Blog - Page 38 - Jean Raffa

The Heroic Making of a Soul

Earlier this month on March 10, my darling child, Matrignosis, turned four years old. As it has been with my human children, so it has been with Matrignosis in many ways: Pouring my passion into her and learning more about myself as she’s grown has been one of the greatest privileges and pleasures of my life. Indeed, the overwhelming maternal feelings I have for her and what she’s taught me are reflected in her name: matri (Lat. Mother), and gnosis (Gk. knowledge).

March 28, 2014 10 Comments

The Well of Feminine Power

As Joseph Campbell says in Pathways to Bliss, the feminine is the source of the energy and the masculine is its specification in any particular direction. She is the sea of energy out of which creation arises, he is every visible manifestation of that energy. She is the whole; he is a part.

March 25, 2014 20 Comments

On Interrelatedness: No Beginning, No End

Yesterday I met with my writer’s group, The Purple Pros, at the Barnes and Noble Café. As is our custom in this group which has met for over twenty years, one of us brings a meditative reading; another brings a topic we write about for five minutes. Despite the fact that these activities are randomly chosen, their themes are almost always remarkably similar, if not identical.

March 21, 2014 6 Comments

The Soul's Never-Ending Journey

With my 1989 discovery of Jungian psychology and the healing value of dreamwork, I started paying attention to images and symbols that felt important. Over the next five years of intense study I recorded and worked on hundreds of dreams and wrote two books. Both featured meaningful symbols that were helping me make sense of my life.

March 18, 2014 11 Comments

The Secret to Healing Relationships

Here’s one of the most important things I’ve learned about relationships: If we do not understand our worth and respect our right to be different, our relationships will be seriously impaired because others will not understand our worth or respect us either. But if we accept the natural entitlement that belongs to every soul, and if we can learn to trust our soul’s processes enough to stand firm in the face of misunderstanding and opposition, we can more easily bridge the divide between ourselves and others.

March 14, 2014 4 Comments

Formula for a Successful Marriage

Yesterday my friend Pat sent me a link to an article in the New York Times she knew I’d like called The All-or-Nothing Marriage. It asks the question, “Are marriages today better or worse than they used to be?” Writer Eli J. Finkel writes,

February 19, 2014 11 Comments

A Valentine For My Internet Friends

When I began blogging and posting on Twitter and Facebook almost four years ago, I never imagined I would meet so many wonderful people who I now feel I can call friends.

February 14, 2014 14 Comments

The Spiritual Practice of Gathering the World to Oneself

To our surprise, opening to our inner otherness reveals a world that is exactly like the one without! Not only is it a compilation of our worst fears and flaws, but also of our fundamental beauty, lovable qualities, and noble potential. Accepting ourselves at our worst humbles and softens us. Accepting ourselves at our best affirms and inspires us.

February 4, 2014 16 Comments

Why Go Into the Arts?

On the way to camp that summer, a girl showed me two chords on her baritone ukulele and by the time we arrived I’d taught myself to play “In the Still of the Night” and “Hang Down Your Head Tom Dooley.”

January 28, 2014 27 Comments

What’s the Difference Between the Voices of Ego and Soul?

The search for self-knowledge requires us to discriminate between helpful and non-helpful thoughts, attitudes, feelings and emotions. Until now, I’ve never found a clear and simple description of how to practice this. Then I came across a post by Rhiame, a contributor to the online journal, Waking Times. Her post, “How Do I Know if it’s My Ego or Soul Talking?” is helpful to me, and I’d like to share a portion of it:

January 21, 2014 14 Comments

Jean
Benedict
Raffa

Matrignosis

A BLOG ABOUT INNER WISDOM