Jean
Benedict
Raffa

Matrignosis

A BLOG ABOUT INNER WISDOM

Written in the Stars

I believe these things because I can’t deny the evidence of my eyes 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.

September 23, 2014 No Comments

What Do Dreams Have to Do with "Real" Life? Part I

If you’ve never thought of dreams as having any relevance to your waking life, I can assure you, they do. This one which came at a pivotal time in my life convinced me beyond any doubt that some unimaginable Mystery which dwelled both within and outside of me knew what was going on with my puny ego and had something to tell me about it. I’ll share the dream in this post and comment on it in the next.

July 15, 2014 14 Comments

What Meaning Can We Find in Numinous Encounters with Otherness?

Last week I wrote about an encounter with a rattlesnake on our forested mountain property. The day before that I found a skeleton of the head of something that looked like a baby alligator. Friends later confirmed that it was another snake. A bigger one. I had my third wild animal encounter in as many days the day after the live rattler appeared. This time it was a very large, very alive black bear!

July 7, 2014 16 Comments

What More Did I Think I Wanted?

I’ve returned to my beloved mountain valley. After five days the stillness is starting to settle in. This morning the eastern sky was red. “Red sky in morning, sailors take warning.” It will probably rain today.The sun is slow to reach the west side of the house. For now the garden is shrouded in shadows and mist.

June 26, 2014 10 Comments

Why Do I Write What I Write?

Then my inner environment underwent a mysterious change. It was very subtle, like a fresh wind carrying strange scents, or a curve in the river that leaves the rushing rapids behind as it empties into a tranquil blue sea. Suddenly there were fewer mountains to climb and more depths to explore.

June 24, 2014 11 Comments

Unplugging the Dam

I’d like to tell you about a particularly potent form of inner work that helped my daughter achieve her career goals. Julie was at Florida State University (Go Noles!) working on her Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy when the time came to write her dissertation. Suddenly, the psychic energy that had served her so well for so long hit a wall.

June 16, 2014 2 Comments

Ghost Stories

Last weekend I was telling some house guests about how my golden retriever Bear woke me up at night with his booming bark several times after he died. When I was finished, the husband nodded with solemn knowing and shared his story.

June 10, 2014 6 Comments

The Authentic Hero's Quest

The other day I read an article on the internet about a mostly male mindset called the “culture of honor” which places such a high value on defending one’s reputation that it results in more risk-taking and accidental deaths. Reportedly, this way of thinking is most prevalent in small towns and rural areas of the South and West in such states as South Carolina, Wyoming, and Texas.

June 3, 2014 8 Comments

Embellishment

Last Saturday my half-Italian husband told me about a funny thing that happened earlier that day when he was at the grocery store with his brother-in-law, Gary. “Where’s the tomato sauce?” he asks Gary. Gary looks up and points to a sign and says, “Aisle 3. It says ‘tomato sauce.’”

May 28, 2014 18 Comments

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“Where wisdom reigns, there is no conflict between thinking and feeling. ” -Carl Jung

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