Entering the Great Mystery

Entering the Mystery

     Who are we, where do we come from and where are we going?  The incredible reality to these fundamental life affirming questions is we truly do not know.  When I was a student, beginning my journey through academia, I found myself gravitating toward religious studies as a major, not because I believed in one religion over another, but because I was fascinated by all attempts to understand the mystery of our beings.  What I learned confirmed my reluctance to name any religion as the ultimate truth, instead I realized that all religion is mythological, a search for meaning and purpose and a guide to how to navigate the incredible diversity, blessings, and challenges of this life experience.

            It was at the end of my four-year journey of studying Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Native American Spirituality, cultures that worshipped the Goddess prior to Westernized religion that I found the language to describe my experience.  I was in one of my Native American studies courses and we had an elder Lakota woman step in as a substitute teacher.  I will never forget her words, she said, “in our culture we do not look for an absolute truth in understanding our place in the world.  We refer to the divine as Wanka Tanka, meaning the Great Mystery.”  It was then and there, almost 30 years ago, my understanding accepted the reality, we will never know.  We are not meant to know the core of the mystery, we are to live in reverence, in awe, in respect, in harmony with it, yet we are not to know.  No religion or scientist, not even our greatest physicists of all time, can answer the question with total certainty; who are we, where did we come from, and where are we going?

            Mythology is an attempt to make sense out of our human experience, to teach something of value, to honor challenges and losses, to comprehend one’s place in the world and to gain wisdom and power to overcome the pain and suffering and emerge triumphant and transformed.  Joseph Campbell, one of the greatest voices in our recent history to illuminate the power of mythology taught that we use mythology to come into harmony with nature and God, because God is a mystery that human thought cannot fathom. 

            So then, if we cannot know which we so desperately strive to know, how are we as humans to navigate?  We must choose our mythologies wisely. Are they living myths that are life affirming or are they mythologies that are outdated, undermining our self-confidence, and perpetuating stories of domination and either/or consequences that limit the mystery of the divine in our lives?  It was this intuitive realization that preempted my conscious relationship with sacred archetypes. 

An archetype is a teacher, a map, a story/myth, a deep-seated aspect of our beings reflected in the outer world.  An archetype lives outside of time and space, they are primordial, living in our unconscious, and as we work with them in all their glorious expressions, we enter the mystery of our divinity.  Archetypes are universal symbols that belong to the collective of humanity, not the individual.  For example, in religion a common archetype is that of a loving father, a parental figure that knows us personally, and yet does not belong to us individually, we share this archetype with all our brothers and sisters.  An example from Astrology is the energetic properties attributed to Mars, a fierce warrior that will strike his or her opponents swiftly and ruthlessly when threatened, yet who also exemplifies the raw power of fire to move through all obstacles.

Some of these sacred archetypical maps that illuminate our primordial existence, and our collective unconscious are the Tarot, Mandalas, the Medicine Wheel, and Astrology.  For the remainder of this book I will focus on Astrology as a map that directs us to a deeper connection to the Great Mystery alive within all things.  When we dive into this ancient body of elements and modalities, relationships with signs, luminaries, and planets, influenced by transits and progressions, we deepen our understanding of not only ourselves, yet also with others and our beloved universe; we enter the mystery.

Astrology has existed as long as stars and planets have existed.  We are interconnected beings and once this is understood and accepted there can be no denying celestial bodies influence our own.  We are also light beings, water beings, living on the earth and breathing air to survive, needing fire to live.  We are fundamentally dependent upon the elements of earth, air, fire, and water.  Earth, air, fire, and water are the structural archetypes of astrology; they are the elements that allow us to live.

I have been studying astrology since I was thirteen years old, when my Aquarius best friend, Carla, gave me my first astrology book, Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs.  I was captivated. I pondered how she could portray my five siblings, mother, father, and stepfather with such depth and understanding despite never having met them. It became essential for me to acquire her knowledge.  Since that time, it has been a journey of intrigue intertwined with study, awe, and surrender.  The accuracy and insights are consistent when understanding the language of the archetypes that constitute astrological wisdom.  Astrology is depth psychology in archetypical language.

Carl Jung's concept of archetypes and his view of astrology suggest a deep connection between the unconscious, the collective unconscious, and our prioridial essence. Jung saw archetypes as universal, innate, and timeless patterns of human experience that manifest in myths, dreams, and astrology. He believed that astrology, with its planetary symbolism and zodiac signs, reflected these archetypal patterns and offered a symbolic representation of the collective unconscious.  Astrology is often viewed as a counterpart to psychology, as both seek insight into the unseen, unheard, and repressed realms of consciousness. In my astrological readings for clients, I have found that healing often progresses faster than in traditional counseling.

            The Great Mystery has an intimate relationship with us, yet it is our responsibility to cultivate this relationship.  One of the greatest roadblocks to this beloved engagement is our human addiction to self-judgement, the voice inside us that is constantly chattering in the background about our unworthiness, our lack of ability, our concept of ourselves as not good enough.  I have witnessed astrological insights dissolve these misconceptions within moments of realizing the experience was unavoidable, it was part of an evolutionary spirit driven promise to self-realization and actualization.  In those moments my clients and I enter the Mystery of our divinity and with a quiet and reassuring acceptance of one’s fate healing happens, and new choices and lessons emerge to foster continuous growth toward self-actualization, transcending generations of lack and limitations.