Absolutely punctual article in my life, Enna. I was just overlooking the content of the Freyja Course which is about the truly biological roles of Female and Male. Then this comes in! Bang!!!!
This topic is dropping into my range of view for the last 6 months. I hope you do find the energy to write this much needed book. I will post your newsletter on my facebook now. Immense gratitude from my Heart to your Heart!
This is one of the best I've read. It makes sense to ask who we really so we can begin developing our true self, for developing falseness is useless. It's only sustainable to develop who we truly are.
I have a little story to add to how powerful and good our true self is:
Many years ago I went on a boat trip with two guys and a girl. The boat broke down when we were at a small island. The boat was brought to the dock where there was a picnic table on the edge of the land. I realized ahead of time that it was getting late and the mosquitos would be coming out and no one brought any mosquito repellant. So, in order to deal with the situation, I remembered that all groups of beings have their own angel protector with them, because I had learned about it recently. I decided to communicate with the angel overlord of the mosquitos and asked that it would not allow the mosquitos to bite me, and I asked lovingly. Then I just let it go, and we were docked, and now sitting at the picnic table with the guys wondering how we would get out of there. Suddenly the mosquitos came and all three of those people were being bit by them. They were slapping their body every time they were bit. But I sat there calmly and peacefully because I was not getting bit. For a short while this went on, when that girl, which I intuited immediately, was just about to make it well known that I was not getting bit, and would turn me into a spotlight which I felt was not good, because I wouldn't be able to explain to them something that they would think I was crazy for saying, since they just didn't believe anything about the higher abilities of us, and how we are connected to the life all around us, so I immediately communicated for a mosquito to bite me so I could slap my body, and therefore, just as she was about to say it, I was slapping my leg NEXT to where the mosquito bit me because I didn't want to kill it, I just wanted them to think I too was being bit. And she said it, "Isn't it strange that Mary is not being bit by mosquitos while we're all being bit" but her words came too short because the two guys noticed I too had slapped my let and said "ouch" so that they didn't even pay attention to what she was saying. So they just sat there ignoring and went back to thinking how we were all going to get back. And that was the only and one time, lol, that I was bit by a mosquito.
Another thing I was working on, I asked the Spirit to help us out in our trouble. I asked for someone capable of helping us to come by in a boat. Then in a few more minutes, we saw a man and his boy coming toward where we were in their boat, and the guys jumped up to go ask for help, and the guy said that he had a rope that he could tie us to his boat and bring us back to land. And that's what happened. So we weren't stuck there for more than an hour.
The point is, if we would tune into our nature within ourselves and see from a higher place, and not make fun of those who do that, then we would be able to get so much help all the time. And everyone could grow together, masculine, feminine, and all the other creatures of this planet that we share space with. Everything that is alive, is capable of being communicated with. There's another story I have in which I communicated with a plant to ask it whether it was good to make an herbal tea with it, and it communicated back to me what it was good for. Later, I found in the books what it was called and how it was helpful, and it was exactly what the plant had told me.
A great story, thanks Mary. It reminds me of what my father used to say: jealousy ruins the world. As I delve into this emotion, and these definitions of jealousy:
Fearful or wary of losing one's position or situation to someone else
Envious or resentful of the good fortune or achievements of another
Having to do with or arising from feelings of apprehension, bitterness
I ponder why, if we are at the roots of our being, kind, considerate, caring, souls, is your story so common? I mean the story of an anticipation of jealousy, when apparent good fortune unfolds… or in your case, unslaps? The only rather inadequate answer I come up with, is a disconnection within each human to their primal magic, beauty, and joy, and a predilection to odious comparisons, rather than the more adventurous, fun and free self-exploration into the majesty of connectivity to all of life… including mossies.
The wasbund used to get quite peeved when he would get all the bites, and I was bite free in our tropical days. I would tease him, they only go after rotten meat… which of course had the effect of increased irritation along with much scratching. My daughter used to say that I was always the lucky one, and I never really reacted to this: now she’s with her father, having chosen the ‘unlucky’ one to support, and perhaps this is as it should be, though I miss her massively.
No two shakes about it, enna’s advice that we all focus upon true self-development, is essential, timely and wise. It’s why I like hanging out with her words, for they speak volumes of veracity in a world riddled with facade. I loved your story - I’m a past boat captain, and as such have similar tales that resonate with yours. Many thanks Mary.
Yea, you are a friend indeed. We help one another. I had to remember that jealousy thing. This one was personal when I began reading, thinking of the times I had to deal with it from others, and then falling to it so that I don't have to deal with their ugly negative arrows of emotion. But I was told later that, this isn't the way to deal with other's negative feelings, that one must stand their ground and keep moving. Then as I read, I remembered how the Archons envied us, were jealous, and then another story evolved through your beautiful writing, where I saw how people did exactly the same thing I did in my personal life, and allowed themselves to be taken down, by some others' negative emotion...the archons' jealousy. Yea. Deep subject to delve into, bring up to the surface, examine, acknowledge, finish with it, disintegrate it and move along. This is the healing process which is what I've found.
I can hardly wait to hear some of your fascinating stories, because I can see from here, they're going to be verrrrry interesting! Lol.
You went the natural way, Mary... Such things can happen in so many situations, but the point is, you obviously 'did magic' from the right place in yourself. It's a matter of not operating from the small ego-mind. Most people, locked into said ego-mind, will of course find your 'procedure' ridiculous and below their dignity to perform, and if they did override said 'dignity', they would have no result since they'd operate from ego-mind, and the negative result would validate their initial 'dignity' position. Aka confirmation + normalcy bias.
May I suggest that henceforth you refrain from making yourself appear to be in conformity with the conformists? That's a dead-end short-term non-solution... The time has definitely come when all those of us who operate from our deeper natural field just do it, calmly and unobtrusively, and fearlessly explain to those who object to our mosquito peace what it's all about. More and more people are receptive, I find. And it's less stressful to be a natural weirdo among the ego-types than it is to 'fit in'. Eventually the 'weird' calm kindness wraps around everybody to some extent, nobody will say thank you, which is fine because we're just doing bits of our 'cosmic job'.
Absolutely beautiful and big important work to do here together.
Enna, if I may ask, as this article has offered some ah-has for me as im strugging with some feminine energy flow.
Ihave found myself a Stay at Home Mama of a wonderful 18 month old boy, and pregnant with no2 now. Blessings and joy babies are. And. Before I was mama, I AM a business owner, carrying the weight of a small, but thriving business into my mothering (alongside being a wife to a farmer/rancher). I feel depleted of my feminine energy, holding both of these components of my life...
My body knows where it is needed most, with my children, and being in the gardens, making the home delicious (which I DO, indeed love and feel a lot of fulfilments from.
While my brain, and habitual ways of overachieving are demanding my energy in my business.
I do bring income into our home, which is needed. Groceries, and fuel, my personal care (with are minimal, but yes a thing) clothes for the family too... I'm wondering if you have any thoughts of connecting deeper to my feminine energies, I want to see them thriving instead of 'burning out'. Thanks for reading! Thanks for being you!
Oh Heather, you have the conundrum of the modern woman in all its splendor...
There is no 'magic recipe' for getting more of the F energies - you have to work through the reality of being in a human body. Which is very practical - and only you can infuse some mystical energy into it by being very present and keeping heart and mind connected all the time.
