I  finished listening to webinar #2.  My favorite nugget of insight was “Metaphors are the connective tissue of the psyche”!  I love the power of metaphors and particularly enjoy watching someone’s face light up with new awareness when I use one that really seems to resonate for the listener.  I had the same experience when heard Craig use connective tissue as a metaphor for metaphor!  May I quote you on this Craig?

 I’ve been thinking about the parallel between a personal health crisis brought about by a catastrophic illness or injury and the collective crisis we are facing because of the ill health of our planet.   I’m wondering how my professional experience with the former may be of benefit to the latter?  Nothing more to add at this time. Just allowing it to incubate.

Finally, I took Craig up on his invitation to revisit favorite childhood stories and fairytales for personal archetypal themes.  I’ve done a fair amount of work in this area already but found myself remembering a story called “The Five Chinese Brothers”.  It wasn’t a particular favorite but I remembered there was something about it the story that intrigued me.   For those of you not familiar with the story, here is the Wikipedia version:

Long ago in China lived a family with five brothers who resembled each other very closely. They each possessed a special talent. One can swallow the sea; one has an iron neck; one can stretch his legs; one can survive fire; and the last can hold his breath forever. When one of the brothers, a somehow very successful fisherman, agrees to let a young boy accompany him on his fishing trip, trouble results. This brother holds the entire sea in his mouth so that the boy can retrieve fish and treasures. When the man can no longer hold in the sea, he frantically signals to the boy, but the boy ignores him and drowns when the man releases the water.

The man is accused of murder and sentenced to death. However, one by one, his four brothers assume his place when subjected to execution, and each uses his own superhuman ability to survive (one cannot be beheaded, one cannot be drowned, one cannot be burned, and one cannot be smothered). At the end of the story, a judge decides that the brother accused of murder must have been innocent, since he could not be executed, and the five brothers return home.

When I reread the story I remembered it was the images of the brother swallowing the sea and the young boy’s exploration of the treasures at the bottom that sparked my imagination.   Looking back many, many years later,  they symbolize both the gold and the shadow of my temperament and my life has unfolded accordingly.  I’ve collected many deep sea treasures and nearly drowned on a couple of occasions doing so!    What an unexpected delight to be reunited with this little gem from my childhood.  I’m going to explore it more to see what else might emerge.

Thanks Craig for the wonderful presentation.  I’m looking forward to listening to #3.

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