Shape Up or Ship Out : Clean and Gold

This time of the year, as we dance from spring to summer or summer to autumn or autumn to winter… or winter into spring…

is a challenging time for all humanity and nature.

The hardest times of the year for me; my pineal gland throbs like a character from a H.P. Lovecraft story.

The dusk brings the whispering of angry tongues and betrayal. I see the attack of a giant pornographic immorality in advertisement and from politicians’ mouths.

The world seems to be on the way of being shipped out!

Yet this is just my shadow speaking to me and maybe it is amplified with other shadows lurking and flying in the dark.

We cannot “ship it out” we need to look at it,

Yell at it and understand those parts of ourselves that we do not like.

We might try to do what the ancient mysteries tell us to do?

It is all about transmuting base metals into gold.

Cleaning our the bomb shelter

This is the best time of the year to take inventory of one’s personality traits; also known as character and attributes. Ancient mysteries speak of the mystic marriage at the summer solstice. Parsifal and the Holy Grail and Arthurian legends speak of these times. It really all comes down to character. The Rosicrucian’s state “character is destiny.”

Carl Jung speaks of individuation. This is when we combine” being alike” with “being unique;” being an extrovert with being an introvert! The marriage is a joining of the feminine and masculine too where the result is androgynous “ising.” This is an ongoing motif in all cultures.

The quote “shape up or ship out” smells of duality; It might be more reflective to say as Native Americans call it “the great give away” or how I was brought up doing “spring” cleaning.

The Sumer goddess Inanna is torn apart in the underworld and then comes together again before she ascends into the heavens to be with her lover and king: The mystic marriage once more.

The personality traits we do not like in ourselves are only our shadow. If we listen to our shadow, we can befriend it “invite the devil to tea” and grow more authentically.

Can we become stuck in the duel with our shadowy self where egotism, hate, narcissistic tendencies, and uncaring controls us like a puppet. You bet. We are all part of this living drama.

If one is to brighten their character one can look to others, they admire. A friend of mine who I admire posted this quote on Facebook today.

“You begin saving the world by saving one man at a time; all else is grandiose romanticism or politics.” ~ Charles Bukowski

I do not like Charles Bukowski because he reminds me of my drunken’ dad but I acknowledge the wise words that he has learned through much suffering. I prefer this quote about character building,

“Tell your friends everything. Give away your secrets. “Be wise as serpents and gentle as doves.” ~ Allen Ginsberg

For me it is about; am I being humble or arrogant, conceited or ego-eccentric? Am I achieving social independence or am I pulled into the realm of social approval? Can I be trusting, or do I listen to the green-eyed monster of suspicion?

As a woman pride is not the problem… am I confident in all that I do? Not just as a mother, wife, sister, or daughter but as a feminine being… a unique upstart at times…. yes unique, creative, and true to myself!!!