You know where the priorities are, in your situation. Two little new humans that need maximum love and discipline to raise them as humans in an inhumane world - that in itself is the big one, for which you are not replaceable, and which creates its own human ripple in the wider realm. Your energy is also needed for farmer husband, for the whole family unit to fulfill its mission happily. I hope he appreciates and supports what you represent...
Generally, you need to observe, systematically and ruthlessly, what gives you energy, and what depletes you. Never let this or that situation push you over the edge - better to invite the life-spirit to breathe you for five seconds (this should become a reflex).
Your F energies can be sparked by the little ones (they actually give a lot of energy while they are small, have you noticed?) and by kindness from your man. It takes surprisingly little, just a smile, a hand on the shoulder, something touching from the child... to reignite those F energies. I'm sure you know this - if not, observe it, it's quite fascinating.
BUT the fact is that we don't have as much energy as our ancestors used to. And the fact is that 'just' being wife and mother is very demanding, especially nowadays.
So something has to happen on the business front - if it is as you say thriving, then perhaps you can get someone to work part-time, or reduce the scope of it, anything to reduce your burden without quitting the business? If you get too depleted the business will suffer anyway.
It looks to me as though, in wanting to connect 'deeper into my f energies', you're still wanting to be wonder-woman, aka super-achiever, with a hint of perfectionism perhaps? Saying this very tenderly - I've been there.
You need to do your cool-headed rational analysis, together with your man, of how or how much you can change your involvement in the business for a few years//whether husband's farm can bring in more income for the stuff that needs to be bought.
Is there a grandmother or other (lonely?) relative who can be brought into the picture?
Two small children is going to be a full-time non-job in its own right, and I'm sure you want to live up to its demands. For which you need both 1) rational organization of all the practical stuff and 2) moments of down-time (the non-doing kind of down-time being the quickest way to bring yourself back into balance, I hope you've been looking into that?). And time in/with Nature, barefoot, tree-hugging and all that goodness - really feeling their 'field' feeding yours. Just you and Nature - let your man be with the kid(s) for a while, a short while every day is more effective than half a day once a week.
You have to be ruthless with getting the right kind of nutrition, sleep, water.
It's all very practical - it has to be, inevitably. But there is a tiny esoteric trick. We don't realize that we get burnt out when the whole day is an uninterrupted flow of doing doing doing. The trick is to not fall into this trap. While in the midst of this or that activity, to suspend the doing for a second and be the subtle self that does nothing or just watches the doing. It is YOUR attentiveness to how energy flows at this or that moment, in this or that situation, that infuses subtle power into all that necessary practicality. Making a habit of this as soon as possible helps to make micro-moments of stillness happen in the midst of all the activity, many times every day - those micro-moments when you are intensely yet gently you at the deeper level of presence, will keep you calm (conservation of energy), clear in knowing what to do (correct investment of energy), clear in putting your foot down (protecting boundaries on your energy when necessary)... Eventually you'll find that those micro-moments are weaving an unseen 'mycelium' of subtler energy that sustain, and may even regenerate, what modern life has stolen from us.
It's quality of energy that will restore the quantities of it that we need. You're in charge of the quality. And Shakti never went away...
Oh Enna. This is so perfect and beautiful and yes, practical.
I appreciate your time and efforts in answering me, so much. I teared up reading this. It hits so perfectly to the human I have cultivated in my life... still struggling with perfectionism, yes. Still wanting to be the super woman, yes. And KNOWING of my soul, that these symptoms of modern life, are not sustainable as they once were, pre children.
I DO notice the F power in these moments and will soak them up, and tend to them more.
I feel those touches, and moments of watching, while in the midst of it all. And, I am going to begin acknowledging them For what they are, building of my subtle energies. Wow. So perfect. I can notice when I do these moments throughout the day, time goes slower, and I can soak in the magic of baby, and life with the earth more. So I will keep cultivating this momentary nothing, suspend myself there. Thank you.
I do have a part time person starting in May for my growing season. She will be helping in my Farmacy Gardens, and the Apothecary. I have my WONDERFUL mother-in-law close by and she is so present. I feel I can use this time more wisely, instead of keeping my doing doing doing flow going.
Wow enna. I am going to print this out so I can read it often. You are a gem. So glad to have found you and be able to connect in this way.
thanks enna, your writings are insightful and informative as always.
i've been learning mapuzungun, the language of mapuche people since a few years now.
by learning this language i've also been immersed in their culture. in it, they refer to the duality of the cosmos and more specifically, it's quaternary nature. so aside from the existence of the levels/dimensions of reality and the presence of the lesser gods and mythic creatures, there are four aspects of the cosmos that pervade everything and remain consistent, these four aspects are:
-elder woman / wajmapu kuse
-elder man / wajmapu futxa
-maiden / wajmapu ujca domo
-youth / wajmapu wece wentxu
very taoist is some way. these aspects are present in everyone and everything. every mountain, every being, every place, every stream. and not one is better/lesser than the other
Lots to say about those Big Four! They comprise the Energy of Time, the Energy of Knowing, the Cycle of Energies... When all these are operating harmoniously, the Elder man/woman achieve a different kind of 'youth' in themselves (very perceptible in the way some elders live, the aliveness of their eyes, etc), the Younger man/woman is acquiring the peace of wisdom inside that makes the energy of youth fruitful.
Pervading everything as you say. Is there anything that conveys the Four as intensely as a stone or indeed a mountain...
". .the domineering mind and the orphaned heart . ." describes the terrain over which your insights cast a beautiful and healing illumination - much gratitude.
Enna, now that I have printed this out and read and reread it I can say, even more emphatically, “thank you”!
You wrote: “How many of us remember, or are even aware of the harm wrought by the ‘sexual revolution’ of some decades ago?” I am starkly aware. I suffered much by embracing it. No doubt my partners did as well. Also I suffered the ‘feminism’ which taught women that to be ‘free’ of male domination and disregard a woman must become not-a-woman — become more like a man, act like a man, and do the all the things that men do…even at the expense of forgoing childbearing and rearing. How many women felt shame in being ‘just’ a mother and home-maker? Of course, the rising cost of living and the push to double the Tax Base continues to force women out of the home and away from children. And on it continues! Sacrificial demands of the gods and their priests. UGH.
But how beautifully and brilliantly you contrast this with a different perspective; an alternative way of being! I am uplifted because what you share reflects many of my own (but wordless) contemplations, but also expands and enhances them to a wondrous degree. The Principals within us can be accessed and celebrated in a perpetual 'becoming' of creativity.
In recent months I have (synchronistically?) pondered the ‘creation’ (or advent) of rape in humans. I have not witnessed rape in the natural realm. Did it come with the concept of ‘possessions’ and ‘ownership’ as opposed to ’territory’ — the objectification of all in our world as a litany of items to be used and consumed, and a rejection of heart? To animals (from what I have seen) territory is a precious life-giving source to be aspired to, hopefully attained and vigorously defended, but it is never ‘possession.’
I’ve printed out many of your essays/monographs for reference and rereading — especially when I feel a bit ‘isolated’. It is my surrogate for in-person contact sometimes, I am sorry to say. I am building my collection. I wonder if you might publish another book of just such a collection?
Sending you much gratitude and emanations of my heart.
ShieldMaiden - very 'alive' no-fluff comment, as usual, thank you!
