to ask for more help for the first time. I’m grateful my son lives just 3 miles away and is a willing helper. I have a few other helpers, too. Since many friends have broken hips or ribs or problems with memory, this tendency to have vertigo is my tap-tap-tap. Be careful where you place your feet. Be conscious of every move. I’m learning a new way of living and moving.
Meanwhile, the color of life is so, so green and I still have my trails although I stay closer to the house. Sending you love and a joyful summer in your forest, I keep waiting for dreams to give me hints.
Blessings from your friend, Elaine
I don’t know how much my response is bouncing off the violent world situation and the horrors of my government and climate change, but thes may be major reasons why I feel in constant turmoil.
Dear Elaine, I spent the last hour writing you a long response. When I finally sent it, I received a message saying it failed to go through. Now it’s disappeared into the ether. I have no idea why. I don’t have the energy to try to recreate it now, only to lose it again. We’re in the mountains now and our internet connection is sketchy. Let me just say that I’m so sorry for the difficulties you’re dealing with now and the turmoil that goes with the tap-tap-tap of aging, diminishment, loss, and dependency. The fact that our world and society are facing the same things can only exacerbate our personal situations. You and I have worked hard to fill our lives with meaning. I think our job now is to find new ways to face this latest challenge. I can only tell you that I somehow approached my triple bypass six months ago with utter peace and acceptance, so I know that’s possible. I only hope I can continue to tap into that when I need it in the time to come. I wish the same for you. Love and peace, Jeanie