Soulfulness
A therapist can be a mid-wife to the soul. As families and culture get more out of balance, there is a loss of soul. The soul, for all practical purposes is the essence. Sometimes it is easier to know the soul when it is gone, the death of an animal or person. The essence is gone when we see a dead body. Another way we notice a loss of soul is when we have known people “who aren’t themselves”. Sometimes, we have experienced that, “we feel dead inside”, the “meaning is gone”. The soul can be missing, even though we go to our job everyday and apparently live a normal life, but the essence can be dim.
Regaining it
How do we regain soul?, that is the question. Really, that is the question, the koan, “What is your way?” There are hundreds of ways from psychology to shamanism to Buddhism and so forth but “essentially” we need our own position with anything outside of ourselves. Each person will need to find there own internal way and how that functions with the external world of people, culture and the unknown. The danger is trying to do a spiritual work around, we used to call it a spiritual by-pass. The spiritual side is part of all this, however; the soul is the humanity which has instincts, attachments, and imaginations. They have been rejected for too long, they are in the darkness.
What gives you a feeling of soul?, personally; what places, what people, what activities, etc. Then with those same questions; what places, people, activities diminish soul, they may even be the same. Medicine and poison are generally distinguished by amount and quality. A little bit of something is medicine when a lot is poison, amount and then the quality of that amount.
The Therapist
The therapist helps with the darkness, helps to shine light on what is there and how to deal with it. There is a natural empathy from the therapist because they have experienced their own darkness in varying degrees. They have experienced their own confusion and emotional pain. And they grew from the experience; grew in wisdom, empathy, and generosity.
The therapist helps clarify the assumptions getting in the way and many times these assumptions have played an important function, but are now confusing and more of a problem. Fear keeps us safe. For example, the assumption of fear is “be afraid of anything that could hurt you, even if it is totally irrational.” As a hurt or confused child, the soul needs to know how you are going to be safe, otherwise, fear all and stay safe. This is a basic problem in relationships, but the fear is usually unconscious. How many arguments are actually based in fear of getting rejected or hurt in some way?
The day dreams and the night dreams help you and the therapist find your personal way and how that connects to the universal. It is obvious that all people have this problem of life and what to do with it. How to make the best of it? As the inner history of parents and ancestors mix with the dreams and conversations with the therapist, there is the possibility that the soul is gradually re-birthed.
