‘There is no coming to consciousness without pain. People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own Soul. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.’
― C.G. Jung
This is a three-part article about my writing challenge:
Enter the Dragon’s Cave: An 11 Day Writing Challenge to Awaken the Shero Within, starting on 26th February!
As each day or ‘chapter’ progresses we will be delving deeper into our Caves. (Read Part 1: Enter the Dragon, if you haven’t already begun from there!)
You read about the Dragon, and now I’m going to share what the Cave represents and why we must cross the threshold into it, and more importantly, how to do it!
What is the Cave?
The cave is a metaphor for our unconscious territory, the Shadow. It contains all manor of goblins, monsters and demons, or so we think! It harbors our ultimate nemesis, the Dragon. It keeps within it all that which has power over us; those things that block our path and keep us stuck in repetitive behavioral patterns that don’t support our highest purpose and vision.
These unconscious entities cause confusion and chaos within and keep us from accessing our innate strength and vitality, our Shakti, our feminine power!
Newsflash: These forces exist in our mental and emotional bodies! The feeling layer of our being represents the Great Mother who holds both light and dark qualities. In our patriarchal culture, we have learned to negate the dark aspect of the feminine; those intense, unwieldy, uncomfortable, painful and destructive emotions.
To go within the Cave is a daunting prospect for good reason. Something is sacrificed as we enter. Something sheds. And something dies. But just like the divine feminine who is symbolic of both creation and destruction, when you consciously go within the Cave and come out the other end, something is re-birthed, recreated and re-imagined.
This ‘something’ is our very real challenges and obstacles.
The Warrior Shero takes the quest into the dark cave of the unconscious, the lair of death and the womb of rebirth to unlock her hidden potential and power!
My 11 day challenge aims at awakening our inner Shero, the warrior feminine so that we may collect and reclaim parts of our power.
Until we confront, communicate and ideally befriend the dark or negative expressions of our emotions, the feminine will likely remain disempowered.
What if you never go through your Cave?
Simply, you don’t change. You don’t transform. You live in your mental stories and life stresses and don’t align with your authentic nature and vision. You lack vitality and drive to do what you really want and don’t get the nourishment and support you need to move your life forward!
In a recent survey I sent out, nearly all of the respondents complained of the ‘lack of time’ to put themselves first – to do the work to heal and get their lives in order! This followed self-deprecating thoughts and beliefs that included self-blame, guilt and frustration.
Many are stuck in the maya or illusion of time.
That ‘if’ they had time and energy, they would eventually ‘find’ calm and stillness. They’d be centred and grounded and then finally they’d be able to establish a solid structure upon which to get the consistency they need to overcome their fears and worries.
Let me be real here! The truth is, you will never have enough time. Time must be created; energy and vitality is created; structure is consciously created; consistency is created!
The power to change our lives is in invoking the feminine principle of creation.
That’s why it’s so crucial to take steps to awaken this archetype within!
I have created this structure for you over a container of 11 days so that you can awaken both warrior and feminine in order to step out from the Shadow and into the vision you hold for yourself.
What are you reasons for not taking it? Please do let me know your objections so that I can dispel your fears!
When guilt paralyses you from saying No to other people’s needs, when fear of other people’s judgments trap you from doing what you really desire and when self-doubt places you at the mercy of external validation, what kind of quality of life are you living?
I have been there and the truth is you’ll remain locked in this reality and nothing will change – unless you go into your Cave!
The answer to How we Enter the Dragon’s Cave, that murky place of challenges, obstacles, chaos and confusion is to create a path through!
How to create a path through the darkness
During my battle with the Dragon – the malignant Narcissist (see Part 1) – I endured long-term emotional torture, pain and suffering. These emotions were his life-blood. In order to stop feeding the agony, fury and despair within myself, to stop being reactive – I pulled out my familiar friends—my writing pad and pen—and I began to write to each of my emotions.
Through personifying rage, anger, grief, despair (the list goes on!) – giving them names and personalities, I established a line of communication with them. I asked them what they needed, I imbued them with a numinous quality and nurtured them with kindness, love, attention and care – that kind of worship you bestow upon a God!
‘Anyone unable to understand a god sees it as a devil.’
― Joseph Campbell
I then drew images of what they looked like. This combination and process of journaling and art was so transformative that I slowly restored each piece of myself.
I took my power back.
Later, with the help of a mentor, I learned how to interact with the image with my physical body and use my voice and words for deeper integration of Self. I re-incorporated the essence of yoga into this practice by witnessing what arrived on each layer of my being; mind, body, emotions and spirit. I call this entire practice ‘Conscious Embodiment’.
Here’s what I felt and discovered through this yoga, writing and art journaling process:
Each emotion that rules us represents an unmet need. When we have truly confronted and communicated with the feelings that paralyze us, we win back their attention and they offer us their power. Charge them therefore with a numinous quality, offer them the light of your consciousness, and in return, they will give you their vitality and nourishment.
Deifying our emotions through conscious embodiment is how we heal ourselves. This deliberate alignment with our inner body is how we access our true source of power, our Shakti.
Don’t forget that your sensitivity is your gift!
Us sensitive warriors are built for this quest! We can easily call forth a feeling and emotion, we can sense danger before it arrives and we can transform our own selves through our love and compassion.
My writing challenge will help you to open up to your feeling body and be vulnerable in a safe way and in a safe place for a container of 15 minutes a day.
Which emotions are we working with?
The many faces of the feminine that we’ll be confronting as we walk through the Cave in 11 days are, Fear, Guilt, Shame, Anger, Hate, Pain and Grief. I invite you to replace these with other emotions that you’re currently feeling if they don’t resonate with you.
Follow my writing prompts each day and write either a paragraph or a page and draw or doodle an image of this feeling (preferably with colour).
Have you reviewed the fight plan? Remember I am your ‘supernatural aid’! And the lovely warriors in my private Facebook group are your support! Share your insights and images and I’ll be there to answer your questions and offer guidance!
Join my group and get on my mailing list to receive the narrative storytelling and writing prompts each day!
Create a path through the mental body using your imagination and arrive to your emotional body to identify and confront the obstacle and ultimately transform it!
It is the warrior’s path to walk courageously through the darkness, dissolving the shadows and bringing light to the world as their ultimate gift.
Join me for the final part in this series in the next couple of days: Part 3: The Return Home with Treasure! Need I say more?!
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