Song 24

‘The dark soul is not about others; it’s about me, me, me’ comes from the voice of the Self (3/7/12). Symbolically spiders have many positive qualities, however in this poem Spider is the source of all binds us. Its web is within and without, affecting our relationships & the way we live our lives. Spider’s form may be ‘lovely’, (or ‘successful’, ‘caring’, ‘dutiful’, ‘popular, ‘responsible’ etc.) but if it binds the soul it’s deadly. A form of Spider that has often bound me is duty. I have found myself ‘duty bound’ as I have put the wants & expectations of others before my own souls call to live authentically. Duty certainly has a place. Indeed duty and freedom dance together when a person is fully alive. Yet duty alone can bind.

‘There’s cruelty in numbers’ is a saying that came to me six months ago. It is a play on, ‘there’s safety in numbers’. Groups can provide healthy community, learning & growth. Groups can also provide shelter, refuge & safety. But they can also be dangerous. Groups, without the light of spirit, can indulge in the worst of human behaviour. They can put the welfare & ideology of the group (or the group’s leader) before the freedom & creative expression of the individual. This is a form of violence & cruelty. ‘Tī kōuka’ is the cabbage tree. This morning I drew card 17 ‘Tī kōuka, Cabbage Tree’ from ‘The Wisdom of the four Winds’ by Barry Brailsford. Tī kōuka’s attribute is gentleness. ‘

Tī kōuka is not of men, not of their power and purpose. Its power is feminine, of women, of their flowing hair, their sinuous arms lifted skyward in embrace, and their nurture. Tī kōuka offers its arms in embrace. Its essence is of the feminine, the love that heals… Tī kōuka teaches us truth in paradox. The stronger the wind blows the less Tī kōuka resists its power. Becoming at one with the tempest, accepting its overwhelming energy, they ride its excitement. Tī kōuka gives way but it does not yield. It is open, unresisting and yet free. This is the path of gentleness, the way founded on the courage and strength to let go. It is time to walk beyond the need to control.’ 1)

1) The Wisdom of the four Winds; by Barry Brailsford, Illustrated by Celia Okada: pgs 256/257. Twice this week I have thrown hexagram 25 of I Ching: ‘Disentanglement’. In my experience the roots of our entanglements are usually found in our childhood. That’s where the web begins.