A dear friend of mine recently challenged me to be open to change in my life and this “favor” left me musing about how I feel deep down about change and, therefore, wondering if I’m ready to take the leap it sometimes requires. I’d like to share my response to him with you.
Yes, Bill, I’m ready for a change. Count me in!
But I feel, as I know you do, that this period of time is more than “a change.” It is and has been for a while now about CHANGE. It seems to me that it is not about politics changing, or financial systems changing or our belief about other life forms changing but everything changing all at once. We’ve seen nothing yet!
I recall Jodie Foster’s character, Ellie Arroway, in the movie Contact saying over and over as she waited to be launched on a mission to contact off world life: “I’m okay to go. I’m okay to go” This is the perspective that is necessary to allow oneself to be caught up in the new wave of energy that is about to crash on our beach. We have to be able and ready to let go of anything that is going to weigh us down because we are going to be taken to a new and very different world full of both wonder and surprises.
It’s a great time to be alive, isn’t it. Glad we’re going on this ride together.
Will I be ready once more, when the major alchemical processes converge in my life yet again, to let go of what I have and embrace the new and unknown?
The meanings attributed to the Ouroboros are as varied as its history. Some of these are: infinity, unity, eternal return, purification, self renewal, union of opposites as well as the Above & Below. A number of important questions are raised even by this introduction to the Tail Devourer. Are there significant similarities among the many images of Ouroboros? If so, what are they? Do the many different meanings of this symbol in very different cultures and times contain a consistent and meaningful message for us today? What is the significance of the Ouroboros to alchemy? By exploring this universal symbol, can we begin to unravel some of the mystery it holds for human kind down through the ages? The first place to start is the beginning of Ouroboros’ story as we know it at this time.
The Zhulong, or Pig Dragon, of the more than 6,000 year old Hongshan culture of China is one of its earliest occurrences of Ouroboros known to us. A Pig Dragon is a zoomorphic form with a pig like head and elongated limbless body coiled around to the head in the manner of an Ouroboros. Early Pig Dragons are thick and stubby; later examples have more graceful, snakelike bodies. Its image has the classic and traditional features of the Ouroboros – a serpent like creature in the act of swallowing its tail. One style of these dragons, in the shape of a complete circle was found on the chest of deceased in Hongshan graves.
The meaning of this image for the Hongshan however is lost to us. Although the placement of jade carvings of the Zhulong in the graves of the deceased is a clue, the significance of this amulet cannot be reduced to one meaning. We can speculate that there was a connection between this early form of the Ouroboros and the perspective these Neolithic people had of death, the afterlife, possibly eternity and even reincarnation and return to the material world. As we will see, these are all associations of the Ouroboros in its many forms today.
A major revelation will occur this week. For each of us, it may be on a personal, organizational or even global level. A powerful engine or portal of revelation has been created by the heightened energy of all the major elements: Fire, Water, Air & Earth. They are all working together now in an unusual rhythm. Opposition is being overcome, barriers are being dissolved. It is an important time to be aware of what you have been wishing for because your desires expressed as thoughts have influenced what will be revealed. Look for messages in unusual places. What do you notice that is different about your experience of nature? Do strangers come up to you and tell you things, ask questions or start conversations more than usual? Are friends or family offering solutions to long standing issues? All of these experiences contain an important revelation for you. Be conscious; be aware. Your foundation is dissolving. Be prepared to fall into rather than fall through. The higher phases of alchemical transformation – unity, embracing and elevating – are more active and accessible at this time.
Allow and let go.
There’s much to explore about this ancient symbol which we’ll do in future posts but, today, listen to the words of Theophrastos, whose poem was composed between 700 and 900 A.D., as he describes the first step in the process of alchemical transmutation:
“A dragon springs therefrom which, when exposed In horse’s excrement for twenty days, Devours his tail till naught thereof remains. This dragon, whom they Ouroboros call, Is white in looks and spotted in his skin, And has a form and shape most strange to see. When he was born he sprang from out the warm And humid substance of united things. The close embrace of male and female kind, -A union which occurred within the sea- Brought forth this dragon, as already said; A monster scorching all the earth with fire, With all his might and panoply displayed, He swims and comes unto a place within The currents of the Nile; his gleaming skin And all the bands which girdle him around Are bright as gold and shine with points of light…”
The Third International Alchemy Conference in LA on October 23 – 25 draws near and the excitement in me builds. My being part of the team putting this gathering together and presenting a workshop on the Emerald Tablet creates a space around me that is glowing and buzzing. It’s really going to happen!
And then my mind snaps into place: “Well, Duane, what actually is going to happen?” As I pay attention to this valid but annoying voice, I wonder if we will accomplish what we stared out to do and am reminded of a video of me trying to explain what we wanted to do.
I’d like to share it with you. Click this link and tell me what you think: International Alchemy Conference