Rape. Of course, possession, ownership, territory apply, but it's more complicated. Fundamentally I'd say it stems from a deep lack within the rapist (lack of real sense of human self, with all the nuances of this) that must be compensated for by 'wielding power' that can steal from the victim the magical substance of the victim's authenticity (beauty, innocence, soul...). The lack of rapist's intrinsic humanity requires the dehumanization of the victim. So they're is a huge factor of envy involved too. Envy and violence are largely synonymous, esoterically.
The only way I know of to survive rape is to let the soul fly off during the operation. Rape is a form of murder. Murder of the other who 'has something that the rapist doesn't'.
Lots more could be said, but I'll leave it there for now.
The bit about 'economy' forcing women into the work-place (in addition to all the rest) - absolutely. Women are trapped in the religion of the money god, to 'make money' and to 'contribute' to the parasites. They've forgotten that to be a 'home-maker' in a true homestead is to actually run a whole natural economy, way more challenging and satisfying than being a 'house-wife with appliances'.
Another book? I'm working on two, at the moment. Eventually I'll have to get round to doing a book about the Principles, since nobody seems to have had the 'initiation' I got from my illiterate esoteric grassroots tradition of Bengal. As regards the Substack essays, I might eventually do a collection of them, duly updated and more in-depth - if there is demand for this. But I feel a bit uneasy about that idea. 'Collected writings' is something an established 'thought leader' might do, and this is definitely not a status that I aspire to. I'm just another human sharing stuff that many others don't seem to see.
Aha! Yes. The inhuman aspect of humanity. Rape is murder transmuted into an orgasmic experience. This is truly evil and horrific to me on a level far beyond physical. “The lack of rapist's intrinsic humanity requires the dehumanization of the victim.” The perpetrator must also have suffered dehumanization, or it would not be possible. Dehumanization is institutionalized in the training and use of soldiers in the endless wars. Killing and rape. It is an expression that permeates much of our human existence. I shiver. But examination of it all is imperative for me.
I do mourn the loss of the homestead-type of woman (and man), and the poverty that children suffer because of this loss. While all in my geographic sphere of acquaintance seek greater ‘convenience’ and more technology and systems to achieve it, I’ve been moving in the opposite direction and divesting myself for years. Cooking from scratch. Laundry by hand. In the dirt with only my hands and basic tools. It was you, Enna, who captured it for me with the term “aspiring peasant”.
Envy strikes me as a dangerous treadmill. A self-deception. I have witnessed how it beguiles and destroys. I have been on the receiving end of it and know well the underlying hostility. For some fortunate reason (and I cannot mentally identify the source), I have not suffered much from nor been beguiled by envy in my own Self. Not since early childhood, anyway — coveting another child’s toy or attention and wanting to literally take it for myself. Perhaps it was these early experiences with envy that taught me that it never works to achieve happiness. When I encounter an individual who seems to be wealthy in some way that I desire for myself then my curiosity becomes engaged. I want to know more about that individual and how he/she achieved what I desire so that I may learn to acquire it for myself…or, at least, ‘try it on for a good fit’. Ha-ha — this has often led me to discovering illusions, which is also of great value. “WELL! This (or he/she) is not at all it what I initially perceived!” What is truly valuable to me is being ‘at home’ in my own body and in this world, in this life. This cannot be achieved through envy; the very water in my body knows it, and I feel extremely fortunate that it does.
Finding a ‘good fit’ (practically or philosophically) certainly doesn’t end the process, either. Quite the opposite. There is plenty of room for more exploration and ‘what if’ questioning, leading way to never-ending experimentation and personal adjustment. So, I am excited that you are considering writing an expansion on the Principals. More potential wealth. Seeking wholeness and uncovering the feminine and masculine in mySelf has been an ongoing journey. This involves encountering and becoming intimate with my own blocks and twists (Jungian ‘shadow’) on a daily basis. You provide me with invaluable assistance and inspiration.
Always gris for the mill Enna, and thank you for sharing from your wavelength! When you say, "That prime differentiation emanates the third level of reality that begins to make Energy and Ideation operative - the Masculine and the Feminine Principles, which evolve their different ‘qualities’ or ‘attributes’, not for the sake of those differences but towards mutual complementarity capable of generating all manner of creativity (beyond anything our minds can grasp)." it seems that the third level here would logically not be the Masculine and Feminine Principles, which you go on to describe AS Energy and Ideation, but the "mutual complementarity" or ATTRACTION between them which creates a dynamic. Like the bit of yin in yang and vice versa, and most importantly the circle that encompasses and holds them. That Triptych Principle of interaction between two creating a higher unity. Lao Tzu specifically says, "The Chinese trinity, being the duality of yin and yang organized into a higher unity." (I have to give credit to Richard Cassaro for mentioning this in his extensive work on Triptychs.)
Ha leah! I knew someone would come up with yin and yang...
If the M and F are not 'made of' those two things Energy and Ideation, then what is it that makes the complementarity or attraction - which is the effect of the interface or interaction? Without two things to interact, there is no interaction. You're mixing categories, I feel.
It's matter of seeking to 'understand' how manifestation occurs, in 'steps' from the infinitely subtle into gradually 'denser' forms, where forms begin to 'do stuff'.
Notice that Energy and Ideation are VERY broad and necessarily vague - lots of different energies and ideations beyond anything we can fathom. This is for the two to have maximum creativity in the way their interface/attraction invites forth different energies/ideations into further levels of interaction-creativity. Which is, as you note for yin-yang, where the 'third' element can occur to subsume the 'two'.
Yin and yang is much more prescriptive 'system' - both of these come with a whole list of respective properties that are the opposite of each other (cold-hot, etc). Energy and Ideation are not each other's opposites - I feel this is the major difference, which affords more potential for creative cooperation. Yin and yang are very often in conflict, or obeying movements of the pendulum towards 'deficit' of the one versus 'excess' of the other, so there has to be constant work to bring them back into balance for the triune to emerge. I don't have your erudition in this matter so I may be missing some nuance, but from a heart-mind perspective the Indian 'couple' seems more open-ended, offering a less prescriptive path for us to explore in our troubled times...
Oh, and it is not I who say that Shiva and Shakti are Ideation and Energy - it's the tantrik tradition. And note that the words 'energy' and 'ideation' are, as is to be expected for such vast realms beyond our mind's grasp, not at all perfect terms. Take them as very generic, sensory, allusive. The mind can only go so far (not at all far) in dealing with such stuff.
There's way more to say about the Indian Two, too much for this response. As I say, I'll have to do about the F and M some day...
We may be splitting hairs on the same cat! I agree with your/Tantric idea of M and F being energy and ideation. The way it was written, I thought you were saying that masculine and feminine WERE the 3rd principle, so suggested that it was rather activation itself, affecting those both. The Triptych (which Cassaro finds archetypal to human spirituality, re your "human path") is, as implied, a 3rd element necessary to introduce dynamism. I would also resist a simple duality being applied to Masculine/Feminine principles. And my practice of shiatsu makes me think that yin/yang too is more nuanced than can be grasped with the mind, so I consider duality as a simplistic expression of something profound. According to Kashmir Shaivism (or Trika, another 3-fold system), "The whole of reality vibrates. Emission (shaiva) and reabsorption (shakta)... co-exist in oscillation..." Oscillation (dynamism?) being a 3rd principle. I have heard Tantra described as both dual and non-dual: Shakti, Shiva (duality), and Brahman, a 3rd element. In vibrational science you get two opposite forces combining to create an implosion cascade that opens a gateway beyond time and space, according to Dr. Robert Gilbert (examples of kaduceus, ida/pingala). In sacred geometry, the two polarities are seen as spheres overlapping to create the vesica - meanings include matrix, birther! - an immaterial center connecting to the divine plane. My Scottish friend would say that I'm "away with the Triptych!" And your rich experience, including of a particular Tantra, could mean I'm missing something.
