"I was a hidden treasure and desired to be known:therefore I created the creation in order to be known."-- Rumi
I have a new laptop computer, which I love! It's so fast, compared to the former model, although I retired that little computer with gratitude for years of service. I have named my new computer "Penelope". Penelope, the "wife of Odysseus" who sat weaving and unweaving a shroud until he should return, derives her mythic name from most ancient origins, origins that preceed even the ancient Greek stories of the Odyssey. The name is a name of Weaving and Weaver and Woven.....it means "with a Web on Her face". Probably this ancient name was originally given to a Goddess of the Fates, weaving and unweaving the lives of men and women. It also may have been an honorific name for a Priestess/Oracle, one who in her prophesies "Saw with a Web on her face".
It is easy to see the diminishment and co-option of the powers of the Goddess, and hence women, in the fate of poor Penelope, no longer weaving the lives of men, but simply waiting for her husband to return and save her from a bunch of predatory men! One of my favorite contemporary renderings of the story of Penelope is, of course, from Margaret Atwood, the PENELOPIAD * . As the wry and often tongue in cheek Penelope says, "Now that all the others have run out of air, it's my turn to do a little story-making."
After all, the "Web" may be the most important living Metaphor for our time. The truth of our inter-dependancy and inter-connection with all of life is not only a metaphysical discussion, but, through Physics and Astronomy, Ecology and Earth Science, Consciousness studies and the evolving Global Culture and our Climate Crisis which we share with all life......we are all One. All one in the Web of life. I personally believe the next human evolution is to fully grasp that and create a culture that embodies that truth. Can we do it? I don't know.
"I believe that all coincidences are messages from the unmanifest – they are like angels without wings, so to speak, sudden interruptions of life by a deeper level"...... Deepak Chopra
Recently I was interviewed by a woman who is creating a documentary about Synchronicity, something I've written about a great deal in the Blog over the years. One thing I noted in remembering my own synchronicities was that many of them occured while I was travelling, or in situations or environments that took me out of the familiar containers of my life. The "In-between", liminal Interstices of life seem to be where there are breakthroughs into, what I like to think of, as the Great Web. Synchronicities are among those breakthroughs, breakthroughs that can be necessary for growth or evolution.
"There are references in the Kabala to what is called "breaking the shell". The mind set of "what you believe" is the shell, and (sometimes it's necessary) to break the shell. You have to fall apart sometimes to be put back together; because that's the only way you can be reconstructed. You cannot veneer these teachings on top of who you think or imagine who you are. "
...........David Jeffers**
"Syncronicities provide a bridge between inner and outer worlds, between our private thoughts and external, objective realities. Within a synchronicity, patterns of external events mirror an inner experience. To distinguish synchronicities from mere chance occurrences Carl Jung stressed that they must always involve "meaningful coincidence" that lie beyond any explanation involving causal links and connections. In this way syncronicities reveal to us an underlying world of patterns, forms and connections that transcend any division between the mental and the material.".......David Peat
How are we linked, really? What threads are we throwing out and finding resonance with, at any given moment? What "threads of the Great Weaver" within those moments of the Interstices, become visible?
***"Synchronicities are those mysterious and inexplicable coincidences that occasionally erupt into a life. At times we may feel that those around us are confined to a narrow world of logic and physical law, a world that admits no hint of mystery. This can give rise to a feeling of isolation within an indifferent universe and an increasing complex society whose members are reduced to ciphers. Synchronicities, by contrast, offer a doorway into a very different world. A world that also has resonances with the deep insights that have been revealed by the new sciences.True synchronicities are more than mere chance occurrences. They are characterized by a sense of meaning and numiniousness. They provide a bridge between inner and outer worlds, between our private thoughts and external, objective realities. Within a synchronicity, patterns of external events mirror an inner experience; likewise dreams and fantasies may seem to flood over into the external world. To distinguish synchronicities from mere chance occurrences Carl Jung stressed that they must always involve "meaningful coincidence" that lie beyond any explanation involving causal links and connections. In this way reveal to us an underlying world of patterns, forms and connections that transcend any division between the mental and the material.Synchronicities also act as markers of time, moments of transformation within a life that occur in chairos, when “the time is right”. Thus, while causality ties us to our past, synchronicity can link us to our future. They can also act as significant encounters when a door is opened through which we can pass. One notable encounter took place between the psychologist Carl Jung and the physicist Wolfgang Pauli. This meeting of people from two very different worlds led to Pauli’s series of dreams which caused him to explore the relationship between psyche and matter and believe that the time was at hand for the "resurrection of spirit” within the world of matter.David Peat
** David Jeffers, Interview with Lauren Raine, 2001
https://threadsofspiderwoman.blogspot.com/2010/11/lilith-as-archetypal-guide.html
* THE PENELOPAID by Margaret Atwood, 198 pagesPublished October 5th 2005 by Canongate U.S.
The Penelopaid has also been produced as a wonderful Play: https://youtu.be/X9Q2m_CZ5nc
1 comment:
Great, insightful piece on synchronicity, Lauren! Peat's book remains one of my favorites.
My computer crashed last week and suddenly, there it was, a huge void on my desk. I had the hard drive replaced and maybe I should name it. Got the computer back and it's fast and a marvel.
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