Edward C. Whitmont gives an excellent account of the nature of the healing process. The guide and the seeker wander through the labyrinth-like twists and turns offered by the Self (God) Who is within both the guide and the seeker. The Self is also outside and independent of the guide/seeker dyad and this aspect of the process Whitmont calls (following Jung’s later writings) the objective psyche. It is by definition “unconscious”, because It is not something we can consciously know, but Its effects can be experienced in the form of dreams, fantasies, synchronicities, and mystical visions. The Self is guiding the process and both the guide and the seeker are transformed by It. This is a paradox. But that is the way it is and we must learn to accept it, if we wish to be transformed by It.
Archive for the ‘Mentoring’ Category
Therapy: Healing the Psyche
Posted in Carl Jung, Mentoring, Psychology, tagged Balancing the Opposites, Spirituality, Wisdom on September 2, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Father John R. Cole: Spirit Guide
Posted in Carl Jung, Mentoring, Psychology, tagged Adult Children of Alcoholics, alcohol abuse, Balancing the Opposites, Shadow, Spirituality, Wisdom on September 2, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Throughout our lives we meet people who seem to have magical, numinous qualities. When I was eighteen years old I met such a person, John R. Cole, a Presbyterian Missionary to Northern India, who was also an ordained Episcopal priest. “India has only one Christian Church”, he told our Youth Group in 1961. Imagine that, [...]
For Your Own Good: Child Abuse and Repressed Feelings
Posted in Child/Parent Relationship, Liberal Catholic Church, Mental Health, Mentoring, Psychology, tagged Alice Miller, Feeling, Healing, Old Catholic Church, Wisdom on July 5, 2011 | 1 Comment »
The unconscious will never pass up an opportunity to tell the truth. Just give it an unfinished sentence to complete and see what happens. I stumbled into such a situation when I asked my young Seminarian to imagine himself in my childhood and tell me what his mom would do. I was shocked. She wasn’t anything like my mom or my dad. She took out her rage on her son, unconsciously and with good intentions, to make him a good Christian and to be different from the man who abused her.
Clowning Around
Posted in Mentoring, Peyote Ceremony, tagged Coyote, Indigenous, Native American Church, trickster on May 3, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Sacred Clowns could make fun of the chief or medicine man without fear of reprisal. That was the way it used to be. We read about it in books. But is it still happening? Sunday morning, at the end of a Native American Church Ceremony, we were shaking hands, saying “Good Morning” to the participants. [...]
Dreaming Together
Posted in Carl Jung, Dreams, Mentoring, tagged Alchemy, Eagle, Harry Potter, Native American Church on January 15, 2011 | 1 Comment »
My dream: the protection spell showed itself from another dimension. I realized it was my young friend and apprentice (in the 21st century) who had cast it, to protect me in another reality. It was like the hint of something barely visible, but undeniable none the less. The young men were the same essence, the [...]
The Evil Twin
Posted in Mentoring, Psychology, sacred ceremonies, tagged Healing, Men's Movement, Native American Church, Shadow on December 2, 2010 | 1 Comment »
I met the Otter on the beach. He didn’t talk much, just joined my group doing the Cherokee Dance of Life. It was spontaneous. Hottest day in Seattle on record for May and there were lots of young people on the beach that day. Most were from the Reservation or had Native Blood and they [...]
Thank you Susanne
Posted in Dreams, entheogens, men's issues, Mentoring, tagged ayahuasca, Coyote, Men's Movement on November 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Dear Susanne, When my blue eyed Hermes knocked on the window tonight, I let him in and shared your site. Showed him your Postcard to Hermes http://susanneiles.com blog and he said, “he’s even got his head on his hand”, which is a common gesture for my young friend. At thirty and the father of a [...]
Is Daddy ever coming back?
Posted in Mental Health, Mentoring, sacred ceremonies, tagged Balancing the Opposites, Coyote, Divine Intelligence, Grandmothers and Aunties, Healing, Shadow on October 7, 2010 | 1 Comment »
I was four years old, standing at the screen door, looking out at the road. There were no cars to be seen. My mom, who was sitting in a chair behind me, burst into tears saying, “Mikey you know so much more than we think.” I had put her feelings into words. We both felt [...]
Resolving disputes, Indian style.
Posted in Mentoring, sacred ceremonies, Spirituality, tagged Indigenous, Spirituality, Sweat Lodge on October 6, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
A few months ago I was hurt and angry with my spirit brother. Over the last eleven years, we have confided in one another. We met in a Native American Church Ceremony, where his spirit dad officially ended a period of mourning for his wife, who had died in an automobile accident. I shared my [...]
Pitfalls in Mentoring
Posted in Initiation, men's issues, Mentoring, Psychology, tagged Growth, The Matrix, Wisdom on September 18, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Mentoring has natural pitfalls built into the relationship. These are illustrated in the legend of Mentor/Telemachos/Odyssos and elaborated by my years of experience. A thumbnail sketch of 7 things of which to be aware and to avoid when possible.