Or we're just coming from different perspectives. It looks as though you're much more intellectual-analytical in approaching this stuff. I used to read a lot about it in different traditions, but being a grassroots anthropologist immersed me in the more experiential side, which in turn will (or not) bring back up something I had read eons ago...
I do not know the authors/experts whom you mention, nor have I ever studied Trika or the Chinese philosophy from a theoretical angle. My focus is whatever feeds the mystical/subtle sense in me, bypassing the rational mind.
The Principles as I introduced them are just 'levels' of subtle forces (I place them as level 3, but who knows which 'level' they really are...) becoming more and more 'informed and charged' in order to eventually produce the material world where 'pure consciousness' can experience itself, otherwise it's just pure static 'consciousness'. So I perceive the M and F as Principles (but hardly 'gendered'!) they are simply a 'realm' that has 'acquired' slightly more substance than the 'higher-level' differentiation out of The One or the No-Thing.
Duality is necessary in order to have non-duality as the resorption of duality into no-thing but no-thing that has acquired 'something', perhaps 'flavor', 'quality', hence a no-thing that is a 'modified/richer' no-thing.
And yes, absolutely, the 'two' interact (that's what I may have called the interface), which creates a common space such as the vesica.
The third 'term' (rather than 'element', perhaps) is the outcome of that confluence - the generative calling of the 'two' interacting. And the third 'element' can be the resorption of 'the two' into the non-dual 'one' - purely mystical as experience goes, rather than generative in terms of bringing forth some tangible result.
I don't think there's any fundamental difference, in terms of the subtle, between what you call triptych and my sense of the interface between two polarities of a duality. Hot water plus cold water mixed give us lukewarm water. Just being down-to-earth...
I should point out that my post was intended to gently remind people of the Principles (or whatever other name they might be called) because knowing about them even vaguely has value for our practical life. I had no ambition to do a learned/erudite/intellectually complex piece. The topic itself is complex enough... Ultimately, for me it is all a matter of experientially sensing the subtle forces that drive everything.
This big human story is being denied, suppressed, oppressed, twisted, AI'd (is this a new legitimate verb?), and generally swamped in the morass of miasmic mayhem. Pondering what I would do if intent on suppressing human limitlessness... I'd attack the Feminine and Masculine Principles, because this underwrites all of life.
So, here we are at the coal face of what it is to be a woman or a man, with hugely powerful institutions banning the word 'woman' (UK NHS), and unending like nonsense perpetrated throughout the main streamed media world, for gullible fools to imbibe. I can hear Granddad turning in his disbelieving grave...
I wish to join up the dots of your Russian work (in the wings) with the principles addressed in your latest post. What is it about Russian folk that is uniquely different, and thereby uniquely worthy of the global vilification ensuing? If this is spoiler alert then leave me with baited breath. I feel I must get to the bottom of this, and my energy has a singular purpose of elucidation.
We've all got stories that intertwine with this zeitgeist, but truly, what is the soul and sole purpose of breathing in and out these days? That question often elicits a succinctly clear answer. Thanks for all the prompts.
Hey Zanna, I don't see what you're aiming for here. The connection between the Principles and Russia? The Principles are for everything and everyone, so why target Russia specifically? Yesterday's post was unrelated to Russia - its source was India...
If you're trying to get me to respond regarding Russia... either I twist myself into shape to respond to you personally, or I do my daily work on the Russian book. And responding to you personally would, in fairness to the 'topic' require a book of its own.
You 'must get to the bottom of this'? Well go digging, ma'am. For now, I'm up to my humble eyeballs, hurting heart and aching head in the material, and 'elucidation' will never fit into a tidy linear rational western container. So I don't know what spoiler alerts you're referring to...
The male female question has always been one of utmost depth for me and has felt for years like a lynch pin on what so much else rests.. as I was reading this beautiful writing I was pondering about shiva and the lone statue at cern and wondering if the separation of shiva from shakti is part of the dynamic of cern and if collectively we can imagine Shakti to be there too to balance out the disorder of just having one of the principals in that crazy place.. Thankyou enna for speaking to this intrinsic stuff. Much love sarah ♥️
The Shiva at CERN is a specific image of Shiva a) as a 'god', b) as 'god of destruction'. This has nothing to do with the Principle of the Masculine.
Shiva has been integrated into different layers of myth and 'religion' in India. The 'god of destruction' is part of the trilogy of'gods' Brahma (creator), Vishnu (protector), Shiva (destroyer). This trilogy is part of Indian 'orthodox' religion, so to speak, while Shiva-and-Shakti belong with the pro-human tantrik tradition in which they are more Principles than 'gods'.
At CERN, it is obvious that the Feminine is just used as a resource, like most everywhere.
You see, India is very diverse, and its 'gods' very multi-layered. But by now, even there not many people understand the Principles, as different from 'gods'.
I'm pretty sure the Feminine of Earth is doing her bit to counteract the CERN demons... So we can certainly connect with her, and 'feed' our care to her, as a further emanation of the Feminine!
As regards your idea of 'imagining Shakti' - the Principles are far too subtle, huge, beyond anything we can grasp. So 'imagining' her, a mind-activity, is impossible - unless you make an image of her, which brings you back to a 'goddess', which we don't need.
Allowing oneself to feel their presence is more real, it lets them come through for us on their own terms, way more powerful.
Thanks enna for such a good response.. I hear you.. I will be more careful with my use of words in the future.. I’m a Mindy Aries so need to remember to be more feely in my word choices as it is what I actually meant! . Thankyou for this insight
Love your articulation enna of these root principles and the result of perpetuated ignorance of them. Why we love classical Yoga-Samkhya, where Purusha-Prakriti are essentially the same as you delineate Shiva-Shakti. Liberation, Moksha, in Samkhya comes from distinguishing these principles in our experience, but they cannot be separated. All experience must have consciousness (which cannot “evolve”, please) and manifestation, continuously rearising from its root, mula-Prakriti.
I refrained from going into Samkhya, so thank you for being so eruditely on target. Actually, Purusha-Prakriti are more complex (if this were possible) than Shiva-Shakti. And closer to us too... as I discovered from my bengali grassroots immersion in their domain ('my' bengalis did not go for Shiva-Shakti at all!). Which is why they too will demand a book of their own.
Yes - happy to see many comments. When something touches a spot in the subtle human folds of ancient memory.
Absolutely punctual article in my life, Enna. I was just overlooking the content of the Freyja Course which is about the truly biological roles of Female and Male. Then this comes in! Bang!!!!
This topic is dropping into my range of view for the last 6 months. I hope you do find the energy to write this much needed book. I will post your newsletter on my facebook now. Immense gratitude from my Heart to your Heart!
I printed this out to read -- to 'hold' the words and really contemplate. Comments later.... Thank you, Enna.
