In order to avoid noticing that we are living through a time of unprecedented turbulence, you would need to be living in a cave up a mountain far away somewhere without a wifi signal. Today, perhaps triggered by the current Aries full moon, squaring Saturn/Pluto in Capricorn, I have especially been feeling the world’s darkness and pain.
As with many of us, I have often taken consolation from great poetry. For example, Persian poet Rumi’s “This being human” contains deep wisdom regarding the turbulent duality of light and dark forces which constitute not only human nature, but also Life itself.
Light and dark are inseparably interdependent: maybe, Rumi is suggesting, it would be wise to honour them both, since those dark destructive energies which periodically sweep through, causing havoc personally and collectively, contain messages, guidance from Beyond, which are telling us something we usually do not wish to hear.
I am not alone in having had Life hurl me against the same wall a few times before I eventually ‘get the message’, and with painful slowness begin the process of change which is being demanded of me by a deeper, wiser Self – that chip of divine light which is present in every one of us.
Writers offering comforting platitudes skimmed from a glide across the surface of life, or perhaps digging down a little, do not move me. My help comes from those who look unflinchingly into the world’s dark heart without underestimating in any way the destruction and cruelty to be found there, but who can balance what they see with inspiring affirmation.
Despite all the awfulness of ‘man’s inhumanity to man’ which is an ever-present reality through the ages both personally and collectively, Life is full of opportunities to be ‘surprised by joy’, to seek and find meaning in even the most scouring of experiences. That is certainly what I have come to believe.
Some writers have a way, also, of reminding us of how we need to change by poking us where it hurts. As the Saturn/Pluto grinder bears down upon us all, amplified by tonight’s Aries full moon, I’ve been reflecting on the current dismal state of planet Earth and its denizens.
I was chewing upon one of my favourite anger-generating topics: how our need to be RIGHT – and its world-wide manifestations via religious, political and scientific fundamentalism, fed hugely these days by social media – has probably caused more bloodshed, mayhem and havoc throughout history than anything else, when I came across this short but pungent poem by the poet Yehuda Amichai:
“The Place Where We Are Right”
“From the place where we are right
flowers will never grow
in the spring.
The place where we are right
is hard and trampled
like a yard.
But doubts and loves
dig up the world
like a mole, a plow.
And a whisper will be heard in the place
where the ruined
house once stood.”
500 words copyright Anne Whitaker 2019
Licensed under Creative Commons – for conditions see About Page
Anne, your post arrived in time. I was hoping you would address this period we are in. I’m feeling as if I’m living on the dark side of some place. I feel all of it so deeply. I appreciate your reminders; Rumi’s poem, which I love and this ending poem. Very helpful. I’ll tie a knot in my rope and hang on. Thank you.
You are welcome, Carrie. I think it’s part of the fate of 12th House people like ourselves to pick up on collective energies more strongly than most. I like the image you used here…it’s vivid and helpful. Yes – hang on in there!
Via Facebook:
13.10.19:
Jennie Fernyhough:
Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars. (Kahlil Gibran from “The Prophet”) xxx⭐️
Yes, absolutely, Jennie!
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13.10.19:
Bob Ruth Hoole:
Flatter than any tack – have to keep reminding myself that Saturn is engaging my sun and this too will pass. Yes it is grinding waiting and watching the meeting between Saturn and Pluto. Thanks Anne – on the money.
Glad to be of help, Ruth!
The situation with our nation’s *leadership* just now is ghastly, and your post certainly is apropos. I will say this: things are getting so bad in certain ways that denial is becoming less and less possible, and to that extent, some of the terrible things happening within our government may provide value.
On the other hand, one of the saddest side effects of recent events is the corrosive effect of obsessive concern with them. Of course we should care, and do what seems best to stand against the world’s horrors — and yet, allowing ourselves to be consumed by the rage and hatred they can occasion helps no one. Just as the monks helped to preserve civilization through the so-called Dark Ages, our societies need bearers of light and preservers of culture, too. If that makes sense!
Yes, Linda, it certainly does! My knowledge of history, although the timeline is rather sketchy in places, plus my in-depth knowledge of the interweaving of planetary cycles especially the ones which are so long they define whole eras (about which I wrote here: https://anne-whitaker.com/2019/09/18/some-notes-on-cycles-in-a-time-of-crisis) helps with not becoming too dismal in these exceptionally difficult times we are living through now. History tells us that broken systems have to crumble and collapse before something better (at least for a while…) emerges …and in the meantime, let’s try and bring a little light when and where we can.