Inanna's Descent

Inanna


An eye is meant to see things
The soul is here for its own journey
(Rumi)

...the light has to descend into darkness in order to reappear in the next cycle...

 (Baring and Cashford)

...bring courage, acceptance and devotion with you..cross the bridge and connect...

(6 August 2011)

security

se·cu·ri·ty (sĭ-kyŏŏr'ĭ-tē) noun
1.Freedom from risk or danger; safety.
2.Freedom from doubt, anxiety, or fear; confidence.

Finding out our basic motivations is a long process of awakening self-awareness. We watch and take note of our actions and responses, of emotion triggered and expressed, of any circumstance that evokes energy. We start to listen to the messages our physical body is giving us - pockets of tension, knots that tighten, shakes and twitches, internal and external. We learn to break through the barriers of our pride and know the ways in which we - so skilfully- fool ourselves.
 
...at some point we will come across the blocking assumption which seems to sum up our whole lifetime, explaining every mistake and self-negation in its dreadful repeating pattern. It's not only a fact based upon some occurrence and adorned with attitudes which are our protective decisions... Perhaps these are the very reasons why we have chosen to incarnate: this pattern must be broekn. Only when we start to understand which motivations we hold deep inside us can we begin to live effectively, consciously creating our reality, evading erratic and destructive landslides.
 
(Ref: Restall Orr)

anger and letting go

"From fear we can either slip and grab back on, or else we can allow the energy to rise up to where it shifts inot the next emotion: anger, anger at our weakness and our lack of directed progress, anger at the vulnerability that we see withing ourselves or witness around us. But the expression of our anger can be frightening and our energy can fall again, back into our fear.

Only when we start to understand which motivations we hold deep inside us can we begin to live effectively, conscioulsy creating our reality, evading the erratic and destructive landslides." (ref: Restall Orr)

my fear

fly

when you have come to the edge of all light that you know and are about to drop off into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing one of two things will happen:

there will be something solid to stand on
or, you will be taught to fly
 (ref: Patrick Overton)

Fear not

the dark moon

"...the dark moon...is the most powerful time for organically unfolding soul-searching. The inner-self starts to grow in power and make its presence known. Ideally you can listen, integrate and set intentions that will bring you into harmony with yourself during the waxing moon."

BUT

"There's a historic pattern of fearing the dark and denying death. But it is a fact of nature, and if embraced, can be met as a winding down before the next growth period." (ref: astrology.about.com)

"...it is the fear that cripples and, if we were to lose that fear while allowing reason to walk with us all the way, life would be very different indeed." (ref: Restall Orr)

Faraway Tree, here I come

summer power

Summer in Australia is about power - the raw power of nature.

"We call this the place of the wild, the untamed, the unpredictable. It is often seen as the height of masculine or male energy, of assertiveness, thrust, push and growth, the linear and overt: the opposite of the dark embrace of [winter]. It is the place of power."

but what is power?

"The whole concept of power...is dangerous ground. It pulls without feeling at the roots, testing, testing our resolve and our ability to deal with the consequences of our actions, licking the air with its hunger...it reveals our weakness.

"To grasp our power is frightening. It is our ability to act, which means it's also our ability to make mistakes and to fail. Too often the [north] is avoided."

Mandela tells us: "Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us."

 So, "...avoidance doesn't teach us. To learn, to grow, we must stop, find courage... we turn to look at the beliefs we hold about power. We look at the energy, the unpredicability, the force... It is the spark of our courage, fuelled by the oxygen of our thoughts and the old wood of our past experience, all of which make the fire that is our drive." (ref: Restall Orr, 2000)

Power in summer is the storm that rolls in after a hot day that tests even the most patient. We are afraid of the power of the storm- its unpredictablity, its destruction, its chaos. We can not stop it, redirect it, calm it or reason with it.

Sowilo

"This force is the lightning bolt that links heaven and earth and guides the vitki... It is the illuminating beacon that guides the seeker across a sea of consciousness... The sun rune means strength, energy, life force... the light of truth and enlightened consciousness. It strengthens the will, and helps one to gain access to inner guidance..." (ref: Paxson, 2005)

Be not afraid of yourself

Thurisaz

Thurisaz represents the giants, Thor or both. The Jotnar were the giants in Norse mythology - the enemies of the AEsir. It fell to Thor to protect humans from the power of the Jotnar - their power being natural forces that can destroy. I see these forces as being psychological, emotional etc. Just as Restall-Orr treats fear as 'deity', a current to be respected but one that can be stepped out of (Restall-Orr, 2006), all such forces can be treated this way. Thus, Thor is needed. James Peterson suggests, 'the thurses, or Jotnar, represent elemental, unconscious, irrational, or chthonic forces." Sibley continues, 'It represents those powers that can grip and seize one with surprise and terror." (Paxson, 2005)

As Thor is a reliable and dependable force for regeneration and fertility, his protection in overcoming these forces is welcome. From their defeat comes new life and liberty.