This is one of the best I've read. It makes sense to ask who we really so we can begin developing our true self, for developing falseness is useless. It's only sustainable to develop who we truly are.
I have a little story to add to how powerful and good our true self is:
Many years ago I went on a boat trip with two guys and a girl. The boat broke down when we were at a small island. The boat was brought to the dock where there was a picnic table on the edge of the land. I realized ahead of time that it was getting late and the mosquitos would be coming out and no one brought any mosquito repellant. So, in order to deal with the situation, I remembered that all groups of beings have their own angel protector with them, because I had learned about it recently. I decided to communicate with the angel overlord of the mosquitos and asked that it would not allow the mosquitos to bite me, and I asked lovingly. Then I just let it go, and we were docked, and now sitting at the picnic table with the guys wondering how we would get out of there. Suddenly the mosquitos came and all three of those people were being bit by them. They were slapping their body every time they were bit. But I sat there calmly and peacefully because I was not getting bit. For a short while this went on, when that girl, which I intuited immediately, was just about to make it well known that I was not getting bit, and would turn me into a spotlight which I felt was not good, because I wouldn't be able to explain to them something that they would think I was crazy for saying, since they just didn't believe anything about the higher abilities of us, and how we are connected to the life all around us, so I immediately communicated for a mosquito to bite me so I could slap my body, and therefore, just as she was about to say it, I was slapping my leg NEXT to where the mosquito bit me because I didn't want to kill it, I just wanted them to think I too was being bit. And she said it, "Isn't it strange that Mary is not being bit by mosquitos while we're all being bit" but her words came too short because the two guys noticed I too had slapped my let and said "ouch" so that they didn't even pay attention to what she was saying. So they just sat there ignoring and went back to thinking how we were all going to get back. And that was the only and one time, lol, that I was bit by a mosquito.
Another thing I was working on, I asked the Spirit to help us out in our trouble. I asked for someone capable of helping us to come by in a boat. Then in a few more minutes, we saw a man and his boy coming toward where we were in their boat, and the guys jumped up to go ask for help, and the guy said that he had a rope that he could tie us to his boat and bring us back to land. And that's what happened. So we weren't stuck there for more than an hour.
The point is, if we would tune into our nature within ourselves and see from a higher place, and not make fun of those who do that, then we would be able to get so much help all the time. And everyone could grow together, masculine, feminine, and all the other creatures of this planet that we share space with. Everything that is alive, is capable of being communicated with. There's another story I have in which I communicated with a plant to ask it whether it was good to make an herbal tea with it, and it communicated back to me what it was good for. Later, I found in the books what it was called and how it was helpful, and it was exactly what the plant had told me.
A great story, thanks Mary. It reminds me of what my father used to say: jealousy ruins the world. As I delve into this emotion, and these definitions of jealousy:
Fearful or wary of losing one's position or situation to someone else
Envious or resentful of the good fortune or achievements of another
Having to do with or arising from feelings of apprehension, bitterness
I ponder why, if we are at the roots of our being, kind, considerate, caring, souls, is your story so common? I mean the story of an anticipation of jealousy, when apparent good fortune unfolds… or in your case, unslaps? The only rather inadequate answer I come up with, is a disconnection within each human to their primal magic, beauty, and joy, and a predilection to odious comparisons, rather than the more adventurous, fun and free self-exploration into the majesty of connectivity to all of life… including mossies.
The wasbund used to get quite peeved when he would get all the bites, and I was bite free in our tropical days. I would tease him, they only go after rotten meat… which of course had the effect of increased irritation along with much scratching. My daughter used to say that I was always the lucky one, and I never really reacted to this: now she’s with her father, having chosen the ‘unlucky’ one to support, and perhaps this is as it should be, though I miss her massively.
No two shakes about it, enna’s advice that we all focus upon true self-development, is essential, timely and wise. It’s why I like hanging out with her words, for they speak volumes of veracity in a world riddled with facade. I loved your story - I’m a past boat captain, and as such have similar tales that resonate with yours. Many thanks Mary.
Awesome, I'd love to hear your tales! Haha!
Yea, you are a friend indeed. We help one another. I had to remember that jealousy thing. This one was personal when I began reading, thinking of the times I had to deal with it from others, and then falling to it so that I don't have to deal with their ugly negative arrows of emotion. But I was told later that, this isn't the way to deal with other's negative feelings, that one must stand their ground and keep moving. Then as I read, I remembered how the Archons envied us, were jealous, and then another story evolved through your beautiful writing, where I saw how people did exactly the same thing I did in my personal life, and allowed themselves to be taken down, by some others' negative emotion...the archons' jealousy. Yea. Deep subject to delve into, bring up to the surface, examine, acknowledge, finish with it, disintegrate it and move along. This is the healing process which is what I've found.
I can hardly wait to hear some of your fascinating stories, because I can see from here, they're going to be verrrrry interesting! Lol.
You went the natural way, Mary... Such things can happen in so many situations, but the point is, you obviously 'did magic' from the right place in yourself. It's a matter of not operating from the small ego-mind. Most people, locked into said ego-mind, will of course find your 'procedure' ridiculous and below their dignity to perform, and if they did override said 'dignity', they would have no result since they'd operate from ego-mind, and the negative result would validate their initial 'dignity' position. Aka confirmation + normalcy bias.
May I suggest that henceforth you refrain from making yourself appear to be in conformity with the conformists? That's a dead-end short-term non-solution... The time has definitely come when all those of us who operate from our deeper natural field just do it, calmly and unobtrusively, and fearlessly explain to those who object to our mosquito peace what it's all about. More and more people are receptive, I find. And it's less stressful to be a natural weirdo among the ego-types than it is to 'fit in'. Eventually the 'weird' calm kindness wraps around everybody to some extent, nobody will say thank you, which is fine because we're just doing bits of our 'cosmic job'.
Absolutely beautiful and big important work to do here together.
Enna, if I may ask, as this article has offered some ah-has for me as im strugging with some feminine energy flow.
Ihave found myself a Stay at Home Mama of a wonderful 18 month old boy, and pregnant with no2 now. Blessings and joy babies are. And. Before I was mama, I AM a business owner, carrying the weight of a small, but thriving business into my mothering (alongside being a wife to a farmer/rancher). I feel depleted of my feminine energy, holding both of these components of my life...
My body knows where it is needed most, with my children, and being in the gardens, making the home delicious (which I DO, indeed love and feel a lot of fulfilments from.
While my brain, and habitual ways of overachieving are demanding my energy in my business.
I do bring income into our home, which is needed. Groceries, and fuel, my personal care (with are minimal, but yes a thing) clothes for the family too... I'm wondering if you have any thoughts of connecting deeper to my feminine energies, I want to see them thriving instead of 'burning out'. Thanks for reading! Thanks for being you!
Oh Heather, you have the conundrum of the modern woman in all its splendor...
There is no 'magic recipe' for getting more of the F energies - you have to work through the reality of being in a human body. Which is very practical - and only you can infuse some mystical energy into it by being very present and keeping heart and mind connected all the time.
You know where the priorities are, in your situation. Two little new humans that need maximum love and discipline to raise them as humans in an inhumane world - that in itself is the big one, for which you are not replaceable, and which creates its own human ripple in the wider realm. Your energy is also needed for farmer husband, for the whole family unit to fulfill its mission happily. I hope he appreciates and supports what you represent...
