Easter Saturday


Haven't had much to really say the last week or so, I have had an intrusion from the real world of work that has cut into my writing time.  That said however, and being as how it is a 5 day weekend (which takes me back to my art school days), I thought I would sit down and reflect a bit on things.

It is of course Easter, which for the christians is their most important religious holiday.  It's all about torture and suffering and death, and paradoxically perhaps, a return from the shadow world of death.  Such themes are indeed common in ancient mythologies, and represent powerful archetypal patterns that we can draw upon for our personal growth and understanding the seasons of our life.

Some may think this must necessarily invoke thinking of things from a religious perspective, but it doesn't necessarily have to be so.  As I said, archetypes and symbols are found in every culture, and while the stories take different forms, they all carry very similar themes.

So lets talk about death and rebirth.  Death can take many forms, from the agonies of trying to construct a reasonably cogent and lucent blog post that communicates some message to its readers, to perhaps public speaking, through up to perhaps facing serious illness or great loss.  In such times we face what may seem to be insurmountable obstacles, and we are confronted with our deepest fears and anxieties and apprehensions.  All these things have the potential to send either of two ways, we can choose to hide and run, and not face our fear of dying (not literal death but a type of death nevertheless, usually of our ego), and head the other way from the direction we are supposed to.  We are of course quite welcome to make this choice, but the consequences of our action are liable to bring down destruction on not only ourselves, but often those around us who share our journey.

The other path, the one most of only come to after choosing the hard option first and having our backsides firmly kicked for our troubles, is to surrender to a higher power and admit that our life is not our own to always do with as we please, perhaps that we are not always as in control of our destinies as we purport to be.  See that the universe has a flow and direction that it is taking you in, and learn to let it carry you that way.

That of course digresses slightly from the topic of death and rebirth, and yet it is all a part of it.  Jonah ran away from his destiny and spent three days in the belly of a whale before he accepted his part, Orpheus had to die to be reunited with Eurydice.  In both cases we see someone having to die, either physically or through the surrender of the will, the ego, in order to get to a place where they were able to receive what their heart desired, or to be able to serve others, both acts of love.

In the end then Easter can be a religious holiday for you, it can be an excuse for going the beach and overdosing on chocolate.  It can be a 5 day weekend.  Whatever you do and however you choose to spend this time, remember that the universe is not only bigger than your problems, it is bigger than you, even though it is a part of you and you are a part of it.  You are not above it and you are not below it.  Take comfort in the people who care about you, and contemplate the nature of things.  Be mindful of the way things flow and if you get frustrated ask yourself if it because you have removed yourself from that flow or decided to go against it.  You may indeed be facing tough times, and I am not promising any panacea for your woes, except to say that things do get better and sometimes you must go through these times to reach the other side.  I have before and I probably will again, so I empathise with those who are doing it tough.  I know things get better though and it's not what you believe so much as having faith in the process.