Spiral to the Center
We hear all the time about the benefits we could obtain in our life if … we were more connected. What does it mean to be more connected?
There are many layers of connection this could refer to:
· mind – body connection
· heart intuition connection
· natural world connection
· community connection
· divine connection
· ancestral connection
A quick google search for the definition of the word ‘connection’ reveals: a relationship in which a person, thing or idea is linked or associated with something else; from the Latin to bind together.
I wonder if we would be better served by using the word coherence, whose root signifies an intrinsic connection and a unified whole; and the modern definitions for ‘coherence’: something that makes sense or a system whose parts all fit and work well together.
Connected seems to imply that we are taking two unrelated things and binding them together; whereas coherence recognizes the intrinsic connection already there and restoring to a unified whole.
Coherence is what we find we when take the journey through our Four Baskets. Rather than trying to bind together the mind and the body or implementing practices that attempt to tie self to the divine, the Four Baskets journey helps us become aware of ourselves at the most basic level-- tracing the threads and patterns of our lives to their origin, like tracing a spiral back to the center -- where we find our blueprint of wholeness, and remember our intrinsic connection to a unified whole. That is where we can step fully into a realization of a connected mind-body-spirit; a knowing that we are inseparable from nature; an embodiment of oneness with all others and the divine.
“Know Thyself” ~ inscription at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi
I love this Tohono O'odham basket design known as Man in the Maze
According to O'odham oral history, the man-in-the-maze labyrinth design symbolizes the journey of life, starting with birth at the top of the maze, winding through life's experiences, and ending in the center, becoming one with the creator. It depicts experiences and choices we make in our journey through life. In the middle of the "maze," a person finds his or her dreams and goals. When one reaches the center, there is one final opportunity (the last turn in the design) to look back upon our choices and path, before the Sun God greets us, blesses us and passes us into the next world.
The Four Baskets process is that opportunity to look back upon our earliest life experiences, the foundational experiences that have shaped and informed the rest of our life, and ‘Know Thyself’ at the core level of your being. (yes I am mixing metaphors here~ gotta love how indigenous wisdom traditions from around the world align!)
art credit: “Very Large Papago Man in the Maze Plaque” by Alexander E Anthony Jr, from Adobe Gallery Santa Fe (used with permission)
Through my Four Baskets journey I have….
found an awareness and understanding of my Self at the deepest level …
traced threads of connection to make sense of my life and align with my soul’s purpose
restored to coherence - all the parts and pieces of me now fit and work well together with the whole
I share this work as an invitation to restore coherence in your life …
personally, and collectively, as a part of the unified whole we all emerge from.
Image Credit: “Very Large Papago Man in the Maze Plaque” by Alexander E Anthony Jr, from Adobe Gallery Santa Fe