Generally, you need to observe, systematically and ruthlessly, what gives you energy, and what depletes you. Never let this or that situation push you over the edge - better to invite the life-spirit to breathe you for five seconds (this should become a reflex).
Your F energies can be sparked by the little ones (they actually give a lot of energy while they are small, have you noticed?) and by kindness from your man. It takes surprisingly little, just a smile, a hand on the shoulder, something touching from the child... to reignite those F energies. I'm sure you know this - if not, observe it, it's quite fascinating.
BUT the fact is that we don't have as much energy as our ancestors used to. And the fact is that 'just' being wife and mother is very demanding, especially nowadays.
So something has to happen on the business front - if it is as you say thriving, then perhaps you can get someone to work part-time, or reduce the scope of it, anything to reduce your burden without quitting the business? If you get too depleted the business will suffer anyway.
It looks to me as though, in wanting to connect 'deeper into my f energies', you're still wanting to be wonder-woman, aka super-achiever, with a hint of perfectionism perhaps? Saying this very tenderly - I've been there.
You need to do your cool-headed rational analysis, together with your man, of how or how much you can change your involvement in the business for a few years//whether husband's farm can bring in more income for the stuff that needs to be bought.
Is there a grandmother or other (lonely?) relative who can be brought into the picture?
Two small children is going to be a full-time non-job in its own right, and I'm sure you want to live up to its demands. For which you need both 1) rational organization of all the practical stuff and 2) moments of down-time (the non-doing kind of down-time being the quickest way to bring yourself back into balance, I hope you've been looking into that?). And time in/with Nature, barefoot, tree-hugging and all that goodness - really feeling their 'field' feeding yours. Just you and Nature - let your man be with the kid(s) for a while, a short while every day is more effective than half a day once a week.
You have to be ruthless with getting the right kind of nutrition, sleep, water.
It's all very practical - it has to be, inevitably. But there is a tiny esoteric trick. We don't realize that we get burnt out when the whole day is an uninterrupted flow of doing doing doing. The trick is to not fall into this trap. While in the midst of this or that activity, to suspend the doing for a second and be the subtle self that does nothing or just watches the doing. It is YOUR attentiveness to how energy flows at this or that moment, in this or that situation, that infuses subtle power into all that necessary practicality. Making a habit of this as soon as possible helps to make micro-moments of stillness happen in the midst of all the activity, many times every day - those micro-moments when you are intensely yet gently you at the deeper level of presence, will keep you calm (conservation of energy), clear in knowing what to do (correct investment of energy), clear in putting your foot down (protecting boundaries on your energy when necessary)... Eventually you'll find that those micro-moments are weaving an unseen 'mycelium' of subtler energy that sustain, and may even regenerate, what modern life has stolen from us.
It's quality of energy that will restore the quantities of it that we need. You're in charge of the quality. And Shakti never went away...
Oh Enna. This is so perfect and beautiful and yes, practical.
I appreciate your time and efforts in answering me, so much. I teared up reading this. It hits so perfectly to the human I have cultivated in my life... still struggling with perfectionism, yes. Still wanting to be the super woman, yes. And KNOWING of my soul, that these symptoms of modern life, are not sustainable as they once were, pre children.
I DO notice the F power in these moments and will soak them up, and tend to them more.
I feel those touches, and moments of watching, while in the midst of it all. And, I am going to begin acknowledging them For what they are, building of my subtle energies. Wow. So perfect. I can notice when I do these moments throughout the day, time goes slower, and I can soak in the magic of baby, and life with the earth more. So I will keep cultivating this momentary nothing, suspend myself there. Thank you.
I do have a part time person starting in May for my growing season. She will be helping in my Farmacy Gardens, and the Apothecary. I have my WONDERFUL mother-in-law close by and she is so present. I feel I can use this time more wisely, instead of keeping my doing doing doing flow going.
Wow enna. I am going to print this out so I can read it often. You are a gem. So glad to have found you and be able to connect in this way.
Much love and gratitude to you.
thanks enna, your writings are insightful and informative as always.
i've been learning mapuzungun, the language of mapuche people since a few years now.
by learning this language i've also been immersed in their culture. in it, they refer to the duality of the cosmos and more specifically, it's quaternary nature. so aside from the existence of the levels/dimensions of reality and the presence of the lesser gods and mythic creatures, there are four aspects of the cosmos that pervade everything and remain consistent, these four aspects are:
-elder woman / wajmapu kuse
-elder man / wajmapu futxa
-maiden / wajmapu ujca domo
-youth / wajmapu wece wentxu
very taoist is some way. these aspects are present in everyone and everything. every mountain, every being, every place, every stream. and not one is better/lesser than the other
Thank you Alonso, lovely contribution! Brilliant.
Lots to say about those Big Four! They comprise the Energy of Time, the Energy of Knowing, the Cycle of Energies... When all these are operating harmoniously, the Elder man/woman achieve a different kind of 'youth' in themselves (very perceptible in the way some elders live, the aliveness of their eyes, etc), the Younger man/woman is acquiring the peace of wisdom inside that makes the energy of youth fruitful.
Pervading everything as you say. Is there anything that conveys the Four as intensely as a stone or indeed a mountain...
". .the domineering mind and the orphaned heart . ." describes the terrain over which your insights cast a beautiful and healing illumination - much gratitude.
Enna, now that I have printed this out and read and reread it I can say, even more emphatically, “thank you”!
You wrote: “How many of us remember, or are even aware of the harm wrought by the ‘sexual revolution’ of some decades ago?” I am starkly aware. I suffered much by embracing it. No doubt my partners did as well. Also I suffered the ‘feminism’ which taught women that to be ‘free’ of male domination and disregard a woman must become not-a-woman — become more like a man, act like a man, and do the all the things that men do…even at the expense of forgoing childbearing and rearing. How many women felt shame in being ‘just’ a mother and home-maker? Of course, the rising cost of living and the push to double the Tax Base continues to force women out of the home and away from children. And on it continues! Sacrificial demands of the gods and their priests. UGH.
But how beautifully and brilliantly you contrast this with a different perspective; an alternative way of being! I am uplifted because what you share reflects many of my own (but wordless) contemplations, but also expands and enhances them to a wondrous degree. The Principals within us can be accessed and celebrated in a perpetual 'becoming' of creativity.
In recent months I have (synchronistically?) pondered the ‘creation’ (or advent) of rape in humans. I have not witnessed rape in the natural realm. Did it come with the concept of ‘possessions’ and ‘ownership’ as opposed to ’territory’ — the objectification of all in our world as a litany of items to be used and consumed, and a rejection of heart? To animals (from what I have seen) territory is a precious life-giving source to be aspired to, hopefully attained and vigorously defended, but it is never ‘possession.’
I’ve printed out many of your essays/monographs for reference and rereading — especially when I feel a bit ‘isolated’. It is my surrogate for in-person contact sometimes, I am sorry to say. I am building my collection. I wonder if you might publish another book of just such a collection?
Sending you much gratitude and emanations of my heart.
ShieldMaiden - very 'alive' no-fluff comment, as usual, thank you!
