Different Ways #09 Lilith and the Nature of Negative Space, Part Three
Thinking about how Lilith and death phobia make uncomfortable bedfellows...
Everything under the sun has the polarity of lightness and darkness. Lilith, like nature, has an aspect of her that will kill you if you do not pay attention and respect natural law. When one is in the woods or in the wild, one's senses are piqued because our bodies know to be aware. That knowledge is Lilith. Likewise Lucifer, her dark male counterpart and the bringer of light who rules over critical thinking and walking one's talk, will not tolerate lack of autonomy and blind obedience. He will be punitive and brazenly reveal a person's lack of character, if that is what it takes to maintain integrity. Lucifer insists we grow towards what is loving and honorable. Both of these archetypes have been long in exile and are now stepping forward as alive within me - perhaps, all of us - after a long suppression. They are needed now. They are needed for the sake of an imbalance and disease in human nature and the evolution required. These are bold attributes that lie dormant within us and they can feel scary when they surface from within or appear outside of us, frankly.
The world is an intense place when the mask of pretense is removed and we can no longer hide behind the safety contrived by others that we have supported and has supported us. The vulnerability and abandon is overwhelming but it is also an invitation to give up our habit of hiding to connect anew with people in more dynamic ways; to be more passionate and engaged in life. What one cannot know is the liberation one can experience being unmasked until it happens and we decide how to respond to the experience. No one is lining up to be unmasked, however, because...well, we have been shamed for thousands of years and it is fixed in us to hide parts of ourselves. Likewise there is comfort in identifying what we perceive as flaws in others; it is the comfort of "clustering around shaming and blaming". Like a virus, shame can only live if we host it. We host shame with victim consciousness and living, nurturing, and consorting with fear. Once it has set up housekeeping, that shit doesn't give up the ghost easily. It is no wonder we must be coerced into a spiritual life.
Thanks for listening.
Different Ways, Chapter 26, pp. 214-219
Music: I was guided to the music for the post this morning; guided to this song and video that I saw a long time ago. As I watched it again, I'm reminded how deep the depth of our shame is embedded into our consciousness... This is how it can feel to drag each other through this issue of shame that weighs so heavily upon our relationships to others and ourselves. In this video, I see Lilith and Lucifer (feminine and masculine energies in human form) trying to roll the rock up the hill like Sisyphus burdened with the irreconcilable sensation and unfathomable realization that humanity is going die by somehow picking up fucking splinter; even after all that we have been through! We rarely realize that the offending shaving comes from the abundant tree of life and its mission is so much bigger than we remember. As for me, I was led willingly into this rabbit hole because...well, Dave Grohl and the Foos...Guilty pleasure? No. I don't roll that way anymore. I'm on the downside of this terrain. Simply pleasure.
Thank you for joining me here. The memoir Different Ways: Revealing the Feminine can be purchased through my website using a link to Village Books at AlltheDifferentWays.com. There is also an eBook version available at Amazon.
The blogCast that outlines my intentions for this series of readings from my book, Different Ways, Revealing the Feminine can be found here on the post, Between the Lines.