Sophia's Children

“I build a lighted house and therein dwell.”**

This is a musing on well-lit houses, inner (and outer) gardens, being refuge and/or refugee, among other things.

In his July esoteric astrology letter, Phillip Lindsay shared the above ‘keynote’ for the archetype of the moon-ruled sign of Cancer, along with other powerfully insightful and inspiring observations  and reminders.

(Thank you, Phillip. Kindred-spirit readers, you’ll find the link to Phillip’s full article below — highly recommended inspiration!)

We’ve recently had this Cancerian wellspring stirred, as the Sun did its annual meander through Cancer, along with Mercury and Venus.

Beyond these few weeks, the invitations and deep wellsprings of this deeply feminine, Yin-Water archetype are vitally important for these turbulent times we’re living in.

The same could be said for the ‘greater angels’ of each of the archetypes, and may it be so, but moreso just now for the gifts and good medicines symbolized by the Water and Earth signs as potential ‘waters that nourish the wasteland and cause the desert to bloom again’.

Lindsay, in his July letter, writes powerfully of refuge and refugees, both physical/material and spiritual, as well as of “inner gardens” as well as outer sanctuaries of various sorts.

True to the wholism associated with the feminine, this is an ‘and/both’ rather than an ‘either/or’ — inner and outer, both.

But if the inner garden and well-lit house are neglected, defiled, desecrated, or forgotten, the outer reflects that, as we can see all around us just now.

As in the Grail stories, or in Demeter’s mourning for her Underworlded daughter Persephone, the ‘seen world’ becomes a wasteland when Life is not honored, when “nothing is sacred,” when interior spaces are kept in the more toxic type of darkness — when the sacred balance (energy reciprocity) is thrown off.

As Thomas More has written,

“Frequently when we have lost a sense of the sacred, it reappears in a negative form. The work of dark angels is not altogether different from those who wear white. Here, then, is another way to interpret the abuse of things – as an underworld attempt to reestablish their sacredness.” (Care of the Soul)

Lindsay insightfully links the recent and current epidemic of refugees, for example, with those who are spiritual refugees — those who, “Instead of abiding in the refuge of the heart (Illuminated!),” they have become  refugees of the heart – the homeless of heart, bereft of compassion by ignoring human plight; this is the festering sore in the world today and of course is the disconnect between the 1% and the 99%.”

Mr. Lindsay shares:

“The great error of the neutrally minded” is a refusal of empathy and compassion that overflows into action in order to be complete, or to be ‘grounded’.

This requires sacrifice, though, and that’s inconvenient and undesirable to to those who hoard and withhold whatever they have that they might otherwise (and often, easily) share.

And so, “Sympathy which does not produce positive action of some kind becomes a festering sore.”

We see a whole lot of festering sores these days, and each is very much evidence of the Wasteland in which the sacred has been too long desecrated and ignored in favor of the “bread and circuses” that keep so many ‘entertained’, entrained, and entranced.

Hence the refugees of the heart, an epidemic of heartlessness and spiritual impoverishment that allows to grow and fester the myriad festering sores of misery that otherwise wouldn’t exist. And then demonizes and blames those suffering from the sores rather than those responsible for creating them in the first place and allowing them to continue festering.

That’s always been the modus operandi of Empire. If you look at the history, it’s there again and again, as if sourced from some hidden playbook (just look at the history of Rome’s genocide-conquests and you’ll see that nasty pattern glaring out at you).

For the ills and the sources of festering sores there is always remedy, though. We see the Golden Threads of their “greening,” (as Hildegard of Bingen called it) when we look.

“In your wake the living waters rise and flow over

the parched wilderness of the soul, and we are revivified.”

~ Mirabai Starr in Mothers of God

The root wisdom of every spiritual tradition of which I’m aware speaks of the importance and vitalness of turning within and cultivating the connection, tending the gardens of the sacred within, restoring that sense of right-balance and ‘fullness of joy’ that overflows into what we might call right thought, right speech, and right action.

And more and more research verifies that such practices also have plentiful health and wellness benefits as well.

Since we live in a culture that has long diminished and even demonized turning within — another desecration — while providing more and more temptations that skillfully seduce and draw our attention, imagination, and thus energy “out there,” restoring this balance is not the simple thing that the spiritual platitudes would suggest.

Still, while many of the most important spiritual teachings are simple rather than easy, they’re powerful, too … within and without.

There are epically powerful forces at work here and now, and epically powerful forces have both their benevolent expressions and their dark-side, sorcerous or ‘shadow’ expressions as well.

We have to acknowledge this head on, in a sort of courageous, fiercely heartful witnessing, if we’re to re-orient to and stand for (and as) the ‘good medicine’.

And yet the “greening” is possible — the wastelands and drought-stricken hearts can bloom again.

Any garden requires cultivation and regular tending, lest it become defiled, over-run with weeds, polluted, litter-full, blighted, or altogether forgotten … a wasteland.

Any “lighted house” requires building and regular tending, lest it become similarly defiled and a center for unwelcome, even malevolent presence.

On this, Phillip Lindsay shares another insight:

“Is the house you are building yet lit? Is it a lighted house, or is it a dark prison? If it is a lighted house, you will attract to its light and warmth all who are around you and the magnetic pull of your soul, whose nature is light and love, will save many.”

Our inner gardens, the “well-lit house” that we tend and fortify within becomes not just as the refuge in the storm, or the calm ground in the midst of the storm, but also an offering of refuge or sanctuary for others caught in the storm, and overflows into outer expression in the physical-material world around us.

The challenge is to defy the false prophet-profiteers of sorcery, and gather back some of our focus, attention, will, and energy from all of the myriad distractions and ensorcelments, and draw it inward to cultivate the inner garden and well-lit house.

That’s a bit like breaking spells and addictions, because spells and addictions they are.

But it can be done and though it’s not easy nor is it instant gratification, its rewards are many — some we’ll see and feel (and sometimes we do notice these welcome shifts quickly), and some of its blessings are beyond our seeing and yet very real and very vital, Life-honoring contributions and ‘good medicine’ none the less.

To do that, and in doing that, we remember who we are and why we’re here, and I’m pretty sure that’s not to be one of the legion of the ensorceled, zombie-fied Walking Dead or bling-bling-bling addicts with two-second attention spans.

You?

“Come into this place of peace
    and let its silence heal your spirit;
Come into this place of memory
    and let its history warm your soul;
Come into this place of prophecy and power
    and let its vision change your heart.”

 ~ William F. Schulz **

Know Your ‘Well-Lit House’ Gifts

Know the, stir them, energize them … it’s the heart an soul of you, expressed.

For a guide & partner in the process, have a look at the featured consultation and PowerShift mentor-coaching offerings – you’ll find them here.

Big Love and Be Well,
Jamie

Promised links:

** From Phillip Lindsay’s Cancer 2016 Esoteric Astrology Letter

** The Rev. Dr. William Schulz’s quote was shared in the church bulletin from First Congregational Church – U, Binghamton, N.Y. 7-17-16