THE TRANSFORMATIONAL JOURNEY COLLAGES
These collages depict stages
along the Transformational Journey.
"ONE MUST PASS THROUGH DEATH
IN ORDER
TO BE TRANSFORMED."
PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION IS A  LIBERATING, POWERFUL CHANGE FROM ONE STATE OF BEING TO ANOTHER.
This change requires the death of an old way of being that gives way to the rebirth of a new, freer self. Transformation is alchemy. It is not so much a stage along the journey, but rather the entire journey. Clarissa Pinkola Estes describes the process of alchemy this way: "...one entire descent and transformation -- the one of awakening ... But now the old self is gone, and the deep self, the naked self, is the powerful wanderer." Alchemy is the mysterious process by which change occurs. Learning to navigate this process, meeting the life, death, rebirth cycle - and greeting the great mysteries of life is a challenging, yet necessary task on the transformational journey.
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 HOPE:
This stage is the beginning of the journey - when one is called toward a new life. The world is open and fills the heart with joy, possibility, and vision. This stage promises the potential for wholeness, and the accomplish- ment of desired outcomes. It is often accompanied with a sense of adventure and aspirations to be ones fullest self.
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CHAOS:
This is an important stage of the transformational journey.
Having one's world turned upside down,
not knowing which end is up, and feeling confused is common.
A loss of the old order is necessary
before a new one may replace it.
Chaos is an incredibly creative state
when we have the courage to allow ourselves to experience it. |
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VOID:
The void feels like a descent into the depths,
like a deep sleep where the psyche is re-ordering itself.
While there is not yet a new form developed,
the old one no longer is acceptable and it becomes necessary
to patiently "wait it out" while the new self is being formed. |
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SHADOW:
Shadow is the baggage we carry around
from years of stuffing our life force and suppressing our potency.
Shadow-work is the difficult process of looking deeply inward
to see what has been denied, hidden, or repressed
in order to draw out the essential self that has been lost
through years of neglect or abuse. |
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BUILDING THE CONTAINER:
This stage is about the necessity of creating a container for growth.
The soul needs a container for the development of a healthy psyche.
This container is like the cocoon in which a caterpillar becomes a butterfly.
And like the caterpillar who must spin its own cocoon,
so must the individual make his/her own container. |
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INCUBATION:
This stage is likened to the early state of pregnancy
when there is still no visible recognition of the new life.
This can be a highly intuitive time
of imagining and visioning what is to come.
It is a powerful time for setting ones intention and building one's strength
for the challenges that lie ahead. |
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PRAYER & COMPASSION:
Compassion makes room for all things.
Prayer connects one to the source of the great mystery.
The act of prayer often creates an opening into compassion.
This collage reminds us to release the urge
to control
and to place ones trust in the arms of the universe. |
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THE INNER MARRIAGE:
The Union of Opposites:
In alchemical terms this is called the conjuctio.
The inner marriage is the union between opposites:
yin and yang, masculine and feminine,
spirit and soul, or heaven and earth.
This is the powerful place of center
which can hold the opposite or dual forces
of life and the human quest for union. |
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THE GREAT MYSTERY:
The Great Mystery encompasses all the forces
that give life to the cosmos
and is alive within the very cells of human bodies
and of all matter upon the earth.
The transformational journey asks the seeker
to discover, trust, and have faith
in the unseen and invisible Great Mystery.
The Great Mystery Is. |
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