Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Death and Rebirth

This is where it begins and ends. With the primitive cultures, they saw death and rebirth in the seasons. For the cultures of the Agricultural age, it was all about the crops. The death of their plants produced the seeds, fruits and vegetables that sustained them for another season.

The Egyptians were obsessed with the afterlife. A Pharaoh would spend his life making tombs and monuments to please the gods and ensure his posterity. A thirty foot tall statue would certainly make future generations remember them, until a succeeding Pharaoh disagreed with his policies and struck his name from all the official records.

In the Mystery School traditions, this is a very present principle. It's not about what may happen in an afterlife, or what could happen to the food supply. It's about what happens through the course of anybody's life. When a young person takes their first steps into a career or higher education, much of what that person was comes to an end. Much of the personality remains, but it has to mature, and grow into a state that's appropriate to an adults life.

When I became a parent, I had to lose a lot of my selfishness. Nothing obnoxious, but I would spend my days eating donuts and watching Next Generation and playing a computer game. Maybe throwing a little writing or guitar playing into the day. Now, I do diapers and pony-tails and play “Gonna-Get-You!” (it's really simple. She runs until I grab her up, then she giggles. I'm sure our games will get more sophisticated with time.)

It's not about what's occurred in history, it's about what's happened in our own lives every few years. We have to end former versions of ourselves, and begin anew. Grasping this philosophy can make the “death” phases easier to bear, knowing that a job loss or empty nest (or just a deep funk that doesn't seem to have any real cause) is a necessary part of the cycle.

11 comments:

  1. I'm gonna get you is really just the world's best excuse for a hug.

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  2. I'm with Matthew on that. I love the I'm gonna get you game. I also love to play the 1,2,3 go game. It's where I sit on the floor and spread my arms out and say "1,2,3 go!" And the baby runs into my arms for a big hug and a tickle.,

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  3. Wonderful, Will you have answered a question I have been asking myself, it seems every few years or so "ThingsChange" without realising it.
    You have put it in a nut shell here, thanks.

    Yvonne.

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  4. Hi Will .. we know we go through school bottom to top, to bottom to top, to bottom etc and jobs too .. but had never thought of it the way you've put it .. life is a constant life cycle .. you're so right .. thanks - Hilary

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  5. Great post! I write in my diaries so that I can go back and reflect on how I used to feel compared to know. Reflection of the past is a good start to maturity.

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  6. This has really spoken to me and I can identify with so much that you talk about. This is an excellent post!

    Ellie Garratt

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  7. Beautiful post! Very interesting things to think about. Thank you for sharing :)

    Sarah Allen
    (my creative writing blog)

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  8. I totally agree about everything changing. My daughter is 5 months old today and I can't believe how my life used to be compared to today. I wouldn't change it for the world though.

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  9. I'm a new follower from the A-Z challenge. Nice to meet you!

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  10. Death occurred for me back in June 2010. The charter school I taught at in Philly didn't ask me to return. It hurt really bad, I was embarrassed and I felt lost for months. I knew I wasn't happy teaching, and my heart yearned for writing. Now, I'm in the scary process of rebirth. I take deep breaths and try every day. Great post. Good luck with the challenge!

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