Rape. Of course, possession, ownership, territory apply, but it's more complicated. Fundamentally I'd say it stems from a deep lack within the rapist (lack of real sense of human self, with all the nuances of this) that must be compensated for by 'wielding power' that can steal from the victim the magical substance of the victim's authenticity (beauty, innocence, soul...). The lack of rapist's intrinsic humanity requires the dehumanization of the victim. So they're is a huge factor of envy involved too. Envy and violence are largely synonymous, esoterically.
The only way I know of to survive rape is to let the soul fly off during the operation. Rape is a form of murder. Murder of the other who 'has something that the rapist doesn't'.
Lots more could be said, but I'll leave it there for now.
The bit about 'economy' forcing women into the work-place (in addition to all the rest) - absolutely. Women are trapped in the religion of the money god, to 'make money' and to 'contribute' to the parasites. They've forgotten that to be a 'home-maker' in a true homestead is to actually run a whole natural economy, way more challenging and satisfying than being a 'house-wife with appliances'.
Another book? I'm working on two, at the moment. Eventually I'll have to get round to doing a book about the Principles, since nobody seems to have had the 'initiation' I got from my illiterate esoteric grassroots tradition of Bengal. As regards the Substack essays, I might eventually do a collection of them, duly updated and more in-depth - if there is demand for this. But I feel a bit uneasy about that idea. 'Collected writings' is something an established 'thought leader' might do, and this is definitely not a status that I aspire to. I'm just another human sharing stuff that many others don't seem to see.
Aha! Yes. The inhuman aspect of humanity. Rape is murder transmuted into an orgasmic experience. This is truly evil and horrific to me on a level far beyond physical. “The lack of rapist's intrinsic humanity requires the dehumanization of the victim.” The perpetrator must also have suffered dehumanization, or it would not be possible. Dehumanization is institutionalized in the training and use of soldiers in the endless wars. Killing and rape. It is an expression that permeates much of our human existence. I shiver. But examination of it all is imperative for me.
I do mourn the loss of the homestead-type of woman (and man), and the poverty that children suffer because of this loss. While all in my geographic sphere of acquaintance seek greater ‘convenience’ and more technology and systems to achieve it, I’ve been moving in the opposite direction and divesting myself for years. Cooking from scratch. Laundry by hand. In the dirt with only my hands and basic tools. It was you, Enna, who captured it for me with the term “aspiring peasant”.
Envy strikes me as a dangerous treadmill. A self-deception. I have witnessed how it beguiles and destroys. I have been on the receiving end of it and know well the underlying hostility. For some fortunate reason (and I cannot mentally identify the source), I have not suffered much from nor been beguiled by envy in my own Self. Not since early childhood, anyway — coveting another child’s toy or attention and wanting to literally take it for myself. Perhaps it was these early experiences with envy that taught me that it never works to achieve happiness. When I encounter an individual who seems to be wealthy in some way that I desire for myself then my curiosity becomes engaged. I want to know more about that individual and how he/she achieved what I desire so that I may learn to acquire it for myself…or, at least, ‘try it on for a good fit’. Ha-ha — this has often led me to discovering illusions, which is also of great value. “WELL! This (or he/she) is not at all it what I initially perceived!” What is truly valuable to me is being ‘at home’ in my own body and in this world, in this life. This cannot be achieved through envy; the very water in my body knows it, and I feel extremely fortunate that it does.
Finding a ‘good fit’ (practically or philosophically) certainly doesn’t end the process, either. Quite the opposite. There is plenty of room for more exploration and ‘what if’ questioning, leading way to never-ending experimentation and personal adjustment. So, I am excited that you are considering writing an expansion on the Principals. More potential wealth. Seeking wholeness and uncovering the feminine and masculine in mySelf has been an ongoing journey. This involves encountering and becoming intimate with my own blocks and twists (Jungian ‘shadow’) on a daily basis. You provide me with invaluable assistance and inspiration.
Always gris for the mill Enna, and thank you for sharing from your wavelength! When you say, "That prime differentiation emanates the third level of reality that begins to make Energy and Ideation operative - the Masculine and the Feminine Principles, which evolve their different ‘qualities’ or ‘attributes’, not for the sake of those differences but towards mutual complementarity capable of generating all manner of creativity (beyond anything our minds can grasp)." it seems that the third level here would logically not be the Masculine and Feminine Principles, which you go on to describe AS Energy and Ideation, but the "mutual complementarity" or ATTRACTION between them which creates a dynamic. Like the bit of yin in yang and vice versa, and most importantly the circle that encompasses and holds them. That Triptych Principle of interaction between two creating a higher unity. Lao Tzu specifically says, "The Chinese trinity, being the duality of yin and yang organized into a higher unity." (I have to give credit to Richard Cassaro for mentioning this in his extensive work on Triptychs.)
Ha leah! I knew someone would come up with yin and yang...
If the M and F are not 'made of' those two things Energy and Ideation, then what is it that makes the complementarity or attraction - which is the effect of the interface or interaction? Without two things to interact, there is no interaction. You're mixing categories, I feel.
It's matter of seeking to 'understand' how manifestation occurs, in 'steps' from the infinitely subtle into gradually 'denser' forms, where forms begin to 'do stuff'.
Notice that Energy and Ideation are VERY broad and necessarily vague - lots of different energies and ideations beyond anything we can fathom. This is for the two to have maximum creativity in the way their interface/attraction invites forth different energies/ideations into further levels of interaction-creativity. Which is, as you note for yin-yang, where the 'third' element can occur to subsume the 'two'.
Yin and yang is much more prescriptive 'system' - both of these come with a whole list of respective properties that are the opposite of each other (cold-hot, etc). Energy and Ideation are not each other's opposites - I feel this is the major difference, which affords more potential for creative cooperation. Yin and yang are very often in conflict, or obeying movements of the pendulum towards 'deficit' of the one versus 'excess' of the other, so there has to be constant work to bring them back into balance for the triune to emerge. I don't have your erudition in this matter so I may be missing some nuance, but from a heart-mind perspective the Indian 'couple' seems more open-ended, offering a less prescriptive path for us to explore in our troubled times...
Oh, and it is not I who say that Shiva and Shakti are Ideation and Energy - it's the tantrik tradition. And note that the words 'energy' and 'ideation' are, as is to be expected for such vast realms beyond our mind's grasp, not at all perfect terms. Take them as very generic, sensory, allusive. The mind can only go so far (not at all far) in dealing with such stuff.
There's way more to say about the Indian Two, too much for this response. As I say, I'll have to do about the F and M some day...
We may be splitting hairs on the same cat! I agree with your/Tantric idea of M and F being energy and ideation. The way it was written, I thought you were saying that masculine and feminine WERE the 3rd principle, so suggested that it was rather activation itself, affecting those both. The Triptych (which Cassaro finds archetypal to human spirituality, re your "human path") is, as implied, a 3rd element necessary to introduce dynamism. I would also resist a simple duality being applied to Masculine/Feminine principles. And my practice of shiatsu makes me think that yin/yang too is more nuanced than can be grasped with the mind, so I consider duality as a simplistic expression of something profound. According to Kashmir Shaivism (or Trika, another 3-fold system), "The whole of reality vibrates. Emission (shaiva) and reabsorption (shakta)... co-exist in oscillation..." Oscillation (dynamism?) being a 3rd principle. I have heard Tantra described as both dual and non-dual: Shakti, Shiva (duality), and Brahman, a 3rd element. In vibrational science you get two opposite forces combining to create an implosion cascade that opens a gateway beyond time and space, according to Dr. Robert Gilbert (examples of kaduceus, ida/pingala). In sacred geometry, the two polarities are seen as spheres overlapping to create the vesica - meanings include matrix, birther! - an immaterial center connecting to the divine plane. My Scottish friend would say that I'm "away with the Triptych!" And your rich experience, including of a particular Tantra, could mean I'm missing something.
