Nothing can dim the light that shines within you.
~ Maya Angelou
Dear Springhouse community,
I hope this wintertime is giving you space to reconnect with yourself and reflect on what nourishes you. As I said in my last letter, through story, metaphor, and wisdom traditions, my letters this year will explore the mystery and power of this life hidden beneath the surface of things. This month, I will write about the light in the dark.
My archetype is a candle. A lantern. A star. A lighthouse. An archetype meaning an image or picture of how we experience the essence or truth of who we are. I have always been drawn to these things. I taped plastic Christmas candles relentlessly to the windows as a child and I had mobiles of stars and rainbows hanging from my ceiling until my early teen years. I am known in my family for lighting candles and sometimes forgetting about them–dripping wax onto all manner of things. I love the winter–mostly because of how I can see things I can’t in the other seasons. My family coat of arms is a finger pointing toward the sun. The coat of arms of the family I married into has owls all over it–those incredible night-seers. My doctoral work focused on befriending the darkness and I spoke about it years ago at a sweet Tedx conference held here in Floyd. I love the sparkle and the glitter of light, sometimes so much I can forget that it is known in the darkness.
Decades ago, I visited northern India with my husband during Diwali, the Festival of Lights, in Calcutta; a region named after the goddess of darkness Kali (Kali-Cut). There they honor the light by honoring the goddess of darkness. Throughout the streets of Calcutta there were neighborhood shrines set up with people surrounding them, sipping chai tea out of clay cups. A man walked around with a silver pot of tea and chanting filled the air. Kali stood tall with a necklace of skulls hung around her neck. She was at least 10-feet tall, made out of paper mache, and intricately painted. When the neighborhood celebration was over, Kali was put into the back of a pick-up truck and everyone followed the truck to the Hooghly River; a branch of the sacred Ganges. When we got to the river, six men picked the statue of Kali up and threw her into the river. I could see other paper mache Kali statues floating down the river, where people were gathering drinking water, and bathing. We danced on the edge of the river; celebrating the light by honoring the darkness.
Darkness is the birthplace of transformation. I came from darkness. You came from darkness. All life is born from darkness. Ignoring, degrading, or avoiding the darkness, the place where all life originates, has tragic consequences; some of them being the oppression of others, living halfheartedly, and ignoring the planetary costs of our comforts.
The darkness is simply the unexplored, unknown, unseen territory within and around us, and when we celebrate it like in Calcutta, we welcome wholeness. As a young person, I found sustenance in what I will call “quick light”– sugar, the opinions of others, alcohol and drugs, addictive patterns with love relationships, and food. I stopped much of this manufacturing of light in my 20s and turned toward the darkness (or unknown) of my inner experience. There, I found the belonging that I was looking for.
Many of us are spiritually dying because we have lost the roots to our inner lives known in these very human bodies. Artificially creating the comforts of light to avoid the deep dark places is the cultural norm. This won’t hold. Wholeness will though, and it will shine the way forth, in a deep abiding way. Stephen Sterling, author of Sustainable Education: Re-visioning Learning and Change, writes that we are now living in an “age of relation” where it is of the utmost importance that we build deeper relationships with ourselves, each other, and this planet. Cultivating a sense of intimacy with life demands a level of self-awareness where we are able to acknowledge not only the aspects that we admire in ourselves, but also the unknown facets of ourselves. This is shadow work and many are called to engage in this work in creative and holistic ways.
Avoidance of the shadow leads to greater human suffering and to coping mechanisms that are not sustainable such as overconsumption, addictive and self-destructive behaviors, and the depletion of the planet’s natural resources. It is important now to head into the darker unknown places in ourselves, trusting the presence of the light, as we learn to live more respectfully and wholeheartedly.
Adult spiritual formation is very important to us at Springhouse. Recovering a relationship with this inner light is of the utmost importance now–it is the most powerful thing we can do for ourselves, for each other, and this planet. We have several opportunities to intentionally engage in this work together as adults. Please learn more about Sacred Dance, Seasonal Meditations, and join our learning platform where offerings like the Inner Work of Parenting are now available.
May we have the courage to recover the light within, hold hands, and shine forth together–for ourselves, each other, and generations to come.
With love,
Jenny
