Contemplations on the spirit of Liminal time
"In this liminal time, we can evoke what really matters to us. In this blog I contemplate the means to understand one self and the motivation that moves us to unfold in heart and soul."
Ego principium, I am the beginning...
There is no time like Spring,
When life’s alive in everything,
Before new nestlings sing,
Before cleft swallows speed their journey back
Along the trackless track
God guides their wing,
He spreads their table that they nothing lack,
Before the daisy grows a common flower
Before the sun has power
To scorch the world up in his noontide hour…
Christina Rossetti, ‘Spring‘.
The Dawning of a new season, a new cycle and a new year...
The dawn of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, is marked by the zodiak sign Aries. This phase in psychological evolution we can see as the awakening from the collective consciousness as individual. Like a seed sprouting into a plant with immense force and an outgoing primal scream. Aries is ruled by the fire/intuition element and cardinal with life force, outgoing and therefor well known for its energetic behavior.
Fire/ Intuition
Gary Zukav writes in his book The seat of the Soul*; "
Intuition is a perception beyond the physical senses that is meant to assist you. It is that sensory system which operates without data from the five senses.......Intuition serves many purposes. Intuition serves survival. It prompts you to pursue that which has no apparent reason in order to survive...... Intuition serves creativity. It tells you what book to buy for your project......Intuition serves inspiration. It is the sudden answer to a question......Intuition is like a walkie-talkie, so to speak, between the personality and the Soul."
We go beyond the tangible world into the realm of possibilities. This primal need to explore makes sensory perception less to non interesting. Therefor the need for space and freedom are important characteristics of the fire element and Aries sign. This polarity between fire/intuition and earth/perceiving is quite important as fire/intuition can even experience restriction and constraint trough earth/sensory perception. Both elements are two sides of the same coin; that is objective observation. One with the five senses and one beyond the five senses. I will go more in depth about this in a different blog on the four functions of consciousness.
Cardinal- Fire
As I mentioned before here, we work with three primal directions of psychic energy, cardinal, fixed and volatile. Aries is one of the four Cardinal signs. We see a primal need to experience our place in the outside world, to pioneer and explore the horizons. To take life head on and cope, we go out into the unknown. We conquer new territory. Often with enthusiasm and sometimes the with the need to rebel. Different than other cardinal signs, Aries is less involved in the opinion of others and the effect one has on the outside world. More important for Aries is to make sure that new doors keep on opening and that there is always a new adventure around the corner.
Active
All zodiak signs can be divided in two groups. One active/ yang and the other re-active/ yin. Aries is, like all other fire signs an active zodiak sign. Meaning that Aries has the primal need to express without the need for any trigger, spark or input from outside, our own impulses are leading.
The above...
Tells us that Aries is a sign that carries the need to lead, pioneer and explore with limitless space. With enthusiasm and curiosity Aries experiences freedom and discovers boundaries. The constant need for new adventures lets us easily overlook the details and can lead into reckless playing with fire. "However Aries is able to cultivate an authentic self awareness. Being undogmatically true to his inner felt life task. " **
Little Red Riding Hood
Traditionally the tale illustrates the innocence of a child, curiosity and excitement about the journey. It is a tale about temptation, walking into the wild and taking the first steps on the path to individuation. Red riding hood is send by her mother to her grandmothers house. Riding hood is naive and fearless, curious to the world and open jet unaware of the danger the she will encounter that will distract her from the way. On her journey she meets the angry wolf and despite her mothers instructions, she follows the wolf into the unknown. When the wolf leaves her to pick flowers for her grandmother he rushes of to the house and eats the granny alive! At the end of the story Red riding hood arrives at her granny's house and gets eaten by the wolf. The wolf takes rest after his heavy meal and luckily the hunter passes by and hears the wolf snoring. The hunter opens the door, cuts the wolf open and Red riding hood and granny are saved. ***
This story that many of us enjoyed in early childhood illustrates so beautifully the immense need to go into the wild, with enthusiasm and courage. As well as the carelessness that can evolve from this, taking risks and learning though experience. And the trust that all will eventually turn into new beginnings which enables us to stay open.
Thank you for reading my blog!
Feel free to reach out to me about any thoughts, insights and or remarks regarding my work.
Source:
* p 70 Gary Zukav, The Seat of the Soul: ISBN 978-1-4767-5540-3
** p97-98 Dra k. Hamaker- Zondag, Psyche en Astrologisch Symbool: ISBN 90-6378-001
*** p41-42 Isha& Mark Lerner, Inner Child Deck and Book: ISBN 90-73140-14-5