Splitting cat hairs? Poor cat. Perhaps we are.
Or we're just coming from different perspectives. It looks as though you're much more intellectual-analytical in approaching this stuff. I used to read a lot about it in different traditions, but being a grassroots anthropologist immersed me in the more experiential side, which in turn will (or not) bring back up something I had read eons ago...
I do not know the authors/experts whom you mention, nor have I ever studied Trika or the Chinese philosophy from a theoretical angle. My focus is whatever feeds the mystical/subtle sense in me, bypassing the rational mind.
The Principles as I introduced them are just 'levels' of subtle forces (I place them as level 3, but who knows which 'level' they really are...) becoming more and more 'informed and charged' in order to eventually produce the material world where 'pure consciousness' can experience itself, otherwise it's just pure static 'consciousness'. So I perceive the M and F as Principles (but hardly 'gendered'!) they are simply a 'realm' that has 'acquired' slightly more substance than the 'higher-level' differentiation out of The One or the No-Thing.
Duality is necessary in order to have non-duality as the resorption of duality into no-thing but no-thing that has acquired 'something', perhaps 'flavor', 'quality', hence a no-thing that is a 'modified/richer' no-thing.
And yes, absolutely, the 'two' interact (that's what I may have called the interface), which creates a common space such as the vesica.
The third 'term' (rather than 'element', perhaps) is the outcome of that confluence - the generative calling of the 'two' interacting. And the third 'element' can be the resorption of 'the two' into the non-dual 'one' - purely mystical as experience goes, rather than generative in terms of bringing forth some tangible result.
I don't think there's any fundamental difference, in terms of the subtle, between what you call triptych and my sense of the interface between two polarities of a duality. Hot water plus cold water mixed give us lukewarm water. Just being down-to-earth...
I should point out that my post was intended to gently remind people of the Principles (or whatever other name they might be called) because knowing about them even vaguely has value for our practical life. I had no ambition to do a learned/erudite/intellectually complex piece. The topic itself is complex enough... Ultimately, for me it is all a matter of experientially sensing the subtle forces that drive everything.
As ever enna, you elicit much inner contemplation. To respond to this, I reread your Oct 9th 2023, post upon a very big human story that must be told:
https://open.substack.com/pub/enna/p/a-very-big-human-story-that-must?r=15ocs5&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
This big human story is being denied, suppressed, oppressed, twisted, AI'd (is this a new legitimate verb?), and generally swamped in the morass of miasmic mayhem. Pondering what I would do if intent on suppressing human limitlessness... I'd attack the Feminine and Masculine Principles, because this underwrites all of life.
So, here we are at the coal face of what it is to be a woman or a man, with hugely powerful institutions banning the word 'woman' (UK NHS), and unending like nonsense perpetrated throughout the main streamed media world, for gullible fools to imbibe. I can hear Granddad turning in his disbelieving grave...
I wish to join up the dots of your Russian work (in the wings) with the principles addressed in your latest post. What is it about Russian folk that is uniquely different, and thereby uniquely worthy of the global vilification ensuing? If this is spoiler alert then leave me with baited breath. I feel I must get to the bottom of this, and my energy has a singular purpose of elucidation.
We've all got stories that intertwine with this zeitgeist, but truly, what is the soul and sole purpose of breathing in and out these days? That question often elicits a succinctly clear answer. Thanks for all the prompts.
https://open.substack.com/pub/enna/p/a-very-big-human-story-that-must?r=15ocs5&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Hey Zanna, I don't see what you're aiming for here. The connection between the Principles and Russia? The Principles are for everything and everyone, so why target Russia specifically? Yesterday's post was unrelated to Russia - its source was India...
If you're trying to get me to respond regarding Russia... either I twist myself into shape to respond to you personally, or I do my daily work on the Russian book. And responding to you personally would, in fairness to the 'topic' require a book of its own.
You 'must get to the bottom of this'? Well go digging, ma'am. For now, I'm up to my humble eyeballs, hurting heart and aching head in the material, and 'elucidation' will never fit into a tidy linear rational western container. So I don't know what spoiler alerts you're referring to...
Ta for words. Your work is huge and my inquisitive heart does not wish to add to its load.
The male female question has always been one of utmost depth for me and has felt for years like a lynch pin on what so much else rests.. as I was reading this beautiful writing I was pondering about shiva and the lone statue at cern and wondering if the separation of shiva from shakti is part of the dynamic of cern and if collectively we can imagine Shakti to be there too to balance out the disorder of just having one of the principals in that crazy place.. Thankyou enna for speaking to this intrinsic stuff. Much love sarah ♥️
Thank you Sarah!
The Shiva at CERN is a specific image of Shiva a) as a 'god', b) as 'god of destruction'. This has nothing to do with the Principle of the Masculine.
Shiva has been integrated into different layers of myth and 'religion' in India. The 'god of destruction' is part of the trilogy of'gods' Brahma (creator), Vishnu (protector), Shiva (destroyer). This trilogy is part of Indian 'orthodox' religion, so to speak, while Shiva-and-Shakti belong with the pro-human tantrik tradition in which they are more Principles than 'gods'.
At CERN, it is obvious that the Feminine is just used as a resource, like most everywhere.
You see, India is very diverse, and its 'gods' very multi-layered. But by now, even there not many people understand the Principles, as different from 'gods'.
I'm pretty sure the Feminine of Earth is doing her bit to counteract the CERN demons... So we can certainly connect with her, and 'feed' our care to her, as a further emanation of the Feminine!
As regards your idea of 'imagining Shakti' - the Principles are far too subtle, huge, beyond anything we can grasp. So 'imagining' her, a mind-activity, is impossible - unless you make an image of her, which brings you back to a 'goddess', which we don't need.
Allowing oneself to feel their presence is more real, it lets them come through for us on their own terms, way more powerful.
Thanks enna for such a good response.. I hear you.. I will be more careful with my use of words in the future.. I’m a Mindy Aries so need to remember to be more feely in my word choices as it is what I actually meant! . Thankyou for this insight
Much love. X
Love your articulation enna of these root principles and the result of perpetuated ignorance of them. Why we love classical Yoga-Samkhya, where Purusha-Prakriti are essentially the same as you delineate Shiva-Shakti. Liberation, Moksha, in Samkhya comes from distinguishing these principles in our experience, but they cannot be separated. All experience must have consciousness (which cannot “evolve”, please) and manifestation, continuously rearising from its root, mula-Prakriti.
Nice to see all the commentary!
YAAAY Crimis.
I refrained from going into Samkhya, so thank you for being so eruditely on target. Actually, Purusha-Prakriti are more complex (if this were possible) than Shiva-Shakti. And closer to us too... as I discovered from my bengali grassroots immersion in their domain ('my' bengalis did not go for Shiva-Shakti at all!). Which is why they too will demand a book of their own.
Yes - happy to see many comments. When something touches a spot in the subtle human folds of ancient memory.