The mirror of the heart in the age of ai

‍This diagram of the seasons comes from the Su Wen (素問), or “Basic Questions. It is a seminal text of ancient Chinese Medical philosophy, compiled by various authors over the course of a few hundred years (475–221 BC). It explains how human beings relate to the natural environment, the cosmos, and seasonal changes.

Understanding when seasons begin and end and how we are affected by the changing phases of seasonal energy as we journey around the sun each year is a basic question for sure. (If you are new to this chart, I did a little video called “Working with the Chart” that you can find here ).

This understanding is especially critical at this point in our history because humanity has forgotten our unique role in the web of life. Humanity has a unique gift to bring to creation, which is that of a unique form of consciousness. All living beings have consciousness, but human beings are aware that we have consciousness. The other-than-human beings are simply present with what is.  We have all kinds of thoughts, opinions and judgements running through our heads endlessly.  Human beings have free will, the unique capacity to make choices, for better or worse, based on our individual emotions, interests, goals, and passions. Sometimes we make great choices that are in line with our true essential nature, our soul’s purpose, and sometimes, for various reasons, we don’t. A person might go to medical school because of family pressure when their heart is really in early childhood education, for example. None of the other-than-human beings have that choice. Maple trees are always maple trees and chipmunks are always chipmunks. They are not making plans for the future or ruminating on the past.

Humans have the capacity to have awareness and experience that range from mundane to the profound. From what’s for dinner, to falling in love, to deep states of meditation, prayer and spiritual connection. And with that gift comes responsibility.

Not so long ago in our history, humans’ spiritual connection was with the living world around us, and not some transcended masculine disembodied figure.  A deep heart/gut knowing that the Earth and all Her beings were sacred. People felt emotionally and spiritually connected to their home landscape that gave them everything needed to sustain themselves, and in return they gave thanks in the form of ritual, celebration, and conscious relationship with the land as kin. This conscious, spiritual connection expressed in grateful ritual and celebration is the one thing that humanity can offer the Earth in return for all that She gives us. It is the one thing that no other species offers.

In the last few hundred years, in the wake of various historical events and choices, we have moved further and further from living in connection with the land. Currently, we live in climate-controlled environments, with electric lights and access to the same food items year-round to the point where the seasons are hardly noticed. For perhaps the first time in human history, many humans have forgotten our sacred responsibility to the Earth and our unique offering to the Greater Web of Life.

The whole of the rest of creation never forgets they are a part of the living web of life and their role in it; they just are their own unique combination of sun and soil. Humanity, on the other hand, often behaves as though we are the exception to the laws of Nature and can behave in ways that are deeply destructive to Creation to the point where the survival of all species, including humanity, is now a question.

When we remember our unique role, that of conscious connection, the world around us goes from the mundane to the profound. We begin to experience the magic of creation in everyday life. One traditional way this was done were rituals and celebrations that reconnected communities with the seasons as they moved around the wheel of the year. These celebrations were held at the solstices, equinoxes, and the midway points between them, or the cross-quarter days.

The most recent cross-quarter day, known as Beltane in the Celtic world, was May 1st. That day marked the threshold to Summer, and as you can see from the diagram from ancient Chinese culture, it lines up. The Spring/Wood phase ends and we enter the Transition/Earth phase that is the gateway to the Summer/Fire phase. Whenever we see something known to ancient peoples on opposite sides of the earth, it is worth taking notice because it suggests something endemic to humanity itself. Something baked into the DNA of what it is to be human.

(The “Emergence Retreat Series” is held at the cross-quarter days; to help us respond to the invitation of the Earth to be in relationship with Her through the doorway of the seasons. The next one will be August 1st, save the date!)

The Four Seasons chart above describes the cyclical energy of Creation in five phases: Spring/Wood, Summer/Fire, Autumn/Metal, Winter/Water, with the Transitional/Earth between them. The energy that creates Summer is called the Fire phase. Around the first of May, we entered the transition to Summer/Fire and by May 14th, we were fully in it.

This is a bit of a leap, but stay with me here. Your lifeforce, and that of every being, can also be described in five phases. Breaking the whole down into five parts is helpful to gain understanding of what is happening. Otherwise, it is like trying to see what is happening at your house while on the space shuttle. From that view, you only see the whole Earth and can’t access the more granular detail.

