This point in
my life is one that I am enjoying more than I ever have. I am fortunate and blessed to spend my
summers—actually stretching summer from the
beginning of June to the beginning of October—at our cottage in Prince Edward Island. It is a time and place which are Thin
Experiences where the separation of heaven and earth are less well defined than
at other times and in other places.
I have had
the wonderful experience this summer listening to the tapestry of the archives
of Tapestry. I have always been a fan of
the show and particularly enjoy Mary Hines’ discerning and thoughtful interview
style. The depth and breadth of the
topics and individuals who are presented on the show provide me with food for
my spirit and soul. Part of the affinity
I feel for Mary Hines is one introvert connecting to another. As she revealed in one of the programs I
listened to recently, Mary is an unapologetic introvert. as am I, who revealed
her dream is to live in a light house away from the world. Now I can’t say that I have had that specific
dream either in waking life or while asleep. However, I can certainly
appreciate her desire. I have thought
that being sentenced to house arrest would be no punishment for someone like me,
and perhaps other strong introverts, as it is there that I am at home—not where I live specifically but where I am truly at
home.
Tapestry—the program not the spiritual place—is one of the wonders of this life where I can explore
the different subject that speak to me in ways that I find make my life more
meaningful and make me more the person that God intends me to be.
In my
marathon of Tapestry programs I noticed a number of connections which I would
like to share with you. There were a
couple of programs that connected with my understanding of the unconscious
forces that are part of the human condition.
Without going into detail the unconscious, as first identified by Sigmund
Freud and expanded on by Carl Jung, is that aspect of the psyche that is not
readily available to our conscious life.
The energies will most frequently make themselves known to us in our
dreams but also in other phenomenon such as waking visions and synchronistic
experiences (meaningful coincidences).
The
unconscious forces in people were a connection in the programs ‘Hearing Voices’,
and ‘Psychologist Anthony Bossis: Can psychedelic drugs help ease the fear of
death’.
In Hearing
Voices, I was struck by the approach taken in the treatment in which the idea
of asking the “good voices” for aid the advice for her to “stand up to the bad
voices” was presented as an important part of the treatment. In my understanding the voices which are
experienced by people come from the same source as dreams and other such
experiences of the psyche. The idea
getting for help from the inner energy is the essence of the individuation
process identified by Jung. In addition
standing up to images in nightmares and facing them is a very successful
technique in dream work. The classic way
to deal with monsters in our dreams is rather than running from them is to turn
around and ask them what they want. In
effect we befriend the energy which is being presented to us. The maxim that all dreams come in the service
of health and wholeness of the dreamer is important in working with dreams.
This approach
applies to the experience of people who are participating in the experiment
using psilocybin to deal with their fear of their imminent death. As noted in the New Yorker Magazine article:
The
“same force that takes you deep within will, of its own impetus, return you
safely to the everyday world,” the manual offers at one point. Guides are
instructed to remind subjects that they’ll never be left alone and not to worry
about their bodies while journeying, since the guides will keep an eye on them.
If you feel like you’re “dying, melting, dissolving, exploding, going crazy
etc.—go ahead,” embrace it: “Climb staircases, open doors, explore paths, fly
over landscapes.” And if you confront anything frightening, “look the monster
in the eye and move towards it. . . . Dig in your heels; ask,
‘What are you doing in my mind?’ Or, ‘What can I learn from you?’ Look for the
darkest corner in the basement, and shine your light there.” This training may
help explain why the darker experiences that sometimes accompany the
recreational use of psychedelics have not surfaced in the N.Y.U. and Hopkins
trials.[1]
I embrace the
invitation to “Looking the darkest corner in the basement, and shine your light
there.” It is very much in line with one of the first steps in dream work which
is to engage the shadow. These are the
parts of your psyche—yourself
which you do not want to recognize and are often not even aware are part of
you. They lurk in the darkest corners of
your psychic basement. However, as with
the other aspects and images that appear in your dreams and in your
projections, you need to be in relationship with you and discover what you can
learn from them.
It is
wonderful to hear about the work that in going on in different areas of our
culture that will help people to become more fully the people that God or
whatever is your higher power intends you to be.
Thank you for
bring such inspiring people with wonderful lives and work to all of us.
