Mything in Action

I’m attending summer quarter this week and we had our first earthquake since I started at Pacifica. It was a 5.8 and centered about 50 miles east of Los Angeles. I’m located about 20 minutes south of Santa Barbara and we felt a relatively mild shaking. No one was worried, so I’m not either. It was kind of cool.

But the really mythical part was the conversation we were having when it occurred. We were discussing the need for imagination and practices that ensoul the world, and, also, the American practice of identifying the self with the car. It almost seemed as though the earth was agreeing with our conversation. The soul and psyche of each individual and culture is linked directly with Nature, with the soul of the world. Both will be equally unhealthy, but both can heal with mutual support. By identifying so strongly with material objects, we place a need on the Earth’s resources. The material objects block our inner soul work while also draining the Earth of what She has to offer. The archetypal argument suggests that if we tend to our inner soul and step away from materialism, identifying with the archetypes that link us with the numinous, then the world will also be restored.

There is something liberating about minimizing your life to one carry-on and one personal item with all your liquid toilettries in 3 oz bottles in a 1 quart clear plastic bag. This is the point where you whittle down the creature comforts to only the essential items. This is how you determine what you actually need versus what you only think you need.