Each of the organs in the body has a resonance with the five phases and therefore with the seasonal energies. Summer/Fire phase has a resonance with the Heart. This is the Heart at the level of the body, mind/emotion, and spirit. We know that the Heart is more than a muscle that pumps blood through our circulatory system. We intuitively understand that there is both a physical Heart, an emotional, and a spiritual Heart. I asked AI to give me a list of all the expressions we have including the word “heart,” of which there are dozens, which tells us we know intuitively that the Heart is more than a pump. We don’t talk about any other organ this way and this means something. (I’ll include the list at the bottom of the page).

Each of the five phases has an emotional resonance. For Summer/Fire it is joy. If you imagine for a second that you are in your favorite place in nature in the Summer, it is warm, bright and sunny. There are flowers, bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. You are with people you love. Maybe even having a summer fling. You are having a good time, laughing, telling stories, and playing. You experience the Heart-opening awe of an amazing sunset, an incredible flower blossom or the warmth of your lover’s embrace. This is the expansive, connective, emotional energy of Summer/Fire. Now in contrast,  imagine yourself on a snowy day in winter, maybe with a cup of tea and a good book, and you can feel your emotional energy contract.  Summer/Fire energy is expansive and Winter/Water energy is contractive. You can feel that with this little imagination exercise. This is the cyclical nature of things… expansion followed by contraction. Both are necessary to bring balance in their right time.

All living beings resonate with the energy of the season and respond according to their species.  In summer, flowers bloom, tree leaves unfurl, and baby critters born in spring mature. Humans resonating to Summer/Fire season have expansive hearts and easy access to joy.  We experience energy and desire for connection, and intimacy which is why the summer fling is a thing. It’s not a winter fling…. At the deepest level, Fire is heart energy, the energy that moves us toward relationship — with other people, with the natural world, with Spirit, and with Life itself. It is the energy of, "I belong, I love, I am connected."  (l’ll put a list at the bottom of all the qualities that Fire brings us).

We can understand the more spiritual, emotional nature of the Heart by further dividing it into two aspects—the vertical Heart and the horizontal Heart. Think of a camera that you have to look down from the top to see the image in front of you. The camera is using a mirror to reflect the image in front of you up to your eye. It is a reflection of the horizontal to the vertical.

This is how the Heart works. In the vertical direction, the Heart connection is with the Divine Source, with awe, joy, and the living presence of Spirit. It is an esoteric teaching that at the top of the breath, in the space between the in breath and out breath, our soul connects with Source for a brief second and brings that Divine energy back down into your Heart to be reflected into the world. Bringing conscious awareness to this process of the breath transforms it and brings it from the mundane to the profound. (This reality is something I built into Floss Breathing, which you can find here ). As you exhale and bring this Divinely infused breath back down into your Heart, it is reflected out into the horizontal world via what the Sufi’s refer to as “the mirror of the Heart.” Sufi practice is all about polishing the mirror of the Heart so that this reflection is clear and not distorted by an accumulation of trauma and emotional dust. This means that your love and connection with the people and world around you are the unique reflection of your connection with the Divine through the mirror of your unique Heart. Spending time with your breath, consciously connecting to the Divine Source at the top and bringing it down into your Heart to radiate out into your life is a beautiful and simple practice. (Since you are breathing all day, you can practice for 3-5 breaths while you wait for water to boil or stand at the checkout line).

This reflection of the Divine Source through the mirror of the Heart is what most of modern culture is missing. All the myriad ways we have to distract ourselves from the Real are places where we disconnect from the mirror of the Heart. The mirror itself is often just too obstructed by negative energies like the stress of overwhelming life circumstances, chaotic politics, materialism, and trauma- past and present- to reflect the Divine clearly into our lives.

This is why we have a general uneasiness about AI. As long as it was being controlled by humans, there was the possibility of Divine influence via the human Hearts involved. But now that it is self-generating, it is out of connection with Spirit and the living world. There is no reflection of the vertical (Source) to the horizontal (Creation). It exists entirely in the horizontal plane, at the level of the mind without connection to Spirit. A culture that loses contact with Spirit and the living world begins to exhibit traits eerily similar to psychopathy: extraction for personal gain without empathy, domination over others for power and monetary wealth, and endless insatiable consumption. We have no idea where this will lead because this is the first time in Earth’s history that there has been a form of intelligence completely disconnected from Divine guidance. This is the very definition of unsustainability.

