Walking the Spiral Path
Dear Ones,
I am reflecting on the symbol of the spiral and its meaning in our lives. Do you ever feel like you are revisiting the same problem in your life? Over and over? Do you go into reaction mode and judge it harshly, the internal critic inside of you demanding you do better? Maybe even shaming you with expletives?
This old model came from the belief that we can banish an unconscious pattern once we acknowledge it. It is a linear model, the idea that we must never repeat a mistake, and if we do, we are flawed.
The spiral carries a deeper understanding of how change happens. It is an excellent metaphor as it comes with so much less judgment as it acknowledges that each time we revisit a pattern or problem, we can see it from a higher perspective.
The spiral itself represents moving forward, essentially change from an evolutionary point of view. It is associated with life, creation, birth and rebirth, evolution, awareness, and growth.
The spiral also holds the balance of the feminine and masculine, both the circle and the line showing us that we need the balance of both to change. The energies are vision with action in harmony and support us as we grow into a deeper understanding of the defensive patterns we developed in childhood to cope with life.
On a recent wonderful trip to visit one of our daughters, I found myself in one of those growth moments on the spiral, bringing up a pattern of wanting to be heard, a core wound that was still festering. Many of us have this as a core wound. When this happens, our attention is on “not being heard or understood,” halted in our delivery by another’s reaction to their understanding of what we are saying. This old communication pattern grabs us and takes us down the spiral chain of regressed behaviors to sift out more of the pain festering there. This old wound holds remnants of a previous hurt that rises to the surface for us to embrace compassionately. As we feel, digest, and release its hold on us with love and understanding, it supports us in moving up the spiral to a new version of ourselves. We grow and evolve. We change.
Our upcoming Cycles of Change: The Spiral Path of the Shamanic Healing Initiative Process (SHIP) is a powerful game changer for understanding ourselves better so we may grow and evolve ourselves more consciously on the spiral path. This model, developed by Linda Star Wolf, provides us with a shamanic understanding of change in alignment with the birth process and the elements of water, earth, fire, spirit, and air. We can let go of the self-judgment when the old patterns resurface, and compassionately embrace the opportunity to go deeper. We become more whole each time we go journeying on the spiral wheel of life.
We hope to see you soon!
Much Love and Gratitude,
Carley and John