The Ways of the Lonely Ones

[sdi]

Manly P. Hall famously called spiritual pursuits "the ways of the lonely ones." It occurred to me today that the reason for this is that those who have achieved a certain level of spiritual attainment are protected, to a greater or lesser degree, from being caught up in archetypes: maybe we have regained control of our own soul or maybe we have given it to another for safekeeping, but either way our souls are not free for the taking.

But if archetypes are one of the primary ways in which people interact, is it such a surprise, then, that we are lonely?

Comments

[sdi]

Speaking of Hall, there was exactly one book from my bookshelf that I made room for when I packed all of my possessions into a Tupperware bin and drove across the continent, and it was the folio edition of The Secret Teachings of All Ages. There are a number of other books that have earned a place on my shelf, and I will be rebuying them, but the Big Book was the one I kept.

[temporaryreality]

Oh my gosh I've grown a bloated sense of necessity in recent years. We've been 7 years in this one house, the longest I've ever been in one place (second place longest was 3 years, after that it goes down to 1-2 years for a good two dozen locations)... but now we've accumulated furniture and books and who all knows what since my dad died (I'm the last of my "line"). I sometimes try to pare it back, but the house accommodates it all and so... well, I'm floored by "all my possessions into a tupperware bin." It's been a long time since I could do that, and that's in spite of three international moves. I am prompted to revisit my relationship with "stuff."

Also, if you're inclined to say it out loud here, I'd be curious to know which state you moved to.

[sdi]

Oh! Haha, don't take it as a sign of spiritual awakening or whatever. (And I'm sorry for giving that impression!) All of our things were simply eaten by mold!

Make no mistake, though, this was a spiritual event: we went from first noticing some powdery stuff in a corner to having to put everything in a dumpster within the span of a few months. (It ate everything and quickly! We had a literally brand new mattress arrive in the mail and be destroyed within two weeks. I've never seen anything like it.) We knew this was spiritual in origin, though; not only had divination made that abundantly clear, but we had something similar to it happen in every other sphere of our life, too: family, friends, you name it.

We had an inkling a move was coming, but I suppose this was what we needed to have happen in order to be able to move on a moment's notice, and indeed: when the message came that it was time to go, we managed to Tetris what was left of our lives into the SUV and get on the road within a week.

We ended up in Oklahoma, of all places. You wouldn't believe the sirens we heard blaring at us to stay here when we arrived! But even while we want to put down roots, my wife and I both have the grim feeling that this won't be the last sudden move in our lives, and that this time was practice. So I suppose we're probably going to avoid accumulating too much.

And you want to know what's really wild? We're selling the old house, of course, and had a mold specialist come to check things out, and he said there was no mold anywhere in the house. Thought we were crazy for calling him.

[tunesmyth]

Isn't engaging in deep solitary practice still probably enacting an archetype? Just a lonelier one!

>>We're selling the old house, of course, and had a mold specialist come to check things out, and he said there was no mold anywhere in the house. Thought we were crazy for calling him.

Hmm. That's something. Have you tried divining as to the physical source of this phenomenon? I'd just be worried about the cause potentially being something you brought with you.

[sdi]

Isn't engaging in deep solitary practice still probably enacting an archetype? Just a lonelier one!

Sure! But what I mean is, they're not being swept up in archetypal phenomena. Perhaps a mage has the tools to identify and choose which archetypes he wishes to engage in and how, perhaps a mystic has Somebody guiding their interactions such that they only engage in the archetypes that are useful for their development, perhaps a hermit disengages from essentially all human contact and thereby puts almost all archetypal interaction into a box, but one way or another the archetypes with which one can interact are greatly limited in scope—and thus the amount and natures of human interactions one engages in are greatly limited in scope, as well!

Have you tried divining as to the physical source of this phenomenon? I'd just be worried about the cause potentially being something you brought with you.

We know that we need to do something to keep the mold from popping up here, too. I suspect most of the things that came with us, little though it was, will have to go, but we're still chasing it down. (This has been such a process, and I sleep so little even at the best of times, that I'm pretty weak and have to space out my divinations! So I've only been able to ask a few questions a day.)

[tunesmyth]

Your comments on archetypes make perfect sense to me.

As for readings— of any kind— if you are ever feeling like it is too much to handle any divinations that seem of pressing importance, I would certainly be happy to read on your behalf. Let me know, any time.

[sdi]

Thank you, I really appreciate that! I have the impression we have a little time, so it's not yet urgent, but if we get closer and I haven't figured it out yet, I'll take you up on it.

[temporaryreality]

Haha, well, I wasn't chalking it up to enlightenment necessarily. I thought it might be more of a "we can't afford a moving van, so it's gotta fit in the trunk of the car" issue which was making me think about "stuff" with an eye toward possessions/who owns who/attachment vs. need vs. want kind of thing.

But meanwhile, the mold (in its literal and figurative iterations)... Oy, that's some prompting to get out of dodge! I just can't even imagine. I doubly wish you well, then, in this new place for as long as you stay - someone really wanted you there now, so that's a good start.

And the mind boggles at the utter lack of mold by the end of it. Wha???

[sdi]

Another of the many synchronicities surrounding all this was that I lucked into selling my small business just before the COVID panic broke the economy (like, just before, within days), and so thankfully the costs of moving (or staying in random places every night for a couple months!) weren't an added worry. (I was in very dire financial straights up until a few years ago, so money frankly terrifies me. I truly don't think I could have managed if we needed to carefully budget the trip, so it was a real blessing!)

[temporaryreality]

Man, this is a real-life page-turner; it just keeps getting better! :)

[boccaderlupo]

Have you read any of Jean Dubuis’s material? I believe he is of the opinion that, at a certain point of attainment, you have to go it alone, and that any intercession of a “guru” or spiritual group is actually counterproductive to the pursuit. From what I understand, in his organization he actively tried to mitigate the influence of egregores/thoughtforms, as at a certain point they are inimical to advancement.

http://www.portaelucis.fr/GB/html/textes/document.asp?ref=./Voyages_organisesGB.htm

At any rate, all of his writings that I’ve encountered are inspiring and tutto gratis.

Axé

[sdi]

Thanks so much for this! I've heard of Dubuis, but not read him. The short essay you linked suggests that I should remedy that.

The essay ties directly into something I've been contemplating lately, which is the relationship between the lower self, the higher self, one's daimon or guardian angel, and the Divine. I suspect that active/masculine/yang spiritual paths are primarily directed by the higher self, and as Dubuis writes, one ultimately needs to sojourn themselves to find that one place of their own in the spiritual worlds. On the other hand, I suspect passive/feminine/yin spiritual paths ultimately rely on paired adventure, following their angel (who acts as a travel guide and, despite exactly the restrictions of freedom that Dubuis mentions, works fairly quickly as your tour guide already knows how to get around the spiritual worlds and knows likely places to look with you). But this is just a tentative groping based on my own meditations... I've unfortunately read but little philosophy, and it'll likely be years before I have the time and capacity to do so in depth, but on the other hand I've always been one to try to work things out on my own before checking the answer key at the back of the book. :)