So, our task now is to remember how to be more deeply human. To reconnect with the living world, with gratitude, awe, breath, joy, and with the sacred responsibility of carrying consciousness within the great web of Life. Reconnecting to the seasons, to ritual, and to conscious relationship with the Earth matters so very deeply right now. These are not quaint spiritual practices from another era. We must find our own ways of engaging with the living world around us that bring meaning to our lives. Sometimes this happens through simple acts of connection and kindness: a potluck dinner with friends, a phone call to someone going through a hard time, sitting quietly to watch the sunset, or taking a moment to truly listen to another person. Moments of awe, beauty, and breath, moments when you feel moved and your heart opens, are ways of polishing the mirror of the Heart so that we remember who we are and our place within the great Web of Life. Summer/Fire reminds us that the Heart is meant to remain in relationship with the Divine, with each other, and with the living world around us. The question is, are we willing to listen?

In Taoist Five Element theory, the Fire phase brings:

At the deepest level, Fire is heart energy, the energy that moves us toward relationship — with other people, with the natural world, with Spirit, and with Life itself. It is the energy of, "I belong, I love, I am connected."

·        Joy

·        Love

·        Connection

·        Intimacy

·        Belonging

·        Laughter

·        Playfulness

·        Passion

·        Enthusiasm

·        Warmth

·        Awe

·        Wonder

·        Inspiration

·        Creativity

·        Communication

·        Emotional openness

·        Compassion

·        Presence

·        Aliveness

·        Spiritual connection

·        Charisma

·        Celebration

·        Union

·        Friendship

·        Community

·        Generosity

·        Radiance

At the deepest level, Fire is the energy that moves us toward relationship — with other people, with the natural world, with Spirit, and with Life itself. It is the energy of, "I belong, I love, I am connected."

AI list of expressions containing the word “heart” ‍

Love, Connection, Tenderness

·        open-hearted

·        wholehearted

·        heartfelt

·        heart-to-heart

·        wear your heart on your sleeve

·        heartstrings

·        have a soft spot in your heart

·        give your heart to

·        steal someone’s heart

·        win someone’s heart

·        matters of the heart

·        follow your heart

·        close to my heart

·        from the bottom of my heart

·        my heart goes out to you

·        take heart

·        heartwarming

Grief, Pain, Vulnerability

·        heartbreak

·        broken-hearted

·        heartache

·        heavy-hearted

·        heartsick

·        heart-wrenching

·        a sinking heart

·        hard-hearted

·        cold-hearted

·        heartless

·        lose heart

·        heartbroken

·        aching heart

Courage, Spirit, Vitality

·        take heart

·        stout-hearted

·        lionhearted

·        faint-hearted

·        brave-hearted

·        have heart

·        lose heart

·        big-hearted

·        heart and soul

·        with all my heart

·        set your heart on something

Essence, Authenticity, Truth

·        true heart

·        pure-hearted

·        kind-hearted

·        good-hearted

·        wholehearted

·        speak from the heart

·        know in your heart

·        in your heart of hearts

·        learn by heart

·        at heart (“a healer at heart”)

·        change of heart

·        bare your heart

·        heart-centered

Excitement, Awe, Nervous System

·        heart skips a beat

·        heart racing

·        heart pounding

·        heart aflame

·        lose your heart

·        set hearts on fire

Cruelty or Emotional Distance

·        stone-hearted

·        black-hearted

·        cold-hearted

·        hard-hearted

·        half-hearted

·        Spiritual/Poetic

·        sacred heart

·        wild heart

·        tender heart

·        awakened heart

·        wise heart

·        fire in the heart

·        listening to the heart

·        the heart knows

·        a heart full of wonder

·        the heart longs

·        the heart remembers

And then there are all the physiological metaphors:

·        heart of the matter

·        the heart of the forest

·        downtown is the heart of the city

·        take something to heart

·        pour your heart out

·        eat your heart out

·        cross my heart

·        have your heart in your throat

·        one’s heart isn’t in it

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