Keeping The Flame Alive At The End of The Era
My heart is moved by all I cannot save:
so much has been destroyed
I have to cast my lot with those
who age after age, perversely,
with no extraordinary power,
reconstitute the world.
—Adrienne Rich (1929–2012)
Given the deeply disturbing events of the past few weeks, I’m hoping to give you a big picture perspective might be helpful.
Over the past year, we have witnessed the the current Administration ignore law, basic moral and ethical norms, and dismantle our government as we knew it. The reality that we have come to the end of an era is impossible to ignore. The level of derangement in our government, culture, and environment is impossible to integrate and deeply alarming as this Administration actively dismantles the structures that supported and held us without any pretense of regard for the welfare of human beings or the Earth. The distruction is no longer abstract or theoretical; it is visible in policy, rhetoric, and violence that leaves us feeling overwhelmed, frightened, angry, anxious, and heartbroken.
The Five Phase diagram is deceptively simple and deeply profound. It describes the energies that give rise to the life cycles of creation and describes the unwavering law to which all Life on Earth is subject. Everything has a life cycle—birth, maturation, decline, and death/rebirth. This is true whether it is a garden over the course of a year, a dinner party over the course of an evening, a human life over the course of roughly 80 years, a 24-hour day, or an era of civilization over the course of a few hundred years. This life cycle can be described in terms of the Taoist Five Phases shown in our chart, which locates us in the life cycle of our culture in the Winter/Water phase. This is the death/rebirth part of the life cycle. We are in a liminal, threshold time. We are witnessing the death of old structures and norms and a new life generating structure is not yet visible.
Looking back at history, we see the rise and fall of the Middle Ages giving way to the rise and fall of the Renaissance, giving way to the rise and fall of the Enlightenment, giving way to the rise and fall of the Industrial Age, and so on. Each arc overlaps the previous. The death of one era and rebirth of the next. The overlap occurs in the late Winter/Water phase—the phase of death and rebirth. Locating ourselves at the fall of our era helps ground us in realistic expectations of what is possible in this liminal time where the old structures that were meant to hold and support us have crumbled while the new ones haven’t arrived yet. And since we are in the Winter/Water phase of an era lasting a few hundred years, and each “season” of the era spanned decades, it could take decades, not months, to get to our cultural Spring. In Nature, we don’t expect to find new shoots poking up from the ground in the middle of Winter, so it is unrealistic to expect that we will see the birth of a new era any time soon.
From a Five-Phase perspective, the current chaos is a clear marker that we have passed the Winter Solstice point of a long cultural Winter—we are composting and waiting for the tender shoots of a new era to appear. As those of us who live in northern climes know, it is a long slog from the longest night to the first sprouts in Spring.
How do we sustain ourselves while we wait for cultural Spring? How do we tend the pilot light of our own hearts to be warm and bright enough so we can bring a little light into a world of growing darkness?
When we know where we are in the Five Phase cycle of life, we know where to look in for hints to guide us in surviving this cultural Winter. We are looking for the human equivalent of daffodils hunkered down under the snow, gathering and holding the winter magic necessary to bloom come Spring. For humans this is deep inner work; it is spiritual nourishment. True connections to Spirit, Nature, and one another are what will tend the tiny flames of joy, love, and hope to keep us warm through these dark times.
What nourishes your spirit?
Spirit Food (Resources) for you:
Resilient Spirit Retreat Series: These are quarterly, seasonal gatherings to reset our nervous systems and avail ourselves of the energetic gifts of the seasons. The next one is coming up January 31st.
Cultivating Resilience and Joy: This monthly healing sanctuary for women—a warm, welcoming space to exhale, connect, receive soul nourishment, and remember your place in the greater rhythms of life. Reach out if you’d like to join us.
The “Resources” page on the website has many guided meditations and teaching videos and is being added to all the time.
Floss Breathing: this is a breathing technique to down regulate the nervous system and guides us to open ourselves to the healing energies of Heaven and Earth.
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