Soul Catching in the World

World Metaphoric Transformation

                World Metaphoric Transformation is a way of thought, life and therapy which I have developed over many years of studying  different spiritual traditions, quantum physics, psychology and counselling. This philosophy recognizes that we do not live inside ourselves, like a little nut of consciousness that is hidden somewhere behind our eyes or in our hearts. Our souls, that part of us that is deepest and most essential, lives outside of our skins, in the world. So the world is not just a reflection of our consciousness, but also an active co-participant in our reality.

                I am not a physicist but I have been reading many books lately about quantum physics and the more I read about the new discoveries in this science, the more I realise that we are entering an age when this new science will echo and confirm ancient wisdom. You don’t have to be a physicist to understand that all consciousness is inter-related. And therefore, whether if you are approaching life from a scientific perspective or a spiritual or intuitive perspective, you can understand that the world outside of ourselves arose and lives in much the same way that we do, day by day.

                When I first started to grasp the significance of this philosophy , I thought that I could use the world and environment as a kind of mirror in which I could glimpse the deepest thoughts of my clients. I found that strange things started to happen when I proceeded to ask people what they noticed in the environment around my office. Animals turned up who had never turned up before. They cawed, sang and hummed around the windows and glass door. Sometimes machines also turned up and I kept thinking that we, my client and I, were using and interpreting the environment as a kind of ink blot, a way of opening the door to the unconsciousness. But over time, as I studied this theory and developed it, using it with myself as well, I noticed that very unusual events transpired. A bird who never had sang before turned up outside my window one day when I was working with a young woman with depression, a murder of ravens turned up and cawed and flew in big circles when I was working with a man who was deceiving himself and others sexually, planes suddenly started to roar overhead when I worked with a woman who was driving herself into chronic pain…the list goes on.

                At first I thought it was still me, stilling in my chair and my client sitting in their chair, interpreting events which were unrelated to us but which we had decided use to pull into meaning. Then one day as I walked by the river, I saw a river otter who was chomping on a little fish, and in a flash, I realised that it wasn't just me interpreting the environment, it was also the environment interacting with me. I had called the river otter and the river otter had also called me. This is the true magic of our lives.

                Not understanding our deep connection with the environment is the basis of the hunger that I see in some many of my clients. The emptiness that it creates by seeing ourselves as separate from the environment , is what drives people to substance abuse, depression and anxiety. We are so disconnected with the part of ourselves which lives outside of us that we have lost our identity. In a flash I understood the world in a completely different way, a more connected, gentle, loving and whole (holy ) way. My noticing of the way the environment responded to my intention of using it as a mirror for my question and sent me an otter, eating a fish from the river, representing taking wisdom from the world.

Try This!

1.       Each day for the next week, take some time at the end of day and review the outside events of what happened. Now ask yourself, what was the one event (not feelings or interpretations) that caught your attention the most?

2.       Write this event out with as much detail as you have time for. For example, today what really stood out for me, was the way that my cat came and asked for attention while I was at the computer and how I picked it up and petted it.

3.       Now you can explore how you felt about the event, your reactions, what happened next. For example, while I was petting Bramble I felt really whole and loving. He seemed so majestic and self-possessed, so much like a lion, not just a little house cat.

4.       When you have explored all your feelings and sensual experience of the event, now ask yourself, why of all the thousands of interactions that took place that day, why did you pick that one? For example, I have been thinking a lot about my own recognition. That I seem to be hidden to others, many people don’t understand what I am writing about. So like Bramble, I will take the wisdom that I don’t have to prove myself to others. I am majestic and wonderful, loving and kind just the way I am. The rest will follow or rather is already realised in the future.

5.       This is one way of catching your soul in the world.