Hearing the Call
As we enter the deep heart of Autumn, we feel the loss of light and the darkness beckons us. At this time, I am aware of a familiar turn within, as the soul hears the changing of the drum beat. She is guided now, not by the light of the outer sun, but by a subtle glow of barely burning embers within.
Some of you may hear the drum calling you into the dream cave and resist it. Many of us are still scared of the dark. So much of our identity is anchored out there in other’s approval, in tangible accomplishments, and in our outer role as mother, father, or friend.
In the old myths they talk of the cinder biters – a tattered, hungry, orphaned youngster who is drawn to the quiet and stillness of a dying fire. The hungry adolescent in each of us is the one who longs to know the Deep Self and to become who we truly are but feels forgotten, unrecognized and unwanted. This part knows that when the soul is hungry for the nourishment of Self, one must lie, for some time in the ashes, stirring the cinders with a far-off look in the eye. It is right to go far away. It is a safe journey and a necessary one. It is in this quiet place that the inner world reminds us, feeds us, whispers to us of who we are and the dream of the soul. And it is here that we feed the fire. Our inward attention is like oxygen and wood to the desires, longings and visions of the soul. We need the fire, but it needs us too. (more…)